Self-Surrender - Swami Ramdas

Questioner: What is self-surrender? Why it is necessary? How does it help a devotee to realize God?

Ramdas: Self-surrender means surrendering yourself to the divine will. You know that God is all-pervading, that God’s power is supreme and that it is by His will alone that the universal movements are taking place. All activities in all places, at all times, in all beings and creatures and things are taking place because God’s power is working in them. Therefore, we say it is by God’s will alone that everything happens in the world. When we recognize this truth, then, naturally, we come to feel that the idea that we are the doers or actors is perfectly false and that whatever is being done by us or through us is being done by the will of God. By His power we are talking; by His power we are acting; by His power we are receiving; and by His power we are giving.

How then can we say that we are doing anything ourselves. Can we say that the blood is circulating in our bodies by our effort? Can we say that the hair grows and the heart beats by our effort? No, we cannot say that. If we realize that the ‘I’ sense is utterly false, and that it is God’s will and power alone that is responsible for all movements and changes taking place in the entire universe, then we have known what self-surrender is.

This consciousness can dawn in us only by a continuous thought of God. When we are incessantly thinking of God, our ego-sense will gradually disappear. This is the only way to eradicate the ego-sense. The moment we forget God, who is the all-pervading Reality, the ego-sense reappears in us. In fact, ultimately we have to realize that ourselves, God and the universe are all one. This is realization of God or Truth. God is the only reality. All that we see is the manifestation of God. There is nothing apart from God.

(To be continued in October, 2005 issue.)

© "Ramdas Talks" by Swami Ramdas, published (1981) by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kulapati KM Munshi Marg, Chowpatty, Mumbai 400 007. Website: www.bhavans.info. Reprinted with permission.

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