Question:

I am trying to understand why we have to surrender our impulses/attachments to the Devas. We talked about asking forgiveness of the Devas and asking them to guide us, free us and help us so that we don’t get tripped by the obstacles they throw in our way. Somehow, I feel that this traps the mind at another petty level where we are constantly finding Devas to appease/please to make life easier. Letting go involved nothing else but releasing our own mental conditioning. I understand the Devas are nothing but subtle energy forms but somehow I left feeling stuck at a more base level of fear and having to appease the Devas who are constantly waiting to trip me up. The “tripping” is not the issue I think because that is karma. The concept of having to appease them is what I am struggling with because I was more focused on “un-conditioning” my mind since everything other than the infinite consciousness which I am an inherent part of, is a dream!

Answer:

Surrender does not mean appeasing. Surrender has a lot of significance, let me explain that a little. When you are experiencing a karma, the mind gets lost in ‘action’ from moment to moment to moment, and it develops doership. Whether it is sukha(pleasure) or a dukha(pain), the mind gets caught up in “making something happen” or “doing something about” etc. Even though it understands that what is happening is because of my own karma, it still feels that it is experiencing everything and that it is doing or has to do something. This is DOERSHIP! Remember, it is a skill that very few can master. You have to be engaged in action because that is the nature of the body, but you have to drop all doership related to the action! This means one must be spontaneous in action. A very difficult skill to master, isn’t it?

That is why the Rishi has laid down a simple way to do that. Bhunjitha and Tyakta – Enjoy and Surrender. Every moment you must enjoy and surrender. Every little thing, every little event and every person, every thing you heard and everything you said and everything that happened and everything you did…..basically EVERYTHING must be surrendered moment to moment to moment.

Now when he has laid down that beautiful principle, he also told us that the Devas are actually bringing all the karmas to you. And if it is an extremely painful karma the mind reaches a point where it needs some solace. And surrender give that solace. So once you do that which is required of you (because of the karma that has come your way), you must surrender to the devas. That surrender brings a completion. You know why? Because when “I surrender” arises from your depth, then the doership drops. That is the relief that you experience in surrender. The dropping of the “I” is surrender. That’s the most difficult thing because the mind wants to maintain its false identity, the ego. But the moment you let go off this false identity, you experience “No Mind”. That is the goal of this spiritual path, to move from ‘Mind’ to ‘No Mind’. Therefore surrender to the Devas! You can pray or you can just have an intention, both are the same. It is for you!

On a lighter tone, the devas do not understand English so even if you attempt to appease them, they don’t really get it. A Deva is only an energy impulse like electricity or gravity, that is it! How much ever you pray to gravity, please reduce the pull you have on my feet so I can fly, it’s not really gonna change what IS! Understand that this entire exercise is just for you. It is an exercise to sharpen the intellect so that it can train the fussy, cranky, moody, whiny mind. Just like you train a little child. It is for the safety of your mind. Surrender is like a safety valve so that the ego of doership does not destroy the softness within you like a pressure cooker that can burst without the safety valve. Maintain the softness within! Surrender! Let go off the “I”.