FACE OF GOD

[Guest guest]

FACE OF GOD

Baba said, "Purification of mind is absolutely necessary; without it, all our

spiritual endeavors are nothing, but useless show and pomp" in Sri Sai

Satcharitra, ch. XVI, XVII.

What is prayer?

Prayer is outpouring of the heart.

Prayer is offering flowers plucked from the garden of heart.

Prayer is the cry of the wounded heart to the Beloved.

Prayer is the soul’s ascent to the mount of vision.

This word "prayer" means, literally, "asking". I recall the words of Jesus: "Ask

and it shall be given to you."

Prayer is asking for the key to the treasures of the Spirit-world. And I

sometimes say prayer is a voyage of discovery. For, if you but know how to

pray, you begin to discover a mighty world around you – the Spirit-world.

The word for "prayer" in the Sanskrit language is upasana. The literal meaning

of this word is "sitting under". That is prayer, -"sitting under" the influence

of the Spirit. Many years ago, when I was in England, one sweet little English

girl came to me and said: "Teach me what to pray." I said to her: "My child!

The Spirit alone may teach us what to pray." But she said: "You must give me

some words which I may recite every day!" And I passed on to her the words of

an ancient Rishi: "Out of darkness lead me into Light!" (Tamaso Ma

Jyotirgamaya). And I said to her: "Recite these words and in silence meditate

on their meaning."

I was a guest in the house of this girl. One day, I looked into a little room

and I saw her sitting – this sweet English girl – and she was lisping the

words: "Out of darkness lead me into Light!" And she offered the prayer in such

sincerity, with such love in her heart, I saw her face illuminated, her eyes

aglow with light, and I said to myself: "I have seen the face of God!"

True it is, that from time to time you see a person filled with the spirit of

prayer, and gazing at his face you feel that you see the Face of God.

(Sadhu Vaswani in East and West Series, July 2004)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

If I have made one human being happier, one creature more comfortable, one heart

more hopeful, my day has not been wasted!

 

 

 

New and Improved Mail - Send 10MB messages!