S.E.L.F. Foundation
Spiritual Enlightenment, Love & Friendship Foundation
The SELF Foundation teaches spiritual awakening that inspires enlightenment, love and friendship

Frequently Asked Questions
about Surrender Yoga Meditation

Q: What is Surrender Yoga Meditation?
A: Surrender Yoga Meditation is the natural flowing together of one’s true nature with God.  Some call out the name ‘God’ for that which is Perfect, Pure or Absolute.  Others call it ‘Divine Love’.  Others still call it the ‘Life Force’.  Surrender Yoga is the process of letting go, accepting or surrendering to that Life Force and allowing its Divine Intelligence and Divine Power to purify, heal and awaken your body, mind and soul.

Q: How does Surrender Yoga Meditation work?
A: Surrendering or opening one's body, mind and heart to God or Divine Love is what ultimately awakens the evolutionary healing Life Force energy and keeps it awake.

The awakening can occur through a formal or informal transmission of Life Force energy initiated by a teacher, friend or mentor.  It can also occur spontaneously with or without one's conscious intention to awaken the energy.  Often it inadvertently occurs through intense willful practices that purify the body, mind and heart.  

When the powerful Life Force energy is unleashed, many people don't understand what's happened to them. The connection with a spiritual friend, mentor or teacher can be of immense support in helping one maneuver their way through the awakening and purification process from will to surrender.

Q: Is Surrender Yoga Meditation different from other methods or techniques?
A: Yes. Surrender yoga is different from other methods of self improvement, personal growth and spiritual development because it doesn’t involve the use of your will, desire or ego.

The usual method for improving your health or awakening consciousness is to do a formal exercise or concentration technique.    These methods involve the use of your will, desire or ego to follow a discipline by wilfully going through a learned set of exercises or methods.  They bring about self improvement but only to the point of what the ego or personality desires.  And though many wilful techniques have an element of surrender which is combined with wilfulness, Surrender Yoga Meditation is principally only about letting go or surrender to God, Love or the Absolute.

The following practices are a few techniques that engage the will to bring about healing or self improvement:  Zen Buddhist meditation, chanting a mantra, hatha yoga postures, praying to God, breathing exercises, psychotherapy, singing hymns, Tai Chi, polarity therapy, rolfing, study groups, guided visualization, releasing past traumas, counselling, astral travel, massage, dance or guided relaxation.  All these wilful techniques are of value, but can only take you only to the first stage of growth. 

The First Stage of growth is the ‘break through’ into a peak experience.  And this is the beginning point of surrender.  The enlightenment experience at the Enlightenment Intensive Retreat is an example of such a ‘break through.’  Another example of a ‘break through’ experience are those peak experiences that occur during accelerated breath processes such as Holotropic Breath, Re-birthing or Transformational Breath techniques.   The first stage of growth awakens the Life Force and spontaneously unleashes incredible levels of energy and inner wisdom. 

The Second Stage of growth occurs through continued surrender and thus continued spontaneous release of energy. No one wilful technique can maintain the ‘breakthrough state.’  A wilful process can only take you to a point of ‘break through.’  It cannot maintain it.  This is why some clever people go from one wilful method to another.  They’ll hit break throughs’ using a variety of wilful techniques, first focusing on the body, then the mind, then the emotions and then the spirit.  In this way they have some success and maintain a flow of steady improvement.  There are even some systems of personal and spiritual growth that have been devised that combine many different wilful techniques to give a more complete range of growth. 

In the Second Stage of spiritual growth there is the spontaneous release of energy accompanied by the wisdom and divine intelligence of inner guidance.  This is what makes up the ‘peak experience’ of the First Stage.  Only surrender can take you beyond the First Stage and the ceiling of growth which occurs as a result of the ego or will. 

Surrender Yoga automatically adjusts, shifts and changes to a correct method or technique.  In the flow of Surrender Yoga,  the Life Force exactly and correctly leads you through any and all methods of personal and spiritual growth that you need.  It applies what is needed at the right time and to the exact degree necessary.  It moves from technique to technique in the right sequence that is unique for each individual.  And it does this without you having to be taught how to wilfully do it.  There is no need for the constant presence of a guide, practitioner, teacher, or therapist.   Truth or God is the guiding hand.

Surrender Yoga allows total freedom in spiritual growth and has the knowledge and experience of 10,000 years of yogic tradition.

Q: What is the Surrender YogaInitiation Ceremony?
A: In a traditional Tantric Yoga path those who aspire to spiritual liberation are given an initiation (diksa) by the teacher/guru.   This initiation is called Shaktipat.  Spiritual cultures from different parts of the world have different names for this initiation into spiritual awakening.  In traditions other than the Tantric Yoga path, it is may be called the Grace of God,  the touch of the Holy Spirit, the transmission of truth or the Shamen’s Breath. 

In a Surrender Yoga Meditation Initiation Ceremony the Life Force of the initiate is aroused or awakened.   Some individuals are not aware of feeling anything different at the moment of initiation, while others become full of joy, emotionally excited or physically active. One person may collapse on the floor and go into yogic sleep, while others cry, dance, or move about doing a variety of yoga postures.  All initiates have different experiences in the beginning phases of initiation.   And to the degree that a person is open and sensitive to the flow of the Life Force will be to the degree that benefits can begin flow to them.  Never the less, the Initiation Ceremony is only a beginning.  It is only a seed that is planted.  Cultivating that seed with regular surrender of the body, mind and heart to the Divine begins to bear the fruit of increasing one’s ability and capacity for openness to the Divine. 

In a Surrender Yoga Meditation Initiation Ceremony getting clear about one’s intentions for receiving or surrendering to the Grace of God is an important part of the ceremony.  Everyone holds their own personal hopes, prayers and intentions for Initiation even though the ultimate goal of these initiations is the healing and liberation from mental, physical and spiritual suffering of all beings.

Q :   Is a spiritual teacher necessary?
A: Yes and no.   The flow of divine energy or shakti pat that can occur through the medium of a teacher in a formal or informal ceremony can also occur spontaneously in one’s life through Grace.  It can also happen through intense willful practices that purify the body, mind and heart. I’ve experienced it and witnessed it occur many times during Enlightenment Retreats and other spiritual activities.

People in various walks of life may experience this awakened energy as a result of their intense concentration and pure open heart.  People in sport, art, theatre, dance, creative endeavors or business can experience this awakening.  They might not realize what is happening but they can feel the intense excitement and energy and can then channel this energy into their life or willful practices.  Those who are open to expanded states of consciousness can channel the energy flow into deeper states of surrender and spiritual awakening. 

So is a teacher necessary?  Yes and no.  It can be very helpful to have a teacher, friend or mentor who understands the process of awakening energy and can guide, inspire and support you on your journey of spiritual awakening.  But is it necessary?  No.  If you are fortunate may find the guidance you need by reading it in spiritual books or listening to your intuition and being guided from within.

It is a blessing and an inspiration for those seeking liberation to have a lineage of Surrender Yoga teachers that have shared their esoteric knowledge for thousands of years.  I’ve noticed that for most people, the experience of a mentor who has walked the spiritual path can be of immense value in helping one get through the varieties of healing crises that occur and get through them with less difficulty.  

Q :   What are the benefits of Surrender Yoga Meditation?
A: The immediate benefits is the realization that there actually is Divine Wisdom and that you can experience the blessings of relaxing into that flow.  Some may call this the experience of God.  You can let go and let god as you surrender the body, mind and feelings.  You become a witness of the experiences that occur.  The body goes through spontaneous movements, postures and poses.  The emotions move from bliss to happiness to sadness and crying as the pent up feelings held in the unconscious mind release producing deep catharsis resulting in deep relaxation.  You want to treat others with more kindness and you begin to do so.

An intermediate phase of benefits comes as one continues practising over months and years.  Deep seated egotistical states of being are revealed through spontaneous self inspection and yogic dreaming.   Various breathing processes occur that automatically takes one into withdrawal of attention from the external environment.  Deep concentration and meditation begins to naturally occur.   Intense flows of energy and attention become focused on different parts of the body, emotions or feelings.  And through surrender to the Divine, the body, mind and feelings relax, release and let go of what they have been holding on to.  They release their tension allowing more peace and joy to flow. The mind becomes stripped of all past  impressions and one moves deeply into Presence.

The long range benefits include a deeper knowing and feeling of God, Truth and Love.  The internal structure of the nervous system begins to change and evolve.  The emotional aura becomes cleansed and refined.  You continue treating others with more kindness and the seeds of saint-like behaviour that you have planted and cultivated begin to bear their fruit.  You become more intelligent, creative and artistic.  Your love for all others begins to pour out and you continue to purify and undergo evolutionary changes. 

In the final stages of surrender the formation of the Divine Body begins as a result of the depth of purification and saintliness.  Various cultures have called this final stage by various names, i.e.,  the Christ Body, the Rainbow Body of Light, the Eternal Body, the Divine Body.