The essence of practicing of Isvara Pranidhana is to surrender your ego with humility and cultivating trust in the universe no matter what the circumstances. It is only by losing our made belief self that we gain our true self.
In meditation, we can try to use these steps:
- Sitting on your yoga mat in a comfortable half lotus/lotus position with back straight with eyes closed
- Using shunya mudra-Bend the 3rd finger and place it on the base of the thumb, press the thumb over the middle finger.
image credit:https://savy-international.com/yoga/hand-gestures/attachment/shunya-mudra/
- Inhale and exhale to settle your body and mind
- Visualise the number “0” inside myself. Or a symbol/image of higher power than yourself that you can relate to, which resonates with symbol of ishwara.
- Chanting the mantra A-U-M, as done below:
The first syllable A, pronounced as a prolonged “awe.” The sound starts at the back of your throat and you stretch it out. You will start feeling your solar plexus and chest vibrating.
The second syllable U, pronounced as a prolonged “oo,” with the sound gradually rolling forward along your upper palate. You’ll feel your throat vibrate.
The third syllable M, pronounced as a prolonged “mmmm” with your front teeth gently touching. You will now start to feel the top of your mouth vibrate.
The last syllable is the deep silence of the Infinite. As intelligence rises from the deep silence, you have to merge your chant from the M to the deep silence.
Chanting this can help me physically tune in to acknowledge my connection to nature and the universe.
- maintain the awareness inwards on the zero. With each inhalation and exhalation, visualise “0” getting brighter and stronger, growing from the insides of your body to surrounding your body.
- Acknowledge the thoughts, emotions, ideas arising in the contents of your mind but do not engage.
- Slowly, reduce the mind-body engagement (Surrendering the ego and identity) by emptying it out with the symbol of zero-now circling you. This shifts your awareness to expand the space-time experience instead.
- Whenever these conscious contents arises, go back to your breath and repeat the zero technique as above
- Continue the session for 10 mins
- End the session by chanting A-U-M again
- Maintain silence for another 10-15 mins
At the end of meditation session, try to let go of all expectations. Do not harbour on what you should try to achieve or gain from this meditation experience. Surrender and trust in the universe.
“However, he will be least afraid of becoming nothing in death who has recognised that he is already nothing now.”- Schopenhauer
