Niyama #5 Isvara-pranidhanat
By Lisa Longton
The fifth and final niyama is Isvara-pranidhanat which translates as surrender, or submission to God/a higher power/your chosen form of divinity. The sutra literally translates as “Surrender to God brings perfection in samadhi”.
Let’s review exactly how samadhi is translated and what it is. Samadhi is absorption, profound meditation or the ultimate meditative state, superconsciousness. Also remember that samadhi is the eighth and final limb of yoga. Another popular translation of samadhi is enlightenment, and one could say that is the absolute and actual goal of yoga, to achieve peace.
There’s a popular topic; enlightenment! But how do we achieve it, what does it mean to surrender? To achieve peace/enlightenment, the yogis advised us to focus on two things: practice and non-attachment. Those two things are the topic of another blog and I don’t want to spoil it, so let’s just consider non-attachment. This does not mean to not have any possessions, but instead to not have mental attachment to the possessions. Swami Satchidananda said, “When we have nothing to possess, we have nothing to worry about. All worry is due to attachments and clinging to possessions”.
But stop! Before even enlightenment becomes a possession that you want, understand the advice and let go of your desires. Instead, let your mind always be on the higher power that you believe in, and let all your actions serve that higher power. As the Bhagavad Gita states, “Do everything in My name. Then you will get peace and joy”.
It’s a simple piece of advice, to let your God or the higher power you believe in be your focus in everything you do. Can you imagine a world where everyone lived in this manner? As a famous yogi once wrote, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you will join us, and the world will live as one”.