Sutra 1.23: Or Surrender

Yoga Sūtra 1.23:  Īśvara  Pranidhānād Vā.

Surrender to the Divine is another pathway to peace.

Sutra 1.23 brings forth what has almost become too taboo to talk about in our culture and that is the notion of God or what this sutra calls Ishvara. Ishvara in Sanskrit can be translated as God, king, lord, god of love, supreme being, supreme soul, or master. This sutra introduces to us an alternative route to samadhi and that is to completely surrender ourselves to Ishvara. If we can allow ourselves, just for today, to release any previous beliefs about God, who he is or who she is not, we find ourselves in the unique position to stop making objections and start making observations.

Observation number one: there is an inherent wisdom to all of life. We don’t tell our digestives systems to digest or our pupils to dilate, they just do. Trees don’t converse with each other and decide when to drop their leaves, they just do. So we can see quite clearly in all of nature, that it does not need our cognitive narrative to function. Whether or not I personally like or dislike the wind, actually has nothing to do with the wind at all.

Observation number two: We are experiencing the world according to our very own, very limited perspective. Ask two people who witness the same crime to tell you what happened and you will receive two different stories. There is nothing wrong with this. The simple observation is that our previous experiences heavily flavor our personal truths and stand in the way of being with, “what is” unbiased of what we believe has happened to us. We can reframe the previous statement by saying, “what has ultimately happened for us.”

Observation number three: What is, free of our flavor, is always present whether we are narrating, judging, complaining, objecting, enjoying, wishing it would last forever, or pleading it to be over. This means that inherent life intelligence is happening at every moment of every day to everyone and everything.

I think what this sutra is asking us to breath in, is the equal opportunity, moment by moment, doorway to the NOW. By removing all that we think we know, all that we want to experience, all that we demand to change, and all that we desire to have, there is infinite availability to the surrendering of Ishvara, and therefore samadhi. This is not a giving in or a giving up, this is both a giving and receiving OF, of love, love of yourself and love of this life and the willingness to be available for it.

Always Grateful,

Thank you so very much for spending some of your moments in contemplation with me. Being curious and questioning our beliefs is what frees our minds and opens our hearts to infinite possibilities. Here’s to infinite possibilities and more and more moments of inner peace for all beings everywhere.

Blessings,

Andrea Dawn