Prayer beyond praying

Dr. Satish K. Kapoor

‘When we pray we are in communion with the cosmic mind, in which our minds are rooted’, wrote Swedish-American astronomer, Gustaf Stromberg.

Whatever be the form of prayer, invocatory, petitionary, purificatory, illuminatory, personal, collective or universal, it does not go unanswered, if it is laced with faith and devotion.

A German proverb says: ‘When in prayer you clasp your hands, God opens His. With prayer one unlocks heaven.’ The prayer-traditions of all living faiths, strengthen the will, uplift the mind and enervate the soul. As prayer fructifies, blessings, bounties and peace, flow unhindered.

Prayer is a dialogue with divinity. The linguistics of this dialogue are in cosmic mode, in eternal vibratory movements which can be observed, felt and experienced. During prayer, the soul is pulled towards the higher realms of Existence from where descends the ever-vibrant music, anahat. The Father (God) and the son (man) are dyed in the same hue (Sri Guru Granth Sahib, M5, Bhairo, page 1161). The Supreme realisation makes Sarmads and Mansurs of history to exclaim An-al-Haq (“I am God”) or Aham Brahmasmi (‘I am Brahma’) even at the cost of their lives. Such a state is described in the Bible thus: ‘It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians, ii, 20).

As one awakes to this new state, the divine nectar received through prayer is spilled in one’s daily activities. One is filled with positive energy and comes to realize that god alone knows the best, that man is just an instrument to do the assigned task of eternity. No demand is made on Him for He is already aware of our needs. Says Sri Guru Granth Sahib: Whether you are a swan, a crow or a crane, only His mercy is of any avail. If He so wills it, He turns a crow into a swan. (M1, Sri Rag, Var, page 91).

True prayer comes naturally as breathing, and is as profound in its effect as the law of universal gravitation. Those who cry before the Lord with an open heart like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, visualise His gracious form before their mental eye and experience miracles. The goddess Kali would materialize before the Saint of Dakshineshwar when he was in a trance. He would speak to her in agony and in ecstacy, in thoughtful and in non-serious moments, at prayer-time and at other times. She remained at his beck and call because he had ceased to be himself and virtually become Her.

When Sant Namadev prayed to Lord Vitthoba (Vitthal, a form of Vishnu), the image in the temple is said to have come to life and partook his offerings. When Mira Bai was drenched with the Lord’s love, poison served to her became nectar and the surreptitious gift of a snake turned into a garland. When Haridas, the musician Tansen’s preceptor, rendered a melody, his disciples saw Sri Krishna playing on his flute.

Prayer awakens the sixth sense-Faculty X-and shows one the path to success in whatever field one wants to operate. Madame Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society, wrote (Isis Unveiled, I): Prayer is desire, and desire develops into will.

To kneel down in prayer and to keep the ego up is irreligious. So is consumerist prayer in which one does business with God. Prayer goaded by anger, pride, jealousy, hatred or by the will to harm others, loses its subtlety and raison détre. Formal prayer becomes mechanical, when one speaks or chants with the tongue not with the heart. Community prayers rendered at a high musical pitch, disturb specially the old, the sick, and the students preparing for examination, must be avoided.

In its comprehensive meaning, prayer implies abstension from physical, mental or verbal violence towards all the living beings. The reason being that one cannot love God and hate, harm or kill his creatures.

As one advances in spirituality, prayer goes beyond external rituals and the confines of holy places. Prayer with body becomes service; prayer with mind becomes knowledge and prayer with the soul turns into Love, the Supreme Law of Existence.

So let prayer be ‘the key of the day and the lock of the night’, as Thomas M D Fuller suggested. Let us pray not just for ourselves but for humanity, as did the ancient sages:

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah,Sarve bhadrani pashyantu, ma kashchid duhkhabhag bhavet.‘May all be happy. May all be free from disease. May all see the wellbeing of all. May none fall on evil days.’

(Dr Satish K. Kapoor, former British Council Scholar, and former Registrar DAV University, is a noted educationist, historian, author and spiritualist, based in Jalandhar City.)