18 February 2013 - QA 1

Jai Gurudev, my question is related to surrender. Please elaborate on what is the conflict between Surrender and Ego?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, what do you have to surrender? You will not surrender something that is good. You do not have to surrender love. You do not need to surrender truth. So what will you surrender?
You surrender your bad habits, your problems, stress and all that which troubles your heart. That is what you are asked to do – drop your problems.

What does God ask of you? He will not ask you to give up your comfort. God is the very manifestation of all that is good. So what will he gain by asking you to give up the little happiness that you have? He is the ocean of love, so what will he do with a little love that you have?
What is it that God does not have? He does not have problems, miseries and difficulties; and that is what he asks you to give him. Can you not give this to him? So surrender all your negative qualities to him.

No one will ever ask you to surrender your good virtues. You surrender your pride and negative qualities to him. By surrendering to him, you become so light.
So this is a process to help you feel light from inside.

Surrender all that which you do not want. Why are you still holding on to it? This is what surrender is. By doing this, you return to your true nature, your true form. And what is your true nature? It is love, happiness and contentment. To come back to your true nature is what Samadhi really is.
That is why it is said, ‘Samadhi Siddhau Eshwari Pranidhanath’. By surrendering to God, one naturally attains the state of Samadhi. This is what has been said in the scriptures.