What Does ‘Surrender’ Mean in Spirituality?

Questioner: A lot has been said about surrender — Surrender to the inner guru, surrender to the outer guru. I want to know what actually is surrender, and surrender to whom?

Acharya Prashant: You see, there is a lot that we have, is not needed. The basic principle is, our troubles arise not from our deficiencies but from our excesses.

Our problem, in the inner sense, in the mental sense, is not that we lack in anything, our problem is that we have accumulated much that is useless, needless, and just a burden, right? This is the point that we start from. So, if we start from this point, obviously the process of spiritual activity is unburdening, right?

The process involves letting go, dropping. In the way of knowledge or realization, this unburdening happens because you see that the stuff that you have is unnecessary and toxic. You come to look at your mind; you see that this, that I am having within — thoughts, emotions, fantasies, ideologies, whatsoever knowledge, self-concept — this is what is keeping me heavy. This is what is keeping me dull and lifeless. So, you just drop it. Right? Then, it is just called renunciation, then it is just renunciation.

But fundamentally, what is renunciation? Getting rid of something. Getting rid of something. This process of getting rid is given the name renunciation, if you apply the negative process of knowledge or realization. Negative in the sense it discounts; it looks at stuff and says, “No, not right, not good, neti-neti, drop it.”

In the path of devotion, it is not yourself you so much look at, it is a faint memory of the beloved that impels you. You are both — the outer covering, which is all the excess accumulation, and the inner core of purity, which is the true self. Right? That’s the beginning point.

In the process or on the path of devotion, you’re not too much bothered about the external sheets, external layers. You are anyway fed up of them. You don’t want to even inquire into them. You’re attracted rather towards the innermost point. That innermost point, in your humility, you do not call as your inner self. Why? You say, “I’m so dirty within. How can the greatest purity then be my inner core? I looked at myself and all I found was dirt and dust, rubbish. Then how dare I say that the greatest lies within me? I cannot say that.” So, the devotee establishes his goal outside of himself. He says, “There he is,” and outside, he could be formed or formless,”Nirgun” or “Sagun” — it doesn’t matter what he is. He is outside, he is outside and there’s a distance, and that distance implies view. So, there is a separation. Here I am, and what do I have? Nonsense within me. And there he is, outside of me, and he represents all that is sublime, pure, and worth having.

So, now coming back to the basic principle. What I wanted was, freedom from my nonsense. In the path of realization, I just dropped it. In the path of devotion, I take this nonsense and direct it towards my ultimate. I say, “I am so feeble. I cannot even drop it. Had I had the power to unilaterally drop it, I would have done that long back. I cannot do that. I have to remain with it. So, I will just direct it towards you.”

For example, I am full of attachment. That’s my rubbish. What do I do then? I direct my attachment towards my lord. Getting it? I’m obsessed with image-making. What will I do then? I’ll stick to the one most beautiful image of my lord, and I’ll forget all other images. I am so talkative, I keep chattering entire day, loquacious is my name. So, what do I do then? I’ll talk a lot, but I’ll talk only of you, my lord. So, I am directing all that I have towards you, knowing fully well, that I cannot just drop it. I’m incapable of that. I don’t have the power. I am feeble.

Then this process of getting rid of your nonsense is called surrender. At its core, surrender is nothing but inner cleaning. If you can just clean your stuff, clean up the within — great, do it.

If you cannot go for that inner clean up, then direct your tendencies towards the highest goal possible. That’s the path of devotion. In that, you call this thing as surrender.

Questioner: It’s hard for me to understand the path of devotion, or what does that actually mean — the path to Truth?

Acharya Prashant: It is for very practical people. It’s for people who have had no honest experience with themselves will, first of all, try the path of knowledge. The path of knowledge says, “I am good enough to bring about my liberation.” In the path of liberation, the ego itself is the actor. In the path of liberation, in the path of knowledge, the ego is the sword that is used to cut down the ego.

I am looking at myself, and I’m saying, “Oh, I could see there is a problem. I am my own doctor.” That’s the path of knowledge. After all, in the path of knowledge, the object of knowledge is not the world. What is it that you look at? You look at yourself, right?

Now, therein lies a basic contradiction, inherent in the path of knowledge. I require a path because I am not all right. Correct? Had I been all right, why would I have required any path? So, I’m not all right, but I carry the conviction that I’ll be able to not merely choose my own path but also walk it right till freedom. Now, that’s a contradiction inherent in the path of knowledge, “Gyan Marg.”

Who are you? Someone who is sick. If you are sick, how will you heal yourself on your own? But usually, especially in this age when man has become just too powerful, people will want to start with the path of knowledge because the path of knowledge is a path that pleases the ego, does it not?

“I’ll do it on my own. I’ll read some books. I’ll do some self-observation. I’ll critically analyze my life, my thoughts, my emotions, my livelihood, my stuff. I will do it.” Right? And these are noises, as you see. They’re trying to do something that won’t practically succeed.

Therefore, I said that the path of devotion is for very practical people. It is for those who have raised their hands and said, “I know myself, and I know how much I can do on my own. Therefore, I am not going to trust myself with the most important mission of my life.”

What is the most important mission of my life? Please, I want some freedom. I want liberation. That’s the most important mission of my life.

Trust anybody but myself for that. So then, you entrusts somebody outside of you. But that, mind you, does not quite please the ego, because the point of beginning itself requires humility here. It requires an admission of one’s powerlessness, and the ego does not like to admit it’s powerlessness. We want to say, “You know, we are somebody.” Especially if you are well-read, or academically qualified, or professionally successful, you do not want to start off admitting that you are just an incapable idiot. You don’t want to start off that way.

And this is not an age in which the path of devotion seems practical or an automatic choice, right? Today, with science and technology and knowledge, man appears so powerful. Why will he readily admit how powerless he really is? He doesn’t admit. First of all, he tries on his own. And then, if he is lucky, then after multiple failures, he turns to devotion.

Devotion is for the ripe seeker.

Devotion is for the mature seeker.

The beginner, the novice, the greenhorn, he will, first of all try, you know, some individual, personal adventures. May he succeed, may he succeed and if he has to fail, may he fail quickly and may he fail repeatedly, so that his fallacy, the basic flaw in his assumptions, is revealed to him. Once it is revealed, then it will be probably easier for him to confess that he can’t make it on his own. And then you bow your head down and look upwards to some power mightier than the ego.