Introspection-4 (Prayer)

After more than a decade, I can still recollect the memory of my school career.
Every day I had been going to school, and before study, we were praying to God together. Honestly I am speaking, at the time we did not know even the meaning of prayer. It was our daily work, and we all the students were bound to do this.
Though it was a good practice, but lacks the sincere devotion. In true sense one can say that, we were not praying, rather following the instructions of the school authority, such as maintaining a certain posture, closing eyes and chanting the melodious prayer. At that time we had been taught that God can give us anything,what we pray for. We are living in the 21st century; still this misconception is prevailing in our society. The development of science and education cannot change this human mentality; instead people are continuously devising new style of prayer. Sometimes the prayer is accompanied by classical music in order to make it more pleasant to the ear of God as well as devotees. The electronic media has played a vital role in this field. The prayer becomes a fashion statement now a days. I have seen a bollywood movie 3 Idiots, where some students were praying in their own style before the declaration of result. By the way, it was the movie, but unfortunately the movie reflects the current trend of the society.

If prayer would yield the result accurately, then how do we justify the worth of hard labor? In today’s society the prayer becomes a powerful and unarguable excuse for the lazy persons. I have seen so many people praying for health, wealth, fame, good social relation, job etc. and this praying menu is unending. But the question is “Is prayer a necessary prerequisite for getting success or fulfilling our aim”. The answer may create a lot of confusion in some people’s mind. If the answer is yes, then we have thousands of examples of non-believers in the western world, who have retained themselves at the top rung of the success ladder by their hard work, and for that they don’t give a single credit either to the prayer or God. If the answer is NO, then why do people pray? Are we not wasting our time by doing this? This kind of confusion stems from the grave misinterpretation of the meaning of prayer. In order to make prayer a fruitful Endeavour we must know the exact meaning of prayer. But it is the spontaneous nature of the human mind, that always searching for an easy job. Instead of searching the meaning, we search an intermediate path, and reach a faulty conclusion, that if we pray GOD by sincere heart, than our prayer will be listened definitely. Again this diplomatic conclusion does not hold true. I do agree with that, the prayer should be by heart, but it does not breed success. I don’t have any detection circuit to identify whether one’s prayer is by heart. But one thing I can say for sure, that at the time of death (when a soldier injured by a bullet in the midst of battle-field), or during the severe pain (when a patient suffered an incurable disease) the prayer always comes from heart. But the result is contrary to the previous logic. Still people giving examples of some trivial coincidences, instead of searching the true logic behind it. By watching this people lose faith on GOD. And by doing this we simply endorsing the atheistic attributes in the society.

My view should not be misinterpreted as an atheistic uproar. The universal truth is the achievement goes to those who deserve it. Injustice cannot be done at the court of almighty. In fact the prayer is not a way of demanding any worldly things or material pleasure before GOD. We simply exaggerated the role of prayer to suit our lazy attribute.

Continuous progress is the ultimate aim of human life, and this journey is unending. The greatest hurdle in this path is EGO. It is extremely difficult to be free from this dangerous enemy. History witnessed so many examples, that even great people are suffered major setbacks due to this ego factor. It plays the role of a hydraulic brake in the vehicle of progress. The moment people infected by this parameter, they think whatever success they have achieved that is the final frontier. But in fact the success is not a destination, it is only a journey. And the prayer continuously reminds us that we have still miles to go. The ego comes from the sense of pseudo-superiority. Of course one should proud of being superior, and this legitimate pride increase their enthusiasm. But the ego is totally different from this pride. The dividing line between these two entities is so blurred that it cannot be detected easily by common people. The prayer is a powerful weapon to combat this ego factor. When we pray before almighty, we are continuously thinking about the superior divine attributes of God. And we will get to know that in every aspect comparatively we are million times inferior. This sense of inferiority keeps the ego at bay. Everybody has the right to give a certain meaning to their life, but one should remember that the human life is not a product, rather it is a process. In order to succeed in this path of success we must be free from ego. Definitely the prayer has a crucial role to play in our life, but this is not the replacement for the hard labor. In fact this is the initial step, and it will be a foolish attitude, if we compare prayer with hard labor through the yardstick of success. That’s why in Vedas there is a clear instruction given that the PRARTHAN must be followed by PURUSARTHA. The prayer should not put a limit on our effort; instead it must play the role of a booster. God has given us everything for what we deserve, the prayer is meant for expressing our gratitude only. It should not be an instrument to pursue emotional bargain.