“What is the secret of your serenity?” asked the student, “Whole-hearted cooperation with the inevitable.” said the Master - Anthony DeMello.
We all come across situations in life that push us to the edge and
challenge us to face ourselves. They bring up discomfort, pain and
emotional turmoil, however they also provide valuable seeds for personal
and spiritual growth.
In the traditional sense, the word surrender feels very negative. We
associate surrender with weakness and defeat. In a spiritual context
however the concept of surrender can empower us to transform and let go
of that which does not serve us.
Surrender involves the release of selfish attachments and expectations
generated by the ego. When we become fixated on a certain end result we
stop allowing life to unfold in its natural way. We stop “going with
the flow”. Our body responds to this resistance by creating tension and
pain.
Part of “waking up” and becoming more consciously aware involves
noticing when we are developing attachments so that we can release them
and carry on being in the moment without expectation. Dropping our
personal agenda and accepting a situation as it is without judgement
liberates us, giving the situation a chance to evolve and new
opportunities to arise. We have flexibility of mind to see which path
life takes and the openness to embrace it.
Coming up against obstacles is an inevitable part of life. Moving into
surrender is acknowledging that there is a greater life force energy
existing outside of us that has its own intelligence beyond our
comprehension. Since each of us is a small part of this energetic field
it becomes obvious that working against the greater current is
unproductive. The experience of pain itself is life reminding us that
we are too focused on the external world. When we ground ourselves in
conscious awareness we realise that there is nothing that we actually
“need” to occur, as we are whole right now in this very moment.