IS IT LUST OR LOVE? (Part 12)

AUDIENCE: Do we need to completely surrender to the Supreme Person?

JAGAD GURU: Yes. We need to be completely surrendered to Him. When we approach the Supreme with defenses, it means we are not approaching with love. When we approach Him with a shell or some part of a shell trying to defend ourselves, then we are not approaching with complete vulnerability. We are not truly surrendering.

Surrender means, "I am completely in Your hands." For example, when a prisoner surrenders to the opponent, he surrenders all his weapons. He surrenders his shield, sword, gun and even his uniform, which represents defending himself. That is the meaning of surrender.

So when we surrender to the Supreme, we voluntarily surrender that part of our self—the false ego—that we use to protect our vulnerability from those we do not trust. And we stand completely open and exposed before the Supreme Lord.

AUDIENCE: Does it take time to surrender?

JAGAD GURU: Some people believe it takes a long time and want to put it off or they think that they're going to wait for something miraculous to happen before they do it. But in fact, you can surrender right now—not tomorrow, not the next day but right now. You need to ask yourself this question now, "Are you serious about having a relationship with the Supreme Lord or not?" If you are, then you can surrender to Him at this very moment by giving up all fear of loving Him.

The fear of giving yourself into His hands must be sacrificed. When you give up the attempts to protect yourself—when you give up the false ego—this is called surrender. False ego refers to self-protection and trying to protect yourself is what separates you from the Lord. You are actually trying to get away from surrendering.

Let me give you an example. A rich man once came to Jesus and said, "I want to follow you. I want to surrender to you."

And Jesus replied, "All right. Give away all of your riches to the poor and come follow me. Give up everything you've got and be with me."

The rich man couldn't do it. Why? He thought about all of his wealth, "If I don't have my donkeys, my servants, my house and my possessions, how am I going to live? I'll starve. I'll get cold. I'll be uncomfortable. I'll be afraid. I'll be mugged. People will look down on me and laugh at me. I'll be lonely. I won't have my friends. What about my buddies and relatives?" He had all these fears.

Jesus said, "Therefore, I say unto you, it is more difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than it is for a camel to enter the eye of a needle."

A rich man has a lot of protection. The richer you are, the bigger your walls are. If you're a poor person, you have a picket fence. If you're a rich person, you've got a big giant wall with an intercom on the outside and fourteen guards. If you're really rich, then you have a whole country. You get to have palaces and nuclear weapons aimed at the enemy. You've got a whole army to protect you.