“Do we really surrender ourselves to God ?”

Swami ji said…

The pure joy that lights up a baby’s face; the gurgling laughter that rings out, on being thrown up in the air by his father , over – riding fear of any kind – is a delightful sight to behold. The moment gains greater significance as it highlights the complete sense of surrender that the child places in his father ; secure , sure and confident that his father – will hold him in his arms ; will not let him slip through and will not let go off him. A baby – who doesn’t know much about what awaits him in this lifetime – during those innocence filled days – knows only one thing – that his parents arms are his safe haven, as he trustingly nestles and cuddles up in them. It is this trust; complete faith, acceptance and surrender in their father’s ability to cut short their fall – by catching them in their arms – that makes them fearless and carefree. They are sure that nothing untoward will happen to them and there is no cause of worry.

Now, if, as little children, we , could trust our parents blindly – then what happens to that element of trust – as we grow and mature ? Why does our trust in God – our Father in Heaven – decrease ?
Why is it so difficult for us to be convinced that whatever is happening with us ; to us – is happening because He wants, wills and desires it to be that way ? Why do we find it extremely difficult to harbour the same degree of trust in God; in our Creator as we had placed earlier in our parents ?
Where is that spirit of surrender? We get upset and distraught at the first sign of turbulence in our set life. How could any incident or issue , for which we feel we were not responsible, and, had not catered for in our wildest imagination – whip up a storm in our life – we rage angrily ? ‘How can something go ‘wrong’ in a life that we feel had been planned to perfection by us?’

This obsession that we have with ourselves – is well fed by the ‘ego’ – which inflates us with wicked suggestions that – ‘All that is happening – is happening – because ‘you’ are making it happen’. ‘If it wasn’t for you – it wouldn’t have happened this way !’ And, gullible that we are – we lap up every command that the ego issues – and then onwards are mostly on a power trip – as we attribute every achievement and award – to the prowess of the mighty and powerful ‘I’. Our moods swing with the day to day occurrences in our life – from ecstatic to morose. We are pretty as peach one day; and dark as thunder the next. We are willing to suffer mentally, but , are not ready to accept and surrender to the eternal truth that it is not ours but God’s plan alone that works.

Once in a while we do hear someone say – ” I have surrendered myself to God.” ” My surrender to God is complete!” But , if , our surrender is so complete, then why do we ask Him for any thing at all? Why do we repeatedly ask Him for wealth ; a better future ; for good things to happen to us? Why do we look at God with the hope that He will solve all our problems and get us what we think we need. More often than not, we try to plan what is the best for us, and, hope that He will listen to our prayers and make our plans work when we request and beseech Him to do as ‘we’ desire. Such is the folly of the mind.

True surrender does not mean inaction, nor , does it mean that we should stop analysing our life and head blindly into tomorrow. What true surrender means is that – we begin to realise that what is truly in our control – is our actions – and our actions only ; and what is not – is the external world around us ; the circumstances that we are in, and, all that we will face in the future. True surrender liberates the mind – from wandering around – over which we have no control. A person, who has truly surrendered to God, will focus solely on his own actions. He will live life in the best way that he can – irrespective of the circumstances in which he lives, without asking God for any help or favour. He might live a life which might not leave a mark in the world – but will certainly make God proud of him – when He sees him doing his ‘karma’ and living life with complete surrender in God’s will.