Resistance to Trusting the Universe.
When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily.
Question:
Dear Deepak,
first allow me to thank you for your books and teachings – you are helping this world to become a better place by awakening so many of us. I have started regular meditating thanks to your guided meditations courses. Also joined your Synchrodestiny course and will be learning more. I currently live and work in Hong Kong and today I went to one of the Buddhist Temples here….it is on my way to work and I just get off the subway train… as if some inner voice just told me to go there initially I felt peaceful energy of the place but when got inside the temple and see the golden statue of Buddha and people kneeling and praying in humility….. it made me feel uncomfortable…. I believe in higher source, the universe, I believe that we are all part of the whole. at the same time each of us and everything around is the whole already . and I have huge respect to the greatness of that. yet, if this is so – why we need to kneel and pray or maybe even meditate in seeking for the acceptance and connection with the higher source bigger than ourselves. Why we are not accepted effortlessly just the way we already are. Why the only way in order to be connected part of that higher source we need to pray, trust the source and surrender. This is my great inner conflict and resilience which is causing me to feel uncomfortable and unsafe, even would say….angrily resistant. For the reason I cannot explain I am unable to surrender to the higher source bigger than myself ( no matter I believe in it ) But if we are all part of the whole and ocean in the drop why we need to pray for the connection with the whole. Shouldn't we all just be connected to that higher source effortlessly and with no need to pray on our knees or ask for connection in any other way. At the same time I feel there is some kind of my inner misunderstanding about the whole "trust the universe" thing which I cannot resolve at the moment….alone. To put it in short – I have some kind of unexplainable resilience to “trust the universe” and connect – deep inside as if I resist that “dependence” on anything – even the dependence on the higher source, or the universe….however illogical that sounds. Hope you will understand my wild mind wandering and help find the path and release the energy to surrender finally…. Respectfully
Response:
In Vedanta and in some forms of Buddhism, the ultimate reality of your inner Being is identical to the universal reality. So your “higher source” is really you. Your true self is the same as the higher source. From this point of view, you are not surrendering to anything outside yourself. You are surrendering to the essence of you that is pure intelligence, love, creativity and joy. This means that you are following your inner purpose or dharma instead of following your conditioned ego mind. Some people have a strong analytical or intellectual turn of mind, and this direct form of surrendering is natural for them.
For many other, the religious practices you mention are ways to externalize or personalize this abstract universal existence within so surrender to it is easier and naturally follows the human pattern of relationship of love and respect. Either way, it’s the same universal reality we are all attuning our individuality toward.
Love,
Deepak
Thank you so much for your reply - it helped to understand and start surrendering. Namaste
You described the dilemma well. I notice that you talked about praying and surrendering as ways to "gain acceptance" from the divine or universal spirit. That seems to me like it may be part of the dilemma. Maybe praying, surrendering, or kneeling are not ways to gain acceptance from the universe. As you say, we already have that! Rather, I like the word you use "connection". In my busy life, my brain is able to deal with daily life by jumping here and there and solving problems. In doing so however I often forget my connection to a softer and more inner reality. Meditation or praying is a way for me to quiet my mind so I can reconnect to my own inner divine reality. It is not that the divine reality is not present in my daily life, because all of it is divine reality. It is just that I need a balance between the more direct reality of outer life and the more subtle reality of my inner life. Meditation provides that balance for me.
Surrender is the key to opening ourselves to higher consciousness. The ego thinks it`s in control and tries to figure everything out from a very limited and clouded perspective. By surrendering to our Soul, which is our direct connection to Cosmic Consciousness, we can find the answers to all of our questions.