Prayerful Consciousness Means End of Prayer

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THE SPEAKING TREE: Prayerful Consciousness Means End of Prayer

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/OPINION/Editorial/THE_SPEAKING_TREE_Prayerful_Consciousness_Means_End_of_Prayer/articleshow/1502796.cms

K S Ram

 

Often one comes across people who, even

as they sit at prayer, are constantly interspersing it with household

instruction to the spouse, children or staff. Others attend to phone

calls even as they pray. Some try to pray during bath time to save time

before leaving for work.

 

They would probably argue that they

cannot help this: it is part of the pressures of modern life. However,

if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. This dictum

applies to prayer more than to any other everyday activity.

 

Kabir ridicules the practice of such

multitasking: "Mechanical fingers turn the beads; the tongue rolls

inside the mouth; the fickle mind wanders all over: Oh! this isn't

simran not at all!' Our problem arises because of an unclear

understanding of the function of prayer.

 

Prayer, as Kabir indicates, is simran,

meaning communion, or a simulation of it. The Srimad Bhagavatam

supports this view: "Religion is not for the purpose of securing a

place in heaven. It is an inquiry into Truth, and its ideal is the

knowledge and the realisation of Truth".

 

Hindu tradition recommends prayer

at the three sandhyas or transitional hours when night shifts into day,

when day turns past noon, and when evening fuses into night.

 

Islam identifies five times for prayer.

Such prayer is essentially meditation. It detoxifies the mind and

sharpens memory and thought. Time spent on prayer pays back manifold

during the day through enhanced efficiency at work.

 

To reduce prayer to a session of

pleading your wants before God is to corrupt it, even though it is

possible that things you ask for during prayer often get answered.

 

Since prayer is essentially meditation

and a session of spiritual activation, it cannot form part of

multitasking. The necessary focus is upset by any attempt to mix

prayer with other chores. The activation fails.

 

Prayer time should be exclusive.

As tradition says, you should first complete your ablutions, sit down

comfortably in a neat place, relax your body and mind, close your eyes

and allow your spirit to activate.

 

Having said all this, the reverse truth

must also be stated. The purpose of the practice of daily activation of

the spirit is to so cultivate it as to render further daily activation

unnecessary.

 

This is the essence of sanyasa: where

your mind is fixed in the One at all times, waking or sleeping, working

or idle. Meditation then is not an activity that you 'do' at appointed

hours; it transforms into a state of creative consciousness you are

permanently established in.

 

You may do anything, or you may not do

anything; nothing that you do or choose not to do can disable your

active spirit. Multitasking is not only possible then, it becomes a

normal way of life. Such a person is then a nityabhiyukta, one who is

always praying. According to Narada, this is the true state of bhakti.