THE SELF-SURRENDER
256 What is called surrender of oneself to God is the final consummation of the practice of devotion. This can be achieved by the purified mind when the might of the ego is greatly reduced.
257 Just as a small magnet becomes united to a big one by the juxtaposition of the opposite poles, so the finite soul becomes one with the Supreme Being by the conjunction of its head with His feet.
258 The self-surrender is truly made by him who always has the feeling, ‘Let all things happen according to your will. In all respects, I am bound to you.’
259 He that has surrendered himself will be at peace, remembering that He [God] is the bearer of the world’s burden. The one that bears the burden himself will be ridiculous, like the figure on the temple-tower appearing to bear the tower on its own shoulders.
260 As one travelling in a carriage puts down his luggage in the carriage itself and completes his journey, so should he resign his own [samsaric] burden to God and complete his life in the world.
261 The wise one should resign to God his cares concerning the good of the world, just as he resigns to Him his cares about his own body and family.
262 The ripe devotee must pass his time, patiently enduring whatever happens to him, whether pleasant or unpleasant or otherwise, without yielding to sorrow or joy, with his heart absorbed in Him.
263 When the ego dies, having been swallowed by divine grace, the devotee’s self-surrender becomes true and complete.
265 Since the Self is the Supreme Being Himself, by whom, how and to whom is the surrender to be made? True self-surrender is only the extinction of the ego, by which the sense of being different from Him arises.
266 ‘If you desire to give yourself to God, then first seek out and know your Self. The gift of oneself to God will be accomplished in this way.’ So said the most holy one.
267 The truth of namaskara also is only the perfect giving up of the ego-sense.
Right awareness,
self-surrender
and namaskara,
all these three are one and the same.