Proper vs. Improper Prayer

Gauracandra · August 20, 2002

I've been thinking that I really like the idea of prayer and find it a bit unfortunate that as Vaisnavas we really don't spend much time verbalizing our thoughts into prayers. We can say we chant Hare Krsna and that this is a form of prayer. Still, I find that open prayer (in English) if nothing else helps to open lines of communication. Think of it on a small scale of a family engaging in prayer. If a young child recites a prayer, addressing his/her concerns, it lets the father and mother know of the concerns of the child. So while the prayer may be addressed to God, the father and mother can also understand what is going on in the mind of the child, and give comfort and guidance.

In less than a month there will be the 9/11 anniversary. Suppose the Hare Krsna's are invited to some prayer commencement. What will we do? Will we just chant Hare Krsna? I don't think this would be a particularly wise move in terms of public perception. Or would we offer a prayer in English to God seeking to comfort the nation and ask for guidance for our leaders?

And then comes the nature of prayer. Is it wrong to ask God for something? For instance I've seen a number of times where a devotee is critically injured and the temple will ask the congregation to chant for the devotee's recovery. Is this any different than praying "Dear Lord, please protect this devotee's life..." However, I think when you pray as a congregation, for instance, like above you as a community express certain ideas that are helpful and healing for the community. I think using English (or the native language of the congregation) to express our thoughts in prayer is helpful in uniting communities. Any thoughts?

stonehearted · August 20, 2002

Vandanam, prayer, is one of the nine devotional activitiea recommended by Prahlada in the Bhagavatam. I have always been interested in prayer, almost as long as I can remember.

When I was about 5, my mother taught me a common children's bedtime prayer: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." It freaked me out, and I ended up wandering into the living room (my folks were hosting a party that night), crying. I didn't want to die in my sleep. The right way to pray was something I wondered about a lot as a boy. (That and sex, when I got a little older.)

When I was a teenager, I was the Virginia state chaplain for a young men's organization for two or three years. One of my main duties was to open and close statewide meetings with a prayer, which meant I had to try to write several prayers each year. That really had me wondering about prayer.

A few years later, in 1969-70, when I was 22, I discovered Queen Kunti's prayers. I was ecstatic! And I was convinced the Krishna consciousness movement had the answers to all of humanity's problems. (The more I read the first canto of the Bhagavatam, the more it amazes me!) In fact, my contact with devotees seemed to come as an answer to a prayer of desperation: Dear God, if you exist, please, please give me some indication of how I can know more about you and what life is meant for.

Regarding public prayer in vernacular languages, why not? Why shouldn't members of a community develop prayers they feel would be helpful and recite them together? This is somehting that needs to grow organically, I feel, and not be instituted by fiat. Moreover, I think the best prayers would be artful translations of those found in the Bhagavatam, or those of Narottam, Siddha Krishna das, Bhaktivinoda Thakur, and other Gaudiya saints. They know what's worth praying for! The first bhajan I learned in 1970 was Narottam's Lalasamayi-prarthana (Gauranga bolite . . .) and it is still one of the first songs on my lips. What more is there to want? It's all in there.

Thanks for bringing this one up. I look forward to devotees stirring things up with a discussion of their realizations regarding the practice of prayer.

atma · August 20, 2002

I know alot of devotees who pray openly and mentally in front of the deities. I'm one of them and I love every second of it.

Lately I'm trying to surrender and I tell Govindaji to give the strenght to tolerate whatever comes in my life, this material world is so uncertain and don't know what is coming next. I also tell them (Radha-Krsna) how weak I'm and how benefitial is for me and the children to live near the devotees. And of course, I always ask please let me remember the beautiful faces of Radha-Shyam

at the moment of death.

Every day when I go to work I have the mercy to see Sri Sri Rukmini Dwarkadish and from outside I offer my pranams and pray for tolerance with dealing with the world and when I come back again I see them and thank them for my day and that I was able to make it.

I pray in English, Sanskrit, Bengali and Spanish. At home I'm more open with the deities, at the temple I get struck by the beauty of their faces and all the paraphernalia and I just stand there thanking them for allowed me to have their darshan.

I think my Catholic background helped me a lot, deities and prayers are part of my life from the very beginning and I thanks my grandmother for that. At this moment I'm praying to Srila prabhupada who is on top of my computer to somehow guide my grandma's

soul in her journey to the spiritual world. Two months after she passed away I become a devotee and much was because I needed answers for her death.

I don't know if I'm into group prayer so much separate of bhajans and kirtans, for me is easier on my own. But prayer in any language is fine with me and people get tremendous benefits from it.

Katwoman973 · August 20, 2002

I find myself "talking" with God all the time. Not always just when I want something, but especially if I have something that I need help working out. Like when one talks to a best friend about something that is bothering them. I find that speaking the worries or needs out loud somehow helps me work them through. (Now, if anyone walked past my window they'd probably think I was crazy, but.... so be it!) This is especially true when I can’t quiet my mind in meditation or chanting mantra, sometimes I just have to verbalize what is on my mind to get it to hush!

As far as public worship, being brought up in the Christian religion there is a saying that still rings true to me today (something along this line...not a perfect quote) that when many gather to pray great things happen. (Not trying to spark another religious debate, just trying to put a point across) That tells me that when individuals come together, coming from the heart and praying chanting or even just hoping for the common good of something, someone or all it raises the consciousness level even higher. It matters not what their religious background, or even if they are praying in the same language, it is (to me) the fact that they are gathered together for a common goal coming from their heart, which is the Divine Center. Where one person can most definitely improve things on one level, many can move mountains! Look at what happened after the 9/11 events, it wasn’t just American communities coming together to pray, people all over the world shared in the pain America was feeling and offered whatever spiritual help they could in the best way they knew how. I still get tears in my eyes thinking about the different pictures from all over the world crying out to God (again, whatever name given) for support, strength and help.

I don't think anything that brings one closer to God (no matter what name you may call God by) can ever be considered "wrong"; asking for aid along one's path is both humbling and necessary. As for myself, when I ask God for something I always try to remember to add "if it is for my higher good, and/or the higher good of all" and not get greedy with the requests. (and remember to say THANK YOU!)

Ok, I think I've rambled enough.... great topic, thanks for introducing it!

Namaste,

Kenyatta

theist · August 21, 2002

I find it nice to repeat the prayers of the fully devoted souls,but I have no real sense of their mood.It does make for a nice meditation anyway.

My most sincere prayers are very simple and always are a cry for "HELP!!!" of some kind.

Well it's a start.

stonehearted · August 21, 2002

theist wrote:

I find it nice to repeat the prayers of the fully devoted souls, but I have no real sense of their mood.

stone: My experience over the last 33 years is that if I sing their songs from the heart, meditating on the meaning, and remembering how far I am from their realizations, these somgs change my heart. I know many other devotees with similar experience.

theist · August 21, 2002

I can appreciate that.I find that I must read the English to understand anything.That limits my getting much from the singing as they are Bengali or Sanskrit works.

Still, when just reading I feel benefit for sure.

Gauracandra · August 21, 2002

I find it nice to repeat the prayers of the fully devoted souls,but I have no real sense of their mood.It does make for a nice meditation anyway.

Same here. I've been reading lately "The Imitation" which is basically a book of prayers. I find that when I read such material it puts me in the position of the person praying. The difference being that it is said much more eloquently than I ever could. I think over time such readings can act as a catalyst to get one to compose their own more personal prayers.

I find that I must read the English to understand anything.

Again, same here. I think this is one of the weaknesses we have as a movement, that so many of our prayers, songs etc... are in a language foreign to us. Of course these are transcendental sounds and so benefit us whether we realize it or not. We discussed some time back about the possibilities of kirtans composed in English. It might sound odd at first, and I'm sure some people would criticize it as non-traditional, but I think it can be effective.