Here is a series of 3 blogs we will be publishing from the book, ‘The Power of Prayer’. We have taken the write-ups by Swami Chinmayananda. Prayer is a very personal thing for most of us. We all pray at different altars and with different techniques. There is no right or wrong. But if we understand the various aspects of prayer and its effects, our relationship with God might become stronger.
In the world, we can find that some of us are in unhappy circumstances while some of us are in relatively happy surroundings. Joy and sorrow pass across our life’s paths, creating endless situations. A true devotee never allows his mind to worry over them. For the bhakta (devotee) who has already surrendered himself and all his profits, losses, failures, success – in short everything – unto the Lord, anxiety cannot exist. But, as long as this great Reality has not been apprehended or such an all-consuming devotion has not developed, our worldly duties are not to be given up. It was based on this principle that Lord Krishna did not allow Arjuna to leave the field of this action.
As long as we are seekers (sadhakas) cultivating and developing devotion to the highest, worldly activities constituted of material activities, our duties toward home, society, and nation, should not be given up. Until one reaches the highest, one must continue the dynamic life activities, fulfilling one’s duties and responsibilities. As long as we are practising, we must live fully the life of responsibilities provided for us by the Lord. Nothing need to be renounced. Each should pursue his life in the field where the Lord has placed him because Omniscient One knows exactly what is needed for our own inner unfoldment. It is for the exhaustion of the existing vasanas in us that we have been given this equipment, and we are placed in the right type of environment. It is useless to protest or weep about it. It is for the doctor to decide if the patient should be admitted into a hospital and what kind of treatment he should undergo. Therefore, the advice of Sri Narada is:
Until a consummate love is gained (or even after attaining to consummate love), wordly activities are not to be abandoned. Certainly we must diligently purse love and learn to renounce our anxiety to enjoy the fruit of our actions (VI:2:62).
So then, are we to continue living the same wretched life that we are now living – with a mere added prayer on our lips? No. Since we have started sincerely cultivating devotion for the Lord, whose expression is this entire world around us, we will, with joy, continue to go to our fields of activity, but with a difference; our attitude to our work is now totally transformed. Now that we are constantly thinking of Him and habitually surrendering everything to our beloved Divine, it becomes easy for us to renounce the anxiety for the enjoyment of the fruits of our actions. We must do our best to fulfill our duties in whatever field He places us. For as we act on, we now recognize the field of action – nay, the whole world – as the Lord Himself in another form. Our work then becomes worship of him who is the Self in us.
Constantly the devotee’s mind turns more and more towards the Lord as he learns to withdraw himself from the sense-appetites and the anxiety to hoard. Simultaneous with the change in the inner attitude, the devotee’s daily sadhana deepens in ardour, broadens in love, expands to touch new realms of spiritual experiences. He finds greater pleasure in his daily prayers, and gradually he comes to understand that the very environment wherein the Lord has placed him is the most conducive one for him to grow, and that is most necessary and almost avoidable for his development. Therefore, joyously the true devotees goes through the muddy pools of life constantly remembering Him – and waiting eagerly for the day when he would be leaving the ‘hospitak” – the life in the field of plurality.
When an aspirant has not yet attained pure love, a cheerful life of selfless activities dedicated to God should be the sadhana. One must learn to detect the ego whenever it rises and surrender unto the Lord, renounce all anxieties for the fruits-of-action, and act on sincerely with all one’s heart, with a serene mind, and with complete dedication – whenever one has been placed.
Even those who have already gained the highest devotion should not give up their duties, but thereafter their obligation should be not to their home, but to spreading the culture, whereby their own perfect living will uphold the spiritual ideologies. When a Self-realized person is working in the world, he will have no anxiety for the results, for he is not working for glory, achievement, or success. He is not concerned whether his work is appreciated or recognized by others. The fruits-of-action belong to the Lord.
The life of such a selfless seeker becomes a life of sadhana. He should not give up the spiritual practices he observed before he gained his devotion. He should continue them as vigorously as before. There is always the risk that if he overlooks them when he is dealing with the world, Maya might encumber him once again with its limitations, or at least, it will try to dim his vision of the Reality. Therefore the advice to all sincere seekers is:
Virtues, like ahimsa (non-injury to others), truthfulness, cleanliness, compassion, and faith in the Lord should be consistently cultivated (VII:2:78)
It is law that one can never unfold and develop spiritually if one’s conduct is bad. Even sadhana is impossible for such as individual. Virtues such as non-violence, compassion, faith in the Lord and in the existence of a higher Truth, and righteous behaviour must be scrupulously observed and cultivated.
To come to live a virtuous life is to study the Scriptures regularly and reflect deeply upon what is righteousness, so that our belief and faith may deepen and we may come up to live up to it and experience it more and more. Such a total involvement in the higher way of life is true spiritual pursuit and evolutionary living.