Showing posts with label Why to Pray ?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Why to Pray ?. Show all posts

April 21, 2012

Prayer to Shirdi Saibaba helps

Prayers to the Supreme Divine have all the strength in the world. Prayers can even avert a warlike situation. Prayers are healing. Prayers are rewarding. Prayers are source of peace, joy and happiness. Situation could be the same yet prayers have the power to help us remain unruffled amidst troubled times. 

Prayers help us look at same situation with different perspective. Prayers can get us anything we desire earnestly and if we add emotions to this prayer, the desired result will definitely manifest in our lives. Therefore, we should be very careful what we are praying for and what would be the consequences of such manifestation in our lives. Yes, there are consequences because this world is functioning as per certain Laws, with which most of us are not familiar with. 

Each manifestation in our life has a reason behind it. If we pray for money with all the intensity and add emotions to this prayer, the money would manifest but it could be in form of a health insurance policy due to our own illness. This is result of thoughtless prayer. Thus, wise have advised us to leave the result in the hands of God while keeping our faith and patience active.



Our intelligence is limited but God knows all. Even when we are praying for others, we should request God to help them in their own highest and best interest. We do not know what is good for us or for others. It helps if we pray and then leave the results in the hands of God believing that whatever happens would be in highest and best interest of all concerned. We do our best possible karma and let the Supreme Power decide what is best for us. With this attitude, the Divine grace starts flowing. Sometimes God delays because HE wants us to learn to face the problem and become stronger. At times we do not get some object of desire because its presence would be harmful to us. We need to trust God. We could deserve something better if God did not bless us with what we were so madly after. I did not get my much deserved promotion at job, it hurt me and I left my job. My faith in God has helped me move forward. I believe, HE has some better work for me. Today I have no job but God has ensured sufficient flow of finances, peace of mind and no hectic schedules. I work at my own pace and whatever I do gives me happiness because at the back of my mind I know God is working on me. I am no longer struggling because I trust Him and let Him take me whichever path he wants to take me. I am HIS instrument. I pray to God to help & guide me in my highest and best interest.

What is Prayer - Prayers are very powerful. Any thought, word, action directed towards the Supreme Power, for whatever reason, is said to be the prayer. Prayer is conversing with God - mental, verbal, religious rituals or even pilgrimage to sacred place is understood as prayer to God. Naam Jaap, Mantra Jaap are all various kinds of prayers. Written expressions of Divine name, His work, His stories, His praises & glory is considered as prayer to God. Surrender of Self to God & doing any selfless service dedicated to Him is also prayer. The omnipresent supreme divine energy is said to be present all around us and therefore HE receives all our prayers, whether we believe it or not. All prayers are heard and it is said that mental prayers are very effective. Distant healing techniques are all about mental visions and prayers carried out for the benefit of others.


Why do we pray - In Indian families, a child learns to say his prayers from infancy state itself. We often hear parents say 'jai karo', Jai Jai etc. A Hindu child is taught to say prayers in form of gayatri mantra, aartis and reading from The Ramayana etc. Lighting lamps and burning incense sticks, dhoop etc are rituals accompanied with this form of prayer. Thus a child learns to remember and address God, the Supreme divine this way. Child learns to pray to God for things of his choice like candies, toys. After some time prayer changes to getting good marks in exams and then for getting admission in good university, then a good job, a decent life partner etc. Thus, for a normal human, prayers change according to the needs of the person. As we grow up, we realise that life is not only about self preservation & procreation but also about self inquiry & subsequent self realisation.

Thus, people pray to God for different reasons. Most of the time, we pray to seek help from God to sort out our worldly difficulties. We are constantly seeking blessings from God through our prayers. Mostly focus is on making things easy for us when faced with tough situations. Some pray as a matter-of-fact - because it is a habit with them. They pray because they have grown up doing that. They do it because it is to be done without fail. Everyday, after shower, they have a routine for prayer before leaving for work. In most of such cases it is more like a formal drill. If going is tough, prayers seem to go intense too. We pray in love. We pray in fear. We pray when we feel threatened. We pray to seek forgiveness. We pray on behalf of our loved ones also. We also pray in awe. Of course, it is the inner intention, reason behind the prayer, which is most important and the Supreme Lord knows it.

Most of the time, people turn towards God when going gets tough, they are under stress and cannot do things their own way. When intelligence of the man fails him, he starts to feel helpless, in that moment of despair, the man turns towards God and says 'Help me God'.

In very few cases, a prayer is said to know the God or to seek the God. It is said that if there were 10 steps between God and the Man, the God walks down nine steps provided the man takes that first step of firm faith and belief towards the God.

In the present scientific and technological society, man has so much pride in his intelligence that he has started seeking proof of God's existence. However, God is not to be seen but to be felt and experienced. This is the very basis of Hinduism. We search for God in visible phenomenon whereas He resides in our own existence. God is eternal and imperishable. The only Truth of this world that EXISTS, rest is illusion (maya) – play of God.

Highest Prayer - At the beginning of the war at Kurukshetra, the great warrior Arjuna is lost and is in grief. He informs about his mental state and prays to Lord Krishna, his charioteer, to take him away and free him from misery because he cannot fight and kill his own family and respected elders. Lord comforts him and tells him why he is confused and reveals the ultimate truth of his own existence and the intricacies of the Cosmic laws. After true understanding, Arjuna sees himself and world around him in new light and fights for righteousness and wins.

Now, Krishna was always with Arjuna. Moreover, Arjuna had faced many tough situations earlier too but how come he did not get this knowledge earlier. The reason is that earlier Arjuna never felt lost. He had pride and he never thought he needed any higher help. He thought himself as capable of doing & facing anything in life. Afterall, he was the greatest warrior and a man of righteousness. His mind and intelligence had failed him. Now he lost faith in himself too and prayed to Krishna that he neither wants his kingdom if he wins and nor wants boon of heaven if he gets killed while fighting. He wants something more - the way out of this miserable situation. Thus, he wanted neither pain nor pleasures but freedom from this kind of situation - permanent happiness, the state beyond pleasure and pain. He was not seeking this knowledge out of curiosity but admitted that he was lost and needed divine help. This situation became a trigger point and the great man's haughtiness crumbled. Now was the right time for Lord Krishna to reveal himself. Arjuna's intense and desperate prayer to save him paved way for Lord to reveal the Supreme knowledge to him because Arjuna needed to be informed what his personality lacked in terms of fulfilment of human life and not as a warfield hero. Arjuna did not know the REAL thing. God revealed to him the narrowness of his human mind and imparted the sublime expanse of highest knowledge. With the strength of his earnest prayer he got elevated to highest level of spirituality. Thus, tough situations, when handled properly may turn as elevation points in our lives too provided we seek divine interference and leave aside our cleverness.

Shirdi SaiBaba said that barring our name and body what is left is that feeling of being alive, consciousness, this is Self, the God on whom we should meditate. Ultimately Self meditates on Self and reveals its true nature by lifting veils of dark ignorance and finally the light of knowledge of Self shines brightly. Suddenly all becomes crystal clear. At this stage nothing stands wanted. However, very rarely, someone wants such kind of knowledge. Most of the time, we are seeking favour in respect of worldly objects and position which bring us happiness for a limited time only and this happiness itself is not real but imaginary.

In our moments of silence when we sit down and surrender our thoughts to the Self within us, we connect to the Divine Supreme, within our own depths. This connection provides us energy and shows us the right path. The Self reveals the Self, such is the strength of prayer. God's Grace comes to us in his own way and in his own time. The Supreme is Almighty because he knows each and every one of us inside out. He knows what is best for us. We should be thankful that we Know the One who Knows All. He does not give us what we want but gives us what we need. This is why we need to have Faith in God. We must have the patience to wait for the right time. Because He has heard our prayer even if we said it once and even if we did not say it. He has noted it. Even few moments of sitting in silence in front of the highest Source brings peace, comfort and solace to our hearts.

Prayers for spiritual upliftment bring about great results and have a long lasting effect on our mind, body and soul. Therefore, let us make use of human birth. Let us become the Arjuna(seeker of REAL knowledge & peace) and Pray to Lord to make us happy permanently. Open our hearts to listen to Lord Krishna(our inner consciousness, the Self, the Sai). When we have Lord as our Charioteer, the ultimate bliss is ours for sure.




Vandana Ritik
Noida

December 27, 2008

Why do we Pray ???


In simple terms prayer means communicating with Guru/God. Prayer or Puja can be Direct or Indirect/ Actual or Mental. Offering of actual objects like kumkum, flowers, naivedya, fragrance, lighting diyas etc to an idol / murti/ picture /form etc constitutes pratyaksh puja. If same object(s) is offered mentally in imagination to God, this will constitute apratyaksh or manas puja. Constant remembrance of God / Name of God (Naam Jaap) is said to be the most effective prayer.

2. Prayer means conveying your thoughts, beliefs, fears, aspirations, needs to God. Most often, we pray to God for expressing our gratitude or to seek favour with a belief that HE is bestower of everything we need. We believe that God has a vast unimaginable and replenishable reservoir of unlimited divine powers and boons. We pray with awe. We pray in fear. We pray when we want some material object/ position/ service etc. We pray when we want things to go easy for us. We pray when we are sick. We also pray for forgiveness from God. We pray when we want thorns in our life to turn into colorful petals. Some people pray without any reason because praying becomes a habit with them. However, such people are very rare.

3. In actual, we pray when we realize that things are not in our control. When we bend down our head in prayer, we surrender our ego at the feet of Lord. At that moment we admit that we are nothing but helpless in front of his Supreme divine power. We admit that he is magnificent. We admit that Lord is our fortress where we are absolutely safe. When we agree to receive from someone it implies that we have surrendered our ego, it reflects our humility. This means that we have realized we are incapable of manifesting what we are seeking.

4. Pre-requisites for Prayer - Of course there is no dearth of people who are seen asking for favours from fellow human beings with a belief that they can fulfil their needs. However, instead of asking for favours from fellow beings, we must pray to God who gives to each and all. Great Saint of Shirdi, SaiBaba, often said ‘Sabka Malik Ek’(God is One) and his mantra to win over God was ‘Shraddha’(faith) and ‘Saburi’(patience) which will help us in crossing any hardship in our life. Faith and Trust in God comes automatically if we Love God in thoughts, words and action. Patience to wait for the outcome of my prayer to manifest takes away the sting of suffering. This we often lack so much. Most of the time faith and patience swing like pendulum depending upon our present life situations. Needless to mention most of our prayers are towards materialistic gains and less towards spiritual blessings. Another prerequisite for puja is purity of mind, heart, body and soul.

5. What should we pray for - When I sit down to pray often I am confused what should I ask for. SaiBaba said so many times that HIS treasury is full and people can take whatever they want but people ask for worldly things only whereas HE/God/Universe wants to give more.

6. So many times I have tried to imagine and feel what I would do if Lord appeared to me and asked me what my wish is?????? I would be totally speechless in front of HIM. I would have nothing to ask for. If I found the Lord than there would be nothing left to seek. For God is our final destination.

7. Bible says seek the Kingdom of God which is within you. I believe that if I seek the God himself, Kingdom will automatically follow but then there will be no need for Kingdom anymore. The thought itself is so awesome. I doubt if I am deserving enough to reach that stage. Only God knows what my qualifications are.

8. Sometimes, devotees don’t pray with humility but make demands. However, it is felt that we should refrain from making demands from God for it is considered as a demonic virtue.

9. Wise people say that God knows what is good for us and HE will bless us with the same, time and again, at the most right and appropriate moment.

10. Benefits of prayer - Over the years I have come to understand that I pray to reach that hidden and unseen sanctuary of peace and silence within me where the Supreme God resides. With my eyes closed or open, I utilize my prayer time to talk to God just as I would talk to a respectable elderly person. I convey my fears and insecurities, my needs and seek HIS guidance to turn my thoughts and actions towards a positive direction so that I can meet HIM as soon as possible. They say understanding ways of God is very complicated and incomprehensive. I feel that it is possible to understand God provided he showers his Grace onto us. For that we have to reach that highest pinnacle of humanness and be qualified. Power of prayers is so strang that with Grace of God everything becomes possible. It is said that even a single prayer can avert a War-like situation into peace. A mind in prayer is always surrounded by a pious aura and sends out positive vibrations in the Universe.

11. The Divine Universal Power- the Spirit is within soul hidden in our body. This means that we should not consider us separate from HIM. GOD listens to all our spoken and unspoken thoughts and words. So many times I wonder if I have that finesse that will enable God to reside in me!!!!!!

12. Prayers are very powerful - When we pray from depth of our heart, our wish is fulfilled. But our faith shakes when our prayer remains unanswered. We feel God is not looking at us. We either blame ourselves or God. It rarely occurs to us that if our prayer remained unfulfilled than it must be for our own benefit. Sometimes not having something is better than having that thing. If you look back in your life, you will find that most of the time the biggest grace of God came to you when things did not happen the way you wanted. When a bad time comes in our life, it awakens us to so many inner and outer realities of life. Struggling and finding a way out of our hardship is a blessing that God has bestowed on us by not fulfilling our wish because God loves us and wants us to develop our faith, patience, character. So many times we get what we want but that same blessing separates us from God further because once we get what we want, we forget to pray again till another adversity starts to loom its head in our life.

Therefore, if we are spiritually sound, we will not be affected if the prayer does not yield the desire result. Most of us feel that once our material desires are fulfilled and we retire from family obligations we will pray for spiritual grace. However, I feel that we should not wait till old age to ask for such an important blessing. All through our life along with our material needs we should pray to God for guiding us in the righteous direction. We should atone for our mistakes and pray to God to give us enough discrimination so that we do not make such mistakes again. Lot of people confess their sins to Lord and seek his pardon. How relieving that must be.

13. Faith or Trusting in God means that if wish is not fulfilled we should understand that it must be for our own good which we are unable to understand in given circumstances. We are children of God. HE would give us all that that we need and much more at the appropriate time provided we are qualified for receiving the same. A sincere and heartfelt prayer will take us to the final destination – to attain nirvana (liberation from cycle of birth & death) and become Godlike.

Vandana Ritik
Heritage of Shirdi Sai
New Delhi