How many times have you made plans, predictions or tried to control situations, but life took its own course? Are you one of those people who think that there is a written destiny cast in stone? Are you always anxious that something bad is going to happen and it actually happens? Do you have trouble trusting anyone? If this vibes with you, this series of articles on the art of surrendering is for you.

“Ye yathā mām prapadyante tāms tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante manusyāh pārtha sarvaśah."

As quoted in Bhagavad-Gita Ch4, V7 which means "In whatever (manner) they approach Me, in the same manner, I reward them. Oh Partha, human beings follow My path in every way.”

What is surrender?

Story 1: Draupadi Vastrapaharan

We all know the story of how Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas gets disrobed in front of the entire court of Dhritarashtra. The Pandavas lost their wife as a wager in a game of dice. Duryodhana orders his brother Dushasana to disrobe her. With no help from anyone around her including her husbands’, she holds on to her saree with both her hands in agony and calls out for help. With no help forthcoming and Dushasana continuing, she raises one hand and calls for help, no help comes even then. When she saw that things were getting out of control, she lets go of her saree, throws up both her hands and begins praying, "I surrender myself unto you! Please save me!" and fixes her mind at the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. The miracle happens and the more Dushasana pulls at her saree, the more cloth there is to pull. Soon he falls down exhausted, but Draupadi remains covered.

Story 2: Peter walks on water (from bible stories)

In Matthew 14:22-34, St. Matthew presents a story which says Jesus wanting to test the faith of his disciples asked them to get into a boat and go before him to the other side, while he went up on a mountain to pray by himself. In the night, with the heavy currents and winds blowing the boat hither and thither, the disciples are scared to death. In the night they see Jesus walking on the sea towards them but in their terrified state think he is a ghost. Jesus reassures them. Peter, his disciple says, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink and cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind ceased.

Story 3: A drowning man

During a flood, a man was stuck on his rooftop. He was praying to God for help. Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, "Jump in, I can save you." The stranded fellow shouted back, "No, it's OK, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith. He responded the same way when a motorboat and later a helicopter came for help. Soon, the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to heaven and finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, "I had faith in you but you didn't save me, you let me drown. I don't understand why!" To this God replied, "I sent you a rowboat, a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"

Spiritual surrender

Surrender usually has a negative connotation – It may mean ‘surrendering to the law’, surrendering in a battle or giving in to the will of the other person in a relationship.

However, spiritual surrender means ‘taking a leap of faith’, ‘unconditional trust’, ‘letting go’, ‘letting life happen for you without any apprehensions attached’, ‘not backseat driving life’ and opening to the infinite possible outcomes for any situation that you are trying to control. The driving truth behind surrendering is an absolute understanding that a divine unseen force will take care of everything in a perfectly orchestrated manner.

Moral of the stories

In story 1, though Draupadi had asked for help multiple times help did not arrive initially. The moment she realized that she was no match to fight Dushasana and people around her are helpless too, she let go of her ego, raised her hands in total surrender and belief and said: “You are in charge of everything now, you are my only saviour.” Krishna was there the next instant to help her. The grace of the Lord manifested immediately.

“Grace becomes accessible and available to you only when you create the necessary openness within you, which means you have to be willing to keep yourself aside.” – Sadguru.

In Story 2, “Peter walks on water as long as his gaze is fixed on Jesus. Once he falters, he notices the howling winds and currents in the water, realizes his own limitations and beings to sink. Jesus had to stretch forth His hand to save him. If Peter had paid no attention to the surroundings, he would not have found himself in danger. His faith would not have been shaken.

In Story 3, the man stranded on his rooftop had faith but had no clue of how help can possibly come. He was hoping for a miracle but did not realize that the help comes through ordinary people. We must remember that help will always come and being open to help to come in any form, is a true understanding of surrender.

How does it work?

I will be using God / Universe / Almighty / Source interchangeably in this article. You can picture the source you believe in this place. It does not have any religious connotations.

One can wish to seek the help of the universe for any situation, but it must be for a genuinely good cause for oneself or others.

When does the call for help get delayed?

• Praying without full surrender, without an actual belief that someone is listening or anything will really happen.
• Bargaining for help in exchange for a service.
• Not recognizing an answer or an inspiration and hence losing an opportunity to act upon it.

Hence, prayer is not always the only action one needs to take, there are few more steps which I will outline as we progress.

Practical situations when surrendering helps

I have been practically implementing the art of surrendering for the last 3-4 yrs. and it has been nothing short of a miracle. Every time I see the results, it does not cease to surprise me, it keeps me in awe.

“Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.” – Ben Stein

People usually tend to manage problems on their own but in complex situations involving many people and timelines, they get lost and

Look for external help, wish that someone waves their magical wands and hope that their wish comes true.

As outlined in my article on blessings (http://www.wellcure.com/body-wisdom/284/the-magical-power-of-blessings-part-1), if a good wish for oneself or someone can work, then a true call for help will also work along the same lines. Popularly it’s also called the ‘law of attraction’. You are learning to allow the universe to work ‘for’ you.

When can you surrender and seek help?

Typical popular examples when one can seek help, based on my experience are definitely not limited. The possibilities are infinite.

• To find lost items.
• When you are alone, afraid and can’t find transport to reach your destination.
• You ask for help on behalf of someone in trouble.
• You need financial aid for a good cause.
• You have to meet someone and you are nervous that some limitation will steal your good opportunity.
• You crave for certain knowledge and accidentally find the right book for it.
• You are searching for a friend’s house in an unknown city and a stranger helps you.
• You have a sore throat when you have to sing for an important event. You surrender and can perform well just for the period of the event.
• You are longing to visit a place and you ask for help to visit the place and you get the opportunity unexpectedly.
• You have to get some work done, but you don’t have enough support. You surrender and the person-in-charge automatically offers his support.
• Finding the right teacher.
• You believe that you are living in a suffocating environment and have tried all the ways to find a solution. But surrendering opens unexpected and unimaginable doors of relief.

Conclusion

Surrendering to an unknown powerful source of help needs unconditional and complete trust and faith. It’s like delegating a task to someone you trust and you without having to check on the progress. We understood the meaning of surrendering and when to apply the technique. In the next part, we will learn the various methods to make this work, fruits of surrendering and some real-life examples that have worked for me.

Read part 2 and part 3.

(About myself: Formerly I was with the IT industry for 2 decades and also have my venture on healthy vegan baking. I have suffered life-threatening allergies and survived twice. I learnt to heal naturally and applied the same on both my kids aged 13 &10. We as a family, live a healthy, disease-free lifestyle. Based on my experience and what I have gained from reading, I help others in reversing their ailments naturally and holistically.)

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