Concept of total surrender

It may appear quite erroneous to people of modern times where there is no concept of trust. Contrary to that the path to Moksha demands total surrender to the guru.

This concept has been described by Shrimad Rajchandraji at the age of 21 in  letter no. 76 as follows:

“ Don’t search for anything else. Just find a Guru and surrender totally in his feet and stay put. Then if you do not get Moksha then I shall give you “

Several authors have expressed similar sentiments at different times  but   Shrimadji’s letter expresses them all into the shortest form with total meaning.

There are two aspects in this letter which can be elaborated : One is search and other is surrender.

Search -  While search is a simple word but it means a lot since it generates a lot of questions. Why to search? Whom to search? Where to search ? and so on. A person busy in making money 24 x7 hrs a day does not want to waste his time in searching. For him everything is going fine and he is satisfied with the things as they are. Sometimes he even goes to temple to pray  and donates charitably to keep the gods in good humour. What more does he need so why to search anything? This is something  the havenots spread just to confuse the haves. Truly one cannot convince him of the requirement to search and one can take solace in the thought  that his time has not yet come. Afterall everyone does not reach the same state of mind at the same time and there are infinite souls who have innumerable types of thoughts. However in this world only,  a  time comes when a person realizes the folly of day to day existence without any meaningful result. When he experiences that, everyone seems to be following the same beaten path with no change in destination nor direction. Where he notices that the goal is also as unknown as the path. People are traversing just for the sake of it without knowing where the path is leading to. His mind is full of questions for which he seeks answers. That is the kind of person to whom Shrimad Rajchandraji has replied in his answer. This person is ready to attain the right knowledge since he has the desire to learn. More because he has the questions. If one does not have questions then his mind is vegetative or inert and perhaps he still has a long time to wait before the questions come in his mind. Only the one who has the question gets the answer. If one has no questions then giving him answers is like trying to fill an inverted pot with water.

While all worldly questions can be answered by worldly people , when the search is for non worldly matters then there are not many who can provide the answers. Therefore the second search is to find the guru who is knowledgeable about the subject. In the process he may get several spurious people who may be donning the mantle of a Guru, but he has to learn to distinguish him from the true one. The process involves examining the conduct of the Guru against what he preaches. There are several people who are wonderful orators teaching about high philosophy but have an interest in earning wealth out of their knowledge. Such a person can hardly be a guide towards salvation. Only a person who is himself traversing on the path to Moksha can talk about Moksha , one who is dedicated to the objective and does not think anything other than his objective. Further he tries to practice what he has learnt. He is the right person to adopt as Guru.

Surrender - The next thing what Shrimadji has said is that surrender totally in his feet. This is something very important , although not realized. It means that do not have any reservations or conditions in following Guru. Do not be selective in adopting to him. This will happen if you do not have total faith in him which means that you still have doubts. If you have doubts of any nature about his capability then give up on him rather than try to follow half heartedly. It would not serve any purpose. The important thing is to have complete trust in the Guru and his preaching. It may happen that something may not be understood but you have to try to analyse and understand why he has told so. In fact in Jainism the philosophy is quite complex and same act is called poison as well as nectar therefore understanding with lot of effort is called for. Some people may be in a hurry and restless who may try to judge the Guru by the results experienced but those people themselves are not ready yet. The one who has Moksha only as the goal and  has all the time in the world and he looks at the face of Guru like a thirsty bird trying to absorb each of his utterances. He is the right candidate.

Total surrender means total faith that he will guide you to Moksha. Doubts are only technical in nature which is part of the learning process but inherently there is total conviction in Guru. There are people who may be financially richer or academically advanced compared to the Guru and they tend to hesitate in accepting the preaching of the Guru , but this is a their misconception. To the literate also an illiterate villager is the right guide to provide directions in the village. Similarly for path to Moksha, those who are traversing it are the right Guru. Truly the Guru has no interest in guiding him or spending his time or effort to preach him. He is aware that everyone would traverse to path depending upon his capability, effort and readiness. He himself is at best a Nimitta only. His interest is also to absorb himself in the activity in the process of preaching and thus uplift his own spiritual state.