The Steps of Surrendering

Surrender connotes surrender to God, which few except the most saintly seem to manage. It’s much easier to do the surrendering on your own and let God show up if he wants to. Open yourself up to a Rembrandt or a Monet painting. Pay full attention to it. Open yourself up to what is in front of you rather than allowing yourself to be distracted. Don’t judge in advance that you have to like the painting because you’ve been told it’s great. Don’t force yourself to respond because it makes you look smart or sensitive.

Let the painting be the center of your focus, which is the essence of humility. Be receptive to any reaction you may have. If all these steps of surrender are present, then a great Rembrandt or Monet will evoke love because the artist is simply there in all his naked humanity.

In the presence of such humanity, surrender isn’t difficult. People themselves are more difficult. Yet surrendering to someone else follows the same steps we just listed. Perhaps the next time you sit down to dinner with your family you might decide to concentrate on just one step of surrender, such as paying full attention or being non-judgmental.

Pick the step that seems easiest to approach or, better yet, the one that you know you’ve been leaving out. Most of us have left out humility when we relate to our families. What does it mean to be humble with a child, for example? It means regarding the child’s opinion as equal to your own.

At the level of awareness, it is equal; your advantage of years as the parent at the table doesn’t discount that fact. We all had to be children, and what we thought back then had all the weight and importance of life at any age, perhaps more so.

The secret of surrender is that you do it inside, without trying to please anyone else.

Adapted from The Book of Secrets, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2004).

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Elena T.

1:26AM PST on Jan 4, 2013

Thank you :)

January 4
send a green star

Walter G.

1:55AM PDT on Oct 31, 2012

Garbage in, Garbage out!

October 31
send a green star

Michele W.

9:41AM PDT on Oct 21, 2012

Thank you

October 21
send a green star

Alicia N.

9:38AM PDT on Oct 21, 2012

Well said!

noted with gratitude

Nils Anders L.

4:50AM PDT on Oct 11, 2012

October 11
send a green star

Ron G.

1:25PM PDT on Oct 10, 2012

Good comment Dot....in depth and right to the point

October 10
send a green star

Dot A.

9:54AM PDT on Oct 10, 2012

spirit manifests physical
spirit preceeds physical
unguided ego envies, craves, fears, expresses hatred, does harm to others

9:13PM PDT on Oct 9, 2012

Deepak's aricle is about God and our surrendering to Him.He even starts his comment by stating such.The paintings he mentions are descriptive of focussing our attention on the objects of the attention and not being distracted.I agree with that.When people think of God,it is more difficult for those who don't believe because they become distracted by what their minds tell them rather than what the spirit tells them.Let the spirit conrol the mind as God intended.
While Deepak is Hindu and I am Christian,there are things we can agree on.

October 9
send a green star

3:23PM PDT on Oct 9, 2012

I wish to respond to Brian S ' questions.The different "versions"of the Bible show man's fallibility.They are entirely of man's own doing as are all the different religions and many, many lies.Translations are not different versions though but sometimes can change the meanings a bit.Different denominations of Christianity are from putting more accents on different Biblial values which is not what God wants either.There is only one God and all others are also man's own doing.To sort through truth and lies we have to " sift the chaff from the grain" or " the weeds from the crop".We cannot do that by using man's own rationality.Our own natures are a real problem for us.WE cannot know God unless we surrender to His will.
Of course God could speak directly to people and command and He does do that..although not in the manner Brian suggests.If He did command visually or audibly,where then would our choice be?We would only be puppets doing His will.He speaks to us through the conscience and the Bible but if we analise that.we can see the problems our own wills and choice gives us.So,it is disbelief and a dormant spirit at the root of it.All around us we have all the proof needed to know of God but pride and self will is a barrier.

2:54PM PDT on Oct 9, 2012

Many comments here encourage a response concerning just WHO God REALLY IS.One of the most common errors is to view God as of male gender.He is NOT ! He is of no gender.Spirit has no need of either sex.Male and female He created for the physical realm to procreate.And He created it as a gift."HE" denoted as the male sex on earth is about the responsibility God has placed on the male and we so often fail in that responsibility.The "Fe" in female denoted that women were descended from the male creation,not as inferior but as part of signifying they are really as " one" as in marriage.Another point..."Nature " is another term for " God in action" Mother denoting from her.Actually it is a man made term which can confuse.
So many of people do not realise we are made in His image....ie...we are spiritual...with a spirit.or ":heart" .It is who we really are.It is through the spirit we can know Him and communicate with Him.Without that, we are incomplete. and would fail to know His will.His will is for us to CHOOSE submission to His which is what surrender means.Surrender is a CHOICE.I used the word " condemnation" before.It means that we are choosing the alternative to His will The world we all know.is governed by 2 forces....good and evil.His will is what is good while the alterrnative is the opposite.Our worldly purpose is to make that choice.