The error lies in the identification of the Self with the body.

Devotee:  Is ‘surrender’ accepting all physical annoyances such as ants,mosquitoes, snakes, etc., and, in accepting, willing or ceasing to be really hurt by them?


Ramana Maharishi:  Whatever it is, is it apart from you, the seer or the thinker?


Devotee:  If they are not apart, do we not feel the sting of the ants?


Ramana Maharishi:  Whom does the ant sting? It is the body. You are not the body. So long as you identify yourself with the body, you see the ants, plants, etc. If you remain as the Self, there are not others apart from the Self.


Devotee:  The body feels the pain of the sting.


Ramana Maharishi:  If the body feels it, let it ask. Let the body take care of itself. How does it matter to you?


Devotee:  Does complete surrender mean that all noise and disturbance in our environment, even during meditation, must be accepted? Or should we seek a cave in a mountain for solitude? Did not Bhagavan do this?


Ramana Maharishi:  There is no going or returning. The Self is said to be unaffected by the elements, infinite, eternal. It cannot move. There is no place to move in for the Self.


Devotee:  But, in the process of finding the Self, is this seeking external help spiritually legitimate?


Ramana Maharishi:  The error lies in the identification of the Self with the body. If Bhagavan is the body you may ask that body. But understand him whom you address as Bhagavan. He is not the body. He is the Self.