‘Ishvara’ is a Sanskrit word that can be translated to mean supreme, or personal, God. ‘Pranidhana’ means to dedicate, devote, or surrender.

Card Symbology:

The feminine and the masculine qualities live within us all and seek integration, which is found by turning towards the Source. To surrender means to reveal our naked form and devotedly offer ourselves (the lotus) to Higher Consciousness. The spiral is the universal symbol of oneness; the fibonacci is found throughout nature and is also the shape of the heart’s electromagnetic field.

“Apply the medicine of jnana (knowledge) after cleaning the mind with the disinfectant of bhakti (devotion). Only then will there be true wisdom.”

— Amritanandamayi Ma (Amma)

Sanskrit

Ishvara
Pranidhana

English

Devotion &
Surrender

Pronunciation

eesh-wara
praa-nee-dhaa-nuh

2.45 samadhi siddhih ishvarapranidhana

From an attitude of letting go into one’s source (ishvarapranidhana), the state of perfected concentration (samadhi) is attained. — Patanjali

Exploration:

Devotion and surrender opens you to the energy of grace – without which Divine communion cannot be fully experienced. Surrender is about getting yourself out of the way, and melting in the presence of something more powerful and vast than your limited self. Simply put, surrender is forgetting the false self for the flowering of love.

Developing a relationship with the Divine in any form anchors you on your spiritual journey and instills a faith that carries you through the many trials and tests on your path. Prayer and meditation on the Divine are fundamental yogic practices that steady the heart and mind of an aspirant – developing sincerity, humility and purifying the ego. This way, when spiritual knowledge is obtained by the practitioner it deepens their wisdom and sense of wonder rather than enhancing the ego. 

You need fire in your heart to burn through complacency and fear; an ideal to break you out of the rut of habitual living and inspire you to a greater possibility of whole-hearted living. Once you create space for grace, allow the fire in your heart to lead you in the direction of your vision. Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. Look at the paths in front of you and devote yourself to a choice that is not motivated by fear, but by trust and integrity with the cosmos. Allow the universe to work for you and through you – this is the way of the heart.

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