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PRAYERS
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THE ACT OF ADORING
A profound adoration, admiration and affection paid to God or Allah or Ishwar.
ORIGIN OF WORSHIP / PRAYER
Worship is a natural arising from the inherent fear psyche of human beings, in other words a natural survival instinct. By worshiping fire, rain, lightening and storms, pleading for their protection in Stone Age, man developed the ability to build a house, and so on. Praying is expression, a desire to communicate with God or nature or some spiritual power, something ethereal, beyond the natural habitat of mankind. This is all about to sustain survival, so there is no harm in worshiping. This actually helps to visualize support systems, which eventually, leads to finding solutions to human problems. In fact, human progress, hinges on the fringes, of a protective psychosomatic shield that supposedly safeguards them, and prayers strengthen this human urge and need.
To the Hindus, praying is a path, which involves little effort, yet gives great rewards, by the chanting of mantras continuously in praise of God. Even prophet Mohammad advised his disciples to keep their lips moist by repeating Allah’s name. Various forms of prayers appear in the Bible. Every religion pushes the agenda of praying, so as to cultivate followers, and condition their minds, into a lifelong commitment to their religion. Buddha devised ‘Vipassana’ a prayer done in silence. Cosmic consciousness or God cannot understand man-made languages. so please allow the presenter to tell the readers that they must 'Learn to communicate with God in Silence'. Experience this and see the difference yourself.
WHY DO WE PRAY?
Prayer is a essential spiritual aspect of human life, in prayer people address the unknown and the unseen and feel his divine presence, of whom, they have heard, from their ancestors, and through legends and miracles. People live in fear, it is out of fear they worship. They were secure in their mother’s womb, but as and when they were pushed out, to face the world alone, they experienced tremendous insecurity, to insulate them, they try to protect themselves, by prayers, money and by yielding power over others.
According, to Indian religious beliefs, every era has a prescribed mode of worship for emancipation and deliverance, to set oneself free, from the cycle of life and death. In early ages the modes of prayers were arduous like sacrifice, penance, rituals and worship. In the present age ‘Kaliyug’ mere repetition of God’s name, will take one across the treacherous ocean of ‘Samsara’. In this age mankind is deeply entrenched in a materialistic life, that by merely taking the name of God, Allah or Ishwar, one can easily seek, communion with the divine, for his own salvation.
Words have power, they are the auditory secret signs, which convey something more, than the plain meaning they represent. Merely saying ‘Cheese’ or ‘Chocolate’ in the ear of a person can produce instantaneous reaction, like salivary glands watering the mouth of the listener. If ordinary words have so much power, imagine what sacred words, associated with God, by its divine alliance can turn out, to become the receptacle of God. Dwelling on the name of God is like dwelling on God himself. His attributes and his glory come automatically to the mind of the devotee. By repeating Gods name, mind catches up slowly, the magic and magnetism of divinity, hidden in God’s name, and all bodily glands activate differently to produce a pious feeling and the mind and body gets purified.
Psychologically, when people are drawn to a church or a chapel, a synagogue or a mosque or a temple with a heavy heart, hearing hymns in these places of worship, can alter the frame of their mind, and suddenly unload the heavy burdens of life, they carry on their weak shoulders. So, people swarm places of worship, when they are undergoing difficulties in life. Prayers can be different, difficult to classify. The most popular prayers are the praises of God. Besides, other form of prayers include, appeal to forgive sins, seek favors, help overcome troubles, get jobs and promotions, conclude profitable business deals, win court cases. The sick seek better health, and people scared of dying pray for delay in departure. Often the act of praying is to communicate with God, with a request to fulfill desires.
Why do we pray? Some want health, some want wealth, some pray for long life of parents, some for the safety of children, so on and so forth. In a nutshell, people pray for the fulfillment of their desires. Prayers are backed by faith. Faith plays an important role in prayers being answered or not. With faith there is hope that prayers will be answered, if not now, sometime later, but the question is, do we always know, what is good for us? We ask God for things that we want, but are those things the best for our growth? The essence of faith, in its purest form, is to put everything, in the hands of God, stating ‘Let thy will be done’. If our prayers are answered, that is good, if our prayers are declined, even than it is good. This requires purity of heart and mind, because by and large, we all wish and hope, God’s will, will coincide with our desires, but trusting Gods will as best for us is a proper prayer.
Despite putting best efforts, success in one way or another evades us too often. There are things over which we have no control. Then what should be done to attain success? By seeking external help, prayer is a means to get this help from God. Prayers show ones limitation, as well as, the acceptance of the limitless source God, which is why God is seen as benevolent. Since humans are gifted with freewill, self effort is the best help, to navigate the path of life. Most of us, remember and pray God when in trouble and desperation and see no ray of hope. Praying to fulfill ones desires for material gain is more common than the wish for one's own spiritual uplift. For material or spiritual success prayer is indispensable, for there are a number of obstacles on both paths, not easily tread without prayers.
Majority of the people in the world, sometime in their life, have resorted to prayers, for the fulfillment of their desire or to seek solution to a problem. Which means that prayers come naturally, as a petition to a higher power God, as a call for help. Prayer is a great pacifier. It alleviates anxiety and relieves tension by providing hope and the strength to tackle. It is a power to transform hopelessness into hopefulness. Prayers can bring change in the life of people. Prayer in repentance, the act of confession of wrong doing, it helps to change for the better. There is something in the cosmos, moments of profound connection, with some higher power being there, rushing in to help. Our consciousness is a presence here, while cosmic consciousness presence is everywhere, not here or there.
Chanting is a articulated sound created by the resonance of words. Sound is created as a result of striking, which reverberates into a musical tone that has a beginning and an end. But if there is a sound which exists unstuck, heard or unheard, then that 'Unstuck Sound' has neither a beginning, nor an end, that sound is the echo of the cosmos, the ‘Anhad Naad’ which is imperishable. Only God as cosmic consciousness is the sound of silence. The audibility of sound waves depends on its frequency and velocity. whether a sound wave is audible or inaudible, depends on the medium through which it travels. Silent chanting creates a kind of vibrations, which flows in a rhythmic wave pattern, as the soundless sound. Silent prayers are praised by the sages.
The impulse to pray is natural, what is important is not the physical act of praying, nor the mental state, yoga helps to balance the body, mantras to calm the mind. Prayers are in words, words mean nothing, worship in such a way that our prayer is offered from the heart. God does not listen to man-made languages. God connects with the deepest feelings we express lovingly from the bottom of our heart. We seek God’s intervention in our affairs, hoping God will alter the course of our life, or create something for the better for us. We pray for abundance or help for financial, domestic or livelihood problems. We are in fact, sending prayers to God, all the time, from morn till night, from birth till death. Prayers are a means of unwinding worries and seeking pardon for our wrong deeds, we so often do.
Prayer is an important part of human experience, a process by which we navigate our lives. Life is a prayer, in the sense, that it is a continuous request to God, to present us, with what we choose and desire. Praying involves a deliberate activity, kneeling down, lighting a candle, sitting in meditation or picking up prayer beads or performing some outward or inner ritual. Prayer begins at the moment of birth and ends with death. Mankind is endowed with the mental capacity to visualize, fantasize and imagine. For things to happen, we must create right situation, if we want to grow a plant, we must understand what the right conditions are for growing the plant. If we sit near a plant and pray, flowers will not bloom, so right conditions, appropriate use of soil and water is essential to grow the plant. This is basic perceptive, how the laws of nature work. We need to balance faith with reality.
Mind is vast mental equipment with an immense reach, a proactive process that moves, and has no scientific explanation, except that it is, what it is. Imagination is designed by the mind, which provides the ability to actualize goals, we dream initially. Circumstances are determined by what we believe, and faith comes from the inability to perceive. So, human efforts lean towards innovation, to make use of novelty and newness as a natural urge, invoked all the time. Everything we have in life was invoked in one way or the other. Conscious invocation is a prayer, style of supplication, includes visualization, gratitude and acceptance. An experience that comes from what we believe, in a way we view, the world through our core beliefs and respond. That, which we instinctively focus on life, is what we see as reality, but the spontaneous view of the world is totally different.
Familiarity breeds contempt is a maxim referring to one who while praying one God, wishes to pray another God. Ancillary to this epigram is that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Absence makes us forget the one we love, but there is always a desire, a longing, a waiting, a subtle pain to meet him. This love is more intense than conjugal love. Such longing is used to seek God as divine love. To a seeker separation is greater than meeting God, whom he knows he cannot meet. So icons are part of Vedic culture, deities appear in images, symbolic or imagined in the form of thirty three million Hindu Gods, a God made available for each person, so that the seeker can invent the image of his own God. Such forms are initially necessary, to reach the stage to know the abstract, the faceless, the formless, the absolute or nothingness. Attraction to various forms of Gods and Goddesses is not ill-placed rather it addresses a fundamental issue, that images of God are more than meets the eye, pointing to a higher cosmic dimension(s).
MISUSE OF PRAYERS
The faith in the forgiveness of sins through prayer and repentance is responsible for the increase of sin and decay of virtue in this world. No sin can be remitted till one has suffered for it. The world prevents us from sinning and advocates to walk on the path of righteousness.
Blind beliefs impede progress. Believers leave everything to God, who has been eluding them. This slackens their efforts and makes them lazy. Naturally, if they don’t act, nothing can be had. People must not leave their destiny to the whims of God; instead they must take control of their life, and worldly affairs. The trouble of the believer is his unquestioning faith, rather than blind belief in imaginary beings. He resorts to prayers and rituals, at the cost of hard work, to realize his wishes. Prayers cannot end human miseries. By believing in himself man has changed the face of earth, by astonishing inventions, and discoveries, and has reached the moon, and mars is not too far.
Atheists say why pray to a powerless God? Prayer is selfish because worshipers are always asking God, to give them something in exchange for their devotion, that is more money, a promotion at work, good marks for their children, good spouse for their children. People who keep fasts also do so, with a goal in their mind. It is a way of pressuring God, to get what they want, while people with money, fame, and fortune beg God, not to take away from them, what they have. Is there any virtue in praying for material things?
Without taking medicine, and just repeating the name of medicine, no disease can be cured, merely repeating words, none can attain salvation. Despite knowing that God is a transcendental reality, are we not contradicting ourselves, by assuming that words can fill the gap, between man and God? Cosmic consciousness or God is non-verbal, one can connect with God, only by the energy of profound feelings, and not thru man-made words. Please remember this.
In present competitive scenario, prayers are the means to attract material possessions, than finding a psychological consolation. God is the presence of cosmic consciousness ‘That’, works beyond the grasp of human senses, hence pleasing God with dance, songs and drama is meaningless. Awareness creates complete connectivity with divinity and all beings, without this connectivity, we are not open to divine grace, though it is present within us, all the time.
Rituals are practiced by ignorant people. Human intelligence has sufficiently developed in digital age we all live in, therefore, the practice of performing rituals has started to recede, because it is no more relevant, earlier people could deprive some psychological benefit from rituals, now real benefits are available through technology, rituals are no more required to prevent earthquakes, floods and droughts or financial or physical problems.
Worship has become a chore, our heart isn’t in it, and we are distracted, our thoughts stray on something else or someone else, we might be thinking about our office or some other event in our life, we fear that we will invite the wrath of God by not praying, we perform rituals regularly, automatically thinking of something else all the time. We fear that our greedy desires will remain unfulfilled without these rituals, we simply cannot focus on prayers or rituals, we have no awareness of what we are doing, we do it like automated robots, we pray out of fear or greed, and we do it, because we are conditioned to do it.
We don’t have to pray to God for our welfare, the energy inherent in human beings, can be canalized, to empower them. Transformation doesn’t mean repeating mantras. Life is our prayer. Prayer is an important part of human experience. It is the process by which we create our lives. Life is a prayer in the sense that it is a continuous request to God, to present us, what we choose and desire. Life is a constant prayer. Prayer does not begin with kneeling down or lighting a candle or sitting in meditation or picking up prayer beads or performing some rituals. Prayer begins at the moment of our birth, and ends with our death. We learn that birth and death are just beginning and end of an ongoing experience, through which we move, in the cycle of life and death, over and over again.
Avoid veneration for the authority of the scriptures. Prayer doesn’t mean performance of rites and ceremonies. This turns our mind outwards, far away from ourselves to the world of Gods. We should rely and understand the great gift God has given us, the gift of our ability to create what we want, our words are creative, our thoughts are creative, our actions are creative, certainly more potent, more effective than the request made to God. Far more of the world misery is caused by our stupidity and blind faith, rather than by the wickedness of others. We need to assess the value of knowledge and the evil of ignorance. As knowledge and good conduct is essential to salvation, work out your salvation without extraneous aid. Religion is outdated, unsuited to our current needs and present day value.
God give me this, give me that, what we are seeking in prayer is not God, what we are seeking is happiness, our aspiration is for comfort, wealth, power, pleasure, we think God is a tool to achieve 'things'. Seeking protection, materialist things, greed and fear is the basis of our prayers. First know God and then pray, we pray without knowing God. Learn to pray not out of fear or greed. To be prayerful is an extremely beautiful state of inner being, which awakens our hidden potentiality to act righteously, for productive development to regulate our life. Illusive is the theory of God, so let us rely on ourselves, and our strength, to overcome our weakness, and confront our life head-on.
Idols are representative form of God, when we worship an idol, we are actually targeting, focusing, concentrating on God. Worship of God is ingrained in human heart. Fear of death, fear of unknown, material gains and salvation rate is high in the psyche of all worshipers. Those who worship out of sheer love for God are very few. Idols, temples, religious scriptures are only supports, and help during the initial spiritual development, get rid of these foolish notions, belief in words, given by the cleric or the founder(s), the system, and superstitions. The choice before us are: Whether to continue being tormented by the vagaries of life? or Be rocked to and fro by circumstances until life is over? or to strive to fulfill, the ultimate aim of human life, the realization of the highest truth.
God is not a slot machine, where we insert a prayer and out comes, what we want as a gift, like lady love, or a good job, or a promotion, or money, etc. It is best to keep God out of it, and try to get it, with our hard work. We should not be dependent on divine grace, without putting in our best efforts. Miracles happen to the deserving. The broad outline of what direction we take depends upon individual decisions and people around them. Each person has to work out his salvation. God has given each one of us freewill to accomplish our action plan.
We keep asking God something or the other all the time. That is like saying, we know better than God, what we actually want, and what is truly good for us. In fact, what we are saying is, whatever there already is, is not enough for us. It’s like saying God something is wrong with your creation improve please. This is no trust but mistrust in God. For us trust or prayer is not asking things from God, it is thankfulness and gratitude, for what is already there. Both sorrow and happiness are growth engines of life, so whatever happens, happens for the better.
ARE PRAYERS ANSWERED? WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PRAYER?
Prayers basically are a call for help. Age old tradition of prayer is repeating the name of God in the form of praise to please him to help out. Prayers are rendered in different ways, the name of God is repeated loudly or prayer is mentally whispered or come from the core of the heart. Prayers lead the wandering mind to experience the deep stillness resting within our inner being. The eventual prayer is the one in which we are no longer aware that we are praying. Just like food nourishes the body, prayer nourishes the mind.
Prayer gives strength. Even for a second, if we turn our mind to God, it is enough to experience the happiness and the joy of being alive. Prayers have a beneficial effect, a sense of well being, and can bring about, a complete change, in a person’s outlook and his personality. An appointment with God, keeps one in constant repair. Prayers instill positive thoughts, removes jealousy, greed, anger, envy and anxiety, which are often the cause of our troubles, it is important to pray not only for ourselves but also for others, this leads to social harmony and brotherhood.
Chanting of mantras, help us connect, to the source of all creation, with the resonance of meaningless words, sound is a powerful force, it can heal, just light nerve soothing music is beneficial and not the cacophony of loud noises that aggravates stress as a health hazard. Chanting mantras heals the body and calms the mind. Mantras are vibrations. They unlock hidden energy centers and help to dissolve blockages. They are invisible tools for shaping a better life by discovering resources within. It brings transformation. We have to shed religious rigidity or nothing is going to happen. Rigidity is caused when someone sticks to his point of view, than it becomes a source of misery, stubbornness is a form of identification. Learn to de-identify.
Our most powerful prayer comes from gratitude and our ability to converse with our conscience. The conversation with our conscience is what God wants us to do, that is real prayer. By observing this technique, we find solutions to our problems. In this way God communicates to us. Do not accept God to answer our unreasonable prayers, we are the creation of God, a child of God and not a hapless beggar. Pray in the spirit of self abnegation, in a state of pure consciousness than cosmic consciousness or God is ready to connect with us, provided we are pure at heart, to be showered by his blessings.
Whatever good happens, we take credit for it, if anything goes bad we blame God for it. God is great if he answers our prayers, and God is even greater, if he does not make our prayer come true, because he knows how risky our prayers are to us. If we create right conditions it will happen, if not, it doesn’t matter how much efforts we put, things are not going to happen. So, through prayers we can strengthen the development of our wish fulfillment mechanism, and give a new turn and direction to our life. Prayer is necessary to subdue our ego. Prayer is an excellent exercise to cleanse our conscience. Prayers safeguards and check from indulging in bad deeds.
Prayer to God, Allah or Ishwar is equally effective, intolerance among religions as a social malaise cannot be denied. But, at least in our prayers, we can stop being biased, to single out God, Allah and Ishwar, because in personal domain there is no threat from the priest, mullah and the pundit. Worship and adoration, when not directed to film stars, rock idols, or sport persons can fulfill a higher fundamental need. However, our basic tendency to revere them needs to be redirected, and dovetailing this natural love towards God, Allah or Ishwar, that what is, beneficial to us.
Chanting cleanses the heart of all obstructions revealing the ultimate reality that lies within, observance of silent meditation is a valuable preparation for prayer, it is a time for quite, when the mind is calmed and clarified before communion with God, it focuses on the idea of living God, who manifests itself in the acts of creation, revelation and redemption. People affirm the existence of God, repeating this brings solace to million of people.
Prayer is a great way to distract from the bigger issue. Distraction can be therapeutic and sometimes help to find perspective but the danger starts when the very thing that distracts tend to blur our life from reality. Devotion activates our higher centers, purifies our emotions, allows finer vibrations to flow into our lives, it opens the intuitive eyes and makes one see many meaningful coincidences occurring in our life, one even sees the mysterious hand of God.
Where there is no God than whom should we offer our prayers? Prayer is the window of our weakness. If a man prays that which is not achieved by him, that cannot be attained, by the grace of God, but by his own self efforts. If we don’t know what to pray for, but we feel, we need to pray, than just talk with God. Pray to awaken the soul, open the mind, cleanse our spiritual sight and reveal to us God, the path on which to walk. Show us what to do, as you will.
Even if not performed as a ritual, people pray for help, in times of trouble, or during aspired moments. It is to our personal and spiritual advantage, to know how to pray effectively. Effectual prayer is an action, a procedure, a process, which removes our awareness, from illusions and allows us, to clearly see and experience that, which is more desirable and ultimately liberating. Prayer unfolds a common behavior pattern. One may pray to experience deeper communion with God, for better understanding, for divine intervention, praying for world peace and prosperity to all. praying for a world, free from wars, poverty and disease.
Saints and spiritual masters must pray in order to remain open and responsive to all Gods, irrespective of any religion. Working people in business or in service must pray, in order to lead and render true service, to the people they serve and for doing honest business. Children and young adults should pray, for emotional maturity, righteousness and spiritual growth to lead productive lives. Prayers fail and stop working, if we do not pray, with a surrendered heart, profound feeling and a pure mind.
People do not like to choose, to go with, what others tell them to do, since they are working out, their own destiny, in their relationship with God. Praying for results, which are contrary to the methodical working of nature, or being inexperienced with proper practice of prayers, and have not learned, to go deep enough into God consciousness, source from which all things flows, is a futile exercise. Consequently, a sincere effort in a self surrendered mode of prayer is always beneficial, besides, we can benefit from daily practice of prayers too.
Realize that, as and when, our awareness of a separate selfhood or ego decreases, there and then, realization of true self or consciousness occurs, and our relationship with God increases. The tendency of the cosmic creative forces is to flow freely through us. Our false selfhood, our ego prevents, nevertheless some interfering mental and emotional characteristics struck within us, prevent to filter, and adulterate this free flow. Remove self-imposed restrictions and allow the impulses of life, to flawlessly express, through us, to fulfill a higher purpose in life.
We could possibly on some occasions, feel led to pray, on behalf of others, who we know, to be in need, or who have requested, for a prayer support. In this scenario, desire the highest and the best for those for whom we pray, discarding the attitude of restriction or limitation. Even if we feel strongly about praying for specific results, when it seems that immediate intervention is necessary, add the thought-impulse ‘if it is Gods will’. It is a state of awakened spiritual consciousness that will forever, solve another’s problems, just as it will our own. When we gradually move on this path, we stop praying for ourselves, and end up, praying for the well being, of the whole world.
Willful or whim guided, manipulative prayer is sorcery, and cannot have long term constructive results. It tends merely to keep us, and those who are influenced, by our actions, involved in conditioned, self conscious behavior, and relationships, and does not contribute, to spiritual growth. When praying for outer results for ourselves, or for others, pray with conviction, until we experience, a vivid realization of release, soul joy and gratitude, and then no longer, be concerned about results. If results are not immediately forthcoming, we should not despair, having prayed in the right way, we have done our part, leave the result to providence.
We often relate to God as caring, some include their prayers to Saint’s, Swami’s and Sufi’s. In many cultures God is also related to as father or mother. A Hindu might relate to God in one or several aspects, as remover of obstacles, provider of wealth, and giver of knowledge or good fortune of various kinds. An initiated disciple relates to God through guru or a spiritual teacher. Many take pleasure in devotional worship of God. They may observe rituals, sing or chant, pray to God as transcendental being. They do this joyfully because it provides them pleasure, keeps them in tune with the infinite. A surrendered devotee will never allow sectarianism or prejudice to cloud his consciousness and restrict spiritual growth.
When praying for results, we must be sure what we want. Then our mind and consciousness accepts, and then there is no doubt in our heart about the outcome. As we go deep in prayer, we arrive at a place of conviction, where we know ‘It is done’. Then we are filled with gratitude, thankfulness and joy, as now, we will not have to ask again. We placidly and patiently, wait to unfold, which surely happens. When we pray for things, relationships, circumstances, personal conditions or for others, results are in accordance with our adjustment in attitude and state of awareness, which enables us to see, and accept desired outcomes. That for which we pray, if it is a real need, or even a casual desire, that is available to us. Prayers enable us to see this, to be so, and claim it.
When unhappy pray for peace of mind and soul contentment. If fearful pray for trust and confidence. If sick pray for vibrant wellness and follow practical actions to help yourself. If lonely pray for more conscious, more real relationship with God and it will unfold. If experiencing limitations of any kind pray for absolute freedom. If prosperity is needed in life pray for it, and accept the fact that cosmic forces can, and will meet our every need, when the time comes abundantly, and in most appropriate ways, and so forth for employment, and so on…and so on...
When we put up our visualized needs, our prayer concepts into universal mind, they draw forth a response because our minds are units of the universal mind. The end results of prayers are always predictable, but the means by which results unfold may not be known ahead of time. The results are generally satisfactory but the circumstances may not be what our mind thinks would be.
At times of distress or anxiety, people are prepared to go anywhere to seek protection, but the favors asked for, are concerned with mundane affairs. Everything should be weighed; examined and judged according to, whether it is true or false in light of one’s own conviction. If considered wrong they should not be rejected outright, but left for further consideration. Invocations are prayers for protection against enemies, for gift of wealth, for accepting the offerings of food, flesh and wine from the devotee.
Now suppose a man is on the bank of the river, and wants to cross the river, to reach the other side of the river. If he invokes the other bank of the river to come over to him on his side, would the bank come on account of his prayers? This is how the priest befool people, to earn their offering, by encouraging them to invoke Gods and Goddess. Such are religious superstition to avert evil. Why should people perform such strange ceremonies? Incantations are of no avail and possess no saving power. One must avoid superstitions and guard himself by good deeds.
People imagine that invisible powers, and supernatural forces, are responsible for the events in their life, so they pray and worship these imagined powers. There is thanksgiving if events are in favor, assuming it was an act of God, the aim is to gain protection. This is how religious beliefs and practice got started and why primitive man started to pray. This was followed by religious rites and rituals, ceremonies and festivals. These festivities evolved according to the particular customs, traditions and ways of life prevalent in the respective regions and countries.
Offerings, prayers, vows, penalties, morals and ethics all in the name of God, because Holy Books promise a place of eternal peace called paradise, in order to control mankind and trap humanity in the bonds of religious slavery. Religion contradicts all that man has ever experienced. Today educated people have adopted a hostile attitude towards religion. They say religion hinders the progress of mankind and misleads them by introducing ridiculous superstitious beliefs and practices, which blind people from seeing reality.
Some people spend their whole lives in search of God. the question is: Do we really need to look for God? Isn’t he everywhere? One can see him in nature’s creation and in every person and every object. Happiness is something people are constantly running after. When one thing makes them happy, they start running after another. This will not bring them peace of mind, what every human being ultimately wants. People living in the lap of luxury try to bribe God for more material possessions, always asking something or the other. God does not need to be bribed. The sooner we realize that it is better to place everything in God’s hands, more peace we will find in life.
People who go to temples, church or mosque, offer loads of money and then hope that everything turns up fine are devoid of spirituality values. All our problems are in fact 'self created'. usually they are outcome of our karma. subconscious mind can help us to find solutions through meditation and prayer in silence. Various kinds of light, sensation and sound manifest themselves during meditation. The mental eye sees effulgence, which starts from a dot and gradually enlarges itself in all directions floating like a ball of dazzling light. No other object in seen except a big and powerful light on the mental space when the eyes are closed. The moment eyes are opened the light disappears. We know that neurons in brain produce enough electrical energy to light a bulb, this physical energy is mistakenly understood as self luminous light, the 'Atman', the soul or as a part of supreme spirit.
In meditation not only light but infinite empty spaces and visions are also seen, even a vibratory sense of being is felt, the non-physical reality of our being. Even a deep sound is heard, the 'Anahat Nad, the unstuck note, which is flawed as cosmic music. In fact, this sound is akin to the first heard sound in the womb, the mother’s heartbeat and the flow of embryonic fluids. The beam of light that enters the womb from virginal pathway seen in the fetus becomes a light at the end of the tunnel.
Such mixing up happens when the subconscious and the conscious mind are in synchronization in deep meditation. Don’t waste time on them. Move on towards the state of super or cosmic consciousness, where everything recedes in the background and there is a release of spontaneous energy, the energy of bliss where we feel immense happiness, just flow with this energy, no matter where it leads us to go, but we are there at peace with our-self and with our environment. This state of happiness does not stay for long, when there is happiness, there is sorrow, so we have to choose to be happy.
A profound adoration, admiration and affection paid to God or Allah or Ishwar.
ORIGIN OF WORSHIP / PRAYER
Worship is a natural arising from the inherent fear psyche of human beings, in other words a natural survival instinct. By worshiping fire, rain, lightening and storms, pleading for their protection in Stone Age, man developed the ability to build a house, and so on. Praying is expression, a desire to communicate with God or nature or some spiritual power, something ethereal, beyond the natural habitat of mankind. This is all about to sustain survival, so there is no harm in worshiping. This actually helps to visualize support systems, which eventually, leads to finding solutions to human problems. In fact, human progress, hinges on the fringes, of a protective psychosomatic shield that supposedly safeguards them, and prayers strengthen this human urge and need.
To the Hindus, praying is a path, which involves little effort, yet gives great rewards, by the chanting of mantras continuously in praise of God. Even prophet Mohammad advised his disciples to keep their lips moist by repeating Allah’s name. Various forms of prayers appear in the Bible. Every religion pushes the agenda of praying, so as to cultivate followers, and condition their minds, into a lifelong commitment to their religion. Buddha devised ‘Vipassana’ a prayer done in silence. Cosmic consciousness or God cannot understand man-made languages. so please allow the presenter to tell the readers that they must 'Learn to communicate with God in Silence'. Experience this and see the difference yourself.
WHY DO WE PRAY?
Prayer is a essential spiritual aspect of human life, in prayer people address the unknown and the unseen and feel his divine presence, of whom, they have heard, from their ancestors, and through legends and miracles. People live in fear, it is out of fear they worship. They were secure in their mother’s womb, but as and when they were pushed out, to face the world alone, they experienced tremendous insecurity, to insulate them, they try to protect themselves, by prayers, money and by yielding power over others.
According, to Indian religious beliefs, every era has a prescribed mode of worship for emancipation and deliverance, to set oneself free, from the cycle of life and death. In early ages the modes of prayers were arduous like sacrifice, penance, rituals and worship. In the present age ‘Kaliyug’ mere repetition of God’s name, will take one across the treacherous ocean of ‘Samsara’. In this age mankind is deeply entrenched in a materialistic life, that by merely taking the name of God, Allah or Ishwar, one can easily seek, communion with the divine, for his own salvation.
Words have power, they are the auditory secret signs, which convey something more, than the plain meaning they represent. Merely saying ‘Cheese’ or ‘Chocolate’ in the ear of a person can produce instantaneous reaction, like salivary glands watering the mouth of the listener. If ordinary words have so much power, imagine what sacred words, associated with God, by its divine alliance can turn out, to become the receptacle of God. Dwelling on the name of God is like dwelling on God himself. His attributes and his glory come automatically to the mind of the devotee. By repeating Gods name, mind catches up slowly, the magic and magnetism of divinity, hidden in God’s name, and all bodily glands activate differently to produce a pious feeling and the mind and body gets purified.
Psychologically, when people are drawn to a church or a chapel, a synagogue or a mosque or a temple with a heavy heart, hearing hymns in these places of worship, can alter the frame of their mind, and suddenly unload the heavy burdens of life, they carry on their weak shoulders. So, people swarm places of worship, when they are undergoing difficulties in life. Prayers can be different, difficult to classify. The most popular prayers are the praises of God. Besides, other form of prayers include, appeal to forgive sins, seek favors, help overcome troubles, get jobs and promotions, conclude profitable business deals, win court cases. The sick seek better health, and people scared of dying pray for delay in departure. Often the act of praying is to communicate with God, with a request to fulfill desires.
Why do we pray? Some want health, some want wealth, some pray for long life of parents, some for the safety of children, so on and so forth. In a nutshell, people pray for the fulfillment of their desires. Prayers are backed by faith. Faith plays an important role in prayers being answered or not. With faith there is hope that prayers will be answered, if not now, sometime later, but the question is, do we always know, what is good for us? We ask God for things that we want, but are those things the best for our growth? The essence of faith, in its purest form, is to put everything, in the hands of God, stating ‘Let thy will be done’. If our prayers are answered, that is good, if our prayers are declined, even than it is good. This requires purity of heart and mind, because by and large, we all wish and hope, God’s will, will coincide with our desires, but trusting Gods will as best for us is a proper prayer.
Despite putting best efforts, success in one way or another evades us too often. There are things over which we have no control. Then what should be done to attain success? By seeking external help, prayer is a means to get this help from God. Prayers show ones limitation, as well as, the acceptance of the limitless source God, which is why God is seen as benevolent. Since humans are gifted with freewill, self effort is the best help, to navigate the path of life. Most of us, remember and pray God when in trouble and desperation and see no ray of hope. Praying to fulfill ones desires for material gain is more common than the wish for one's own spiritual uplift. For material or spiritual success prayer is indispensable, for there are a number of obstacles on both paths, not easily tread without prayers.
Majority of the people in the world, sometime in their life, have resorted to prayers, for the fulfillment of their desire or to seek solution to a problem. Which means that prayers come naturally, as a petition to a higher power God, as a call for help. Prayer is a great pacifier. It alleviates anxiety and relieves tension by providing hope and the strength to tackle. It is a power to transform hopelessness into hopefulness. Prayers can bring change in the life of people. Prayer in repentance, the act of confession of wrong doing, it helps to change for the better. There is something in the cosmos, moments of profound connection, with some higher power being there, rushing in to help. Our consciousness is a presence here, while cosmic consciousness presence is everywhere, not here or there.
Chanting is a articulated sound created by the resonance of words. Sound is created as a result of striking, which reverberates into a musical tone that has a beginning and an end. But if there is a sound which exists unstuck, heard or unheard, then that 'Unstuck Sound' has neither a beginning, nor an end, that sound is the echo of the cosmos, the ‘Anhad Naad’ which is imperishable. Only God as cosmic consciousness is the sound of silence. The audibility of sound waves depends on its frequency and velocity. whether a sound wave is audible or inaudible, depends on the medium through which it travels. Silent chanting creates a kind of vibrations, which flows in a rhythmic wave pattern, as the soundless sound. Silent prayers are praised by the sages.
The impulse to pray is natural, what is important is not the physical act of praying, nor the mental state, yoga helps to balance the body, mantras to calm the mind. Prayers are in words, words mean nothing, worship in such a way that our prayer is offered from the heart. God does not listen to man-made languages. God connects with the deepest feelings we express lovingly from the bottom of our heart. We seek God’s intervention in our affairs, hoping God will alter the course of our life, or create something for the better for us. We pray for abundance or help for financial, domestic or livelihood problems. We are in fact, sending prayers to God, all the time, from morn till night, from birth till death. Prayers are a means of unwinding worries and seeking pardon for our wrong deeds, we so often do.
Prayer is an important part of human experience, a process by which we navigate our lives. Life is a prayer, in the sense, that it is a continuous request to God, to present us, with what we choose and desire. Praying involves a deliberate activity, kneeling down, lighting a candle, sitting in meditation or picking up prayer beads or performing some outward or inner ritual. Prayer begins at the moment of birth and ends with death. Mankind is endowed with the mental capacity to visualize, fantasize and imagine. For things to happen, we must create right situation, if we want to grow a plant, we must understand what the right conditions are for growing the plant. If we sit near a plant and pray, flowers will not bloom, so right conditions, appropriate use of soil and water is essential to grow the plant. This is basic perceptive, how the laws of nature work. We need to balance faith with reality.
Mind is vast mental equipment with an immense reach, a proactive process that moves, and has no scientific explanation, except that it is, what it is. Imagination is designed by the mind, which provides the ability to actualize goals, we dream initially. Circumstances are determined by what we believe, and faith comes from the inability to perceive. So, human efforts lean towards innovation, to make use of novelty and newness as a natural urge, invoked all the time. Everything we have in life was invoked in one way or the other. Conscious invocation is a prayer, style of supplication, includes visualization, gratitude and acceptance. An experience that comes from what we believe, in a way we view, the world through our core beliefs and respond. That, which we instinctively focus on life, is what we see as reality, but the spontaneous view of the world is totally different.
Familiarity breeds contempt is a maxim referring to one who while praying one God, wishes to pray another God. Ancillary to this epigram is that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Absence makes us forget the one we love, but there is always a desire, a longing, a waiting, a subtle pain to meet him. This love is more intense than conjugal love. Such longing is used to seek God as divine love. To a seeker separation is greater than meeting God, whom he knows he cannot meet. So icons are part of Vedic culture, deities appear in images, symbolic or imagined in the form of thirty three million Hindu Gods, a God made available for each person, so that the seeker can invent the image of his own God. Such forms are initially necessary, to reach the stage to know the abstract, the faceless, the formless, the absolute or nothingness. Attraction to various forms of Gods and Goddesses is not ill-placed rather it addresses a fundamental issue, that images of God are more than meets the eye, pointing to a higher cosmic dimension(s).
MISUSE OF PRAYERS
The faith in the forgiveness of sins through prayer and repentance is responsible for the increase of sin and decay of virtue in this world. No sin can be remitted till one has suffered for it. The world prevents us from sinning and advocates to walk on the path of righteousness.
Blind beliefs impede progress. Believers leave everything to God, who has been eluding them. This slackens their efforts and makes them lazy. Naturally, if they don’t act, nothing can be had. People must not leave their destiny to the whims of God; instead they must take control of their life, and worldly affairs. The trouble of the believer is his unquestioning faith, rather than blind belief in imaginary beings. He resorts to prayers and rituals, at the cost of hard work, to realize his wishes. Prayers cannot end human miseries. By believing in himself man has changed the face of earth, by astonishing inventions, and discoveries, and has reached the moon, and mars is not too far.
Atheists say why pray to a powerless God? Prayer is selfish because worshipers are always asking God, to give them something in exchange for their devotion, that is more money, a promotion at work, good marks for their children, good spouse for their children. People who keep fasts also do so, with a goal in their mind. It is a way of pressuring God, to get what they want, while people with money, fame, and fortune beg God, not to take away from them, what they have. Is there any virtue in praying for material things?
Without taking medicine, and just repeating the name of medicine, no disease can be cured, merely repeating words, none can attain salvation. Despite knowing that God is a transcendental reality, are we not contradicting ourselves, by assuming that words can fill the gap, between man and God? Cosmic consciousness or God is non-verbal, one can connect with God, only by the energy of profound feelings, and not thru man-made words. Please remember this.
In present competitive scenario, prayers are the means to attract material possessions, than finding a psychological consolation. God is the presence of cosmic consciousness ‘That’, works beyond the grasp of human senses, hence pleasing God with dance, songs and drama is meaningless. Awareness creates complete connectivity with divinity and all beings, without this connectivity, we are not open to divine grace, though it is present within us, all the time.
Rituals are practiced by ignorant people. Human intelligence has sufficiently developed in digital age we all live in, therefore, the practice of performing rituals has started to recede, because it is no more relevant, earlier people could deprive some psychological benefit from rituals, now real benefits are available through technology, rituals are no more required to prevent earthquakes, floods and droughts or financial or physical problems.
Worship has become a chore, our heart isn’t in it, and we are distracted, our thoughts stray on something else or someone else, we might be thinking about our office or some other event in our life, we fear that we will invite the wrath of God by not praying, we perform rituals regularly, automatically thinking of something else all the time. We fear that our greedy desires will remain unfulfilled without these rituals, we simply cannot focus on prayers or rituals, we have no awareness of what we are doing, we do it like automated robots, we pray out of fear or greed, and we do it, because we are conditioned to do it.
We don’t have to pray to God for our welfare, the energy inherent in human beings, can be canalized, to empower them. Transformation doesn’t mean repeating mantras. Life is our prayer. Prayer is an important part of human experience. It is the process by which we create our lives. Life is a prayer in the sense that it is a continuous request to God, to present us, what we choose and desire. Life is a constant prayer. Prayer does not begin with kneeling down or lighting a candle or sitting in meditation or picking up prayer beads or performing some rituals. Prayer begins at the moment of our birth, and ends with our death. We learn that birth and death are just beginning and end of an ongoing experience, through which we move, in the cycle of life and death, over and over again.
Avoid veneration for the authority of the scriptures. Prayer doesn’t mean performance of rites and ceremonies. This turns our mind outwards, far away from ourselves to the world of Gods. We should rely and understand the great gift God has given us, the gift of our ability to create what we want, our words are creative, our thoughts are creative, our actions are creative, certainly more potent, more effective than the request made to God. Far more of the world misery is caused by our stupidity and blind faith, rather than by the wickedness of others. We need to assess the value of knowledge and the evil of ignorance. As knowledge and good conduct is essential to salvation, work out your salvation without extraneous aid. Religion is outdated, unsuited to our current needs and present day value.
God give me this, give me that, what we are seeking in prayer is not God, what we are seeking is happiness, our aspiration is for comfort, wealth, power, pleasure, we think God is a tool to achieve 'things'. Seeking protection, materialist things, greed and fear is the basis of our prayers. First know God and then pray, we pray without knowing God. Learn to pray not out of fear or greed. To be prayerful is an extremely beautiful state of inner being, which awakens our hidden potentiality to act righteously, for productive development to regulate our life. Illusive is the theory of God, so let us rely on ourselves, and our strength, to overcome our weakness, and confront our life head-on.
Idols are representative form of God, when we worship an idol, we are actually targeting, focusing, concentrating on God. Worship of God is ingrained in human heart. Fear of death, fear of unknown, material gains and salvation rate is high in the psyche of all worshipers. Those who worship out of sheer love for God are very few. Idols, temples, religious scriptures are only supports, and help during the initial spiritual development, get rid of these foolish notions, belief in words, given by the cleric or the founder(s), the system, and superstitions. The choice before us are: Whether to continue being tormented by the vagaries of life? or Be rocked to and fro by circumstances until life is over? or to strive to fulfill, the ultimate aim of human life, the realization of the highest truth.
God is not a slot machine, where we insert a prayer and out comes, what we want as a gift, like lady love, or a good job, or a promotion, or money, etc. It is best to keep God out of it, and try to get it, with our hard work. We should not be dependent on divine grace, without putting in our best efforts. Miracles happen to the deserving. The broad outline of what direction we take depends upon individual decisions and people around them. Each person has to work out his salvation. God has given each one of us freewill to accomplish our action plan.
We keep asking God something or the other all the time. That is like saying, we know better than God, what we actually want, and what is truly good for us. In fact, what we are saying is, whatever there already is, is not enough for us. It’s like saying God something is wrong with your creation improve please. This is no trust but mistrust in God. For us trust or prayer is not asking things from God, it is thankfulness and gratitude, for what is already there. Both sorrow and happiness are growth engines of life, so whatever happens, happens for the better.
ARE PRAYERS ANSWERED? WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PRAYER?
Prayers basically are a call for help. Age old tradition of prayer is repeating the name of God in the form of praise to please him to help out. Prayers are rendered in different ways, the name of God is repeated loudly or prayer is mentally whispered or come from the core of the heart. Prayers lead the wandering mind to experience the deep stillness resting within our inner being. The eventual prayer is the one in which we are no longer aware that we are praying. Just like food nourishes the body, prayer nourishes the mind.
Prayer gives strength. Even for a second, if we turn our mind to God, it is enough to experience the happiness and the joy of being alive. Prayers have a beneficial effect, a sense of well being, and can bring about, a complete change, in a person’s outlook and his personality. An appointment with God, keeps one in constant repair. Prayers instill positive thoughts, removes jealousy, greed, anger, envy and anxiety, which are often the cause of our troubles, it is important to pray not only for ourselves but also for others, this leads to social harmony and brotherhood.
Chanting of mantras, help us connect, to the source of all creation, with the resonance of meaningless words, sound is a powerful force, it can heal, just light nerve soothing music is beneficial and not the cacophony of loud noises that aggravates stress as a health hazard. Chanting mantras heals the body and calms the mind. Mantras are vibrations. They unlock hidden energy centers and help to dissolve blockages. They are invisible tools for shaping a better life by discovering resources within. It brings transformation. We have to shed religious rigidity or nothing is going to happen. Rigidity is caused when someone sticks to his point of view, than it becomes a source of misery, stubbornness is a form of identification. Learn to de-identify.
Our most powerful prayer comes from gratitude and our ability to converse with our conscience. The conversation with our conscience is what God wants us to do, that is real prayer. By observing this technique, we find solutions to our problems. In this way God communicates to us. Do not accept God to answer our unreasonable prayers, we are the creation of God, a child of God and not a hapless beggar. Pray in the spirit of self abnegation, in a state of pure consciousness than cosmic consciousness or God is ready to connect with us, provided we are pure at heart, to be showered by his blessings.
Whatever good happens, we take credit for it, if anything goes bad we blame God for it. God is great if he answers our prayers, and God is even greater, if he does not make our prayer come true, because he knows how risky our prayers are to us. If we create right conditions it will happen, if not, it doesn’t matter how much efforts we put, things are not going to happen. So, through prayers we can strengthen the development of our wish fulfillment mechanism, and give a new turn and direction to our life. Prayer is necessary to subdue our ego. Prayer is an excellent exercise to cleanse our conscience. Prayers safeguards and check from indulging in bad deeds.
Prayer to God, Allah or Ishwar is equally effective, intolerance among religions as a social malaise cannot be denied. But, at least in our prayers, we can stop being biased, to single out God, Allah and Ishwar, because in personal domain there is no threat from the priest, mullah and the pundit. Worship and adoration, when not directed to film stars, rock idols, or sport persons can fulfill a higher fundamental need. However, our basic tendency to revere them needs to be redirected, and dovetailing this natural love towards God, Allah or Ishwar, that what is, beneficial to us.
Chanting cleanses the heart of all obstructions revealing the ultimate reality that lies within, observance of silent meditation is a valuable preparation for prayer, it is a time for quite, when the mind is calmed and clarified before communion with God, it focuses on the idea of living God, who manifests itself in the acts of creation, revelation and redemption. People affirm the existence of God, repeating this brings solace to million of people.
Prayer is a great way to distract from the bigger issue. Distraction can be therapeutic and sometimes help to find perspective but the danger starts when the very thing that distracts tend to blur our life from reality. Devotion activates our higher centers, purifies our emotions, allows finer vibrations to flow into our lives, it opens the intuitive eyes and makes one see many meaningful coincidences occurring in our life, one even sees the mysterious hand of God.
Where there is no God than whom should we offer our prayers? Prayer is the window of our weakness. If a man prays that which is not achieved by him, that cannot be attained, by the grace of God, but by his own self efforts. If we don’t know what to pray for, but we feel, we need to pray, than just talk with God. Pray to awaken the soul, open the mind, cleanse our spiritual sight and reveal to us God, the path on which to walk. Show us what to do, as you will.
Even if not performed as a ritual, people pray for help, in times of trouble, or during aspired moments. It is to our personal and spiritual advantage, to know how to pray effectively. Effectual prayer is an action, a procedure, a process, which removes our awareness, from illusions and allows us, to clearly see and experience that, which is more desirable and ultimately liberating. Prayer unfolds a common behavior pattern. One may pray to experience deeper communion with God, for better understanding, for divine intervention, praying for world peace and prosperity to all. praying for a world, free from wars, poverty and disease.
Saints and spiritual masters must pray in order to remain open and responsive to all Gods, irrespective of any religion. Working people in business or in service must pray, in order to lead and render true service, to the people they serve and for doing honest business. Children and young adults should pray, for emotional maturity, righteousness and spiritual growth to lead productive lives. Prayers fail and stop working, if we do not pray, with a surrendered heart, profound feeling and a pure mind.
People do not like to choose, to go with, what others tell them to do, since they are working out, their own destiny, in their relationship with God. Praying for results, which are contrary to the methodical working of nature, or being inexperienced with proper practice of prayers, and have not learned, to go deep enough into God consciousness, source from which all things flows, is a futile exercise. Consequently, a sincere effort in a self surrendered mode of prayer is always beneficial, besides, we can benefit from daily practice of prayers too.
Realize that, as and when, our awareness of a separate selfhood or ego decreases, there and then, realization of true self or consciousness occurs, and our relationship with God increases. The tendency of the cosmic creative forces is to flow freely through us. Our false selfhood, our ego prevents, nevertheless some interfering mental and emotional characteristics struck within us, prevent to filter, and adulterate this free flow. Remove self-imposed restrictions and allow the impulses of life, to flawlessly express, through us, to fulfill a higher purpose in life.
We could possibly on some occasions, feel led to pray, on behalf of others, who we know, to be in need, or who have requested, for a prayer support. In this scenario, desire the highest and the best for those for whom we pray, discarding the attitude of restriction or limitation. Even if we feel strongly about praying for specific results, when it seems that immediate intervention is necessary, add the thought-impulse ‘if it is Gods will’. It is a state of awakened spiritual consciousness that will forever, solve another’s problems, just as it will our own. When we gradually move on this path, we stop praying for ourselves, and end up, praying for the well being, of the whole world.
Willful or whim guided, manipulative prayer is sorcery, and cannot have long term constructive results. It tends merely to keep us, and those who are influenced, by our actions, involved in conditioned, self conscious behavior, and relationships, and does not contribute, to spiritual growth. When praying for outer results for ourselves, or for others, pray with conviction, until we experience, a vivid realization of release, soul joy and gratitude, and then no longer, be concerned about results. If results are not immediately forthcoming, we should not despair, having prayed in the right way, we have done our part, leave the result to providence.
We often relate to God as caring, some include their prayers to Saint’s, Swami’s and Sufi’s. In many cultures God is also related to as father or mother. A Hindu might relate to God in one or several aspects, as remover of obstacles, provider of wealth, and giver of knowledge or good fortune of various kinds. An initiated disciple relates to God through guru or a spiritual teacher. Many take pleasure in devotional worship of God. They may observe rituals, sing or chant, pray to God as transcendental being. They do this joyfully because it provides them pleasure, keeps them in tune with the infinite. A surrendered devotee will never allow sectarianism or prejudice to cloud his consciousness and restrict spiritual growth.
When praying for results, we must be sure what we want. Then our mind and consciousness accepts, and then there is no doubt in our heart about the outcome. As we go deep in prayer, we arrive at a place of conviction, where we know ‘It is done’. Then we are filled with gratitude, thankfulness and joy, as now, we will not have to ask again. We placidly and patiently, wait to unfold, which surely happens. When we pray for things, relationships, circumstances, personal conditions or for others, results are in accordance with our adjustment in attitude and state of awareness, which enables us to see, and accept desired outcomes. That for which we pray, if it is a real need, or even a casual desire, that is available to us. Prayers enable us to see this, to be so, and claim it.
When unhappy pray for peace of mind and soul contentment. If fearful pray for trust and confidence. If sick pray for vibrant wellness and follow practical actions to help yourself. If lonely pray for more conscious, more real relationship with God and it will unfold. If experiencing limitations of any kind pray for absolute freedom. If prosperity is needed in life pray for it, and accept the fact that cosmic forces can, and will meet our every need, when the time comes abundantly, and in most appropriate ways, and so forth for employment, and so on…and so on...
When we put up our visualized needs, our prayer concepts into universal mind, they draw forth a response because our minds are units of the universal mind. The end results of prayers are always predictable, but the means by which results unfold may not be known ahead of time. The results are generally satisfactory but the circumstances may not be what our mind thinks would be.
At times of distress or anxiety, people are prepared to go anywhere to seek protection, but the favors asked for, are concerned with mundane affairs. Everything should be weighed; examined and judged according to, whether it is true or false in light of one’s own conviction. If considered wrong they should not be rejected outright, but left for further consideration. Invocations are prayers for protection against enemies, for gift of wealth, for accepting the offerings of food, flesh and wine from the devotee.
Now suppose a man is on the bank of the river, and wants to cross the river, to reach the other side of the river. If he invokes the other bank of the river to come over to him on his side, would the bank come on account of his prayers? This is how the priest befool people, to earn their offering, by encouraging them to invoke Gods and Goddess. Such are religious superstition to avert evil. Why should people perform such strange ceremonies? Incantations are of no avail and possess no saving power. One must avoid superstitions and guard himself by good deeds.
People imagine that invisible powers, and supernatural forces, are responsible for the events in their life, so they pray and worship these imagined powers. There is thanksgiving if events are in favor, assuming it was an act of God, the aim is to gain protection. This is how religious beliefs and practice got started and why primitive man started to pray. This was followed by religious rites and rituals, ceremonies and festivals. These festivities evolved according to the particular customs, traditions and ways of life prevalent in the respective regions and countries.
Offerings, prayers, vows, penalties, morals and ethics all in the name of God, because Holy Books promise a place of eternal peace called paradise, in order to control mankind and trap humanity in the bonds of religious slavery. Religion contradicts all that man has ever experienced. Today educated people have adopted a hostile attitude towards religion. They say religion hinders the progress of mankind and misleads them by introducing ridiculous superstitious beliefs and practices, which blind people from seeing reality.
Some people spend their whole lives in search of God. the question is: Do we really need to look for God? Isn’t he everywhere? One can see him in nature’s creation and in every person and every object. Happiness is something people are constantly running after. When one thing makes them happy, they start running after another. This will not bring them peace of mind, what every human being ultimately wants. People living in the lap of luxury try to bribe God for more material possessions, always asking something or the other. God does not need to be bribed. The sooner we realize that it is better to place everything in God’s hands, more peace we will find in life.
People who go to temples, church or mosque, offer loads of money and then hope that everything turns up fine are devoid of spirituality values. All our problems are in fact 'self created'. usually they are outcome of our karma. subconscious mind can help us to find solutions through meditation and prayer in silence. Various kinds of light, sensation and sound manifest themselves during meditation. The mental eye sees effulgence, which starts from a dot and gradually enlarges itself in all directions floating like a ball of dazzling light. No other object in seen except a big and powerful light on the mental space when the eyes are closed. The moment eyes are opened the light disappears. We know that neurons in brain produce enough electrical energy to light a bulb, this physical energy is mistakenly understood as self luminous light, the 'Atman', the soul or as a part of supreme spirit.
In meditation not only light but infinite empty spaces and visions are also seen, even a vibratory sense of being is felt, the non-physical reality of our being. Even a deep sound is heard, the 'Anahat Nad, the unstuck note, which is flawed as cosmic music. In fact, this sound is akin to the first heard sound in the womb, the mother’s heartbeat and the flow of embryonic fluids. The beam of light that enters the womb from virginal pathway seen in the fetus becomes a light at the end of the tunnel.
Such mixing up happens when the subconscious and the conscious mind are in synchronization in deep meditation. Don’t waste time on them. Move on towards the state of super or cosmic consciousness, where everything recedes in the background and there is a release of spontaneous energy, the energy of bliss where we feel immense happiness, just flow with this energy, no matter where it leads us to go, but we are there at peace with our-self and with our environment. This state of happiness does not stay for long, when there is happiness, there is sorrow, so we have to choose to be happy.
