Acceptance and Surrender

[Guest guest]

We all must have some partnership to sustain us to live and to

survive in a world filled with confusion and danger. `With whom' you

may ask yourselves? Often we give of ourselves to find that where we

plant our seeds of love, grow only weeds of despair. The Creator knew

of this and He knew that few of us attain greatness or goodness, that

we are filled with human weaknesses, that we are bound to fail one

another. That is why He stressed surrender all your heartache unto

Him, so you can live. He knew we could not cope with all of the human

weaknesses alone. He knew mankind needed an anchor that he might

steady his craft and keep it from drifting into stormy seas, keeping

it off dangerous reefs.

So He often reminded us that our answer was to have faith and depend

on Him and only Him, that the storms of man's folly could not swamp

us. He realizes that in man himself as a human being, little was

concrete; that we are all liquid beings taking on the shape of

whatever receptacle we are filling at that moment.

He bade us find in Him the never-changing security of His great love.

He made us this way so we were incomplete, filled with a restlessness

that gives us little peace so we will strive to reach higher and try

harder to find our way back. We were not given a soul as a heritage;

we were only lent one, and if we fail to keep up our payments on this

loan, we lose it again. He meant it to be so, for in this world of

the material, if it gave complete satisfaction, we would soon lose

the reason for our being here.

We all need a formula for successful living. None of us, none was

sent it as a birthright. Surely you now understand how hard it is to

reweave that tapestry that you left unwoven and will awaken to the

responsibility you have in this lifetime. One of the most useful

concepts to grow spiritually and becoming happier is the method of

acceptance and surrender.

I have personally found this method to be perhaps the most workable

and useful in retaining my poise and staying happier as I go through

life. Partly because of my upbringing no doubt, I have had a life–

long habit of being very self critical and judgmental. I have the

habit of criticizing and feeling bad about myself for every little

thing that happened to me – internally or externally. I tried to

reason my way out of this habit but it did not work – the habit is

still with me. I also feel guilty many times during the day when I am

caught up with my memories of times when I behaved badly.

For anybody in this situation, or anybody who feel negatively about

himself or the situation in which he finds himself the proper

attitude is that of acceptance and surrender. Surrender to the

thoughts and feelings which arise in you. If you are feeling bad

about yourself, or your relationships, or your work or anything about

your life–situation welcome and accept that feeling. Surrender to it,

perhaps it was what was meant to happen at this time. Watch the

feeling with as much detachment as you can. It will pass as it must;

all things in this world are impermanent.

In the classic spiritual bestseller – The Power of Now – Eckhart

Tolle advises us to treat whatever negative feeling that arises in

your mind as a message saying, " Attention – Here and Now. Wake up –

Get out of your mind – be present " .

Surrender does not mean resignation to your life situation. If you

are stuck in the mud you don't say " I resign myself to being stuck in

the mud " and do nothing about it. If you have lost your job, if you

find yourself trapped in a bad relationship or in any situation that

you find intolerable then obviously you must do something about it.

We all need to plan and work to change certain aspects of our lives.

I am not telling you to blame your fate or destiny for everything

that happens and do nothing about it.

What I am asking you to do is to practice acceptance and surrender to

everything, which is happening to you – internally and externally at

this instant in your life. If you are trapped in the morning rush

during your daily long commute to work, then accept whatever is

happening – inside and outside – at that instant. Surrender to your

feelings of freedom, irritation and frustration. Don't repress those

feelings – accept them, surrender to them.

Surrender to the long life of cars or the crowd in the bus or local

train. Accept your present situation – at that instant – fully and

without reservation. This should not prevent you from changing what

can and needs to be changed. Perhaps you can get another job, or

shift to another branch of your company closer to your home. Perhaps

you can take the bus to your office instead of driving yourself. You

can make use or your daily commute by reading a newspaper or a book

or doing some work. Change what can be changed, surrender to what is

happening at this instant – the one thing that you cannot change.

" Seek and ye shall find. " All have destiny; all have purpose. It

rests with you to fulfill your destiny.