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
