A prayer that seeks an answer is a demand, not a prayer.

A prayer that seeks an answer is a demand, not a prayer. A prayer is a song of love and gratitude. Every love song is essentially a prayer. To seek and to pray are different things but most of our prayers end up as wish lists. The term "Wahe-guru" is an expression more of wonderment at the beauty of the universe than a mere term of praise born out of fear. Religion is nothing if it is not born of infinite love for everything you see. Love is the only relgion I know. The rest is just fear turned into faith.

Every act performed with love and honesty in your heart is an act of prayer. A prayer is karama raised to the level of dharma. If you come out of a prayer the same person that you were before you went into it, you have prayed in vain. If you come out of a shrine with the same baggage that you carried ino it, then you can be sure the shrine has done nothing for you.Every shrine is a mere symbol of the far more sacred shrine within your heart.If that shrine has remained un-visited for ages, then the symbol too would fail to remind you of that.



(From earlier posts)
Monday, December 14, 2009


PRAYERS AS SONGS OF LOVE
PRAYER IS A PROCLAMATION OF LOVE; BEGGING AN INVOCATION TO PITY

A prayer is nothing but our way assuring ourselves that we are not completely alone and helpless on this planet. The whole universe rises to back us if our cause is noble, which is another name for respecting the laws of the universe. Anything that runs against these laws is irreligious and therefore painful.
The term God is only an abbreviation for the general order of design of the universe and the energy that moves through it. There is nothing supernatural about it, and those who we think have found God have said that much. Budhha said it through his loud silence on the question of God. Jesus described the acknowledgement of the overwhelming Law of the order of universe as Acceptance. Nanak called it “being happy living in accordance with Hukam or Bhaana, or the Will of God, or the Will of Nature. Islam is full of references to "razaa', or Will of the Unknown. Surrender to this Law is the essence of the Gita.
Pain is the direct consequence of trying to run against the current of the Law of the Universe, or the Will of God. Desire for Immortality of form is an act of defiance of the law of change, and hence any pursuit of this desire is an invitation to pain.

A prayer is a return to sanity, the acknowledgement of the need to flow in the direction of the current of Law. Defiance of Law is an attempt to distort the picture of the universe or a small part of it, and a prayer is an attempt to rectify that distortion. Humility is nothing more than an acceptance of the reality that we are mere cogs, however important, in a large wheel to further the march of Evolution.
A prayer is an expression of this humility. A prayer is addressed always and only to oneself. That is why we generally pray alone, or close our eyes while praying in a congregation. It is a pilgrimage into the boundless yet unknown reservoirs of life force that resides within us and which alone has the power to lift us beyond the bounds of the possible. It is nature's way of reconciling the paradox that while the Whole contains its parts, each part also contains the Whole, as both religion and science have shown us. Every atom in the universe is full of mysteries which are as innumerable, incomperensible and fascinating as the mysteries of the universe at large.

A prayer is also an attempt of an atom to display its ability to reflect the whole universe, holding "infinity in the palm of his hand and eternity in an hour." Its also a proof that the vast universe and its tiniest part converse in a common language. The atom and the universe, the part and the whole, the Atma and the Parmatma are inseparable and indistinguishable, and a prayer is the common language in which they converse. Begging is not praying because begging is devoid of love, while prayer is born of infinite love. Begging is a proclamation of insecurity; a prayer is a song of faith, trust and assurance. Prayer invokes love; begging invokes pity.
The worst form of begging is the one addressed to the Almighty Universe or God. It is like asking a mighty emperor to feed the dog at your farm house, a dog whose responsibility is only yours to share. Neither the dog nor the emperor will be too pleased with your act.
Turn your prayers into songs of love, and they shall be answered -- with love.