Surrender

Surrender: If we do not surrender our ignorance, imperfections and limitations — our finite qualities and capacities — to the infinite Beyond, then we shall always remain separated from the infinite Beyond. We have to surrender totally and unreservedly. And this surrender, we have to know, is to the Highest in us; it is the finite surrendering to the infinite.

With our human ego, our human will or determination, with our ceaseless human effort, we cannot change or transform the face of the world. It is impossible! But that does not mean that personal effort or human effort is of no avail. Personal effort has to be made constantly, untiringly and spontaneously. But we have to invoke the highest Power that inspires us, secretly and silently, to make this personal effort. Personal effort has no existence of its own. It is the divine higher Power, the higher Power of the infinite Beyond, that secretly feeds and inspires us to exercise our personal effort, will and determination in all that we say, do and become.

'Surrender' is a most complicated word in our spiritual dictionary. An aspirant can use the word 'surrender' in season and out of season, but when the question of surrender comes, a student is ready for anything else but surrender.

A disciple once came to a great spiritual Master and said, "I am surrendering my entire existence to you. From now on I shall be your slave." The spiritual Master said, "Then do this." The disciple replied, "Oh, no. This is too difficult. Except for this, I will do anything." Then the Master said, "Then do that." Again the disciple said, "Oh no, that is too difficult. I will do anything else." Like this, twenty-five times the poor spiritual Master was refused. Then the Master said, "Certainly, you are my best disciple. There can be nobody as great, as sincere, as dedicated as you are."

I know that surrender is more difficult in the West than in the East, but 'difficult' is one thing and 'impossible' is another. If somebody says that the plant of surrender, the tree of surrender, cannot grow in the West, I will say that he is totally mistaken. Here in the West, one can observe surrender in its truest sense, its most divine sense, although it is rare.

When I stand in front of you, when I bow down, to whom do I bow? I bow to the Supreme in you. And when you bow down, when you fold your hands, you are bowing to the Supreme within me. My highest and your highest can never be two different things. Your highest and my highest are the same, but I am aware of your highest and unfortunately you are not. That is why constantly I am hammering the idea into you that each of us is a chosen child of the Supreme, the Supreme's dearest child, and that we have infinite opportunity and capacity to fulfil the Supreme here on earth.

We develop supreme wisdom through our love, devotion and surrender. People are under the wrong impression that supreme knowledge is something that comes from a book. But the aspirant has come to realise that books give only mental information. Knowledge comes only from God, who is Love. We are not satisfied with information. We are satisfied only with our inner existence, our inner reality, our transcendental vision. We cannot only reach, feel and realise the Light, but we can become the Light if every day we renew our soul's love, devotion and surrender to the Will of the Supreme.