Challenges in 'Letting Go - Accepting GOD's WILL

[surrenderindailylife]

Namaste

While I intellectually accept 'surrender' / 'accepting HIS will' / transcending desire as approach in daily life, practicing this becomes very difficult especially when one has put in lot of hardwork (towards a certain material goal) but inspite of repeated attempts, the (material) goal is not achieved.

Request you to share your experience on below two points:
1. How have you faced such a situation?
2. Should one construct repeated non-success (I am avoiding use of word 'failure') as WILL of GOD and look at other choices? I am driven by "Never Say Quit" thought process - so find it difficult to call it 'quits'. Is this an intuitive decision that just comes?

Thank you

Om Namah Shivay

[ameyAtmA]

Dear SurrenderInDailyLife

While I intellectually accept 'surrender' / 'accepting HIS will' / transcending desire as approach in daily life, practicing this becomes very difficult especially when one has put in lot of hardwork (towards a certain material goal) but inspite of repeated attempts, the (material) goal is not achieved.

OK. You put in hard work. nothing happened.
BG 2.47 karmaNyevAdhikAraste mA phaleshu kadAchana...
On the other hand, why not change the goal?
Most dissappointments happen because of keeping expectations from oneself and others, and making comparisons. This goes against ahaitukI (self-motiveless) nirapeksha (expectationless) bhakti, a.k.a. avyabhichAri bhakti (see Bhagvad GitA 18.33 for avyabhichAriNI dhAraNA and what is vyabhichAr (pursuing desires other than Bhagvad bhakti.)

However, accepting 'HIS' Will cannot come naturally unless one has developed their true relationship with 'HIM' , and share a bond of love with abandon
That has to be developed first. Bhakti towards that Shri Hari is the essential and natural thing that cannot be skipped before surrender - the end step.

Also, merely looking at Bhagvad GitA impersonally may not help. Attachment to the beautiful sweet transcendental Supreme Lord automatically brings detachment from the world. If you are too engrossed in watching something very beautiful, you hardly notice that
* someone quietly took something from your hand (could well be your car keys)
* someone put a blanket or warm jacket on your shoulders
* someone was laughing at you behind your back or spread rumors in the newspaper/office/neighbourhood
* someone wrote an exaggerated article in a magazine praising and glorifying you.

In all these cases - materially ishTa (favourable) or anishTa (unfavourable), you are oblivious, indifferent, unaware, because you are too engrossed in watching that something beautiful. That something beautiful is KRshNa Mukunda MAdhava Hari Govinda GopAl

I think this is the key that people miss many times - how can you surrender to someone or some 'thing' just because they are in a certain position, if you have no bond of Love for them? That makes it slavery, and Shri KRshNa considers us His loving servants or children - and a lot more, not chained slaves.

So many people have problems they have to overcome. If you ask them what is your sAdhanA - they might answer, "I only focus on my own chakras. I don't think of God or any such thing. I have been taught that God is an energy."

"God is an energy" like electricity, magnetism, gravity or even 'focusing on my chakras' will not help in such a case. God is all this also (although that is not the complete story), and watching the chakras is not excluded, but this is not the time for it because the sAdhak is trying to control something that is too conditioned and not theirs in the first place, with the help of the false ego (ahaMkAr) which says
"I did this. I am like this. This is my acheivement. This is my talent or skill. Therefore I should get this. Also because all my friends have this."

Whereas it has to happen by handing your body to the Higher One who kindly resides inside you - the antaryAmI.

--------------
By seeing everything in relationship with BhagvAn, the problems turn out to be illusory at times. At least some of them.

What am I doing? How much of it is really needed? How does it fit into my relationship with BhagvAn?
Where am I going? Is this the direction in which I am really meant to head?
What are my conscious, obvious and subconscious expectations? Are they really His expectations from me?
What are my conscious and subconscious desires? Why do I have them? Are they programmed due to the society around me?

What is the root cause of suffering? Endeavours independant of BhagvAn.
Why are current material failures bothering me - if they are not ultimately harmful to me and my family or people? Is it different from a child crying when a toy is snatched out of their hand?

2. Should one construct repeated non-success (I am avoiding use of word 'failure') as WILL of GOD and look at other choices?

If you notice I wrote above - 'why not change the goal?' This could mean a) the short term material goal for this life i.e. try a hand at something different that you are good at.
b) the goal to please BhagvAn only. Live in His sharaN. Everything I get is given by Him, anything I don't is not meant for me. Humility in that regard.

Is this an intuitive decision that just comes?

Intuition is supplied by the antaryAmI, the Divine or AtmA within. It comes more explicitly or in the spiritual direction if you turn to Him. Further down the road of bhakti, as you advance, you may also get direct guidance from Him.

All the best. Namaste.

[rama_t]

Namasthe

This is a great question. I had my own hard days to accept some of the things.

Now i improved my understand that, our limited perspective of our life and intellectual stubbornness puts results as important than surrender to Him obstructing my progress. Life is not to achieve any external things but to accept everything as Lord's gift.

As Lord said in many ways, as in BG also, asking us to do our duty not worrying about results.

But this is the struggle for devotee who wants to improve.

You are a good devotee.

Pranams

[Avyaydya]

Namaste

While I intellectually accept 'surrender' / 'accepting HIS will' / transcending desire as approach in daily life, practicing this becomes very difficult especially when one has put in lot of hardwork (towards a certain material goal) but inspite of repeated attempts, the (material) goal is not achieved.

Request you to share your experience on below two points:
1. How have you faced such a situation?
2. Should one construct repeated non-success (I am avoiding use of word 'failure') as WILL of GOD and look at other choices? I am driven by "Never Say Quit" thought process - so find it difficult to call it 'quits'. Is this an intuitive decision that just comes?

Thank you

Om Namah Shivay

Namaste surrenderindailylife,

Surrender? Will of God? What God are you talking about?

[ameyAtmA]

However, accepting 'HIS' Will cannot come naturally unless one has developed their true relationship with 'HIM' , and share a bond of love with abandon
That has to be developed first. Bhakti towards that Shri Hari is the essential and natural thing that cannot be skipped before surrender - the end step.

Also, merely looking at Bhagvad GitA impersonally may not help. Attachment to the beautiful sweet transcendental Supreme Lord automatically brings detachment from the world. If you are too engrossed in watching something very beautiful, you hardly notice that
* someone quietly took something from your hand (could well be your car keys)
* someone put a blanket or warm jacket on your shoulders
* someone was laughing at you behind your back or spread rumors in the newspaper/office/neighbourhood
* someone wrote an exaggerated article in a magazine praising and glorifying you.

In all these cases - materially ishTa (favourable) or anishTa (unfavourable), you are oblivious, indifferent, unaware, because you are too engrossed in watching that something beautiful. That something beautiful is KRshNa Mukunda MAdhava Hari Govinda GopAl

A short-list of helpful shlokas:
bg 2.11, bg2.12,13,16,23,24,47

sthitapradnya: bg 2.55,56,57,70,71,72 - eshA brAmhI sthitI pArtha...
adhogatI: bg2.61,62

bhakti - how-to: bg12.2,8,9,10,11
bhakti - what: bg13 to 20

ideal yogi: bg6.46,47

non-doer: bg5.8,910,11

glory: bg 11.15-30,[EDIT] bg11.32 ("Time I Am" kAlosmI)

dnyAna & adnyAna : bg 13.7 to 11

ideal bg18.51 to 54, 49, 33,

secret: bg 18.65,66,67, bg 10.9,10,11