समर्पण

समर्पण
~

Sri Sri asks that we do समर्पण or "Surrender" of everything to the Divine - all our thoughts, feelings, bad qualities, good qualities, प्रतिभाए : genius, talents, abilities and weakneses to the Shiva tattva, which permeates every atom of our being!

" शिवजी की पूजा में कांटे भी चढते हैं, फूल भी चढते हैं...
....सस्त्रो में कहा गया है - जब तक तुम खुद शिव नहीं बनते हो
तो शिव की पूजा भी अधूरी रहती है । " ~ श्री श्री

To uncover the true meaning of the word, spirit and context in which Sri Sri uses the term समर्पण, let's lookup spokensanskrit.de.

समर्पण means : Bestowing, Offering, Handing over completely, Consigning, Dedication, Presenting, Delivering, Imparting, Giving to.

Thus, समर्पण means to "present as a gift", "to hand over completely", "to release and relinquish to another".

Surrender means: Like Sri Sri says, "surrender" in English, has a negative connotation.
It means: "To relinquish possession or control of to another because of demand or compulsion." Hence, it isn't an appropriate word to indicate the true spirit and meaning of what is being meant. The word शरण is what is really implied when saying "surrender".

शरण means: House, Succour, Protection, Shelter, Refuge, Help, Dwelling Place, Residence

शरणागति means: Approach for protection, To surrender

So what is the point of it?
Why present as a gift or hand over completely all my bad qualities, my good/bad feelings, my good traits, understanding, ideas, talents and my weaknesses to the Divine? Perhaps, this has got to do with the idea of "my" that preceeds every offering.

When we offer something like our talents and good qualities to the Divine, we are in effect letting go of the idea that they are "mine" - "my qualities!". Let go.. This reduces ego.

The fact of the matter is, that every bit of good we have and find in ourselves, is not our creation in the least! It is something we happen to have near us, by virtue of our genes and the conditioning we have undergone - like our parents, family, school, environment, society, culture etc. - all of which were completely out of our control.

So what we are good at - i.e; our goodness and our abilities - is in reality nothing, but a reflection of the various jewels (colors) that we 'happened' to live and grow amidst.

We are a reflection that which we grew up amidst.

As for the दोष, the bad qualities, bad feelings or weaknesses - these are also preceeded by "my". A sense of ownership over these actually nurtures ego and fosters feelings of guilt, shame and hatred.

दोष means: Defect, Deficiency, or Fault.
A fault is: "a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention";
Thus, a person with दोष, is in reality, completely overpowered and overwhelmed by it.
It is only wise, then, to submit to this reality and to relinquish all ownership over the defects.

This happens when we hand over our defects completely to the Divine - as an offering, as a gift. For like the good qualities, the bad ones and the weaknesses too are not our creation and so owning them is but a folly! Let go...

So we let go, gift, hand over everything completely to the Divine. We become hollow and empty.

"तन, मन, धन, सारा संसार इश्वर का ही है। उन्ही का है,
उन्ही से ओत-प्रोत है।... 'सब कुछ तेरा ... सब कुछ तेरा..'"

"हमारे कण कण में इश्वर बसे हैं, ऐसे शिव तत्त्व पर शरणागत हो जाए।"
~ श्री श्री
"Body, mind, pocessions, and the whole world belongs to the Lord, Divine.. It is all soaked in the Divine. 'It's all yours..All yours..' The Divine dwells in every particle of our being.. Resort to that Auspicious (shiva) Principle (tattva).." ~ Sri Sri

~

"मेरा मुझमे कुछ नहीं, जो कुछ है सो तेरा,
तेरा तुझको सौंप के, क्या लागे है मेरा ।।" ~ कबीर
"There's nothing that is 'mine' in me. What's there is all but yours.
What does it cost me, to entrust what's yours, unto you?!" ~ Kabir

When we let go and entrust everything completely unto the Divine, we subtly acknowledge the truth of these words. We let go and LET GOD.

जय गुरु देव!