Surrender with Meher Baba Seminar (Author Presentation)

Hashmap Seminar Surrender with Meher Baba

By Laurent Weichberger Copyright Š 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Who am I? ● ● ● ● ●

Laurent Weichberger, Big Data Bear At Hashmap since Jan. 2020 Started on my spiritual path in New York in 1986 (at age 17) Travelled many times to India: ○ 1988, 1989, 1990, 2001, 2004 ... 2016, 2018 and many more ...

Authored (and contributed to) spiritual books, including: ○ A Mirage Will Never Quench Your Thirst (2003) ○ Meher Baba’s Gift of Intuition (2006) ○ Celebrating Divine Presence: Journeys into God (2008) ○ Forgiveness with Meher Baba (2016) ○ Surrender with Meher Baba (2020) Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Who is Meher Baba? ● ● ● ●

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Born “Merwan S. Irani” on February 25, 1894 in Pune, India at David Sasoon Hospital Attended St. Vincent’s High School (Pune) Attended Deccan College (Pune) While in college in Pune he was awakened by Hazrat Babajan (Sadguru, Qutub, Perfect Master) In May 1923 he founded Meherabad, near Ahmednagar MS [1] His disciples gave him the name “Meher Baba” Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Babajan

Krishna and Surrender Lord Krishna said in Gita :[1] “na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah mayayapahrta-jnana asuram bhavam asritah” Those unbelievers who are unrefined, foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge has been stolen by the illusions of Maya, and who partake of the atheistic demonic nature, they do not surrender to Me.

Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Jesus and Surrender ● ● ●

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Lord Jesus went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem[1] To his disciples he said: "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

Then He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed: ○ "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

The Meaning of Surrender What does surrender mean?[1]: ●

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“To give up completely what I want and desire, to forego my plan for my life, in favor of what my spiritual master, Avatar Meher Baba wants for me, and has planned for me.” - Laurent According to Meher Baba, the entire spiritual path is a series of surrenders, as he says: ○ “Spiritual advancement is a succession of one surrender after another until the goal of the final surrenderance of the separate ego-life is completely achieved.” [2] Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

More Surrender How do we live surrender? ● ●

“Living an ego-centric life of desire fulfilment, is not going to bring lasting happiness and satisfaction…” - Laurent [1] One day while traveling around the USA, I came upon this sign in a restaurant: ○ “Half my suffering comes from wanting things my way, and the other half comes from getting them my way.” - Anonymous ○ “Wanting is a state of disturbed equilibrium of the mind, and non-wanting is a state of stable poise.” Meher Baba [2] Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

And More Surrender Practical Surrender: ● Surrender must be practical ● The need of the present moment: ○ Not anxiety and fear of the future ○ Not depression or anger about the past ● In our workplace, we have many opportunities: ○ To surrender to what is being asked from us: ■ By Manager(s), Preetpal, Srini, and etc.

■ From client(s), Exxon, NCR, etc.

■ To circumstances we must navigate: Strange Exception thrown…

Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Still Yet More Surrender Passive and Active Surrender: ● ●

Passive: ○ I give up!

Active: ○ Giving myself - will (wants and desires) over to the Divine Will (what God wants for me, and others) ○ Right Effort ■ Doing my best always ■ Trying not to worry Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Types of Surrender There are three main types of surrender we can explore: ○ Healthy: brings us closer to Truth ■ Not following desires, but listening to intuition

○ Toxic: harmful to ourselves or others ■ Agree with unethical/illegal things

○ Deficient: not enough ■ Complacency ■ Laziness, bad habits ■ Chasing desires Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Healthy: Closer to Truth

Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Toxic:Causes Harm to Self or Others

Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Deficient:Not Enough

Copyright Š 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Real Surrender

From the Seven Realities[1]: “The only Real Surrender is that in which poise is undisturbed by any adverse circumstance, and the individual, amidst every kind of hardship, is resigned with perfect calm to the will of God.” ~ Meher Baba Copyright © 2020 by Laurent Weichberger

Q&A Any questions?