What Is Surrender?

The do-er and the experiencer are one; it is not who we have taken ourselves to be in the past. So, surrender is, to hand over to that which is running this life and also experiencing this life — as long as these distinctions still remain. That’s what I’m pointing out: that which is handed over now (is the one) that I took myself to be — this non-existent one — and I took it to be the do-er. Now, if you continue to take yourself to be the non-existent one which is still the individual experiencer, then it is not fully surrendered. You must now say that ‘That which I considered myself to be is neither the do-er nor the experiencer and there is only one, which is my master, guru kripa kevalam, who is now doing and experiencing. There is no distinction between my Being and my Master.’ So, we can’t just hand over the doer-ship aspect of our limited idea of our self; we must also hand over the idea of our limited experiencer-ship that this is happening to me individually.

So, it starts like this [joins his hands in prayer]: ‘Please take care of me, I’ve tried running this life and now it is not working, so I put my head to You.’ So, separation between master-disciple. Then, it is found often (not always) that most actually stay at this point and they find some peace. It gives them some band- aid, and they go about their life until something pokes them very much and then they come back and say: ‘Sorry, sorry, I forgot, but You please take care.’ So, some can stay at that. But many times, it happens that you stay at that and you say: ‘Thank You for being here. I see that I’m not so concerned now about what is being done because what is being done and what is being experienced are both Your problem. Who am I to ask for only this type or that type?’ You see, we can start by saying, ‘Please let this life be full of all things that the world has to offer. May I never be in a lack for something.’ You can do all kinds of ceremony and rituals around it, but most prayer is like that: ‘Please give me money, give me strength, whatever, whatever, whatever.’ So that, clearly now, ‘I’m handing it over to You. You are the do-er, but please can You just take care of my bank account, my spiritual progress, whatever.’ Then, if that surrender is true, then many can come to this point, which is that ‘Yes, You are doing and I’m nobody to define for You what You have to do. If You want to keep this body in wealth, keep it in wealth. If You want to keep it in poverty, keep it in poverty.’ So, you can make a prayer like, ‘Jaahi vidhi rakhe Ram, taahi viddhi rahiye.’ Meaning, however Ram keeps me, I’m happy. So, you move away from making that surrender but still having an expectation of what that experience should become, to saying, ‘Whatever happens, it’s up to You. Whichever way You want to keep me, I’m fine with that,’ becomes the thing. Then, it becomes, ‘Yes, I see You only everywhere, Oh Lord, it’s only You; I don’t find this me anywhere.’ Then, you may say something like, Bulleh Shah [Sufi poet] saying, “Mein kaun? Who am I? I don’t understand. Here I look, I’m not; there I look, I’m not.’ So, some may say then, ‘Here, there, everywhere, there is only You, You, You. Tu hi tu. Who am I even to pray to You? It’s all You.’ So then, this surrender naturally comes to this oneness of jnana yoga [path of knowledge], which through the inquiry you see there is only one, there is no separation, there is no two. Then, in our devotion, when we let go of this outcome, this individual expectation, what should happen, what should not happen, you see that, ‘Who was I asking for anyway? I don’t find any existence of that one. It’s only one; it’s only You. [Beaming smile]. So, for many it can feel like a progression.