Divine Surrender: Lesson From an Energy Healer

By Rev. Al Johnson

Spiritual living is a wonderful process. If we opt to keep our eyes and hearts open it is amazing where we can glean spiritual lessons of a universal nature.  I was fortunate to receive such a lesson in higher truth from an unexpected source – our worship leader at Unity Church of Temecula Valley. 

Dar Umemoto, of Namaste Healing Arts in Lake Elsinore, is a holistic health practitioner skilled in the energy healing art of Jing-Qi-Shen. While engaged in a conversation with her about the scientific principles that explain how the energy healing arts work, and the importance of the healer setting aside any ego expectations during a session, she concluded by saying something which I found to be profound.

“To me the energy healing arts are like God’s Divine Song. Its only when I get out of the way and allow God to play me like a musical instrument does healing begin to take place.”

“ . . . Its only when I get out of the way and allow God to play me like a musical instrument does healing begin to take place.”

The spiritual Truth that suddenly illuminated me from that simple statement was that of surrendering to the higher good.  What is the higher will, or the higher good?

“The higher good” seems to be a perfect term since it does not reflect any particular theology or belief system; it simply directs our attention toward the universal spiritual reality of Oneness.

Says author and meditation teacher John Selby in his book Jesus for the Rest of Us:

“We are most of the time experiencing life from within our personal consciousness, our individual and quite often selfish and contracted ego bubble.  But we are also capable of expanding this bubble of awareness beyond our usual ego buzz, and surrendering to a higher, wiser, even spiritually transpersonal level of consciousness. This expanded reality that lies beyond all of our individualized strivings and concepts perceives the whole; in fact it is the whole – it’s the consciousness of the creator. And It’s will definitely reflects the greater good.”

We find a perfect example of this type of surrender from Jesus of Nazareth as he was being crucified. “Not my will but Thine.”  Even when close to death, Jesus the man surrendered his personal ego will (which wants to stay alive) to the will of universal wisdom and guidance.

In my experience, it is only when my ego consciously takes this step of surrendering to the higher good am I able to expand into meaningful spiritual experience.  The ego strives, manipulates, and makes up “stories” about how we think people should act or think, or how we believe things should be.  It sets up a barricade that prevents us from hearing God’s Divine Song. 

How do we surrender to the higher good? By becoming quiet and relinquishing the past and the future and embracing the reality of the present moment.  The present moment is just that. It cannot take account of your ego’s notion of the past or future unless you let it.  An easy phrase that will help you remember to stay in the present moment is, “I release the past and the future and embrace the higher good in the sacred now.”

As we learn to embrace (or to accept) what is happening to us at the present moment as part of a grander plan needed for our growth, we experience a new freedom. We welcome whatever comes into our lives, surrendering all wants and desires. With this new awareness comes contentment and peace.

“True surrender will bring peace of mind, and a permanent state of tranquility because . . . all worries and apparent difficulties are immediately placed at the feet of the Divine. . .” - Sri Sathya Sai Baba