Blog #16
“The only thing that wants to get rid of the ego is, the ego”- Ken Wilbur
In the yoga sutras, surrender refers to giving up the Self’s false identity with the body and mind. The Self identifying with what changes, passes away and is not eternal, as opposed to identifying with that which never dies or changes, is termed Ego.
The Ego is very strong and fights almost tirelessly to retain it’s identity. To be able to surrender and let go of one’s Ego, which veils the light within, is to wake up to what is considered the real jewel… Absolute Consciousness itself.
Giving up the struggle to remain separate and individuated, brings a sense of relief… of freedom. Surrendering in this way equals true freedom. The Truth will set you free.
This is not to imply that the body and the mind are not valuable or should be diminished in importance, for it is through the body and mind that one must pass in order to come into this remembrance of Self as Pure Being.
The body provides shelter and nourishment for the Spirit just as the Spirit nourishes and enlivens the body and mind. When the Spirit departs, where does that leave the body and the mind? When there is no body and mind, who is there to experience the Spirit?
It would seem, then, that the Spirit needs the body and mind as much as the body and mind need the Spirit. Who is to say that one is more important than the other? The Sutras convey that one without the other is like fire without heat or an ocean without waves.
Let us also not say that the Ego is bad or good. That individuality has no place or that the body and the mind are useless. Let us find balance and appreciation for all the koshas that make up the microcosm of each unique individual, and the macrocosm of the Universe.
Let us surrender to whatever it is that we can surrender to. It may be some notion of God or the idea of eating foods that give us vitality and health or we may surrender into the notion of practicing certain yoga techniques and then watching how those affect us.
We may decide to abstain from sexual intercourse for a certain period of time and pay attention to how that affects our energy levels or surrender a belief about something that we had been clinging to just to see if it was really that big of a deal after all.
Perhaps, if we all surrendered just a little bit, some of our preconceived ideas about who we think we are and who we think others are or what we think something represents or is conveying, we would have the experience of becoming more open, more spacious, and get a glimpse of something quite extraordinary. Maybe, then we would, even if just for a moment, truly wake up to what is right in front of us, and has always been right in front of us.
And, then again, perhaps we just need to surrender into the not knowing. Be with the questions. Be okay with being with the questions. Explore with a beginner’s mind. With a freshness, a curiosity. And, stop fighting for a concept, for it is just a concept after all.
What is the worst that can happen, if when you feel a certain concept challenges what you think is real, you actually allow space for that concept as opposed to resisting it? You surrender into the idea that some truth may therein be contained even if is not your truth. Can you look at it deeply? Really deeply. Can you sit with it… say, “Hello” and entertain it, just for awhile. What would happen, then?
“don’t say that you have seen the truth walking upon your path, say that you have seen a truth, for there are many truths and many paths.”