Those fortunate ones who will face these onslaughts unhesitatingly and bravely and withstand their tests unflinchingly will ultimately be co-sharers and inheritors of the divine glory. And those who will flee from these apparent but imperative calamities will testify by their own actions whether their surrender was sincere and wholehearted, or whether it was heavily encumbered by selfish motives.
People generally have a very superficial understanding of what is actually meant by complete surrender of one's all — namely, one's possessions, body and mind — to a Perfect Master. The complacent belief of a disciple that he has completely surrendered to a Master is due to ignorance and hypocrisy. Because, if the significance of the words were weighed literally and pondered over deeply, it would be seen that if one's possessions, body and mind — the very core of one's existence — were entirely submitted to the Master, there could then be no room given for even a single thought of one's own, the mind now belonging to the Master.
It would be hypocritical even to move. Even to breathe would be hypocritical, because the body has been surrendered. But this literal and impossible surrender is not required by the Master from his disciples. What is demanded of a disciple is his complete and absolute surrender to the will of the Master, however contrary it may be to the dictates of the disciple's temperament, however opposing to his natural inclinations or beliefs, however difficult to admit within the restricted precincts of his mind.
Pointing to one of them, Baba cited as an example:
Supposing I were to make you into an emperor tomorrow, and the very next day bring you down to the level of a sweeper; you should accept the extremes with unswerving faith in my judgment. You must always try with undisturbed equanimity to fit into any given role, at any given time, concerned only with the carrying out of your Master's wishes.
Turning to the others, Baba continued:
For a disciple it suffices to obey. Your duty as a disciple is to obey as if you were not your own self, which is indeed literally true when you have completely dedicated your self to the Master. Never try to match your limited intellect or your reasoning against your Master's will. Spontaneous acceptance by you of anything the Master says or does, and your unquestioning obedience to him, will safely steer you through any so-called crises that you may have to face.