The Miracle of Surrender

Opening our eyes entails responsibilities and sacrifices whose costs are higher than living in «stupidity», ignorance, and a world of placebo effects. Some things stop being interesting, and some friends and contexts do too. You begin to choose different things, you become more aware of where you place your energy, and you grow more selective. Everyday habits, automatisms, and routines change. You make choices again; you take new paths.

Those choices are not easy, but sometimes they simply settle into place. Many times it stops being a “choice,” turning into the only possible path left, into a kind of natural and organic awakening.

And sometimes it’s not that you are “choosing,” but that what came before was no longer working, so you are left with no option but to move along the other path. Perhaps that is what they call an expansion of consciousness.

How many times do we force things?

How many times do we insist with stubbornness, feeling super-powerful? Sometimes at enormous costs, consuming great amounts of our energy as if it were infinite, as if every battle had no consequences.

I have always upheld the spirit of fighting for one’s own ideas, because that is what I was always taught. I always thought that was something good, and those who know me know that I have done it tirelessly throughout my life, like a flag I carried. Perhaps as the trait that defines me the most.

We were taught so much to fight — at least I was — and at first glance it would seem that this is the opposite of surrendering. And perhaps surrender — spiritually speaking — is not such a popular word in our culture of power and control. “To surrender” seems to carry a negative connotation. But surrender to whom?

Now I am beginning to think that the real trick lies precisely in the middle point between the two. Between having the discipline and conviction to follow our path and move forward steadily along it, and at the same time holding the subtle and essential understanding of being very awake to what is at stake in that and where that path is leading us. Being very attentive to read the signs — as The Alchemist would say — to see whether we are on the right path or if we are simply feeding our stubborn, obstinate Ego that wants what it wants, no matter what. Knowing how to take the helm of our boat — because it is ours — while understanding that there is another force that moves it as well, and that often what appears to be a storm is actually the Universe playing in our favor, readjusting the loose ends. And when the universe is interfering there in our plans: be very careful! because you may be fortunate, and because it is very likely that behind it there is an important lesson you are not considering. And that is when it is important to surrender, and to know when to loosen our grip on the helm a little, allowing a wiser force than ourselves to enter the field of play, arranging what must be arranged. If the universe moves you away from certain situations, simply do not insist on going against it, because sometimes it is helping you. Sometimes just let it act, interfering as little as possible in its path and opposing its force as little as possible. Because its force is always wise.

And I believe that this was the surrender the monk was speaking to me about:

«Learning to read the omens,» The Alchemist would say, because what we might think “at first glance” are not isolated events or coincidences: they are signs that life, the universe, energy, or destiny — choose your preferred name — keeps offering us to guide us along this path of life. And in that learning, we must pay close attention, be very gentle and patient, and begin to trust our intuition in order to understand.

I like to think of it as the exact point between holding something in our hand while leaving space for the energy to flow — without letting the object fall — and squeezing with a fist until we suffocate.

Sometimes wars and struggles make us clench our fists. And might there not be other ways to fight?

Learning to let go of control is also an art, but it is beautiful to witness what else begins to manifest. Allowing the ego to fall from the pedestal where we placed it, lowering it from the place from which it controls our soul, so that we can begin to see beyond it:

The wisdom we do not yet know.

And yes, it requires great patience to detach from our own expectations and to “let go” of our winning horse, but after that, an immense universe opens up — completely new, probably unimagined, and for that very reason, perhaps much more extraordinary.

—When one truly believes, when one truly surrenders, the universe guides and the truth appears, but for that to happen, it becomes necessary to believe.And I swear to you, that is when you begin to see the magic...