So I thought today it might be nice for us to talk about a principle in yoga that we work with,
That also we work with in the 12 steps.
So one of the programs that I co-lead through our school here at Ananda,
Our yoga and meditation school,
Is a program called Yoga and the 12 Steps.
And what this program does is bring together the principles the spiritual principles of the 12 steps with yoga teachings,
Yoga tools,
And yoga practices,
Weaving them together.
Creates a really wonderful way for us to work with our spiritual life.
So I thought right now is a time that seems very fitting for this.
So our first principle that we look at is surrender.
And in yoga tradition and yoga practice,
Surrender is divine surrender.
It's a spiritual surrender,
Which allows us to open to divine grace.
So I want to talk a little bit about the difference between what we might think of in the world as surrender and how we work with surrender spiritually.
When I'm talking about the 12 steps,
This is the 12 step program that looks at primarily at addiction and other challenges.
You might be very familiar with that.
It might be new to you.
But these principles are universal.
One of the things that Yogananda taught is truth is universal.
So all paths will represent,
All true paths will be saying essentially and teaching essentially the same thing.
The form of it can look different and be different,
But the underlying principle will not be different.
So in our world,
When we look at surrender,
Very often we think of it in terms of a passive kind of dropping of our energy and letting go and giving up.
And it really can often feel like failure.
So it's not easy to do.
And in that context,
Especially,
We can resist it a lot,
Because we're identifying with the practice and kind of looking at ourselves.
And again,
This is a worldly view of surrender,
Where we imagine that we've done something wrong,
Or we're failing in some way.
In spiritual practice,
Surrender is humility.
It's an honesty.
It's looking at our life in a situation and acknowledging our limitation with it.
To say,
You know,
This situation is something I can't control.
It's bigger than me in my own unaided will,
My own unaided power.
So part of what we're doing is the principle,
The yogic principle that lines up with spiritual surrender is truthfulness.
In the yamas and niyamas,
This is one of the yamas,
The practices of non-lying.
Swamiji,
When he writes about this in Raja Yoga,
Says that the subtle practice of non-lying is also not wishing something was different than what it is.
So here we are in a situation that's profoundly challenging,
A global pandemic.
I mean,
This is extraordinary.
And it brings us to a moment where all of us come face to face with what we cannot control.
We also come face to face with what we can control.
So part of what we look at with the practice of surrender is making a decision to acknowledge where we are limited and to choose something greater than ourselves to help us.
And that's a really key important part of spiritual surrender.
There's a dynamic energy in it,
Even if we feel like we've come to our knees,
Even if part of what we're experiencing is hardship or overwhelm.
Right?
Because sometimes it really does feel like that.
But within it,
There is in the practice of yoga and in the spiritual practice of surrender,
We have a realization of the opportunity.
And a receptivity to something greater.
So that's part of what we're looking at.
What,
You know,
Part of when I was preparing for our talk today,
I was reflecting on what brings us to that.
Well,
I mentioned,
Right,
This extraordinary situation we're in is definitely something that brings us to that,
Which is part of why I felt right now is a good time to talk about these principles.
But there are other things that bring us to that point.
It can be an illness,
Right,
A very serious illness.
It can be a loss of relationship,
A loss of job,
It is something challenging and difficult that we don't want.
So that very often,
And we can try everything within our power to make it be different,
But the realization that I can't make it different.
So those are some of the reasons,
Some of the circumstances that would bring us to a place of surrender.
The other thing that can bring us to surrender is a vague sense that I could be happier.
Vague sense that there must be something more in life and this can come through success This can come through everything lining up and all the things that you set out to create and manifest happen It does happen,
Right?
It might have happened for you.
You might know someone else who it has happened for now sometimes Where everything is going well,
And we're happy we were not looking for anything else.
We're good spiritual teachings,
Spiritual principles,
They're interesting maybe.
We have some,
We don't mind them,
But there's no hunger within us that's longing for them.
Other times,
Success brings this realization that Hmm,
Okay,
I've realized that,
But.
.
.
I sense within myself I could be happier than this.
Maybe that happens with a job and a career you reach to the point where you realize any more success in this It's just going to be the same thing It can happen in relationship as beautiful as a loving supportive relationship is there is the realization?
Where you recognize the limit of that?
The truth in our External world is that it's limited and what it can provide for us.
That is a spiritual teaching however happy we might be able to However much happiness we might be able to realize we keep bumping into the boundary of it.
We keep experiencing Hmm.
Okay.
This only goes so far now what we might do and can happen and in yoga teaching It says we do do this many many times many incarnations of try again like,
Okay Well,
Maybe a different job,
Right?
Maybe that's as far as that job could take me.
I'll try a different job.
Well,
Maybe a different relationship Maybe this.
Yogananda said that part of what keeps bringing us back to reincarnate is we almost get it right.
We line everything up.
It seems like,
Okay,
I have this,
I have this,
I have this,
I have this.
And we're happy and we feel like if I could just change my outer circumstances a little bit,
Then I'd realize it.
But again,
At some point,
The soul knowing,
The soul understanding begins to speak to us in a way that we can hear it.
And we begin to reach out To something greater than whatever we might be able to realize on the material realm The other part of that is the sole memory of joy within us Which very often we touch in life and we have these moments that we sense it's more than the moment right extraordinary peace extraordinary well-being and it isn't that the day is that much different than Another day,
So why today do I feel so much peace and so much joy and so much ease?
Well,
Oftentimes we've touched and tapped into something.
Yogananda called it a portable paradise that each one of us carries these divine qualities of abundant joy.
Unlimited,
Unconditional love,
Perfect love.
Perfect peace,
Perfect calmness,
Perfect wisdom,
All of these things are within us.
And so there are moments that the soul begins to remember or push at us to ask for more.
One of the metaphors of the spiritual teacher or the master is that,
And this is God's way of working with us,
That God never imposes upon us,
Right?
So we get to take as long as we need to be willing to ask for divine help and divine assistance.
So one of the metaphors for this is someone in a forest,
Right?
So we're in the forest and we don't have a map.
We don't really know where we're going.
And If we had tuned into,
If we had humility,
We might admit that help would be a good thing right now.
And so in this story or this metaphor,
The divine master appears and comes to the individual and says,
Could I be of any help to you?
Do you need any help in navigating the forest?
And when we're not ready yet,
We'll say no.
No,
Thanks.
No,
I'm good.
I mean,
I don't know where I'm,
The deeper truth in the story is I don't know where I'm going,
I don't have a map,
It would be very helpful to get help,
But I'm not ready yet.
And the master just does very well and removes himself from the scene and lets us find our way.
So something also that's very interesting about spiritual surrender is the strength that's required to do it So in the yoga teaching we often talk about the limitation of the ego the ego Yogananda said is the soul identified with the physical body the personality in the material realm so from an egoic perspective,
I Think I am my body.
I think I'm the thoughts that I'm having I think I'm the experiences that this body is going through and that understanding is a very limited understanding of myself.
Very limited this the truth of who we are is a Perfect pure spark of divinity we come from the divine and our essence is divine So we have within us all the power of the divine and as we awaken and remember that We have access to that power in the 12-step world There's a famous quote about Surrender and about reaching that point that we feel powerful powerless.
And it said,
Lack of power was our dilemma.
And what it's speaking to is the need for a higher power,
The need for something more.
So coming to this realization,
However we get there,
Whatever brings us to a point that I need help.
I'm ready for help the ego itself.
I'm the one and I'm the only one who can say that and receive help or ask for help no one can do that for me and That's an important principle with yoga and it's an important principle in the 12-step community that very first step of admitting That I've reached the limit of what I can do and I need help now.
I need help from something outside myself.
What's interesting about our spiritual growth and awakening to this power,
Divine power within us,
Is we do often need support outside ourselves to find the truth within ourselves.
So it's an interesting experience that,
You know,
This sense of wanting self-sufficiency,
I want to realize it,
I want to do it.
Well,
There's an aspect of truth to the highest self having the power to manage life and to manage energy and to have mastery.
But until we've realized that we need help to get there.
We need help from one who's gone before us.
So Swami Kriyananda writes in Raja Yoga,
The paradox of the spiritual journey is that towards the end of the journey,
The ego is in our way.
The ego has a hard time admitting that it needs help.
It has a hard time acknowledging limitation because it's identifying with it.
So if I tell you I don't have it all figured out from an egoic perspective,
I think that I'm sharing with you that I'm diminished in some way.
I'm defective in some way.
Somehow something's wrong with me that I can't do it.
So that's how the ego views limitation.
The divine ego,
Which is the realized ego,
The ego integrated with our soul,
And it's a journey of awakening that this happens,
Is able to recognize the blessing in asking for help.
The truth,
It's the truth that I need help to grow and awaken and realize my potential.
So often in other areas of our life,
We accept this with greater ease.
Sport,
It's not usually surprising to the ego or offensive to the ego that I hire a coach or I join a team and I learn the practices of that sport and I get support in it.
There's usually,
There's kind of in our cultural world,
Everyone understands that.
No one thinks of anyone,
In fact,
It's considered wisdom to do that if you want to improve.
Same thing with music or any academics.
But when it comes to the spiritual life,
There is often a feeling that I want to do it on my own,
Or I'm somehow I'll come back to the word diminished.
I'm somehow diminished by needing help.
And I would say that in the practice of yoga and the practice of the 12 steps,
This is not true.
What is true is that we do need help and support to realize our highest our highest knowing,
Our highest wisdom.
Now that being said,
I want to be careful and clear that That truth.
Again needs to be something that each individual realizes for themselves.
So more than once I'm sure Swami Kriyananda was asked,
Do I need a guru?
Do I need a master to be helping me?
And Swamiji said no.
Not if you don't think so.
And really,
He was being very sincere.
And he then added,
Right,
The spiritual journey,
Realizing your highest self is challenging and difficult.
So there's a certain point where it's understood spiritually that we do,
But we never argue the point,
Right?
We never argue the point with someone else.
Yeah,
You never argue the point so sometimes in this work that I do Someone will ask me that might be concerned about a loved one who they feel like if they could just surrender if they could just say the truth that their life is not working for them and What they're doing is taking them further and further away from joy I wish you know so someone can come to me.
It's happened a number of times and with understandable concern and They're wanting,
Like,
Would I talk to this person?
Or could I help them know how to talk to this person?
Well,
Generally I'm very open to talking to someone when asked.
The question that I have is,
Do they want to talk to me?
I mean are they interested is this something where are they if that person feels like I don't need it and they don't need to talk to me and there's nothing that needs to change in their life,
Usually what I'll say is I don't recommend it.
I don't recommend it because,
You know,
Then it actually really feels offensive and it may not,
Well,
If they don't want it,
It's definitely not a good idea.
So the question of,
Well,
Can I coax someone to surrender?
Rarely.
Rarely,
Because there's too much in that coaxing that feels like I know what's best for you.
I'm looking at your life and I have a sense of what you should be doing to improve your life.
And that never feels good and it's disrespectful.
The masters don't do that,
Right?
The saints don't do that.
So the only time,
Yogananda said he never corrected people unless he felt their receptivity to him.
So that quality of inner receptivity,
Inner longing,
Inner wanting is essential.
And then I want to say that the practice of surrender is a lifelong practice.
So it's not just these really big,
Difficult,
Hard moments,
But it's a principle that serves us throughout our spiritual life that becomes more and more refined over time.
Swami Kriyananda tells a beautiful story of being in India where he had wanted to connect with a gentleman that he knew from Davis University in California.
Before he left for India,
He wasn't able to get his address.
So he got to India and he had no way of looking him up,
But he really enjoyed this man and felt a great kinship with him and was sorry that he didn't have the information to look for him.
When Swami landed in India,
What happened is those who were meant to pick him up,
The plan of those to pick him up didn't show.
They didn't come.
So he was there.
He realized those who were supposed to meet him weren't there.
Now what?
His lifelong practice of divine surrender.
Of spiritual surrender where he could say,
Okay,
Divine Mother,
Now what?
With calm centeredness,
No panic,
No concern,
No rushing around to try and figure things out,
Which in a worldly sense would be common.
But the spiritual practice of following divine will,
Being aligned with divine will,
Trusting the divine.
Opening to divine grace he paused and inwardly said the prayer Okay,
Divine mother now what and the moment he spoke that I mean he says within 30 seconds.
He heard someone say to him Excuse me,
Right?
Could you tell me your good name?
Which is there I guess a custom in India of a way of asking someone their name and he said yes I'm Swami Kriyananda and the man said I thought it must be you my good friend,
And I think it was dr.
Mishra I think I have that right right,
Said,
Had told me about you and given me one of your books with your picture.
Well,
This was the man that Swami wanted to see.
And Swamiji said,
Oh my gosh,
That's,
He was the very person I wanted to see coming here.
I was hoping to see.
But I don't have his address and I don't know how to get to wherever this man lived,
Which was quite a distance.
And so the man speaking to him said,
Well,
He's here.
He's in town.
I'm on my way to see him.
I would love to take you to see him.
Swamiji was able to go and see him and stay with him,
Which he later said if he had tried to find a hotel room,
He would have had great difficulty,
If not impossible,
Getting a room.
And he shares this story as a way of teaching what happens when we're really in the practice of divine surrender Moment by moment we create a plan we move forward with the plan We show up with all of who we are and what we have to give to a situation.
It's it's not passive It's very dynamic But when circumstances present themselves and we can't change it right in a calm way,
Right?
It wasn't that Swamiji wouldn't have looked for a hotel or reached out to his friends if he had felt guided in that way,
But he immediately received an answer through this stranger.
Approaching him the moment.
He spoke the prayer.
This is the beauty of the practice of surrender in a lifelong practice that I find throughout the day There's a way in which it's very close to me if I'm driving somewhere and suddenly unexpected traffic or What can trip me up more would be something with the computer?
So I really practice can I offer this to the divine and take a breath and Relax so that then the energy continues to flow in an even way and that is divine grace So this opening to divine grace it changes everything Jesus,
One of his famous quotes,
One of the famous things he said is to those who received him,
Gave he the power.
I think it was one of the disciples saying that about Jesus.
To those who received him.
Gave he the power to become the sons of God.
So.
.
.
Our receptivity to the divine,
Our willingness to work with life,
This practice of satya,
Truthfulness,
Non-lying,
Is a practice of what is.
So okay,
This is what is,
Now what?
What can I do with that?
So just in your day,
In your journey,
Pondering this principle of how can pausing and accepting even something that seems wrong Or difficult or at the very least inconvenient it's going to mess up the plan for the day or make things much harder What would it be like?
To pause and ask the divine to come into that moment with you.
To step into the circumstance.
To step into your experience,
To be your friend in that moment,
And give you the grace to move through the moment with greater ease,
With greater light.
With greater joy.
With your own highest self.
Guiding and directing you.
Let that be your practice.
I invite you to let that be your practice today.
And just notice what happens when you do.
Many blessings to you,
Great souls.
