Praying with emotions: Surrender to God With True Prayer  

By Surekha Mohan  

Praying with emotions: Surrender to God With True Prayer  

Wholehearted devotion to God is sometimes viewed as an aberration of the mind. But many who've left their footprints on the sands of time have attributed their "little bit of greatness" to God.

According to Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma), it is important for every individual to have a good spiritual foundation. But, for this, there is no need to renounce family and friends.

"The only condition is that we should perform our actions selflessly, without any attachment, surrendering everything at the feet of the Lord".

Amma says: "A householder should be like a bird sitting on a dry twig. It knows the twig will break any moment and so is always ready to take-off. Similarly, worldly relationships may end any time. All actions a householder is involved in are just temporary works entrusted to him by God".

In fact, a person who runs away from life is not fit to be a spiritual seeker, says Amma. That is why Krishna did not let Arjuna run away from the battlefield. Life is a battle which cannot be avoided.

"Just as you cannot run away from death, you cannot run away from life, either. You can only try to transcend both by living sensibly", she says.

There is a story in the Puranas about a self-assured Sage Narada asking Lord Vishnu whether there was any greater devotee than him. In response, Vishnu took him to the hut of a poor farmer, who He said was His greatest devotee. The farmer welcomed the duo who were disguised as travellers, and fed them to their heart's content. The farmer and his family went hungry that night. The farmer lit a lamp and prayed twice a day. Even while working, he could be heard singing the Lord's glories.

When a sceptical Narada pointed out that he, on the other hand, praised the Lord all the time, Vishnu gave him a vessel filled to the brim with oil and asked him to balance it on his head without spilling a drop while he walked around a hill. On completion of the task, Vishnu asked him how many times he uttered the Lord's name. Narada replied that he didn't remember the Lord even once as all his concentration was on the vessel.

Vishnu pointed out to Narada that the poor farmer, on the contrary, remembered Him several times despite his poverty and exacting work routine. Not just that, the illiterate farmer had surrendered himself to the Lord without seeking anything in return.

Amma stresses that spiritual practice does not merely entail sitting in lotus posture and meditating. It means something more.

Mirabai and the gopis of Vrindavan constantly remembered the glories of the Lord and cherished His divine form within themselves, irrespective of time or place.

They prayed until their whole being was transformed into a state of constant prayer. They themselves became the offering. "What is left is love. Prayer can perform this miracle. There is no better meditation technique than sincere prayer. Supplicate Him. Pour out your heart to Him. Prayer is nothing but accepting His supremacy and remembering your own nothingness".

The Bhagavatam says we can realise God by constantly thinking of Him. No matter what the attitude towards Him may be.

"We may love Him as a parent, as our child, as our beloved or even our friend". Says Amma, "Contemplate Him as your creator, protector and the final abode to where you will return. Open your heart and pray to Him. He cannot sit silent and unmoved when somebody calls Him like that...Without love for God, no amount of meditation will bear fruit. Rowing a boat against the current is difficult but if there is a sail, it becomes easy. Love for God is like a sail that helps the boat move forward".

She says: "The tears that fill the eyes when we remember God have tremendous power to purify our mind and are more powerful than meditation. While mere believers may also pray using the same terms and engage in the same manner of supplication, their words are meaningless as they do not pray from the heart. They babble. Out of fear and in order to fulfil their desires, they say something which according to them is prayer. But in reality, they are suggesting to God and even instructing Him that these are the things they want and these are the things they don't want".

How can this be prayer? This is just trying to establish supremacy over God, she says. The so-called believer is saying indirectly that he knows better than God what is best for him. Desire is the central point around which his prayer revolves, adds Amma.

A true devotee, however, offers himself to the Lord when he prays. Prayer is real surrender. There is nothing to ask, nothing to demand.

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More from same author see: Surekha Mohan  

See also: Praying with emotions, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)