Surrender

Is it not possible to transform the being without surrender?
If there is no surrender, there can be no transformation of the whole being.

When does real surrender begin in a sadhak?
It begins when there is the true self offering.

How to bring about true self-offering?
By not following ego and desire. It is ego and desire that prevent surrender.

What is the sign to indicate that a sadhak's determination to surrender to the Divine is having practical effect in his life?
The sign is that he has full obedience without question or revolt or demand or condition and that he answers to all divine influences and rejects all that are not from the Divine.

Is it not a fact that even after repeated determination to surrender the old habits come in the way of its effective realisation?
Yes, certainly—they always do that till the sincerity and purity and surrender are complete.

What is the most powerful way to make the determination of surrender rapidly effective?
Absolute sincerity.

When does the Divine himself fully take up the sadhana and carry it out for the sadhaks?
When they give up the ego.

What is meant by the Divine taking up the sadhana?
When it is the Divine Force that works out all the Yoga and the actions by a direct action of which the sadhak is conscious.

How can one know that one's sadhana has been taken up by the Divine?
You can feel it.

The Gita's central secret is to surrender to the Divine by rejecting all dharmas, "sarva dharmän parityajya". What is the meaning of "sarva dharmän?"
All formations based on the mind's preferences, the vital's desires, the physical attachments to its habits.

Is it possible for a sadhak to reject all dharmas from the beginning of his sadhana?
No, it takes time—but the will to surrender must be there.

For offering all movements of the nature to the Divine, it is first necessary to observe them. How to make this power of observation true and complete?
By looking and observing vigilantly and letting nothing escape one's observation of oneself and by aspiring for still greater power of vision until it is complete.

What is the difference between active and passive surrender?
Active surrender is when you associate your will with the Divine Will, reject what is not the Divine, assent to what is the Divine. Passive surrender is when everything is left entirely to the Divine—that few can really do, because in practice it turns out that you surrender to the lower nature under pretext of surrendering to the Divine.

What is meant by "Detailed Surrender"—the flower which the Mother sometimes gives?
Surrender in every action and every detail of one's nature.

Is it true that until a sadhak's sincerity and surrender are complete, he has to undergo many sufferings?
He need not suffer if he takes the true way, but he has to deal with the difficulties.

- Sri Aurobindo

The Mother's Answers on Surrender