There are various moods of surrender on the path of devotional life especially in the context of attaining the Prayojana (highest ideal) of eternal servitude to the divine couple. When one surrenders one’s all to the Sadhguru , it should be understood that one surrenders one’s thoughts, emotions, intelligence and one’s entire being at the feet of Sadhguru.
Although the mood of surrender demands ultimate sacrifice, it is often seen that despite getting the auspices of a Sadhguru one is not able to surrender whole-heartedly at the feet of the Sadhguru. A major reason for this inability is the residue of karmic effect that clouds the aspirant’s mind and intelligence. Hence the aspirant still bears in his heart impressions of self-indulgence and wayward tendencies which are materialistic in nature. These tendencies can be so subtle that externally the aspirant may demonstrate symptoms of surrender and bhakti, yet internally the knot of material bondage is predominant. Such an attitude is compulsive in nature. When surrender to Sadhguru happens in this mode, the surrender is not absolute and the individual does not reap the benefits of absolute surrender.
The position of absolute surrender is such that the surrendered devotee floats in an ocean of expanding freedom; there is absolutely no sense of pressure and one acts from the heart. Such a person is not sentimental and on the other hand develops extreme sensitivity to the feelings of other living entities and endeavours to enter the mode of spiritual service towards the entire world. The surrendered aspirant develops feelings of extreme attachment to the Sadhguru who is the living representation of the Supreme Lord Himself. Such an individual does not use his “brain” intelligence and shuns transactional exchanges as one who is bound by material nature would normally indulge in. One is not calculative and simply goes with the flow of life without manipulation or preference.
On the other hand if a devotee has not surrendered fully, one displays characteristics of material transactions in every dealing including exchanges between other devotees. One is harassed continuously by the thinking mind and sways in one’s mannerisms thereby making one’s behaviour unpredictable and manipulative. The duplicitous surrendering of such an individual can be compared to rowing of a boat at the shore waters with its anchor still firmly riveted. When the Sadhguru bestows his grace; the grace works in unknown ways. If an individual does not surrender completely to the Sadhguru and is selective in his transactions with the Sadhguru and the Vaishnava community , this grace that has been unconditionally been bestowed on him flows through the senses and mind of the individual instead of flowing through the heart of the individual. Instead of promoting feelings of unity, compassion and attachment (asakti) to the Lord, the very same component of grace works contrary to the intentions of the Sadhguru and the disciple himself. This is because grace is an independent entity and does not depend on the Sadhguru or the Vaishnava community. It operates on its own and flows naturally where there is a relationship of love and faith and contrarily affects a relationship especially where there is duplicity. Hence it becomes necessary for the devotees to understand the position of grace in the context of surrender to the Sadhguru and the Lord. The greatest ignorance that shields the brilliance of the soul and its eternal connection with the absolute is the jeeva’s attitude of false knowledge, that is to claim “I know it all”. This false claim has the capacity to give an experience of spurious know-how which forces the jeeva to believe that it knows even though the jeeva is far away from reality. This is also an aspect of Yoga-Maya which functions in the domain of bhakti and functions exactly like jeeva-maya which is normally operational outside the domain of Bhakti. Only when the jeeva pleads “absence of true knowledge” can the reservoir of grace inundate one’s heart and unlink the chains of bondage. The journey of the jeeva from intelligence to feeling is delineated entirely by this sincere acceptance of incompleteness and casting one’s thinking mind away in the form of tear-flower offering at the feet of the enlightened master!
Charan Pahari 