Within the oneness of the All, surrender is not a task but an inner calling to what is most real, namely, the One, the All, God's life moving through all that is.  To be a part of this life is then not an obligation nor an exercise, but an innate part of the recognition of what is most important, most blessed, most holy.

On the plane of duality in which most have experienced themselves as separate beings for a very long time, it often seems difficult to surrender to the Divine One who has created life and who infuses all living things.   This is because the ego-self, having been in charge of self-care and self-protection for such a long time, is not entirely certain that letting go of control is a good idea.  The ego is not sure of the love that lies at the foundation of Creation and that lives within each being. And yet the embodied soul longs for this love, just as it longs to be part of that which it came from.  It longs to bring the physically embodied self back to its origins. 

Surrender involves a letting go of the ego-self in favor of something much greater – the holiness of infinite love and the peace of oneness.  In this letting go, there may exist fear that there is not enough love within the self for the Creator of all, yet this is not true.  For the relationship with the One who is All is as innate to the soul as breathing is to the human body.  It is part of spiritual breathing to breathe in and out with love for God, to be part of that love, to seek to flow in and with that love.

The conscious self may hold a different perspective.  As it engages with situations in life in which fear is present, it may seek to retain a measure of control out of familiarity and out of habit.  This control is in service of self-protection.  It is what the embodied self has known.  Returning to the Source of life as protection is something that cannot be fathomed by the ego but only by one's heart connected to the life of the soul.  Within this heart there is peace and rest and the assurance of blessedness to live within the greater life of the One.  Also, within each embodied being, however separate  or however doubting each may feel, is a yearning to be free of the limitations created by fear, doubt, and the denial of one's true essence.  This yearning is not of the mind but of the heart and of the deeper being.  The mind must give its consent in the process of returning to the Source, but the yearning itself creates the readiness for surrender and the attraction to the deeper life of the profound.

Surrender is on one level a matter of the will, allowing personal will to be absorbed into Divine will, recognizing that the greater Will of the Divine holds all that is good, all that is true, and all that is beautiful in it.

On another level, surrender is a matter of the desire to end separation and to live in a state of love and unity.  Having found separation painful and filled with loneliness, the embodied soul seeks to return to its home where it imagines, hopes, and trusts, that it will feel a sense of belonging.

On still another level, surrender is the innate attraction of the embodied self at some point in its journey through the physical realm, to seek and to find the spiritual source of its being.  Though within any given lifetime the outer self may or may not seek a spiritual life, the trajectory of return is not based on what happens during one lifetime but on the entire arc of embodied existence.  Within this arc and within the deepest heart of each being is a covenantal relationship with the Divine source of being that draws the soul back to the One from which it came.  This covenantal relationship draws the soul back inevitably and perfectly over time, so that the fullness of one's total being can be realized. 

For this reason, one can say that though surrender or the desire for surrender may not be present in any given lifetime, it is present as a yearning from the soul that lives in the deepest heart, a yearning that must one day be fulfilled.

In this drawing back, God has placed a sure sign and a sure arrow of direction, for the soul that lives within the physical self has never left the Divine One, the holy Source from which it came, and its existence both confirms and mandates for each embodied being that each one will ultimately and inevitably one day return home.

Related Writings:

Letting Go and Why It is So Difficult

Aakhan Jor - The Great Surrender (Video)

Giving One's Mind to God

The Practice of Purification - Releasing

Article Section -  Purification