I once heard a spiritual teacher point out that if you say you have faith in a higher power and yet worry, you don’t actually have faith. If you had real faith, you would be able to surrender your worries to it and find peace of mind.
In one of his talks, Swami Aparajitananda tells us the constant remembrance of God with full faith, humility and a feeling of surrender is the way to overcome all our problems and gain peace of mind.
God here refers to the higher power that creates and controls creation. How you address it is a personal choice—The Universe, Source, The Creator, Lord, or any other name.
How to surrender your worries to a higher power
What is surrender? It is putting aside the ego, giving up control of a situation and surrendering our personal will to the will of God. When we do that, we will find peace of mind.
When we are in trouble and don’t know where else to turn to for help, that’s when we admit our powerlessness and turn to God.
In six steps to surrender your worries and fears I detail the stages that lead to a complete surrender. Here they are in brief:
- A desire to strengthen your spiritual connection.
- Putting aside your doubts and beliefs.
- Believing the universe has your back.
- Asking for help.
- Surrendering to the higher power.
- Expressing your helplessness. At this last stage one gets the feeling, “I can’t do this by myself. I don’t even know where to begin. I really need your help. Please take over.”
When we surrender in this way, things are set in motion. Even if things don’t change outwardly, our inner response to the difficulty will change. Either way, if the call for help is earnest, we will find some relief. When we put our problems in God’s hands, he puts peace in our hearts.
The universe does not need to be reminded of our prayers. We only need to ask once but with all sincerity. Swami Aparajitananda tells us that our prayers are answered in four ways:
- Yes, here it is. (We get what we asked for.)
- No (What we are asking for is not good for us.)
- Wait (We will get what we want when the time is right.)
- Take this instead. (This is a better solution than the one we asked for.)
Knowing these four ways helps us remain patient and have peace of mind as we wait with faith for the answers to our prayers.
And easy way to surrender minor aggravations
Everyday problems can cause minor aggravations which rob away our peace of mind.
Whenever I find myself experiencing some mental agitation, worry, or confusion about something, I surrender it to God by simply repeating “For you” a few times. I hold the faith that I am being relieved of the negative emotions. In a few short minutes, I find that my mental chattering quiets down and I feel calmer.
What’s wonderful is that surrendering to God and repeating, “For you” over and over again even works with physical pain. I’ve tried this multiple times with minor cuts, bruises and scrapes. The pain literally disappears. Astonishing but my true personal experience. Try it yourself and see.
Likhita Japa— writing a mantra to find peace of mind
In japa-repetition of a mantra I describe the spiritual practice of the repetition of a mantra and demonstrate the method of doing it using a mala (rosary). Aside from verbally or mentally chanting a mantra as described in that article, we can also write it down in a notebook kept specially for this purpose.
When worries seem to overpower you, and you want to surrender but can’t stop the flow of worrisome thoughts, writing a mantra down repeatedly can be very helpful in bringing peace of mind. This method of writing a mantra is called Likhita japa (Likhita—writing, japa—repetition of a mantra)
Here’s how you can do it: Find some quiet time, invoke the presence and grace of a divine form you resonate with and start writing with full sincerity. Write your mantra on the page, line after line. Put your full attention on the mantra. Look at each letter as you chant it with your mouth and bring your heart and mind into it. This simple practice raises your mind to a peaceful state.
Once, something that I regretted doing kept coming back into my mind, causing me great mental agitation. I started writing my mantra in my notebook. I wrote with full sincerity, asking for forgiveness and surrendering my worrisome thoughts to God.
After some time, my hand started getting tired, and because I didn’t want to stop, I switched over to my non-dominant hand and continued writing.
Writing with my left hand required much more hand-eye coordination and careful attention. As I wrote each mantra in this way, the sounds around me faded away. My mind became fully engrossed in the writing. When I was done, I realised that my mind had become very quiet.
Nothing outside had changed but wonder of wonders, my thinking was magically transformed. I was able to calmly accept myself and the situation. I resolved to learn from it and let it go.
Likhita Japa is a simple, yet potent spiritual practice. I’m amazed by its power. Try doing it with your dominant and non-dominant hand.
Surrender with full faith
When we ask wholeheartedly, with a firm faith that our prayers will be answered, we are assured of God’s help and protection.
This is not only a promise that we find in religious books but also a natural law because every action has an equal and opposite reaction. There cannot be a void created from an action that is performed (sincerely asking for help). There will be a response. The divine is loving and merciful. Our prayers for help are surely heard and answered.
Surrendering our worries and concerns to the divine with full faith is a sure way to find peace of mind.
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