Video and Audio

Surrender

Ask Me About Truth, Episode 7
Swami Kriyananda
July 15, 2012
"Many religious traditions emphasize surrender, which seems rather passive. Is that true?" From the concept of passive vs. active surrender, the discussion ranges to willpower, free will, if we can see our own spiritual progress, and the effect that being a vegetarian has on our consciousness.
  • What is the limit of acceptance? There must be situations where acceptance isn't appropriate — Yogananda said, for example, "Don't be a doormat."
  • It seems that surrender in a spiritual sense is more of a self-offering with will behind it.
  • How much free will do we have?
  • How do you discriminate, to tell whether you are going away from God or towards him?
  • Can you apply this criteria towards judging your own spiritual progress?
  • Is the best attitude to just keep going?
  • Yogananda emphasized the training of the will — could you tell us what we could do to make the will stronger?
  • Did you have to work at developing your will?
  • What do you think about eating meat vs. being a vegetarian?

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