In the first aphorism of the second pada of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, he explains the 3 “kriyas,” or actions required for one on the path of yoga. The first two of these, “tapas” (self-discipline) and “svadhyaya” (self-study), I discussed in previous posts. In this post, I will discuss the third and final action which is “isvara pranidhana” or surrender to something bigger than ourselves.
A big part of living an authentic spiritual life is learning to live in alignment with your highest values, but in order to do that, you first have to determine what those values are. What gives your life meaning? For many of us, this might be our felt connection to God, the universe, or a higher power of some sort. For some, it might simply be the feeling of being connected to the flow of life within us and around us. For others, this might be our feeling of serving a higher purpose.
On our hardest days, knowing that we are part of something bigger and feeling that our life has meaning can give us the faith to continue moving forward. Indicated in the word “pranidhana” is the idea of surrender, or a releasing of control. This is the recognition that no matter how good our intentions are and how hard we work, there will always be a lot of things that are completely out of our control. All that we can do in this life is to give our best, and then we must step back and let go and trust that whatever comes is for our highest good.
We can’t always see the bigger picture or know how the small inconveniences today might ultimately shape into something better for us in the long run, so there is an element of faith required in order to maintain a balanced state of mind (a state of yoga).
These three qualities of self-discipline, self-study, and surrender to something bigger than ourselves are described beautifully in the Serenity Prayer:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change” (isvara pranidhana), “the courage to change the things I can” (tapas), “and the wisdom to know the difference” (svadhyaya).