When we say surrender or consecration, most of the time what we mean is, to tell to Mother and remain silent or idle or at least in confusion on what to do? Some time we do everything on our own ideas -hoping that Mother will give the expected results. Some time we also remain without taking any initiative that pertains to our consecration or surrender.
After going through Sri Karmayogi’s articles and Mother’s question and answers, I found that all these can be summarized and fitted into two categories:
- Passive surrender
- Active surrender.
Passive surrender: It is submitting all the thoughts that comes. Let it be of, from our highest aspiration or implement some highest values, or doing it for Mother’s sake. Wait till the Spirit to take the initiative and complete by using you as instrument. For example, it will be something like, “I aspire, if it is the Divine Will that it should be done, then it will be done”. Definitely it is a discipline. Sure, a yogic discipline. Here the aim is to be in constant union with the Divine. We even have constant remembrance of the Divine fully surrendering everything. It may be even difficult to come down to the ordinary consciousness.
Mother says- “Here till we can see the Divine hand in all happenings, most probably we will do nothing and try nothing; we will simply go to sleep and wait for a miracle to happen”. That is what happens in life practically when we superficially follow surrender as a method.
Active surrender: Active surrender leads to passive surrender. Here, Mother speaks of a discipline to follow as a method for surrender. Mother defines this as “Hastening the realisation by lending our will to the Divine Will. (In passive surrender it is putting our will at the disposal of Divine will).
In active surrender we cannot give up our efforts or initiative and what we need is,” The Willed Action” that has to be done for surrender before the “Union with Divine” is affected. (In passive surrender we have to give up the efforts and initiatives).
In previous example we said, “I aspire, if it is the Divine Will that it should be done, then it will be done”. In active surrender we will say, I aspire, and it will be sanctioned by the Divine”. This is offering our Will to Divine. This too can be called as surrender when we take the attitude that says, “I give my Will to the Divine. I intensely want to accomplish my aspiration. I don’t have the knowledge for that let the Divine take that Will as Divine Will and work it out for me.”
The following is the method Mother gave as reply to one of the questions regarding this:
The first step is: Now to know whether your will or desire is in agreement with the Divine Will or not, you must look and see whether you have an answer or have no answer, whether you feel supported or contradicted, not by the mind or the vital or the body, but by that something which is always there deep in the inner being, in your heart.
The next is: Your will must continue to act steadily, not in the way of choosing a particular action or demanding a particular object, but as an ardent aspiration concentrated upon the end to be achieved.
If you are vigilant, if your attention is alert, you will certainly receive something in the form of an inspiration of what is to be done and that you must forthwith proceed to do. You must remember that to surrender is to accept whatever is the result of your action, though the result may be quite different from what you expect.
What is required of this type of surrender is consciousness; that is the one need and the only need- to be constantly conscious of the Divine. We can do all that is required for aspiration but with all concentrated on the Divine in all that we do, at all times, in all our acts and in every movement.
