A Daily Prayer

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ARTICLE

 

A DAILY PRAYER

 

“Fix the mind in remembering Me always, so that it will not wander elsewhere

towards body, wealth and home”. Thus said Baba in Chapter 6 of the Sai

Satcharitra.

 

Can this really be possible for an ordinary man, who has so many things on his

mind? From the time he gets up to the time he sleeps, he is occupied by so many

thoughts, so many activities, so many feelings…. one cannot blame him, because a

normal man has to go through so many activities every day. His sole objective is

to improve the lot of his family by earning well, and all of us would welcome

worldly honour coming our way. In the pursuit of all this, he generally thinks

that he is the doer. However if things do not happen the way we wish, we are

unhappy or dissatisfied. Who is the easiest to blame for this? God!

 

Most people have a large number of idols and photographs in their Puja Room.

Every morning, the devoted housewife commences her puja by chanting so many

Mantras for each of the deities. She wants to be careful that the mantras

pertaining to each of the Gods is chanted correctly, so that none of the deities

is dissatisfied with her prayer.

 

I remember when I was a child, my grandmother and so many elders taught me many

mantras to chant in the prayer room. And I used to chant them too, without of

course understanding their meaning but at the same time trying to get it right.

The result is that you do not concentrate on the image of God as your effort is

directed towards getting the chanting right. Now I hardly remember many of the

mantras so lovingly taught by my Grandmother.

 

I have to go reach my office in time and am always in a hurry in the morning.

And where does one cut time? In the Puja Room! This means giving the least

importance to God, who is supposed to get me safely through the day. Short cuts

are taken while praying. Excuses? Since I had to catch the bus, because I had no

time as I was reading the latest cricket controversy in the papers, I have to

have a quick breakfast etc…. Finally requesting God to forgive me for a short

cut prayer with a promise to make up tomorrow. This is the crux of the

problem.…… We all think that we can pray with devotion tomorrow! ……

 

But there is a solution….

 

When I met Satpathyji for the first time a few years ago, I asked him how to I

should pray, as I was unable to concentrate while chanting various mantras

during my Puja. He said chant the name of “Sai” always, in your Puja Room, and

for that matter anywhere. That should suffice.

 

I now realize the great meaning in this message for ordinary people like me who

want to pray to God, but try to do this through chanting a lot of mantras

without understanding them. But by chanting the name of Baba alone, we can

concentrate on His image with love and devotion with a free mind. As Baba said,

the form of the deity can then be fixed firmly in the mind. Since this does not

require any effort or paraphernalia, it can be done throughout the day with His

image in mind.

 

Baba brought me to His path as a small sparrow a few years ago, and even today,

all I know is how to chant His name. I only hope that He thinks that I do it

with love and devotion..

 

M.D.Kumar, Patna

 

http://www.heritageofshirdisai.org/newsletter/Vol%2071.htm