Spiritual Surrender

by Todd Schaefer - 

We may think that ‘surrender’ and ‘giving up’ mean the same thing. But when we consider these two terms from a spiritual perspective, they are quite different. ‘Giving up’ is just what it sounds like – giving up, or quitting. However, ‘surrender’ (spiritual surrender) is letting go and accepting what is happening in our lives right now.

Spiritual surrender is a doorway to an entirely different type of living. 

Surrender means gracefully accepting and going with the flow of our lives. Some may think that surrendering means that we must sacrifice, or that we must accept that we can’t have what we want. This is entirely untrue.

We can still choose what we want to have in our lives. The difference with surrender, however, is that after we’ve made our desired choice, we allow it to arrive to us in faith at exactly the right time, place and fashion which serve our highest and best good.

Surrender is not a concept that our ego favors because it requires patience and trust. 

At first, we begin surrendering only a few of our choices to the Universe. After some practice and developed trust, we may decide to surrender some bigger things – like the directions of our careers and our relationships.

When we become very spiritually attuned to surrendering, we allow it to become our natural state of being, guiding all aspects of our lives. This means that every moment we live we walk in a state of surrender, trusting that everything which occurs – from the mundane to the extraordinary – is in divine right order.

Is it possible to accept that without our pushing and struggling, life will naturally and gently move us forward? The ego would not have us believe this, but letting go more often instead of attempting to control every aspect of our lives will actually promote deeper acceptance of ourselves, our friends and families, and our life situations.

We worry so much, don’t we? Under the surface of any given day, there are countless things on our minds, most of which never arrive to the surface of our consciousness, but rather, arrive to us as an underlying feeling of angst or mild emotional discomfort. We may not always know what it is, but we can feel when it’s there.

When we put our attention in this moment, without worrying about the next thing which may happen, we are creating ‘presence.’ 

When we choose to remain present despite thoughts that lead us out of the present moment, we are consciously surrendering to the moment, or spiritually surrendering. ‘Surrender’ and ‘presence’ are very closely related. Surrendering creates presence - and presence leads us into wanting to surrender more.

Our conscious focus on what is right in front of us is always the best thing for our growth. 

It may not be glamorous, but there’s always a reason for the condition of the present moment. As we practice following that thread of the present moment, we find that we begin to feel better, and our lives flow more naturally into the next moment.

It can be quite easy to fall victim to the belief that something else, or someone else, or somewhere else is better for us. We tend to project ourselves into those moments, which unfortunately, we have no control over now.

Placing ourselves where we are not – whether projecting into the future and past or creating cosmetic substitutions for ourselves - we almost always lead ourselves to disillusion and dissatisfaction. Our projection of ourselves into somewhere or something that we are naturally not, causes (energetic) misalignment.

We are no strangers to the types of neuroses of the mind and ailments of the body which can develop when we subject ourselves to any misalignment for extended periods of time. The process is always the same – energetic misalignment first, manifested misalignment second. 

Whether mild or severe, these misalignments eventually have a wear and tear effect on our feelings. For example, when focusing on the past or future for too long instead of the present, we tend feel somewhat desensitized or empty in our feelings. Things that used to feel full and fresh to us begin to fade. The more non-present we become, the more prone we are to seek outer stimuli to compensate for this lack of presence and feeling.

Our spirit knows and tells us when we are out of alignment in our feelings. 

It’s built in – we can’t screw this up. When we’re out of alignment, we don’t feel good. When we are in alignment, we do feel good. When we don’t have the answers, our feelings still guide us correctly and appropriately. A deep, built-in technology in us always knows the appropriate direction to lead us – but we must surrender in order to access it fully.

There is infinite intelligence in our feelings, intelligence that transcends the boundaries of time and space. 

This intelligence will always be superior to the mind in functionality, efficiency and effectiveness. Feelings are products of the soul and spirit - emotions are products of the mind. Feelings are based on our inherent, deep inner truth; emotions are literally “disturbances.” 

Silencing the mind can assist us in reaching our feelings which sometimes reside beneath the surface of our consciousness, depending on our alignment. And surrender, of course, is the first step in silencing the mind.

Surrender is an easy concept to understand but difficult to live. Studying and living surrender quickly brings to awareness what we are dealing with – trusting versus controlling, believing versus manipulating, having faith versus having problems.

You will notice as we observe the mind that we teach it how to have problems and spend the rest of our lives mentally overcoming them. Surrendering, however, will transcend the programming of the mind by literally creating an energetic accordance between what is truthfully you and what is just another product of the mind. In other words, we can’t expect to create a real solution at the level of the mind, when the mind created the problem. 

Our surrendering, our going higher, our accessing of a higher energy and consciousness is what creates a solution. This will be truthful for any problem’s solution: In order to have a “real” solution, we must come from an energy that is higher than the problem. Ergo, if we want real change, we must access a part of us that is bigger than the mind. Surrendering and silencing the mind will promote the awareness that we are more than our mind, and we are not bound by its limitation and control over our consciousness.

Surrender is for everyone. 

The technology that surrender puts us into touch with is built into us all, and our expanding consciousness is the result – awareness. Awareness is the reason, the birthright of everyone: the young and the old, the unreligious and the religious, the uneducated and the educated. Surrender is a natural state for anyone to achieve and maintain.

The nature of life itself begins to transform as the ego-mind’s dominance over the spirit recedes. Feelings become clearer, truth becomes more evident, regular guidance seems more accessible; miracles seem less miraculous and more ordinary; and a deeper love and trust in ourselves is the natural result of this ever-growing connection that we nurture as we evolve through surrender and being present.

Be courageous. Surrender to what is. Accept the flow. 

Silence your mind. Raise your awareness. Evolve your consciousness. Fall more in love with yourself. Follow your joy and guidance – all in that order, if you wish. Observe the connection between the ego-mind’s inability to surrender control compared to the freedom available beyond its self-imposed limitation. 

Life wants to give you everything that you will allow yourself to receive. With the natural relinquishment of fear through surrender, trust becomes easy, and love naturally rushes in to meet you as you go higher with Source.

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