How many times in our lives have we reached a point where we just couldn’t take it any more and in exasperation said “I surrender”? We might be surrendering to an argument, surrendering to the outcome of a disease, or surrendering our mental burdens. Surrender is nothing more than letting go of an attachment, an attachment to our point of view, an attachment to worry about our health, an attachment to whatever we fear of losing and giving it to God.
If we let go of the need to be right in an argument, then we wouldn’t get angry. If we let go of our idea of what perfect health should be, then we wouldn’t be worried when we get sick. If we let go of our attachment to this world, we wouldn’t be afraid of death. We don’t need to give away all our possessions to the poor we only need to learn how to be mentally detached from our possessions. We just need to have the right attitude.
One of the Niyamas (observances) in the Yoga Sutras is Isvara Pranidhana, a surrender of everything to God or to humanity. When I first read this passage, it seemed daunting. How can I surrender everything? But as I continued to read, the passage began to make sense. If we let go of our mental attachments to things, we would have peace of mind. In the words of Sri Swami Satchidananda “Real Samadhi means tranquility of mind, which is possible only when we dedicate everything and are free from all attachments.”
So, is it time for an attitude adjustment? Are we ready to dedicate everything we do and everything we have to the world or to God? If that seems too extreme, is there one thing we can surrender today? And if possible, can we surrender one more thing tomorrow and the next day and the day after that? And maybe one day we will have total peace of mind and experience Samadhi.
Namaste
Peaceful Heart Blog 