It occurs to me that this subject is not easy.. Because of our individual perceptions of the divine, and our relationship to the things we cant explain through science.
When I was little the small primary school I went to had a church looming over it like some kind of strange shadow, and I felt that in assembly, Christianity was forced upon me/us. This is not everyone’s experience of course. & I was a natural rebel from a very young age, but I was certain that there was more to life than what the reverend was telling us.
So let’s try to chunk this down; Ishvara is one of the names given for the Divine, or literal translation "divine creator" or "supreme creator";
Ish=to rule/is capable of/possessor of/creator of..
Vara=Excellent/best/supreme. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras state that this is a distinct consciousness, a special purusha, entirely untouched by karma, suffering or past impressions.
Pranidhana, comes from three different words in sanscrit;
Pra=intense, forward.
Ni-= into/inward
Dhā = to place/put/intend
Thus "placing the (inward) mind intently"
Letting go of the hold of the ego, trusting the flow of life, and offering the fruits of your actions to the divine.
Yes, the rebel in me thinks how can I do that and still be me? ..still have this life that I have curated quite well so far I think?
This kind of question is perfect for the challenge of getting beneath the surface of some of the stubbornness that is being in a human body.
Faith?
I'd love to say I have a constant connection with the divine, but frankly, some days I am no where near even contemplating this subject, I'm sure I'm not alone.
The fragility of our temperaments mean that this idea of "communion with creation" is fleeting for most of us, and we are so unaware of our subconscious habits and to some extent the more fixed elements our conditioning (education, friends, social lives, work, attitudes) that we slip off the faith wagon and return to comfortable sarcasm and disregard.
Cor, thats a bit heavy!
There are ways to instil and retain a sense of connection. Your yoga mat is just one.
Time & place
I like to think that chance encounters are often the "divine" trying to say something to me. Only yesterday someone who I vaguely know, from one of the restaurants in town, instead of saying "hello" as he passed, he said "Peace and love" really clearly to me, he said it twice actually, it stopped me in my stride, and he said "I have been saved by my faith 4 times. I would not be here 4 times over if I had not trusted my path, may you have peace and love".
It stayed with me. If I had not been walking along the road at that time, I wonder if that would have ever have happened any other time. The conditions were ripe.
This ripeness I think might be one of the keys to unlock a sense of surrender.
A sense that all will be well.
The world
Occasionally I will fill in a petition to help prevent something horrendous happening which will wreck some lovely bit of land or sea- this is a small footnote in trying to be involved in the way the humans are- not the world- the world is fine, and will continue to be fine as it constantly renews and changes...
Sound familiar?
Yes your body, constantly renewing itself and giving you signals to actively change things if it's not in alignment with the harmony you deserve, or if you're not listening will nudge you from another angle; pain, aches, dreams.
I had a weird and slightly disturbing dream last night, disturbing enough to look up it's possible meanings, I wont bore you with the details, but it was enough to tell me a few home truths that I had not been taking care of.
The Nervous system
This extraordinary architecture within us is totally connecting our entire retinue of trillions of cells in the body with the control centre at the brain. Fact.
So it makes sense that if something is out of kilter, the brain is very likely to have suggestions as to how to help ourselves re-gain that sense of homeostasis.
If we don't spot the signs first time round these suggestions will get delegated to a different part of the brain to try & get through to you in another way, and so on. It's a bit like tuning an instrument, something that might need help from an outside source, but also something you can learn. We have faith in our body's ability to heal itself (most of the time) and if its not healing so well, we know to ask for help (even if we dont), and this is a fine display of Ishvara Pranidhana
One wedding. One funeral
Ishvara Pranidhana is not limited to faith or trust, it is far beyond our conscious understanding, and has many facets which will appear to us at different times for different occasions. It reminds me of the Saturday wedding and the Sunday memorial I went to a couple of weeks ago, the astonishing observation that at both events, (not just) grown men were crying. Joy, sorrow, who knows! It's a huge muddle of emotions... and aren't we fortunate to have such a shmorgasbord of emotions to use, tools to express our inner workings, our vulnerability and strength look the same sometimes.
I think sometimes the understanding of placing "faith in the creator" can be misconstrued as if to say "I don't have to feel all of those things, I'm beyond needing emotions", I'm going to argue that emotions tell stories that colour us in and make us unique and brilliant. Relinquishing emotions could be one of those dangerous subconscious hindrances to that equilibrium we search for in a spiritual life.
Thats enough from me! Have some inspirations from others!
