“yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life”
Do you want to know what my secret is? I don’t mind what happens.
Krishnamurti
In Simple Reality to surrender doesn’t mean giving up or giving in and becoming a victim. It is a difficult principle because it brings up all kinds of afflictive emotions, especially fear of losing control.
Laozi (Lao Tzu), author of the Tao Te Ching in the 6th century BC, taught that life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes, and that we shouldn’t resist them because that only creates sorrow. Instead, let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
“Buddhism teaches that surrender literally means to stop fighting. Stop fighting with yourself. Stop fighting the universe and the natural flow of things. Stop resisting and pushing against reality. … [Surrender is] complete acceptance of what is plus faith that all is well, even without my input.”[i]
Insight # 106 comes to us from Eckhart Tolle (b. 1948), a spiritual teacher and author. In 2008 The New York Times called Tolle “The most popular spiritual author in the U.S.”
“Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to [responding to] rather than opposing [reacting to] the flow of life, to accept the present moment unconditionally and without reservation. It is to relinquish inner resistance to what is.”[ii]
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Additional Reading:
- Surrender, The ABC’s of Simple Reality, Vol 2
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[i] https://tinybuddha.com/blog/let-go-of-control-how-to-learn-the-art-of-surrender/
[ii] Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now. Novato, California: New World Library, 1999, p. 171.
