Curiosity:

People keep asking me various questions. Something like “What kind of prayers do you say to Krishna?” or “What do you chant in his praises?”

And at all such times I have no answers.

Some people are curious. They ask me how many prayers I know by heart. And when my answer to this is just a couple of mantras here and there, they are kind of amazed “Really? That’s it?”

Some want to know what kind of a believer I am without prayers.

Anyways, an important question was put forward by one of my friends after reading the previous article on Theory of Creation and Theory of Evolution which queried if there is God or No God, and then what are the Prayers?

I think…….

Well, Prayers for me are the by-product of theism. So initially, you start believing in God and then, you find out that some kind of relationship is needed between you and God. This relation for me is Prayer.

In prayers we praise The God. But prayers always have a motto and a source of motivation. We are always asking something from our prayers. Be it for us, our family, and our friends or for society or for nation or for humanity. But there is always an ask, cause there is always a fear.

So a prayer is the relation with God to ask for something so that we get rid of some kind of fear. But all the prayers which are meant to praise or ask are not like a pure love affair. It is business. Hence when we are in trouble, in some difficulty, we pray. The moment we are out of difficulties and troubles we tend to forget or postpone the prayers.

A story ……

This is a real incident which occurred with me during my sailing days. We were sailing the Trans- Atlantic from the USA to a place called Mongstad in Norway. A day prior to reaching Norway, somewhere in the North Sea we encountered strong swells and waves and sudden bad weather.

The ship rolled heavily causing things to fall from one end to the other. The Captain said that this was the worst storm that he has seen till date. He called everyone and told them to pray to reach the shore safely. One of them was me, as people on the ship believed I was a strong believer of Krishna. But instead of praying I decided to call my parents to have a last word in case the ship sinks.

Reminding of Prayers….

Captain, got offended for me not praying in such a catastrophic situation. He expected me to be the first one to pray in such times as everyone else found me more religious than others. They all were more business minded and some were atheist too. But in such a situation even the atheist started praying to see the next day.

I didn’t feel like them. After the call to my parents, I was in total agreement with God and was okay if he saves or ends. Instead of offering him things like others in prayers I was simply in love with Krishna for the life I had so far.

Captain also in his prayers finally decided to offer his house to God to improve the sea and to save his life. Finally after 10 hours or so, the weather improved. Ship sailed safely and reached the shores of Norway.

I came to him, and thanked him too, as his prayer work. I also asked him if he was offering his house to God. He was somehow not angry with me; instead he said that I was right. “It was better to have kept quiet and not to lose a dream home. Hahaha!!!!”

Prayer or Business?

Prayer is just your effort to persuade God to do things according to you. And this is purely your imagination. Because in the first place you don’t know God. You don’t know his existence. You don’t know his nature. And still we are praying. This is the weakest form of relationship . And this is not even a relationship, it’s a business. And this is happening all over the world amongst all the religions. We pray because there is a motto behind it.

I don’t pray, I meditate. Prayers and meditation are dipoles.

Prayers and Meditation ……

In Prayer you try to imagine a God there, and then you project a prayer. In meditation you don’t have to project any God. You accept it as it is. Eventually, You move inward and find God in your existence. You love the eternal without projections. You search the Divine in your own Life or in your own existence. Because I believe, you too are part of the Absolute. It’s like you just taste the ocean water anywhere and you know it tastes salty everywhere.

Know yourself, as You yourself are the closest place to you to know the Absolute. Love yourself and Love the Absolute unconditionally. And once the Love is without any motive then Prayers too become a Meditation.

Like dance without a motto can be a method of meditation(Sufi Whirls), a riddle without a motto can be a method for meditation(Koan), then surely a Prayer with love and without a motto turns into Meditation.

Loving unconditionally is Meditation. My Prayers are Meditation for me. What do you prefer- Prayers or Meditation?

Akshay Kothari… Silence Spoken.