Ishvara-Pranidhana: Surrender to God/Light/Energy of the Universe

Practice: faith, dedication, sincerity, and the patience to transcend the ego, which is so resistant to surrender.

Ishvara-Pranidhana, the fifth and final Niyama, relates to our relationship to the divine energy of the universe, God.

 

Offer the fruit of yourself, your work, and your devotion to Divinity.  Keep self-actualization as your goal in your life, adjusting all thoughts, intentions and actions to serve this goal in some way.  As the benevolent sun that finds its way to the darkest corners of the Earth without hesitation or judgment, embrace the light and the dark of self and others.  Do not judge the shifting shapes and shadows on the wall of your existence, categorizing them as good or bad, instead with an open heart of genuine goodness and love embrace all that “IS” with kindness, compassion and the unwavering strength of unconditional love.   

 

Spirituality manifests in many ways and in many things. Your individual expression of spirituality may be to read poetry, listen to music, paint, dance, walk your dog or simply sit at the edge of the ocean and contemplate the meaning of existence. What is important is not the form of your spiritual expression, but rather the continual, purposeful dedication to the practice of that expression.  Find your authentic spiritual expression and surrender to the Spirit and celebration of the devotional energy.

This observance can be taken as the simple advice to simply let go, to stop clinging to the ego (source of frustration, dissatisfaction, and tension) and to trust in the Self that is at the centre of wholeness of all beingness.  The ego thinks it is in charge and has an inflated concept of its own importance.  Though there is not innately wrong with ego as it is a part of our natural psychology, a life based on ego is an dead empty shell of what can be alive with spirit and infinitely blossoming. 

There are many paths to moving beyond the ego, none of which are engaged in a judgment of the ego as bad, but rather aim at allowing and extending consciousness beyond the ego.

Isvara Pranidhana (Surrender to God)

Patanjali defines “Isvara” as “Lord,” and the word “Pranidhana” conveys the sense of “throwing down” or “giving up.” Thus, Isvara Pranidhana can be translated as “giving up or surrendering the fruits of all our actions to God.”

Isvara Pranidhana/best actions are surrendered

The essence of Isvara Pranidhana is acting as much kindness, compassion and love, and then relinquishing and surrendering all attachment to the outcome of our actions. Only by releasing our fears and our hopes for the future can we really be in union with the present moment.

Paradoxically, this surrender requires tremendous strength.

To surrender the fruits of our actions to God requires that we give up our egotistical illusion that we know best, and instead accept that the way life unfolds may be part of a pattern too complex to understand.  While at the same time, making a conscious choice to choose love regardless of the gravity of the apparent circumstances.

This surrender, however, is anything but passive inactivity. Isvara Pranidhana requires not just that we surrender, but also that we act powerfully and abundantly with goodness and love. 

The practice of Isvara Pranidhana is simple. Let all movements of body, mind and spirited be powerfully rooted in unconditional love of an open heart full of kindness and compassion.  Then surrender to what IS, while earnestly moving towards the highest expression of your spiritual self in each moment with no attachment to any attainment.  Isvara Pranidhana inherently requires a profound trust in the goodness of the universe and of all existence within and beyond our finite understanding and existence.