What does surrender mean in Spirituality?

There is a lot we have that is not needed. The basic principle is that our troubles arise not from our deficiencies, but from our excesses. The 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. This is the point that we start from.

So if we start from this point, the process of spiritual activity is unburdening. 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 and see that your thoughts, emotions, fantasies, ideology, knowledge, self concepts are keeping you heavy, keeping you dull and lifeless, so you just drop them. Then, it is just called as renunciation.

Fundamentally, what is renunciation? 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 — not right, not good, drop it. In the path of devotion, it is not yourself you really 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. That’s a 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 are rather attracted towards the innermost point. In your humility, you do not call that as your inner self. Why?

You say I am so dirty within, how can the greatest purity then be my inner core? I looked at myself and all I found was dirtiness or 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 (inside), and outside he could be formed or formless. Does not matter what the goal is, but it is outside and there is a distance, and distance implies disconnection (viyog). So, there is a separation.