Turning inward in prayer

Prayer is an instinctive turning towards a force which we consider greater than ourselves. By understanding that this force emanates from within us it is possible to use prayer as a tool to unlock our limitless potential.

We usually pray in times of agony, threat and need, in times of salvation when pain or the prospect of pain drives us to prayer. Desire is an inherent part of our lives; aspirations and desires spur us to prayer.

Sometimes people pray to express gratitude for fulfilment of desire or well being.

When praying for fulfilment of desires, it is important to turn inward and honestly ask yourself whether you truly want what you are praying for or whether it is a creation of circumstance or impulse. It’s also worthwhile to ponder over whether the fulfilment of your prayer will only affect your life or whether it also encompasses the happiness of others, especially your kin. Deep wisdom, compassion and patience are required to honestly include family and the world at large in your desire.

After you have done this, silence and clear the mind and turn over your prayer to your own deeper consciousness. This part of your consciousness is not bound by the limits of your body; it is present in every other particle of the universe. When the frequency of a person’s consciousness matches with the cosmic consciousness then he/she naturally attracts people and conditions which lead to the fulfilment of the prayer.

Prayer is not just turning inward; it is also being open and receptive to clues and responses from the universe. What we may consider chance is the universes way of responding to our prayer.

Prayer needs to be backed by integral action. If you pray for one thing, but take actions to the contrary, only confusion will reign. Still if your prayers go unanswered then it does not mean that they have gone unheeded. It could simply be that the time is not right or that better or different things are in store for you in the future.

sharda

The art of doing nothing

Today's world is full of fury and noise. In this action packed lifestyle people are not only occupied, they are always preoccupied. More and more options mean that everyone is always engaged in some or the other activity. The effect of all this whirlwind activity has a negative impact on a person's physical and mental health. Spaces of emptiness are essential for the well being of the body and mind. Just as the body needs rest, the mind needs rest too, physically and mentally as well. When you sit silently, is your mind silent or does it run more speedily? With most people the mind does not cease its activity even when sitting silently. Zen monks are experts at stilling the mind. In this Zen meditation Osho explains 'Zazen' which means sitting silently doing nothing. "Zazen is a deep unoccupiedness - not doing anything outwardly, not doing anything inwardly. It is not even meditation because when you meditate you are making some sort of effort; you are trying to do something: chanting a mantra, remembering the divine, or even remembering yourself. But these efforts create ripples, these efforts create vibrations and your sitting becomes corrupted. Then your sitting is not innocent. Zazen means to sit, and just sit, nothing else. There is no doing on the part of the body, no doing on the part of the mind. It's a state of non-doing. That does not mean that you are fast asleep, because sleep is an activity. It does not mean that you are dead, because if you are dead you cannot just sit. Zazen simply means that you are tremendously alive, intensely alive, a fire of being, but not moving anywhere - a reservoir of energy in a deep awaiting. You are just waiting for something to happen, not even expecting, because expectation will again create a ripple of thought and the mind will start functioning. Everything is suspended. You breathe, and that's all that you do. But that is not a doing, because breathing goes on its own accord. You have not to do anything but just sit silently."

Amrit Sadhana