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Showing posts from April, 2020

Ishwarapranidhanadva- What is Surrender?

इष्वरप्रणिधानाद्वा means surrendering to a higher reality or surrendering to the divine. As humans, do we surrender or are we taught to surrender? We think surrender is a sign of weakness. We think that without us, things will not happen. We use authority to ensure that things happen. For many,  work itself has become a stress. How do we reduce this stress? How do we learn to surrender?   Our ancient texts say that two things are necessary to walk through the ups and downs of life, with all its perils and disaster . One, our inner state of shraddha, sincerity and surrender and the other the  grace of the divine or a higher reality.  In Patanjali Yoga Sutra, when Sage Patanjali says Iswara, he means a higher reality, a higher consciousness. Isvara, as per the sutras, is one who has no afflictions, is beyond the pair of opposites and is compassionate. Pranidhana is the श्रद्धा (shraddha) where one surrenders to a higher consciousness. The word Shraddha has no equivalent wo