Iishvara Pranidhana

There may be many interpretations of the term "Iishvara." But it commonly means "the controller of this universe". He who controls the thought-waves of this universe is Iishvara.

Whatever may be the minor differences, to a spiritual aspirant, Iishvara is understood to be nothing other than Qualified Consciousness, or God.

Pran'idha'na means to understand clearly or to adopt something as a shelter. Therefore Iishvara pran'idha'na means to establish oneself in the Cosmic idea--to accept Iishvara as the only ideal of life. The physical body constituted of five fundamental factors does not disobey the laws of the cycle of [the Cosmic] thought-wave, extroversal or introversal. It is your mind that violates them, and this results in the degeneration of the unit consciousness [the individual]; because unit consciousness is reflected in the mind and nowhere else. So Iishvara pran'idha'na means to move with accelerated speed towards that Supreme Shelter. Therefore, Iishvara pran'idha'na is absolutely based on ideation--it is a mental effort in its entirety.

One will have to detach the mind from worldly propensities while meditating upon the Supreme. First the mind will have to be withdrawn from the limited "I" feeling', and focused at a point. Then one will take the thought of the Macrocosm around that point with the help of the ideation of the mantra incantation prescribed according to one's own mental potentiality. He is the subtlest Entity; therefore He can be realized only through feeling and by no other means.

Perhaps you know that mantra incantation is of three kinds. The first is, [which is] the attempt to attract His attention by reciting prayers in a loud voice, is absolutely meaningless. Respect, affection, sincerity and devotion are attributes of the inner heart and are not to be expressed loudly in the language of flatterers. This, therefore, serves no purpose. However when a desire for vocal expression of an internal feeling is aroused, the divine touch can be expressed in sweet language in the form of a verse or song.

Verses or mantras uttered in such a low tone that they are hardly audible are the second type of mantra incantation. Although this is better than the first type, it cannot be considered an ideal style of prayer. Mental incantation is the best process of Iishvara pran'idha'na. One's ideation should be expressed mentally and the mind should be its witnessing entity.

If this mental incantation is practised regularly and properly after learning the same from a competent teacher, the mind will progress in a particular flow, a forward movement on the path of Cosmic evolution towards Supreme Consciousness. The speed of the mind generated by a spiritual aspirant by means of Iishvara pran'idha'na is faster than the mental speed of Supreme Consciousness by which He is leading His psychic creations towards perfection through the path of Cosmic evolution.

When the mental flow of a spiritual aspirant moves along the introversal phase of Macrocosmic meditation, one's animative force, having the potentiality of divinity itself, rises above all tendencies - and proceeds towards Eternal bliss. In this state the mind is vibrated with Cosmic feeling. The unexpressed divine qualities of the higher glands find expression, and the resonance of the mind vibrates the nervous system. This gives rise to pious expressions in the physical body…

You should always remember that Cosmic feeling is above everything else; it is unwise to waste time paying attention to the external symptoms of the ideation or devotion.

It is desirable to practise various lessons of meditation alone, in a lonely place, but Iishvara pran'idha'na can be practised both individually as well as collectively. In collective Iishvara pran'idha'na the combined mental efforts work together… Therefore, like all other aspects of spiritual practice, Iishvara pran'idha'na should positively be practised alone, in a lonely place; but in addition, do not miss the opportunity of collective Iishvara pran'idha'na [meditation] whenever some of you conveniently meet together. The indomitable mental force aroused as a result of collective Iishvara pran'idha'na will help you solve any problem, great or small, on this earth.