Ishvara/is: Difference between revisions

Ishvara is usually personified as one aspect of this Trinity. Various Hindu sects identify Ishvara with the highest figure in their pantheon—whether it be Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva. As described by the Hindu sage Ramanuja, “Ishvara ... has an infinite number of supreme and auspicious qualities.... He has a most perfect body, which is eternal and immutable. He is radiant, full of beauty, youth, and strength. He is omnipresent; he is ... the inner ruler of all.”<ref>Klaus K. Klostermaier, ''A Survey of Hinduism'' (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1989), p. 377.</ref> You can think of Ishvara as being one with the great [[Atman]], the Presence of God that is part of and in your [[threefold flame]].  

<blockquote>What is important is the concept of devotion. Devotion to a personal ideal of God brings with it a natural inclination to humility and service. If we set ourselves to serve Ishvara, if we dedicate our actions and surrender our wills to him, we shall find that he draws us to himself. This is the grace of God, which Sri [[Ramakrishna]] compared to an ever-blowing breeze. You have only to raise your sail in order to catch it.<ref>Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, ''How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali'' (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1953), pp. 53–54.</ref></blockquote>