I feel compelled to speak another word about fall and the energetics of the fall. In my last blog, I touched on the action of surrendering ourselves to the possiblity of life beyond sadness. But what does it mean to truly surrender ourselves?
The great spiritual leader Ram Dass described his moment of surrender upon meeting his guru. “It was as if I had finally come home to the place where I no longer needed [my ego]…and I felt free from all the worries that I had known before.”
Thomas Merton proclaims: “Surrender your own poverty and acknowledge your nothingness to the Lord. Whether you understand it or not, God loves you, is present in you, lives in you, dwells in you, calls you, saves you and offers you an understanding and compassion which are like nothing you have ever found in a book or heard in a sermon.”
And Marianne Williamson offers, “Something amazing happens when we surrender and just love. We melt into another world, a realm of power already within us. The world changes when we change. The world softens when we soften. The world loves us when we choose to love the world.”
At the heart of surrender is Love.
Regardless of religious context, the experience of surrender is more or less the same. When we surrender ourselves to Allah, Yahweh, El Shaddai, Vishnu, Shiva, The Light, The Universe, Nature, The Now, The Infinite Happiness, etc., we find within ourselves a peace that we never knew existed. We instantly transcend any anger, fear, guilt, regret, resentment, and/or pride that may have dwelled within us. In that moment of surrender, we encounter a Love that is without description, without condition, without judgement, and without limit. We suddenly have the ability to transcend any habit, every negative thought pattern, and any doubt of ourselves. We instantly know in our hearts that we can achieve ANYTHING in this world.
In the fall, this connection with the heavens, which gives our lives a sense of quality and higher purpose, is at its most powerful. Again, think of the trees that strip themselves of all their leaves. It is, in every way, an example of shedding all that no longer serves in order to live a new life. During the fall, you may find a greater ability to let go of something that is holding you back, or keeping you from moving forward. You may have a stronger will to finally exhale a painful memory that keeps you hidden and withdrawn from those who love you. Or you may realize that you want a new, different, and better life for yourself and those around you.
As you breathe in this crisp, loving air of redemption, you can find the strength to surrender to a Power that is both in you and outside of you. And in that moment of bliss, you will truly know and understand what it means to be free.