What is Surrender?

[Emmalevine]

Love this and have copied it onto Word, thanks Xan.

deleted, still learning how to navigate through this website.

For me, what comes to mind is the "The Serenity Prayer"

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. --Reinhold Niebuhr

such a powerful prayer.

Xan, love your stuff, your efforts are well noted. thanks

[Jyotir]

Thanx Xan,

I view it as significant that you chose to place the topic in the section on 'development', since surrender is really an ongoing process.

Surrender in the spiritual sense is not passive or subservient.
'Passive' implies inertial. 'Subservient' implies domination. The former is not a true transformation, the latter is derived from the fear of a separate superior autocratic power. Therefore it helps to look at a spiritual definition of surrender - not an intellectual, social, political, or psychological one, etc. (because no one should or needs to be fearful of their True Self)

Surrender is the conscious, willing, dynamic acceptance by the instrumental being, of higher principle that is available as potential within the greater being. It is the active participatory becoming in and through the individual life - of one's Integral True Self by the false 'divided' phenomenal self (untransformed ego/personality), through the self-transformation - the realization of that potential.

Let's not forget that in the 'real' world of practical experience vs conceptual theory - the actual 'passive subservience' is that of the instrumental being's unconscious acquiescence to its own untransformed ignorance (material, emotional and mental), of those fully illumined principles resident within the being but not consciously expressing. Therefore we see the reiterations of various 'unsatisfying experience' in our lives.

But this Consciousness (Highest-Self) within the individual being does not force itself or demand its expression - otherwise that would truly be a subservience demanding the passivity of the lower being. We know from experience this is not the case or we would all be living in the 'Heaven' of a forcefully 'perfected' world. No, what we see quite often is the active expression (individual and collective) of lower principles that are simply ignorant of the higher.

From the relative pov of the lower instrumental being, those fully illumined principles of Higher/Highest-Self resident within the being but not consciously expressing, can be seen to be relatively quiescent - unless and until there is that (first invocation, then...) willing surrender to it, enabling the lower being to transform / transcend its functional ignorance of the Higher Self, by action of the HS in and through (not superimposed on) the surrendered instrumental being (lower self). Higher/Highest Self within the individual human being (soul / 'jivatman') is the fully conscious 'representative' of the Divine which has full and permanent access to the entire range of the Totality and height of the Absolute, embodied as a potential within the microcosm of a human being. Surrender is a vehicle to that Consciousness.

~ J

[Xan]

Originally Posted by mattie

I’ve never been keen on what I see as the curious use of the word surrender in spiritual writing for multiple reasons.

The process of our connecting w/ our extended energies such as HS & the Universal energies is a very active process of our reaching out & connecting w/ the Universal energies as active partners, not our passively surrendering.

Mattie... Surrender is not really passive but an active choice... not giving up our individuality to a vague 'something greater', but gradually yielding our conditioned limited self-identity into our larger and deeper true nature.

We don't surrender to something or someone apart from us but, as in all growth, we let go of the familiar ways we have known before into what we are becoming.

This is the challenge of surrender... to courageously face through the fearful moments when we face the unknown of what we are only beginning to glimpse and have not yet learned to trust.


Xan

[Xan]

Surrender is the conscious, willing, dynamic acceptance by the instrumental being, of higher principle that is available as potential within the greater being.

It is the active participatory becoming in and through the individual life - of one's Integral True Self by the false 'divided' phenomenal self (untransformed ego/personality), through the self-transformation - the realization of that potential.


Surrender is a vehicle to that [True Self - Higher/Highest] Consciousness.


Great description of surrender, Jyotir. Thank you.


Xan

[Xan]

Originally Posted by n2mec

Xan, love your stuff, your efforts are well noted. thanks

_/\_
namaste

starbuck and n2mec


Xan

[stillwater29]

Originally Posted by Xan

Mattie... Surrender is not really passive but an active choice... not giving up our individuality to a vague 'something greater', but gradually yielding our conditioned limited self-identity into our larger and deeper true nature.

We don't surrender to something or someone apart from us but, as in all growth, we let go of the familiar ways we have known before into what we are becoming.

This is the challenge of surrender... to courageously face through the fearful moments when we face the unknown of what we are only beginning to glimpse and have not yet learned to trust.


Xan

i agree and this is what surrender is too me its about allowing yourself to grow.

[in progress]

Surrender for me is realizing once and for all that the mind can't figure it all out and being able to fully accept it.

Not there yet but that's what I think it's about! Er, feel it's about!?!!

Greetings..

Surrender the need to name it, surrender the desire to embellish it as if it were anything special.. when can you surrender to the silence, to the stillness? each praising the other for their keen understanding and splendid speeching, testimonials and affirmations..

Surrender, will be most appreciated when it is, itself, released from the bondage of the mind's conceptual clamoring, released from the the mind's pantheon of Spiritual deities..

Surrender is a game people play with themselves, they reward themselves with with Spiritual labels like 'enlightened', or ascended, or whatever elevates their self-image for playing the game..

By now i am accustomed to the misunderstandings most have of my intentions, when i post in this manner.. but, if there were a sincere intention to surrender the desire to defend the ritual of affirming each others' righteous spirituality, there may some space for actuality.. space for some genuine sincerity without the necessary ritual of demonstrating the approved 'surrender' awareness..

I watched one evening as a local Metaphysics Group went through its discussions on the participants' understandings of the book/movie 'The Secret' and the alleged 'Law of Attraction'.. there were +/- 15 people in the discussion, and i was just observing.. soon, everyone but me had explained their unique perspective, but in doing so affirmed the alleged Law's basic principle.. finally, someone asked me for my opinion, and i said i didn't really have an opinion on the matter, i said it seems like a repackaged version of 'The Power of Positive Thinking'.. i was content to leave it at that, but it seemed like my understanding was received as a challenge, and the meeting became about convincing me that the 'Law of Attraction' was a valid Universal principle and humans were incapable of violating this principle.. i tried to graciously agree that the concept had merit, as it applies to energetic coherence and resonance, but.. i finally felt compelled to excuse myself, as the group 'expected' me to conform.. sometimes, Spirituality feels that way, an unwillingness to challenge its own understandings..

Be well..