Surrender - Soul Freedom

"Surrender"

The challenge and opportunity of faith is to surrender to God’s will (the Divine rhythm, the flow of the Tao) believing that however badly things might be going in this moment, in the long term you will attain your heart’s true desire and your life will unfold in a way that is better than you could possibly have imagined, planned for, or created with your personal will power. Living in a state of faith and surrender is to reclaim your Soul Freedom. As with the dangling monk, you reclaim your Soul Freedom by answering the call to let go of the bush.

Choose faith and take action.

Imagine that you don’t speak the same language as God. How could God then communicate with you? Perhaps God would close some doors and at the same time open others. You would be guided to find the right path—a path of self-actualization and service to the world. When a door closes, it can seem like setback, failure, or defeat. Sometimes it will be catastrophic or tragic, for example, when you lose a loved one. But what will you learn from the experience, how will your character develop in response to it, how will your spirit awaken, how will it affect your ability to give and receive love, how will it effect your ability to stay present moment by moment, and how will you grow in wisdom? Your attitude toward adversity changes dramatically when you frame it in these spiritual terms. Consider that God may shake the world so that which is unshakable will be revealed. We don’t always recognize or agree with God’s way of opening and closing doors. Our vision is narrow, and we only see what we want to see or expect to see, just like the man in this modern fable.

A man is trapped in his house by a flood. As the waters rise he goes out onto his porch. Someone comes by in a rowboat and offers to take him to safety. But the man says, “No thanks, God will provide for me.” The waters continue to rise rapidly. The man goes out onto his second story balcony. Someone comes by in a speedboat and offers to take him to safety, but the man says, “No thanks, God will care for me.” The waters continue to rise and the man crawls onto his roof, the only place left to go. A helicopter comes by and the crew urges the man to board and be taken to safety, but he says, “No thanks, God will protect me.” That night the man drowns. When he comes face to face with his Creator, the man says, “I thought you were going to take care of me?” God replies, “I sent two boats and a helicopter. What more could I do?”

When you catch yourself focused on a particular outcome, making judgments about how something is unfolding, try to let go and simply be with what is, while keeping an eye open for the silver lining in even the worst scenario. This could be a radical departure from how you are currently living, but it opens the doorway for you to consider the possibility that something horrible now might be a wonderful and essential part of your spiritual growth, speeding you along the path to your highest self.

Let go of your expectation of the outcome.

Surrender is more easily done by action than by analysis. Instead of thinking about “Why is this happening? What is the meaning of life?” ask instead “How can I act to make my life meaningful?” Your answer is to live a life of passionate detachment.

Excerpted from our new book Sensual Love Secrets for Couples: The Four Freedoms of Body, Mind, Heart and Soul, by Al Link and Pala Copeland, Llewellyn, 2007