"Morning Prayer" - 3

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“MORNING PRAYER” – 3

 

(BY Swami Dayananda Saraswati)

 

No one wants to be a victim of one’s own past. If I hold to the past, I can

drop it. I can let it go. Like an object in my hand, I can drop it. However, the

problem is that the past holds me. I am helpless. When the past holds me, the

past and I are so united, so identical, that the past itself becomes I. It seems

to hold me hostage.

 

In my ignorance and innocence, I subjected myself to hurt, guilt, and,

therefore, pain. I remain associated with these memories. Some of these memories

may not be vivid, but they form the very I. I find myself helpless in letting go

of the past.

 

If someone holds me, I can seek someone else’s help to free myself. Here,

the one who holds, the held, and the holding itself are identical. I have to

either plead to myself or to the Lord. In this pleading, imploring, there is

submission. There is an acknowledgement on my part that I am helpless, The

submission of my helplessness to the Lord is real prayer.

 

This prayer, implying an acknowledgment of helplessness and submission to

the Lord, is what brings about the conversion of letting the past go. In the

submission is the acknowledgement. The completeness of the acknowledgment takes

place in the submission and the submission takes place when I pray, consciously

pray. Prayer is not a technique. It is an action, no doubt, but it is not a

technique. It is born of an acknowledgment of my helplessness.

 

“O Lord, help me to let go of the past. Let me not try to change what I cannot.

When I blame someone, I do not let go. I want to change what I cannot change. In

blaming, there is no acceptance of a fact. There is an attempt to change what I

cannot. O Lord, let me not blame anyone. What has happened is a fact. It remains

a fact. I cannot do anything about it. I do not have remorse, resentment, or

anger. O Lord, let me not try to change what I cannot change. May I have the

will to back up my desire, to fulfill my will. May I have adequate effort to

change what I can. May I have no confusion with reference to what I can and

cannot change. I implore Thy help.”

 

Om Om Om

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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