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What place does surrender have in Buddhism?
Jeroen
Luminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlands Veteran
I think of the major teachings — impermanence, letting go of things, not-self — and then I wonder about surrender. I’ve seen mention in a few places of being in control of yourself, which would point to not surrendering, but at the same time it feels like there is so much letting go going on in that list that surrender kind of feels appropriate. If there is no self, what is there to surrender, even?
But on a practical level, a lot of Buddhist monastics, the people we look to as exemplars of study and practice, seem very together. I seem to ave a hard time sorting out some conflicting messages on this topic.
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Sometimes I think of this teaching. Surrender to this reality?
I think that one first needs to explore the age old question of "Who or what am I ? "
I'm under the impression, once there is a realisation ( experiential understanding ) of anatta...then one surrenders one self "atta or atman" to "anatta or anatman" non-self...Well something like that
"I" surrender ....the false sense of a permanently abiding separate self...
Surrender-let go-drop it.... all eventually lead one to the same realisation...of not twoness...
Great quote from @Jeffrey
Identification is Misery
Junaid was going through the market-place of the town with his disciples. And it was his way to take any situation and use it. A man was dragging his cow by a rope, and Junaid said ’Wait’ to the man, and told his disciples ’Surround this man and the cow. I am going to teach you something.’
The man stopped – Junaid was a famous mystic – and he was also interested in what he was going to teach these disciples and how he was going to use him and the cow. And Junaid asked his disciples ’I ask you one thing: who is bound to whom? Is the cow bound to this man or is this man bound to this cow?’ Of course, the disciples said ’The cow is bound to the man. The man is the master, he is holding the rope, the cow has to follow him wherever he goes. He is the master and the cow is the slave.’
And Junaid said ’Now, see.’ He took out his scissors and cut the rope – and the cow escaped.
The man ran after the cow, and Junaid said ’Now look what is happening! Now you see who is the master; the cow is not interested at all in this man – in fact, she is escaping.’ And the man was very angry, he said ’What kind of experiment is this?’ But Junaid said to his disciples ’And this is the case with your mind.
All the nonsense that you are carrying inside is not interested in you. You are interested in it, you are keeping it together somehow – you are becoming mad in keeping it together somehow. But you are interested IN it. The moment you lose interest, the moment you understand the futility of it, it will start disappearing; like the cow it will escape.’
And if that is not Buddhism, well you are right ...
https://sufi-stories.com/story/you-are-right
When I think of surrender I think of the act of giving up that which may no longer serve.
That covers quite a lot of ground right there but mostly I think of simple awareness where I surrender my anger and other defilements.
Mind turned outwards lost in its projection =Samsara
Eventually one surrenders to the other world view....
Mind turned inwards recognising its true nature =Nirvana
Exactly so.
Good place to start. Conflictive emotions [swearing at nothing myself earlier this evening], karmic loopings serving no one, especially us ...
We do not hold tightly to these defilements but boy do they demonise our being [speaking for my conflicted self]
So now can we compassionately forgive, ourselves too?
You bet ... I mean ... count on it ...
I surrender to the thee jewels ... eh three jewels ... forgive me ...
https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/i-take-refuge-buddha/
So... do we never surrender to samsara?
I think the fitting answer?? is that samsara doesn't provide gain without loss. So then what else is there?
Good answer @Jeffrey
Samsara is still karmic - as much loss as gain. Awakening transcends loss and gain. It is non-being, unattached to time, place and description.
In the way @Kerome asks perhaps we might say, ego and being or letting go to our inclinations is just swallowing of samaras subtle expansion ...
Surrender is everything. When you surrender, you are letting go of everything. Your thoughts, opinions, wishes, preferences, loved ones, your very body etc. The result is "peace which passeth all understanding".
LET GO(D)
We accept reality as what it is, and not fight against its flow. And it includes non attachment to it. We percieve the thoughts and feelings and let them be.
However that doesn't mean you don't take the chance to change things when you can if it is beneficial. Being aware of reality is to really be in tune with things and letting things manifest in a healthy way. It is to be aware of the bigger picture and not to put yourself away in a box.
The whole premise of Buddhism is pretty much surrender.
When you take refuge for instance: you take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
Mostly we take refuge to ourselves, our opinions, our beliefs and stores, our traumas and our pains, and our desires.
So Buddhism is asking us to surrender all of that.
Many people (Buddhist newbe practitioners and non Buddhists) are caught up in self deceit, where a strong sense of the karmic driven self dominates...and as we know Samsara is self generated...hence . .... being a case of the Self Associated Momentum Stopping Awareness's Realised Awakening....
In other words the stronger the sense of self the more one surrenders to Samsara...The weaker the sense of self the more one surrenders to Nirvana...
well something along those lines
...
And when it comes to Samsara...we are all in the same boat on the same raft....
Well said @Shoshin ✅
Buddhism can be temporarily misconstrued. 😱 Samsara can be accepted as dukkha but to transcend into Nirvana/extinction we have to initially rebel against our tendency to embrace harmful behavour in ourselves and others ... 🦞
For example my SamSara lobster tendencies to eat sentient fish, seek hedonistic luvliness and generally be undisciplined 🤗 is balanced by a practiced intention to:
I do not embrace/absorb. 🙏🏽