A friend recently shared with me an excerpt from a book he was reading on one of his favorite subjects: the realizations of the Greek Stoics. It really struck a chord.
“Listen, as the saying goes, it’s crisis time: make a last desperate effort to gain freedom and tranquility — to be a Stoic. Lift up your head, like a person finally released from slavery. Dare to face God and say, ‘From now on, use me as you like. I am of one mind with you, I am your peer.’ Whatever you decide, I will not shrink from it. You may put me where you like, in any role regardless: officer or citizen, rich man or pauper, here or overseas. They are all just so many opportunities to justify your ways to man, by showing just how little circumstances amount to.” (Epictetus, Discourses and Selected Writings, translated by Robert Dobbin, p. 116)
Could I throw my hands in the air, “dare to face God,” and say, as the best of the Stoics do, “From now on, use me as you like”?
It is one thing to say this when life serves our wishes. It is another to say it when circumstance ask something of us that we would rather not do. Could I really say, “Whatever you decide, I will do,” if what God asked of me was difficult or inconvenient?
I think this gets to the heart of why the simple process of bhakti, which has no rigid prerequisites, can be even more challenging than the path of jñāna with all its harsh austerities.
Bhakti is simple, all we have to do is sincerely serve the will of God and leave the results up to Him. Anyone, in any condition or station in life, can advance on the path of devotion.
Bhakti is difficult — even a simple act of service can suddenly seem like the most arduous task when it doesn’t conform to our desires. For those of us who are self-centered, relinquishing control and acquiescing to do something we would not have chosen for ourselves is hell.
This “Stoic” acquiescence to a higher truth is also called surrender. And surrender is the foundation of devotion.
I have written before how, in the wrong cultural context, surrender is misunderstood. It is not following a madman. It is submission to a worthy object of devotion out of affection, where the satisfaction of our beloved becomes our greatest joy because it fills our heart with devotion.
Therefore, in this context, without surrender — selflessness — we can never enter the door of bhakti or, for that matter, experience any sincere loving relationship. Our hearts can never be truly satisfied.
Therefore, as we go deeper into any path of devotion, we will inevitably encounter a barrier if we want to get deeper. At some point, an inner voice will challenge us:
“If you want the highest love, you have to fully surrender!”
The Stoics had it right.
Are we ready to meet The Krishna Challenge and boldly declare:
“From now on, use me as you like!”