Question: How can the aspirant surrender while living in the world?

Sri Chinmoy: If the aspirant is really sincere and absolutely honest, then he has to feel that the inner world is infinitely more important than the outer world. It is in the inner world that a divine decision first takes place. If the aspirant wants his outer life to be guided, moulded and transformed by the light of the inner world, then his outer life has to accept and abide by the decisions of the inner world.

When we say outer world and inner world, we are separating the two worlds. But for the real aspirant there is no outer world, no inner world; there is only one world. He listens only to his Inner Pilot, whom he calls his Guru, his Master. Then he is in the inner world, he is in the outer world and at the same time he is beyond both worlds. The disciple has to know that unconditional surrender comes on his part only when he feels that the inner world and outer world have become totally one.

How can the two worlds become one? The outer world can become totally one with the inner world when the aspirant listens to the dictates of the inner world. At the beginning, unconditional surrender is like a muscle. It can be developed slowly and steadily. But if it is not constant, this unconditional surrender will lose its strength. Today, somebody who makes unconditional surrender to the Supreme in his Master will say, "Whatever you say, Master, immediately I will do." Most of the time this surrender is for today only, for twenty-four hours; tomorrow it will be all conditional. But if total surrender becomes constant, that is to say, forever, then surrender becomes unconditional.

The outer world will always remain in doubt, anxiety, worry, fear and limited consciousness. But in the inner world, there is Peace, Light and Bliss in infinite measure. There the aspirant wants to deal with Infinity. That Infinity dawns on him only when he constantly listens to the Master. The Master's will and the Supreme's Will are always one; they can never be separated. The Master has no individual will. An ordinary person has his individual will, his egoistic will, his own personality. But the Master is not bound by personality or individuality; he just executes the Will of the Supreme. He is a channel. If the aspirant wants to make unconditional surrender to the Supreme in the Master or to the Master himself, then he has to feel that his inner world, his outer world, all his worlds, are inside the very heart of his Master.

From:Sri Chinmoy,My self-giving is my God-becoming, Agni Press, 1974
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/sgg