I started a workshop today on “Nine Devotions.” One of these devotions is prayer.
WHAT IS IT WITH PRAYER
Is it not the most divine form of communication
A way of expression, a marvellous supplication
An urge from the heart due to a hurt or a wound
A cry so desperate from feeling so ruined
A call for help as if lost in dense jungle
Seeking signs for a way out of the tangle
Prayer can be a request for strength, hope, courage
It certainly transcends any mundane verbiage
But special requests do not alone constitute prayer
Prayer should not only refer to events of despair
Not just reserved when life appears abhorrent
For prayer is rare when we're sunk in comfort
The better prayer is praise in which we thank
For compared to the Divine we're in a different rank
It's unwholesome to lodge blame on the Creator
And not owning up, it puts one in a hole, a crater
Prayer is acknowledgement of His great worth
Though the ego declares, "Mine was the greatest birth,"
Prayer is a good medium for reconciliation
Becoming then an exercise in self realization
Prayer should not be a shopping list on what's missing
Rather a counting of blessings as the Universe is kissing
Prayer is power, a super-healing process
An opportunity to invoke human progress
Our heart can soften like a lotus flower
When we pray in gratitude each and every hour
- By Bhaktimarga Swami
Comments