Ishwara-Pranidana
     Surrender to God/Light/ Energy of the Universe

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

 What does surrender mean to you?

How does surrender show up in your life?

Can you see surrender as weakness or strength?

Do you see surrender as love for yourself and love of the divine aspects of the Universe or Universal oneness?

Life gives us lots of opportunity to learn about and practice surrender. Usually, it occurs later in life when we learn about this lesson

Believing that we have done all that we can and then trusting that things will work out is definitely surrender.

Surrender to the universe or to the Divinity and ask for guidance.

Believing in the goodness of nature and the divinity in all things is an act of surrender

Devotion is heart opening. Bakti yoga, opening to grace

Ishwara-Pranidhana is about your relationship to the divine energy of the universe.  Offer the fruit of yourself, your work, and your devotion to Divinity.  Keep self-Realization that is remembering we are divine beings as your goal in your life, adjusting all your actions to serve this remembrance in some way. 

The study of yoga can be applied philosophically as well as physically to your life. By centering on a higher ideal, this POSITIVE ENERGY will flow into all areas of your life. Know that the divine expression is not only out there... in a child, in a flower, in a tree, in someone you love -- but is also deep within yourself. Every action is then done with significance, every word with meaning, every thought with clarity.

It is tremendously inspiring in life to connect our small lives with a larger whole, when we remember this we are continually replenished.

As the sun sends it's energy to the earth, and the earth feeds us every day, let us take in the glory of the universe.

As Swami Ajaya said:

“As long as we are engrossed in our own needs, in “I” and “mine” we will remain insecure... Cultivating surrender and devotion replaces such self-occupation with a sense of our connection that sustains this entire universe.. A sense of devotion and surrender opens us to experiences of being nurtured.  We also learn that we have the capacity to become instruments of higher consciousness. Serving and giving what we can to help others in their own awakening”.

Baba Muktananda on the fruits of devotion:

“Whenever you experience this rush of love in your heart for yourself and for everything else in this world, you should hold on to that state. That is the doorway to divinity; that is the key. Do not let go of it. The truth is that this world is full of love. This world is an embodiment of the bliss of God.”

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