An End to Upside Down Living by Gober Mark

Author:Gober, Mark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Waterside Productions
Published: 2020-04-25T16:00:00+00:00

Surrender

A related notion is that of surrender, which is the attitude of acknowledging that while we are aspects of the One Mind in the Absolute... in the Relative, we are puny whirlpools compared to the full stream. There are forces at play beyond all comprehension, and therefore the best we can do is set the goal (an intention) to be in alignment with the One Mind—whatever it’s up to—and surrender to that intelligence as being far superior to ours. As Adyashanti says, at a certain point our ego realizes just how limited it is—then it realizes it is “checkmated.”

It’s as if we’re floating in a river and we can either try to impose our personal will to fight the current—which is ultimately a losing strategy, leading to lots of flailing and suffering—or we can attempt to align with the current and let it carry us. This is where the religious saying “Surrender your personal will to Divine Will” comes from. It’s out of humility that we surrender. We can’t know if what the individual is trying to impose is what’s “optimal” from the Absolute perspective.

This attitude is one of allowing rather than forcing. There is, of course, a fine line here. Surrendering doesn’t mean being lazy and saying, “I’m not getting off my couch because I’m surrendering to the One Mind.” Surrendering isn’t a justification for irresponsible behavior or dropping obligations and duties. A balance is required, echoing Paramahansa Yogananda’s notion of being “calmly active and actively calm.” I’m advocating for an active passivity and passive activeness.

So, how do we know when to act if we’re “surrendering”? I wish I had a black-and-white answer, but I do not. If it were that simple, everyone would be doing it. But here are four guiding principles I use for acting in the world while maintaining an attitude of surrender. This is admittedly a process of trial and error, which can only be fine-tuned by testing it out repeatedly in your own experience.

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