"Twentieth Spiritual Instruction" By Swami Chidananda

Think of God When You Wake Up

Think of God as soon as you wake up and just before you go to sleep. Surrender yourself completely to God (Saranagati).

Think of God as soon as you wake up and just before you go to sleep. Surrender yourself completely to God, saranagati.

Isvarapranidhana is translated as “surrender to the Divine.” It is Saranaagati—offering ourselves unto the Divine. I am now in one position, and in surrender, I change my position and put myself into another position. I centre myself in the Divine. I give myself up and place myself in the Divine for the Divine to do what It wishes with me. So, it is called self-offering or offering of oneself. It is called self-surrender.

Now, self-surrender, rightly practised, is a great help in achieving the ultimate aim of Yoga namely, Superconsciousness. Superconsciousness is a state in which one is able to go beyond the present state of bondage resulting from an erroneous idea about oneself. In Superconsciousness, one transcends error and moves into truth, into right perception; thus moving, one attains illumination, one regains one’s true status of Purushahood. That is the value of Super-consciousness; that is the significance of attaining Super-consciousness. Superconsciousness corrects the whole error of the human being and puts him back where he belongs.

Now, in the realm of Yoga, in the realm of niyama, in realm of isvarapranidhana also, the same situation prevails; the same truth holds good. You have to say, “O Lord, I place myself entirely in You. Let it not be as I wish, but let it be as Thou wishest. My whole life is in Your hands. I place myself—body, mind and soul—in Your hands.” In this way, the Yogi, the Sadhaka, must learn to abide by the Will of God, must try to find out the Will of God. He must learn to place himself at the feet of God in obedience. He must surrender the inveterate urges of the ego principle and the demanding desire nature of the mind and the turbulent urges of the sense appetites at the feet of God. He should place all of these things under the governance of the Will of the Divine. He should put himself under Divine control, Divine supervision, Divine direction. He has thus to liberate himself.

(Taken from the Lectures on The Philosophy, Psychology and Practice of Yoga by Swami Chidananda)

[TWENTY IMPORTANT SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTIONS, A Series of talks on Swami Sivananda's Twenty Important Spiritual Instructions.]