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On The Nature of Prayer
Some has written to me asking:
Question: Do you pray? I've wondered about prayer, in school we had to memorize prayers, we learned prayers for every occasion, and we just rattled them off at the proper time, usually not even thinking about the words. My Mom says the same bible verse every day (if that what works for her, thats fine with me). I find that type of prayer to be lacking but I'm not sure what else to do.
Answer: I grew up with no prayer or religion. I entered a Greek Orthodox Monastery at age 23 for one year, and remained Orthodox for 20 years, participating in the prescribed prayer practices.
I next spent several years with Zen Buddhists, meditating and observing their practices.
Next, I spent several years with Hindus, worshiping in their fashion.
Now, for me, my writing, my thoughts, are my meditation and prayer and worship.
I thought I would gather together (below) some of the things I have written during the past seven years regarding prayer in different religious traditions.
Some years ago, I was watching an interview on television with some politician and his family, who were devout Christians. They mentioned that they had been praying about some particular issue. They described the words of their prayer. It was sort of like... "Lord, We would like THIS to come to PASS, if a certain sequence of events transpires, IF IT IS YOUR WILL, or, if THAT turn of events is not pleasing to You, THEN we pray that SOME OTHER (desired thing) SHOULD come to pass, IF THAT IS Your Will, or IF NONE OF THIS SHOULD work out according to our wishes, THEN give us the equanitmity of ACCEPTANCE, IF THAT is Your will,.... but in any and all events... THY WILL BE DONE... AMEN!"
Well, what can I say! They certainly covered all the bases! Basically, they were working out all the possible permutations and combinations of outcomes. Funny, how Jesus said, "Your Heavenly Father ALREADY knows your needs, BEFORE you ask".
Western religions are very QUID PRO QUO (something done in anticipation of or exchange for something else). IF you do this THEN YOU will be rewarded WITH THAT. But if you FAIL TO DO THESE OTHER THING,.... then you will be PUNISHED with these consequences. Eastern Religions, Hinduism and Buddhism and others, seem not to be quite so QUID QUO PRO oriented. One notices that, while Christians are always asking for one anothers prayers on various issues, Hindus and Buddhists DO NOT request the prayers of others.
For a Hare Krishna devotee, prayer is the Mahamantra "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare". The devotee vows during their initiation ceremony to say this prayer/mantra, 108 times for each rosary (prayer rope, mala), and 16 rosaries per day, for a total of 1728 mantras, taking between 2 hours and 3 hours per day. for the rest of their lives (this is a lifetime commitment). For them, mantra repetition IS A FORM OF INCARNATION of Lord Krishna (God).
The mantra on the tongue is likened to young Lord Krishna dancing on the heads of the poisonous serpent, Kaliya. With each step of Lord Krishnas feet, the heads of the serpent were injured, and the serpent began spewing venom in all directions. Lord Krishna asked Kaliya "Why are you doing this?". Kaliya replied,"My Lord, you have created me as a poisonous serpent. All I have is venom to offer You as an offering. Where would I get Nectar to offer you. So I surrender to you, and I accept my nature, and offer You the only thing which I have."
It is considered that the "incarnation" of the Avatar in the sound and vibrations of the Mantra is like unto the manifestation of the Avatar in the cloth of the Sari of Draupadi. The enemies of the Pandavas were trying to humiliate Draupadi by stripping her naked, but as they pulled off her Sari, the Lord manifested as an INFINITE length of material, so no matter how much they pealed off from Draupadi, she remained fully clothed. This is sort of the reverse of the situation when Mother Yashoda attempted to tie up young Lord Krishna to a pillar, to punish him for his naughty pranks. No matter how much rope she fetched, it was always one inch to short to encompass Lord Krishna, since this was an attempt to BIND THE INFINITE. Finally, Lord Krishna took mercy and allowed himself to be bound to the pillar, for which he received the name Damodar (which means He who is bound at the belly"). So the Lord, though it is His nature to be ABSOLUTE MASTER OF ALL, yet simultaneously allows Himself to be BOUND IN SERVITUDE to the Devotee.
It is only AT THIS MOMENT , as I write, that the resemblence between the Crucifixion of Christ and the binding of Lord Krishna to the pillar occurs to me. Interesting!
So in Hinduism, prayer is not necessarily FOR ANYTHING, in the quid pro quo western sense. Rather, through Mantra, humanity CO-OPERATES with Divinity in ON-GOING avataric incarnation/manifestation.
Do prayers always get answered?
In Western (Abrahamic) religions, prayers are always prayers (or requests) FOR SOMETHING. Such western religions are extremely QUID-PRO-QUO (i.e. something done in exchange for something of value expected).
It is interesting to note the english etymological origin of the word BEAD (as in a mala of beads which one might use for prayer, or a bead necklace which someone might wear as an adornment). In the ancient Church of England, a Bede was a member of the Clergy.
The english word "BEDE" OR "BEAD" derives from the same root as BID or BIDDEN, i.e. I BID you to do this or that favor for me, or I REQUEST thus-and-such.
The original function of such bead malas in many cultures (not just english or western), was to COUNT prayers or mantras. We call such beads a ROSARY. Even modern Greek men may be observed to carry "worry beads" which they fiddle with when they are nervous or idle or passing time in coffee shops or taverns. Strings of beads became trinkets or jewelry adornments for those people who lost the interest or energy or perserverance to continue in the actual activity of prayer itself.
Now, we may observe that such QUID-PRO-QUO prayer consists of requests or bids or petitions to the Divinity either to acquire pleasant things (food, shelter, spouse, children, etc), or to be spared from or delivered from unpleasant things (such as illness, death, captivity, etc).
If we examine one message of the Gita, Lord Krishna explains (paraphrasing) "it is INEVITABLE that dukkha and sukkha, pleasure and pain, good and evil come to all embodied souls or jivas; BUT THAT PERSON WHO HAS YOGIC EQUANIMITY in the face of such pleasures and pains, has truly advanced in their spiritual development"....
So we see in eastern religions something which is different from the quid pro quo western mentality.
But if we are to develop equanimity and surrender in the face of pleasures and sufferings, what then becomes the purpose and function of prayer?
Lord Krisha explains elsewhere in the Bhagavad-gita "I am the sacred syllable AUM.... of sacrifices I am JAPA (ceaseless prayer of mantra)...".
This type of prayer is not prayer FOR anything at all. Such mantra or "prayer of the heart" as Greek orthodox Christians would call it, is a form of AVATARIC manifestion. God literally APPEARS AND MANIFESTS within the sounds or vibrations or vritti of the mantra or prayer or divine name.
I see two enormous problems regarding religion:
1.) If there is a purpose to sickness and suffering, why do people constantly seek healing miracles? But if there is NO PURPOSE to sickness and suffering, then WHY anticipate mercy and favors from the CREATOR of such a world, which contains pointless sufferings and disappointments?
2.) If we assume that God is BOTH eternally perfect (complete) AND ALSO perfectly WISE, then here is a problem: Since God is COMPLETE, there was no need for creation therefore, God performed a meaningless, senseless act in creating the universe; yet that contradicts the assumptiom of God's WISDOM. But, if there WAS A PURPOSE for creation, then GOD lacked something PRIOR to creation, WHICH contradicts the assumption of God's completeness.
In the Mahabharat there is a story about a King and Queen who are driven into exile from their kingdom and are forced to live in a simple hut in sight of the majestic Himalayan Mountains. The King is a very religious person and always performs his prayers and offerings, in good times and in bad. One day, the Queen emerges from their impoverished hut and sees the King ardently engaged in prayer and worship. She asks him, "Why do you continue to worship God so ardently, seeing that we have been deprived of all our riches, and live in such poverty?" The King points to the majestic Himalayan Mountains in the distance and says, "See how grand, majestic and beautiful the Himalayas are! Do those mountains bear some guilt for our misfortunes? Should I cease to gaze upon them and admire them and praise them, and spite my eyes and my senses to behold them no more, simply because of my misfortune?"
Only a very few actual writings and prayers have come down to us from Lord Chaitanya , the sixteenth century Vaishnav saint. One of those prayers basically says, "O Lord, I do not ask for money, or pleasures, or even liberation from the cycle of birth and death, but only to serve at Your Lotus Feet life after life, even if your foot should crush me." We see in the Ramayan that when Lord Ram (an avataric incarnation of God) shot the wicked Balin, who had usurped his brothers throne, Lord Ram had compassion upon him and offered to heal his wound. But Balin replied, "How many lifetimes might come and go without receiving the honor to die at the hand of the Lords' Avatar." So Balin was seeking Union and Moksha, rather that further life and enjoyments.
Christianity has a curious habit of asking other people for their prayers. "Pray for me because I am sick. Pray for my parents. Pray for my son and daughter. Pray for that nation torn by war, plague and famine." Epictetus made an interesting observation in his Discourses. He wrote, "Why do you pray to Jupiter for the safety of your son before he embarks upon a long journey. Why not ask Jupiter for the Equanimity of an Even-Keeled Spirit, to endure whatever good or bad fortune might result." In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna, similarly, says to Arjuna, "It is necessary that Joys and Sorrows should enter each persons life, but he who endures them with Equanimity and a balanced spirit is the True Yogin and master of the Self." The Western, quid pro quo notion of prayer is to ask for something. The Hindu notion is that each good and ill that we suffer is our very own doing; a karmic consequence of some thought or action from this current life or from a previous life. And furthermore, each good and ill that we suffer is for our benefit. King Solomon basically said (if I may paraphrase his writings) : "Every son whom the Lord loves he chastens every one whom He receives, and places their souls in the fire of adversity, until they reach a seven-fold purity like gold in the furnace." There is a sort of impertinence in the notion of asking God to alter our circumstances, if they are for our own benefit and instruction. Such supplicatory prayer is almost a lack of faith in Divine Wisdom, Mercy and Providence and a sort of insult to God. And the insult is compounded when we do not even offer such prayers ourselves but ask others to do it for us. If we had an important favor to ask of a King, and we sent a relative, to ask on our behalf, what would that King thing. It is for a busy King to dispatch a messenger to us, and we are honored by such a visit but it is our place to petition in person, if we are to even petition at all.
The early Greek Christian theologians told a parable about the three types of devotion of believers; the Slave, the Hired Hand, and the true-born Son. The Slave acts out of fear of punishment. The Hired Hand acts from hope of reward. The true-born Son acts neither from fear of punishment nor from hope of reward but from selfless love of the Father. I am somehow reminded at this moment, as I write these words, of Chaitanya's words concerning "the Lord's CAUSELESS MERCY", and that verse in the Gita where Lord Krishna says (paraphrasing), "What my Devotee has achieved, I preserve from birth to birth, and what my Devotee lacks, I supplement and provide through Grace." In the oddest sort of way, we see that God does not create the physical Universe, or sentient beings as His goal. What God CREATES or RE-CREATES, IS GOD. Even an Greek Bishop of the first centuries said, "God became man so that Man might become God."
Atheists and Agnostics might speak about man creating God. Theologians might speak about God creating the Universe and mankind. But there is in Hinduism, I suspect, some talk of God CREATING GOD through the perfection of all beings in His Divine Lila or Pass-Times.
Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox all use a form of rosary or prayer beads.
One reader writes:
I have very recently begun to practice Zen. I have also started to attend a Zendo and while there I noticed that my teacher was wearing the mala beads. It got me to thinking, "What are mala beads for?" I looked them up and all I could find was that they are "counted during prayer" types of information but nothing about where they came from or how to use them. So my question to anyone who will answer is,
"What are they and what are they for?"
A second reader replies:
I do not know the history of these beads, but I use them. Having been raised a Catholic, I used a rosary. Mala beads are similar in their function. In Tibetan Buddhism a mala is used to have a tactile awareness of prayer. Also many of the mantras are said in blocks of 108, which is the number of beads on a traditional mala. I find them useful when I have to stand in line or am in some way 'waiting'. So at those times I recite mantra or pray. But this is an activity which can easily occur without a mala or a rosary. It is just easier sometimes to stay focused when passing beads between one's fingers.
Sitaram replies:
The English word "bead" is related to the root of the word "bid" (as in "I bid thee adieu", or "making a bid on a house"), as well as to the ancient English clerical position of Bede. The primitive meaning is to ask or request or call or summon.
The original function of beads was not cosmetic for decoration but was indeed to count prayers.
The Russian prayer rope, or rosary or mala, is called the "chotke", which is related to the Slavonic word for counting "chetatch". It is a rope with elaborately woven knots.
The Greek prayer rope is called "kombvoskeene" (which means, knotted rope).
The eastern orthodox Christian notion was that solid beads would make a noise during use, and thus distract from prayer and concentration.
The modern Greek "worry beads", which are not used for prayer, but are "played" with while people are sitting idle, to relieve tension, or pass the time.
As centuries passed, beads and malas came more to be a form of decoration, or a toy, than a tool for prayer.
In the Epistles, St. Paul said "I would rather say FIVE WORDS, with understanding....". Early Cristians came to believe that those "five words" referred to the "Jesus Prayer", which in Greek is "Iesous Xristos Uyay Theou Elayeson" (Jesus Christ God's Son, Mercy! or Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me, if one does not feel the need to be a stickler about FIVE words). In Greek, the first letter of each of the five words happen to spell "ICHTHYS" or fish, which is one reason why the simply drawing of a fish was an early Christian symbol.
When David went to meet and slay the giant, Goliath, Saul offered David his own armour, but David refused it saying "I have not tried this armor, so I will not use it in battle." Instead, David took a SLING and FIVE stones. Early Christians saw these FIVE stones as mystically representing the five words of the Jesus prayer, and Paul's "five words with understanding". Of course, a sling resembles a prayer rope, and when long prayer rope is held in the hand, hanging to the floor, it resembles a SWORD. When David met Goliath on the "field of battle", he said to Goliath, "You come against me with a sword and a shield, but I DEFEAT YOU WITH THE NAME OF GOD."
A Greek monastic prayer rope has 300 knots (symbolic of the Trinity), and a typical prayer rule is to say 33 such prayer ropes (for the 33 years of Christ's life), which typically takes a monk about two to three hours to complete.
Hare Krishna devotees use a mala of 108 tulsi wood beads (tulsi is sacred to Lord Vishnu). A good devotee will say 16 "rounds" of the Hare Krishna mantra per day. Saying these prayers also takes about 2 to three hours per day.
The origins of the Jesus Prayer can be seen in the Gospels in several places where afflicted people cry out to Jesus, as He is passing by, saying "Son of David have mercy".
One of the functions of the Jesus prayer is to attract God's mercy, grace or forgiveness. The eastern notion of mantric repetition is quite different. The Hare Krishna devotee believes that the "sound of the Divine Names" (Sabdha Brahman) is actually an Avataric manifestation or Incarnation of God's presence. There is a story about young Lord Krishna dancing on the many heads of the poisonous serpent, Kaliya. This serpent began spewing venom everywhere, and Lord Krishna asked him why he was doing it. Kaliya answered, "Lord, I am only a serpent! Where shall I find sweet nectar or honey to offer You. All I have is venom, so this is my offering." But in the Gita, we read that God accepts ALL worship and offerings, even from those ignorant of His nature. The devotee imagines his tongue as the serpent Kaliya, and the sounds of the mantra as Lord Krishna manifesting and dancing upon the tongue.
There is a verse in the Gita (I think in Chapter 7), where Lord Krishna says "The ENTIRE UNIVERSE is strung upon me like pearls on a thread". (Of course, in Sanskrit, the word for thread is SUTRA). So we may see here also the imagery of God and Prayer and Beads and Thread and Sutra "intertwined" (if you will pardon the pun). Sutras became commentaries or "threads" on other scriptures. How ironic that today, in the internet, message boards like this ALSO have "threads", strings of related messages.
It is most interesting to note that even in Islam, there is the notion that the "sacred Qur'an" when properly recited or chanted, is ITSELF, non-different from Allah (similar to the notion of Sabdha Brahman, or Brahman God as SOUND).
Also, in the Gita, Lord Krishna in one long passages, cites the many things that He (God) is. One is of course the sacred syllable "AUM".
Another is "japa", or mantra chanting with a mala. Another is "Ram" the archer/warrior. Lord Krishna also says of the offering at the sacrificial fire, "I am the offerer, and the ghee butter which is offered, and also the fire into which it is poured." Of course, we get our modern word "ignition" from the ancient Sanskrit word "Agni" for God as fire. The Greek word for "holy" is "Agios" or "Hagios". I have often wondered whether that word is related to the Sanskrit "Agni", God as fire, (from which we get our word "ignition").
How similar, the passage in the Epistle of James (I think), "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from Thee, the Father of Lights", which is said at every Liturgy, together with the words "Thine own, of Thine own, we offer unto Thee, on behalf of all, and for all". There is some resemblance in these words to the notion of Krishna as the offerer, and the offering poured into the fire, and the fire. Ancient theolgians asked the question "Why the seeming redundancy of every GOOD gift and every PERFECT gift". Their answer to this puzzle, is that every GOOD gift is our daily necessities of air, food, and water, but that the PERFECT gifts are the Sacraments or Mysteries of Eucharist, Baptism, etc.
There is a Jewish anecdote about two rabbis who went upon a long journey but are now returning to their home. As they reach the outskirts of their town, they look in the distance, in the direction of their neighborhood, and see a huge plume of black smoke which can only mean that someone's house is on fire. One of the rabbis prays "O, Master of the Universe, let it not be my house that is on fire."
The second rabbi looked at him in surprise and said, "Your prayer is not an ethical one."
Of course, if one analyzed the prayer, what it is really saying is "Let SOMEONE ELSE'S house be on fire."
The world is transformed with words, one person at a time.
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