V
SURRENDER
God will bear whatever burdens we put on Him. All things
are being carried on by the omnipotent power of a Supreme
God. Instead of submitting ourselves to It, why should we
always be planning, ‘We should do this or that’. Knowing that
the train carries all the load, why should we, traveling therein,
suffer by carrying our small bundle on our heads, instead of
leaving it on the train and being happy.
The story of Ashtavakra teaches that in order to experience
Brahma Jnana all that is necessary is to surrender yourself
completely to the Guru, to give up your notion of ‘I’ and
‘mine’. If these are surrendered, what remains is the Reality.
There are two ways of achieving surrender. One is looking
into the source of the ‘I’ and merging into that source. The other
is feeling, ‘I am helpless myself, God alone is all powerful,
and except by throwing myself completely on Him, there is no
other means of safety for me’; and thus gradually developing
the conviction that God alone exists and the ego does not count.
Both methods lead to the same goal. Complete surrender is
another name for jnana or liberation.
Bhakti is not different from mukti. Bhakti is being as the
Self. One is always That. He realizes It by the means he adopts.
What is bhakti? To think of God. That means only one thought
prevails to the exclusion of all other thoughts. That thought
is of God, which is the Self, or it is the self surrendered unto
God. When He has taken you up, nothing else will assail you.
The absence of thought is bhakti. It is also mukti.
Bhakti is Jnana Mata, i.e., the mother of jnana.
It is asked, why all this creation so full of sorrow and evil.
All one can say is that it is God’s will, which is inscrutable. No
motive, no desire, no end to achieve can be attributed to that
infinite, all-wise and all-powerful Being. God is untouched
by activities which take place in His presence. There is no
meaning in attributing responsibility and motive to the One,
before it became many. But God’s will for the prescribed
course of events is a good solution for the vexed question of
free-will. If the mind is worried over what befalls us, or what
has been committed or omitted by us, it is wise to give up the
sense of responsibility and free-will, by regarding ourselves as
the ordained instruments of the All-Wise and the All-Powerful,
to do and suffer as He pleases. Then He bears all the burdens
and gives us peace.
A Maharani told Bhagavan, ‘I am blessed with everything
that a human being would like to have’. Her Highness’s voice
choked. Controlling herself she continued slowly, ‘I have all
that I want, a human being may want... but... but... I do not have
peace of mind. Something prevents it. Probably my destiny’.
There was silence for a while. Then Bhagavan spoke in his
usual sweet manner: ‘All right, you have said what you wished
to say. Well, what is destiny? There is no destiny. Surrender,
and all will be well. Throw all responsibility on God and do
not bear the burden yourself. What can destiny do to you then?’
Devotee: Surrender is impossible.
Bhagavan: Yes, complete surrender is impossible. Partial surrender is certainly possible for all. In course of time that
will lead to complete surrender. Well, if surrender is impossible
what can be done? There is no peace of mind. You are helpless
to bring it about. It can be done only by surrender.
D:Partial surrender - well, can it undo destiny?
B:Oh yes, it can.
D:Is not destiny due to past karma?
B:If one is surrendered to God, God will look to it.
D:That being God’s dispensation, how does God undo it?
B:All are in Him only.
To a devotee who was praying that she should have more
frequent visions of Siva, Bhagavan said, “Surrender to Him
and abide by His Will, whether He appears or disappears;
await His pleasure. If you ask Him to do as you like it is not
surrender but command to God. You cannot have Him obey
you and yet think you have surrendered. He knows what is
best and when and how to do it. His is the burden. You have
no longer any cares. All your cares are His. Such is surrender.
That is bhakti.”
26
SURRENDER
God will bear whatever burdens we put on Him. All things
are being carried on by the omnipotent power of a Supreme
God. Instead of submitting ourselves to It, why should we
always be planning, ‘We should do this or that’. Knowing that
the train carries all the load, why should we, traveling therein,
suffer by carrying our small bundle on our heads, instead of
leaving it on the train and being happy.
The story of Ashtavakra teaches that in order to experience
Brahma Jnana all that is necessary is to surrender yourself
completely to the Guru, to give up your notion of ‘I’ and
‘mine’. If these are surrendered, what remains is the Reality.
There are two ways of achieving surrender. One is looking
into the source of the ‘I’ and merging into that source. The other
is feeling, ‘I am helpless myself, God alone is all powerful,
and except by throwing myself completely on Him, there is no
other means of safety for me’; and thus gradually developing
the conviction that God alone exists and the ego does not count.
Both methods lead to the same goal. Complete surrender is
another name for jnana or liberation.
Bhakti is not different from mukti. Bhakti is being as the
Self. One is always That. He realizes It by the means he adopts.
What is bhakti? To think of God. That means only one thought
prevails to the exclusion of all other thoughts. That thought
is of God, which is the Self, or it is the self surrendered unto
God. When He has taken you up, nothing else will assail you.
The absence of thought is bhakti. It is also mukti.
Bhakti is Jnana Mata, i.e., the mother of jnana.
It is asked, why all this creation so full of sorrow and evil.
All one can say is that it is God’s will, which is inscrutable. No
motive, no desire, no end to achieve can be attributed to that
infinite, all-wise and all-powerful Being. God is untouched
by activities which take place in His presence. There is no
meaning in attributing responsibility and motive to the One,
before it became many. But God’s will for the prescribed
course of events is a good solution for the vexed question of
free-will. If the mind is worried over what befalls us, or what
has been committed or omitted by us, it is wise to give up the
sense of responsibility and free-will, by regarding ourselves as
the ordained instruments of the All-Wise and the All-Powerful,
to do and suffer as He pleases. Then He bears all the burdens
and gives us peace.
A Maharani told Bhagavan, ‘I am blessed with everything
that a human being would like to have’. Her Highness’s voice
choked. Controlling herself she continued slowly, ‘I have all
that I want, a human being may want... but... but... I do not have
peace of mind. Something prevents it. Probably my destiny’.
There was silence for a while. Then Bhagavan spoke in his
usual sweet manner: ‘All right, you have said what you wished
to say. Well, what is destiny? There is no destiny. Surrender,
and all will be well. Throw all responsibility on God and do
not bear the burden yourself. What can destiny do to you then?’
Devotee: Surrender is impossible.
Bhagavan: Yes, complete surrender is impossible. Partial surrender is certainly possible for all. In course of time that
will lead to complete surrender. Well, if surrender is impossible
what can be done? There is no peace of mind. You are helpless
to bring it about. It can be done only by surrender.
D:Partial surrender - well, can it undo destiny?
B:Oh yes, it can.
D:Is not destiny due to past karma?
B:If one is surrendered to God, God will look to it.
D:That being God’s dispensation, how does God undo it?
B:All are in Him only.
To a devotee who was praying that she should have more
frequent visions of Siva, Bhagavan said, “Surrender to Him
and abide by His Will, whether He appears or disappears;
await His pleasure. If you ask Him to do as you like it is not
surrender but command to God. You cannot have Him obey
you and yet think you have surrendered. He knows what is
best and when and how to do it. His is the burden. You have
no longer any cares. All your cares are His. Such is surrender.
That is bhakti.”
26
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