{"id":27567,"date":"2003-04-01T14:24:28","date_gmt":"2003-04-01T14:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.yogaesoteric.net\/2003\/04\/01\/prayer\/"},"modified":"2003-04-01T14:24:28","modified_gmt":"2003-04-01T14:24:28","slug":"prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\u201cMan is what he thinks, so think of the Supreme.\u201d
\n (Vedanta)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you pray, do not\u00a0be like the hypocrites who like to pray so everyone\u00a0can see them. But when you pray, go to your room and close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen, and your Father who\u00a0 sees what you do in private, will reward you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you pray, do not\u00a0use meaningless words like the pagans, for your Father already knows what you need.\u201d (Matthew, 6:5-8) <\/p>\n

\u201cBut the hour shall come and it is here already, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God is Spirit and Truth and those who worship Him should worship in spirit and in truth. \u201c (John, 4: 3-24) <\/p>\n

We have all got a more or less false idea about how we should pray and about the role of prayer in our lives. Church authorities have implemented the idea that in order to pray we have to adopt a certain attitude and use special words.\u00a0However Jesus has clearly said\u00a0 how we should pray, according to the\u00a0Gospels above.<\/p>\n

Leo Tolstoy has\u00a0a beautiful story: \u201cThree old monks lived on an island. They were so simple that their only prayer was: \u201cWe are three, you are three, have mercy on us!\u201d this na\u00efve prayer produced numerous miracles. The bishop of the region, hearing about the three monks and their inadmissible prayer decided to go\u00a0and teach them the canonical prayers. Getting there, the bishop tried to make them understand that their prayer addressed to Heaven was lacking dignity, and taught\u00a0the prayers that were usually said in church. Then he left the island, getting back on board the ship. A little while after he left, the bishop noticed a shining light on the wake of water behind the ship. When this light came closer, he was surprised to see the three monks actually running on water to catch up with the ship: \u201cWe forgot the beautiful prayers you taught us” \u2013 they said when they got closer \u2013 “that\u2019s why we hurried to catch you so that you could teach us once again.\u201d With\u00a0respect and fear, the bishop answered: \u201cMy brothers, you may continue to pray as you did in the past.\u201d <\/p>\n

Apparently, the story is based upon fact, as documents\u00a0state that the bishop met the three old monks on his journey from Arhangelsk to the monastery Solovetk, at the mouth of the Dvina River .<\/p>\n

Considering God as a\u00a0force exterior to him, man uses prayer as a means to get in contact with God.<\/p>\n

Prayer is faith in action. It is the most powerful form of thinking. As with every energy, it can be dangerous, because if the formation and process are not\u00a0carefully supervised, disastrous effects can result.<\/p>\n

Regarding the question whether through prayer and sacrifice special favours can be obtained from God, the answer is yes\u00a0and no.<\/p>\n

Mankind has\u00a0evolved from\u00a0being a child and can therefore support the objective examination of this issue. Everything is important in the Universe; the appearance and the disappearance of a flower or of the tiniest insect produces infinite vibrations. \u201cNo bird falls without the Father\u2019s knowledge\u201d says the Gospel. The person\u00a0who, for instance, asks for his or her beloved\u2019s healing ignores the consequences of his wish: in fact the\u00a0person never knows what he asks.<\/p>\n

If the healing he asks for is written in the divine manuscript, it will be obtained, not because he has asked for it, but because it\u00a0is necessary for life. However,\u00a0if death is pre-ordained, then death will come. Does it\u00a0mean therefore that prayer\u00a0is done in vain, that it is useless? Not at all: nothing is in vain or useless. Prayer though has another purpose than what we think, and this regards our future evolution. As a wise man said, it is not the destination or the achieving of a goal that is important, but the walking along the path that leads to it.<\/p>\n

No matter how trivial or interesting the prayer might be, it puts the\u00a0creature closer to his Creator and from this short contact the\u00a0person\u00a0becomes kinder and more purified. <\/p>\n

Communication between the Creator and the creation, which is man,\u00a0 is not an illusion: it\u00a0was established at our first breath and has never stopped\u00a0since. At a certain moment it produced prayer.<\/p>\n

In general, people do not practice\u00a0authentic prayer. Their prayer is a way of begging for help in order to satisfy the ephemeral. When praying, people establish the connection with the gods they created and not with God, the Great Force. <\/p>\n

The level the prayer can go up to depends on the vibration that causes it: the more impersonal this is, the higher it can go; and\u00a0the level it reaches determines where the answer will come from.<\/p>\n

True prayer is not begging, but love, trust, and devotion; it is the connection between Father and Son, it is the consciousness of\u00a0 total communion. Therefore, prayer means inner peace, silence, trust and the calm waiting\u00a0for the answer. God speaks to us through revelations and through all His creatures. However for prayer to be effective, it is necessary to open up the heart. We can get in contact with God every time we are in front of His creatures: flowers, trees, animals and people.
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\nPrayers can be divided into 3 special categories:<\/strong><\/p>\n