It is what it is.

This week, as I contemplate
the Niyama "Isvara Pranidhana",
the phrase "It is what it is" takes on a new meaning for me.

Last week, I was contemplating Patanjali's Sutra 2.44, which is about Svadhyaya (pronounced Svad-i-a-ya), or studying so you can commune with your "chosen deity".  Boy, do I know a thing or two about studying...I've been studying Anatomy and Physiology (98 on that test, thankyouverymuch), I've been studying History and Philosophy (95 on that test, thanksagain), and I've been studying my posture and alignment whenever I'm on the mat.  One thing I have to say about embarking on this path to become a yoga teacher is that after 8 years of regular yoga practice, I feel like I don't know anything about yoga.
I mean, I can recite the 8 Limbs of Patanjali's path to Ashtanga Yoga; I can tell you the names of postures in Sanskrit; I can tell you who teaches the weekend level 1 class at my teacher training studio.  But communing with God?  I'm not quite there yet.  It appears that I just need to study some more, and if I stick with it, eventually, the "form will appear - as a human form, a light, or a sound."  Intriguing.

This week, I'm working on Isvara Pranidhana, or "total surrender to God".  I wasn't quite sure how to approach the study of this, so I sought out other translations of the sutra, because, afterall, I mess up subtleties in Facebook posts written in the English language - who's to say there aren't subtleties in Patanjali's Sanskrit?

What I found was that Isvara Pranidhana is about acknowledging that there is a larger reality that we cannot control or know.  "Surrendering" to this idea doesn't necessarily mean "giving up"/ "waving the white flag".  It means opening up - allowing yourself to witness the grace and beauty of a moment without needing to know what it's all about, without needing to control the process, without feeling attached to the outcome.  It's about the ultimate:  Living in the present, witnessing and acknowledging God's grace because "it is what it is".

A few weeks ago, I was talking on the phone with my mom, and she was really unhappy with the way things had turned out in a situation at work.  She kept repeating over and over, almost like a mantra, "It is what it is."  Her tone was one of great disappointment, defeat, almost.  Perhaps a little letting go of the ego, perhaps moving the energy up a few notches away from the Manipura (power Chakra) and into the Anahata (heart Chakra), would have opened the possibility that there is some mystery to the way things work and why things happen a certain way.  We don't have to give up, but we can observe, experience, and move on with fluidity, grace, and tranquility.

So, it may be "what it is", and it doesn't have to be disappointing.  It reminds us to "Be Here Now", experiencing the world and processing all it has to offer.  Offering up or "surrendering" these moments can open the possibility of Samadhi.   I think it takes a special kind of humility and courage to do it, and I have a lot more studying to do before I get there.

"Niyama consists of purity (saucha), contentment (samtosha), acceptance (tapas), study of spiritual books (svahdyaya) and self-surrender (isvarapranidhana)" - Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 2.32