Wanting what God (Ishvara, Ultimate Reality, Allah, Yahweh, Pure Consciousness) wants.

By Michael Ketterhagen, PhD

“If we can come to want only what God wants, then we are in a curious way untouchable; for then loss of property, of good name, or health, or even of life holds no fear, for if that is what God wants, we will be at peace.”

--Sheila Cassidy

We can put whatever name that means "the all-knowing, all-loving, all-present, all-powerful Ultimate Reality” into this quote and it would mean the same—we must totally surrender to the Divine Source of Life.

We would truly be free then; we would completely be filled with the joy of just living! Doing whatever we think that Ishvara (in yoga), or God (in English), or Allah (in Islam and Sufism), or El-Shaddai (in Judaism), or the Tao (in Taoism), or Christ (in Christianity) wants us to do is all we need do.

We would know our meaning and purpose because whenever we did what was truly peaceful in our lives that led us to experience a more fulfilling life, we would be totally fearless and filled with meaning.

So, the question is how do we know what God wants?

Patanjali, the yogic master of yoga masters, says: “All we need do is follow the path of raja yoga,” the path of meditation as outlined in his Yoga Sutras.

The translation and commentary of the first chapter of the Yoga Sutras written by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, titled “The Secret of the Yoga Sutra,” is one of the clearest books in helping people to surrender to the “Highest Good,” namely, God.

But all religious traditions specify certain practices that lead a person to that total surrender. Even non-religious traditions, like the search for Truth through scientific research, will lead one to that total surrender to the Ultimate Reality, the Laws of Nature.

It seems that all we need do is totally surrender to one way and pursue it completely, no matter how challenging it might be. This total dedication will be challenging. Whichever method or path we choose that brings us to the experience of the Ultimate Source of Life, Truth or Happiness, we must follow the path by totally surrendering to it.

In the end, we will find out if that surrendering really does lead us to peace and fearless living. For me, I know that although there are many paths, yoga’s path is the foundation of all the truly effective paths.

To me, the most effective path is the yogic path of Christ, the path that Jesus of Nazareth took in surrendering himself to what God, His Father, wanted.

Namaste’