PRAYER is the centre of today’s Mandala. The definition of Prayer according to the dictionary is ,
” A solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or another deity /An earnest hope or wish.” In the present situation, we can see that almost everyone is praying for safety, for good health and for the situation to come under control quickly. On this background , I thought it would be nice to revise the concept of Prayers and look at what prayers really mean.
When I was young, I didn’t really understand what prayers meant. Even when I went to a temple or stood in front of the God, I never thought of asking for anything. But as I have grown older, I have started realising the importance of prayers. Normally, almost everyone thinks of prayers as asking for something. But as I have been blessed to have my Spiritual Masters guide me , I have realised that a Prayer is much more than asking. And now, whenever I pray ( at least twice daily, after waking up and before going to sleep ), I try to pray in the following manner
1. As Osho says, the true essence of any Prayer is Gratitude ! So my prayers always start with thanking God. When I bow down in front of God, I am filled with gratitude for the innumerable blessings that we have been receiving from the time of our birth….our bodies, health, our parents who loved us, all the material blessings through which we can enjoy this life….the list is really unending.
I also thank God that I have been guided on the Spiritual path, which has been a great source of Joy and Peace for me.
2. If we try to analyse the causes leading to the current situation, we can easily see that the root of this problem lies in Man’s greed. In trying to fulfil our wants, we have disregarded the laws of the nature, have polluted the air, water and soil…and we have not stopped there, we are poluting our minds and bodies too. We have developed the habit of popping pills for minor illnesses ( instead of taking rest or reducing stress ) and this in turn has lead to more ailments. Once we realise our follies, we need to apologise to God ( or the supreme Power ). I believe that our prayers will reach God only if we sincerely seek for forgiveness for our mistakes.
3. Praying for others : Whenever we sincerely pray for others altruistically, without any thought of benefits to ourselves, the prayers are answered !
4. And the last part is Praying for yourself ! Actually, God knows what you need, so rather than asking for anything, I just state my problems and ask for help. I ask for strength and courage to face the problem, I pray that after going through this problem, I learn something new and that I am a better person as a result of this.
And I have experienced many times that our prayers are answered, especially the altruistic prayers when we pray for others !
I have also experienced that when we pray Unitedly for something, if possible, at the same time, we send out strong vibrations which reach God, and these United Prayers definitely work !!
We generally see that people have a tendency to pray only in the times of difficulties. In good times, they forget to thank God for the blessings they are receiving. Let us try to change this scenario.
It’s my personal feeling that if we pray regularly, thanking God for everything, we are connected to God, we have created a path which takes us closer to God ; so in emergencies, it becomes easier to reach God. So rather than praying only during crisis, let us make it a regular habit to pray and thank God for his Benedictions.
Let me end this post with Prayers for the wellbeing of all humankind and a sincere prayer that this crisis ends soon. I also pray that whatever we are learning in these difficult times, these Insights remain with us even during normal times; so that when everything returns to normal, we change our ways, stop polluting the earh and ourselves , so as to create a Heaven on earth !
I am sharing an Osho discourse which throws more Light on Prayer.
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar
तुम्हारी सारी प्रार्थनाए तुम्हारी शिकायतें हैं |
और प्रार्थना कहीं शिकायत हो सकती है ?
तुम उसी दिन मंदिर पहुंच पाओगे जिस दिन तुम धन्यवाद देने जाओगे, जिस दिन तुम कहने जाओगे कि मैं किसी योग्य न था, मेरी कोई क्षमता और पात्रता न थी, और तुमने इतना दिया !
जिस दिन तुम्हारे पास जो है, तुम्हारी पात्रता से तुम्हें ज्यादा दिखाई पड़ेगा, उसी दिन प्रार्थना का जन्म होगा |फिर उस प्रार्थना का कोई अंत नहीं है | वह बढ़ती जाती है, बढ़ती जाती है | और एक घड़ी ऐसी आती है कि तुम्हारी पात्रता शून्य हो जाती है | उस शून्य पात्र में ही सारा अस्तित्व उतर आता है | जिस दिन तुम कह पाते हो, मेरी कोई भी योग्यता नहीं, मैं जीवन के योग्य भी न था, एक सांस भी ले सकूं अस्तित्व की, इसकी भी मेरी कोई क्षमता न थी, और तूने मुझे अनंत जीवन दिया, जिस दिन तुम्हें इसमें परमात्मा के अनुग्रह के अतिरिक्त कुछ भी दिखाई न पड़ेगा, तुम बिल्कुल शून्य मात्र हो जाओगे, उसी क्षण फिर तुम्हारी कोई मृत्यु नहीं है |
मृत्यु वासना की है | तुम्हारा जीवन वासना है, इसलिए तुम्हारे भीतर मृत्यु बड़ी होती है | तुम्हारे भीतर की वासना ही तुम्हारे भीतर की मृत्यु है | जो निर्वासना को उपलब्ध हुआ वह अमृत को उपलब्ध हो गया |
ओशो✍
ताओ उपनिषद
भाग 5
प्रवचन 50
