Three Questions to Baba on Surrender
umasreedasan
“He who loves Me most, always sees Me. The whole world is desolate to him without Me, he who tells no stories but Mine; he ceaselessly meditates upon Me and always chants My name. I feel indebted to him who surrenders himself completely to Me, and ever remembers Me. I shall repay his debt by giving him salvation.
I am dependent on him who thinks and hungers after Me and does not eat anything without first offering it to Me. He who thus comes to Me, becomes one with Me, just as a river gets to the sea and becomes merged with it.
So, leaving your pride and egoism and with no trace of them, you should SURRENDER YOURSELF TO ME, Who is seated in your heart.”
~ Shirdi Sri Sai Baba.
My dear Shirdi Sri Sai Baba,
I need not tell You how I am doing as You, as my Antaryami, know every action, every word, every thought and every feeling of mine. On the other hand, if I enquire Your well-being, You’ll start narrating from the story of Brahma Deva, and won’t stop until you finish describing the story of the worm in the lemon tree in the backyard of my home – I’m sorry to be impolite but I am not interested in taking up a billion births to listen to Your narration of Your well-being. So, leaving aside the formalities, let us come straight to the subject.
You say ‘Surrender yourself to Me.’ But how many Persons have You given me so that I can select You Whom I can surrender to?
If I go to Chidambaram, You are dancing there as Nataraja and standing nearby as Sivakami. If I go to Srirangam, You are taking rest there as Sriranganatha and sitting there as Sriranga Nachiyar.
I went to Tiruvannamalai and saw you blessing me as Sri Ramana in Ramanashramam and I went to Pondichery only to be blessed by You in the form of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in Aurobindo Ashram.
You are my father, You are my mother, You are my spouse, You are my kid, You are the crows and sparrows visiting my home, You are the cats and dogs visiting my home, and You are the trees and plants in the courtyard of my house.
You are the house I’m residing at, You are the clothes I’m wearing, and You are the food I’m taking in. You are my profession, You are my wealth, and You are my pleasure.
Now, tell me, You have given me only Yourself, yet You ask me to choose You for me to surrender to, are You kidding me?
Well, Baba, I need another clarification. You say ‘Surrender yourself to Me.’ Have You really given me the choice whether I may or may not surrender?
If I am body, You are my life-force. If I am the life-force, You are my soul. And, if I am the soul, You are my Lord.
Taken in any way, I am always dependent on You; I am always sustained and powered by You. Tell me a moment when I’ll be independent. But for You, I can’t even exist for a moment, leave alone independence.
So, You have deprived me of all my independence all the time, yet You dare to ask me to surrender. Where is the need for a servant to become a servant? Where is the need for a beggar to become a beggar? Where is the need for a slave to become a slave?
The final and fundamental clarification. You say ‘Surrender yourself to Me.’ To whom are You addressing?
You are God. You have become this entire material universe as well as spiritual universe. You are every sentient being and every insentient thing. Who or What is there in this material universe or in that spiritual universe except You?
When there is absolutely no possibility of a second person or thing to exist, to whom are You talking then? To Yourself? Does it make any sense?
Expecting Your early reply,
Ever Yours
umasreedasan.blog: www.awarenesschanting.blogspot.com