Surrender to Another Person

The Case of a Spiritual Master

Bibliographic Data

ID6436082
AuthorsAmir Freimann (0000-0002-7555-1371, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel, corresponding author), Ofra Maysele (0000-0001-5012-6400, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel)
Year2020
Volume65
Issue5
Pages1163-1186
Publication date2020-12-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Humanistic Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1678 • E-ISSN: 1552-650X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0022167820975636
OpenAlexW3112475119
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited71

The experience and posture of surrender has been espoused by religious traditions as key to spiritual life and development for millennia. Within psychology, on the other hand, surrender’s position has been likened to an “unwanted bastard child,” and its research has been neglected. Moreover, when occurring in the context of a relationship with another person, the terms “submission” and “obedience,” laden with negative connotations, have been commonly used. We propose that psychologically and spiritually developmental surrender is a common experience both when it occurs in relationship to “reality,” the Self or God, and in the context of relationship with another person, as in love, sex, patientship, followership, and discipleship. We focus on surrender to a spiritual master, which is in some respects the most extreme form of surrender to another person and the most challenging for the modern secular worldview to accept and suggest that, with all its complexity and potential pitfalls, it can be a powerful enabler and facilitator of the search for the sacred, self-transcendence, and spiritual integration

Blessing · Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Facilitator · Meditation · Milgram experiment · Obedience · Surrender · Theology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Violence, Religion, and Philosophy

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Open DOIOpen Access