Conscious Surrender: Deepening Our Role in the Spiritual Process and Why It Matters (Vijaya Fedorschak)

The aim of all religions is to point out the path that leads to freedom, peace, and joy, which can only be realized through the surrender of ego. The principle of ego or separation permeates our lives. To realize oneness with God or the universe is to be conscious of the divine presence everywhere. Intellectual understanding is different than actual spiritual experience. Ego avoids surrender at all costs; yet the universe brings about transformation. In an absolute sense, surrender is already the case since the universe is what it is and couldn’t be otherwise here and now. When we are not flexible enough to move as the universe is moving, we cannot live in freedom, peace, and joy. But we can practice with conscious surrender and come to accept what is even when it is not our preference. Surrender is the intelligent way to relate to life since the universe rolls along without our agreement. Despite our apparent insignificance, we may lighten the burden of the Divine when we consciously accept what is. Everyday circumstances that we can surrender to and more challenging situations are considered. Surrendering to circumstance is different than surrendering to all of life. There is no proof of surrender other than the abiding experience, which requires self-honesty and has been the experience of different masters in all the traditions. Usually, we do not surrender to joy but tend to hold it in and try to contain it. Surrendering to others loosens the assemblage point, the way ego functions. Surrendering to our life purpose could be very ordinary or not. Surrender is surrender to self, but it is not so easy to distinguish between self and ego. Learning to surrender isn’t part of our education, but we can learn to follow what feels right and accept what is and act. VJ Fedorschak is the organizer of the Western Baul Podcast Series and author of The Shadow on the Path and Father and Son.