WRITTEN BY S NAGARAJAN
Post No. 15,397
Date uploaded in London – 5 February 2026
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SHARANAGATI
SURRENDER
LETTING GO
This valuable book has been published by http://www.Open Sky Press.com. Details available at the above site.
Mr John David, Director of Open Sky Press
John David is a Spiritual Teacher, Author, Filmmaker, Painter, Architect, and World Traveller who has spent over 25 years guiding people towards Inner Freedom and Self-realisation. His whole life has been a journey of Awakening, a rich unfolding that he now shares to inspire others to reconnect with their True Nature.
Originally trained as a Civil Engineer and later as an Architect, John David left behind a successful career in London to follow a deep inner calling.
His search took him to Japan, where a spiritual awakening began to stir, and then to India, where he spent 15 years with his first master Osho, and later 5 years with Papaji, a direct disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi. His interviews with Indian Masters brought him eminent friends. These profound encounters deeply shaped his understanding.
Today, John David shares his wisdom through Satsang, Books, Films, Paintings, and his thriving International Centres for Inner Transformation, Open Sky. These communities in Spain and Germany offer a powerful and supportive environment for deep Inner work, Creative expression, and Silence.
John David’s multi-facetted teaching approach is simple, direct and free of religious or ideological frameworks.
His heartfelt presence, down-to-earth nature, and humor make his teachings accessible to people from all walks of life and whatever their level of knowledge.
**
The Foreword is given by Santhanam Nagarajan for this book.
Foreword
Santhanam Nagarajan
Santhanam Nagarajan is a deeply spiritual man and devoted follower of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. A prolific Advaita writer, he has travelled widely and authored over 230 books and 6,400 articles on spirituality and Indian culture. Regularly featured on ‘All India Radio’ and ‘Jaya TV’, his life’s work is to awaken spiritual awareness, especially among the youth, and share the timeless wisdom of Self-realisation.
We first connected with Nagarajan while looking for a translator for the Aham Sphurana edition in Tamil. Since then, his extraordinary kindness and devotion to this project have been an invaluable support.
It is indeed a great pleasure to have this book in hand, since one can only have it because of the good deeds he has done in the past births.
To describe and explain the ways of Self Realisation is very difficult.
Bhagavan Ramana, the Sage of Arunachala, out of great karuna [compassion], made this complicated task a simple and direct one.
He showed the world that the inquiry in the form of Nan Yar – ‘Who Am I?’ – is the principal means to realise the Self. Yet again and again, through his words, his life in the Ashram, and his own shining example, he also pointed to the path of Surrender as the highest expression of that same inquiry – where the seeker, the seeking, and the sought become one.
Sri Ganapathi Aiyyer, an ardent devotee of Bhagavan, came to Ramana Ashram in July 1936. From his instant Surrender to his Master, he started recording all the conversations that took place daily in the Old Hall. From his diaries, written with love and devotion, this book presents a thoughtfully chosen selection devoted to the topic of Surrender.
But for a sincere sadhaka [spiritual aspirant], hundreds of questions arise in the mind.
The three books – Aham Sphurana, Vichara, and Sharanagati – born from the Aham Sphurana manuscript, provide answers to all such questions one may ask.
Bhagavan has declared categorically in the clearest possible way:
Renounce the Renouncer.
Give up the Ego. Surrender.
Here in Sharanagati [Surrender], Bhagavan teaches that the mind’s endless striving is itself the cause of restlessness. Human life, he says, is like a man swimming tirelessly against the current of a vast ocean, struggling to stay afloat in a battle that can never be won. To such a one, Bhagavan gives this compassionate instruction: ‘Stop swimming and drown! This is not death, but awakening into true life.’ (p.115)
To ‘stop swimming’ means to stop resisting the natural flow of Divine Will. The drowning Bhagavan speaks of is not physical death, but the Surrender of the false sense of individuality into the boundless ocean of Being. When the ego ceases to struggle, it is discovered that we were never separate from that ocean at all – we are That.
He continues, ‘“Let go,” is the secret of Realisation. By drowning yourself in pure Subjective Consciousness beyond possibility for revival or resuscitation, you will realise that imperishable Immortality which is verily your inherent nature.’ (p.115)
This is not annihilation but awakening – the end of effort and the beginning of true life. Liberation, Bhagavan reveals, is not the fruit of laborious striving, but of a single moment of complete yielding to the Divine.
‘If one would simply Surrender unconditionally, he is freed from all karma in a single stroke.’ Here, Bhagavan assures us of the transforming power of true Surrender. The law of karma binds only the doer. When the sense of doership dissolves, the entire web of bondage vanishes instantly, and the heart rests in effortless peace. (p.116)
For this, the Viharas Margam – the path of inner abiding – is the most efficient way. The inquiry ‘Who Am I?’ is the principal means.
When a devotee asked Bhagavan, ‘What if full Surrender is not possible?’, Bhagavan advised him to begin with partial Surrender. He revealed the secret that ‘some force takes charge’ (p.95) and will unfailingly guide the seeker to the Guru, who is none other than the Self.
To a householder who feared that Surrender might conflict with his worldly duties, Bhagavan speaks with deep compassion: ‘To truly Surrender is to completely cease to care. You no longer have any cares, for all your cares are now His.’ (p.11) He explains that Surrender is not withdrawal from life but release from the burden of ownership. Actions continue, but the sense of ‘I am the doer’ falls away. In that freedom, one lives and works joyfully as an instrument of the Divine.
He further taught, ‘Having Surrendered to God, leave it to Him to fulfil your needs and responsibilities in any way He sees fit, by using you as a tool.’(p.11) This, Bhagavan said, is the life of divine partnership. When one ceases to impose personal will upon the world, the Higher Power acts through that being spontaneously. Success and failure lose meaning, for the ego has yielded to the will of God.
Finally, Bhagavan declared, ‘The state of absolute Surrender, or complete relinquishment of the ego, is not any sadhana, but the goal itself.’ (p.122) Thus, he reveals the summit of all spiritual effort: complete Surrender is not a means to Realisation – it is Realisation. When the ego has wholly dissolved, there remains no seeker, no effort, and no path – only the silent radiance of the Self, timeless and complete.
This luminous jewel of a book, Sharanagati, contains many stories, also in order to understand complicated problems, giving living examples that can be understood by all.
Even the design of the book – the layout, the fonts, and the headings – has been lovingly crafted for the reader to become fully absorbed in Bhagavan’s presence and teachings.
This book is not a ‘Read and Leave’ book. This is a permanent guide for a whole lifetime till one learns the spiritual art of Surrender in its real meaning.
May Bhagavan’s grace ever shine upon all who open these pages. May He bless every reader with the courage to inquire ‘Who am I?’ and with the humility to Surrender completely into the Heart.
S.Nagarajan, Bangalore, November 2025
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Interested persons may contact office@openskypress.com
Tel & WhatsApp +49 (0) 152 22 473 253
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