The Meaning of Surrender
Most theistic religions encourage the devotee to surrender, they lay great emphasis on surrendering to the Divine Will. Some paths even require complete surrender unto the guru, the spiritual master. So, what does surrender really mean and how important it is to surrender?
Once upon a time, in a small village, lived an old farmer with his only son. They owned a small piece of land as well as a cow and a horse. One day his horse ran away. They went looking for their horse but to no avail. His son was distraught. The neighbors came to see the old farmer.
“The Divine is being so harsh on you,” the villagers said to console the farmer, “It’s terrible what happened.”
“This must be Divine grace too,” the farmer replied calmly.
Two days later the horse returned, but not alone. Four wild steeds, fine and strong, came following. The farmer ended up with five horses all up.
“That’s wonderful. You are so lucky,” said the others.
“This must be Divine grace too,” the farmer said as much gratefully as indifferently.
His son was excited though. The following day he mounted one of the wild horses to check the ride but was thrown and he broke his leg.
“These horses are no good. They have brought you bad luck,” his neighbors offered their wisdom, “your son has ended up with a broken leg.”
“This must be Divine grace too,” the farmer replied.
A few days later, king’s officials came to the village recruiting young men for the mandatory military service. They took all but farmer’s son since he had a fractured leg. Out of envy and love, the villagers congratulated the farmer for his son was spared.
“This must be Divine grace too,” he said.
Everything you need to know about surrender is in the anecdote above. Surrender does not mean you simply offer flowery words to The Divine Grace, then start whinging at every adversity you come across.
Ultimately, your actions show the degree of surrender.
Regardless of the highs or lows, thick or thin, good or bad times, when you accept everything as His Divine grace, that is surrender. Just going to the shrines, to church and saying you surrender unto The Divine is anything but that. Surrender is another term for unshakable faith, it does not mean that only what you deem “good” will happen in your life. It means no matter what, you will continue to seek your refuge in the Divine, unconditionally.
Surrender is a way of thanking The Divine, of loving unconditionally, of expressing yourself to The Divine. It does not mean you do not work towards improving your circumstances, it means you accept the outcome as Divine grace. There is something unique about acceptance — it gives one strength and peace.
I am reminded of a beautiful analogy. A baby monkey clings to its mother. He knows he will be safe with his mother. Where, what, when, how, it leaves that decision-making to its mother. This is an example of surrender. A kitten does the same too but rather than clinging to its mother, it simply lets go. The mother picks it up and transports it to a safer place. The sharp teeth it uses to prey do not harm its own child. This is also surrendering.
Both show surrender with one fundamental difference: in monkey’s case, the onus is on the infant to cling to its mother or else there may be no protection. Whereas, in the case of a kitten, it is solely mother’s responsibility. The kitten does not do anything.
So, should you be the monkey or the kitten? The answer is, be wise, discover your own method. Some feel more peaceful being the monkey while many act like the kitten. It may well be that you have to act like the monkey at times and kitten the other times.
A village was flooded and the water level was steadily rising. All the residents had fled already but one man with devout faith in The Divine parked himself on the thatched roof of his hut while he prayed to The Divine fervently.
Someone in a boat, coming from the neighboring village, spotted this man and made a detour to save him.
“Don’t worry brother,” he said enthusiastically, “hop in my boat.”
“Thank you but I don’t need to go with you,” the stranded one replied, “The Divine will come and save me.”
This story may represent the height of foolishness but the truth is, both human intelligence and stupidity know no bounds. It is easy to label others’ beliefs and actions as absurd, if we look within ourselves, we all have been there and done that, maybe differently yet similarly.
Surrender does not require that you close your eyes, that you turn a deaf ear or that you do not question, instead, it means looking at the world through The Divine eyes, that you pay attention to your inner voice and that you exercise patience in understanding The Divine answer. In fact, true surrender withstands any test, any examination.
Quite a few have been writing to me wanting to know the importance of A spiritual teacher on the spiritual path and how important it is to surrender to a master. Imagine you are a blind person crossing the road, a spiritual teacher assists you by holding your hand and walking you across, assisting you in dodging the oncoming cars. A true Divine spiritual teacher is able to see the unseen as you journey on your spiritual path, guiding you. When the student is ready, the teacher appears! If you desire to know more, schedule a free consultation. The time is now!
