Spiritual Straight Talk
Q. I often hear the word ?surrender' mentioned as the key to inner peace. Yet to me surrender means defeat. Can you explain?
Sadhguru: Spiritually, there has always been talk of surrender. But the moment logical, educated minds hear the word surrender, they will build forts around themselves.
In spirituality when the word surrender is used, it means you surrender that which is false. It is just that the very way you have existed up to now, is just a falsehood. What you refer to as yourself right now is simply a collection of identifications that you have taken in your life. Yet if you sincerely look at your essential Self, what have you got to surrender? You have nothing to surrender. Your essential Self is that which has always been and that which will always be. When you realize this fact, your spiritual work is done ? you have already surrendered.
When you destroy the walls of falsehood that you have built, everything becomes one. In Truth, no walls exist in Creation. You just believe they exist, so separation is your limited and distorted perception of reality. When you seek ultimate freedom, all that is required is the surrender of your illusions. And only when you surrender your illusions, reality happens. Reality, or Truth, is not Right now in your experience, with all the multiple impressions that you have, you have built a world of your own. And this world is not real, it is not Truth. You cannot exist here for even a moment without interaction and contact with existence. But you go about believing you are a whole unto yourself. You deal with life as if you've got nothing to do with anything outside of your limited perception.
To drop these false boundaries is what the spiritual process is all about. This work does not have to happen in any particular way, with any specific process or person. For those who are willing to know Truth, there is always assistance. Spiritual masters simply create an atmosphere where it will become easier for a person to become free of his or her bondage.
Dropping identifications that you have carried for a lifetime is like jumping into the void ? it is frightening. When you feel a presence that is bigger than yourself, it becomes easier to keep yourself, or what you think as yourself, aside.
Until you are able to keep yourself aside, there is no possibility of finding Truth. When you drop your limited identification, you no longer need to isolate yourself from the rest of existence. For a person who is seeking liberation, the only way to Truth is the destruction of all walls, which means the dissolution of your individuality. That is surrender, ultimate freedom, liberation.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is an international spiritual teacher, author and authority on yoga, with profound spiritual and cultural insights on health and human values. Send your questions for Sadhguru to Isha Foundation, 10 Belcaro Circle, Nashville, TN 37215 or email: info@ishafoundation.org
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