Page 148 - Wisdom Unfurled

We are yet but slaves of wishes putting bar to our advancement; Thou art the only God and power to bring us upto that stage’, before starting the Puja. It is instructed that the prayer be repeated mentally once or twice and the abhyasi should dwell over the meaning of the prayer for some time before going to sleep. We find that two Commandments, the 2nd and the 10th are devoted to Prayer in the system. The second Commandment exhorts us to offer prayer for spiritual elevation with a heart full of love and devotion whereas in the 10th Commandment the context is the prayer being offered in a supplicant mood before the Master before one retires to bed feeling repentance for the wrongs committed and resolving not to repeat the same. Readers are invited to refer to the detailed commentaries as given on the Commandments in Imperience Beckons for a more detailed treatment than will be possible here.
The prayer is a brief one simple and direct. Most of the religiously inclined persons are used to long winded prayers composed in exotic Sanskrit accompanied by complicated and colourful rituals for the purposes of keeping evil at bay, get protection from the elements, get rid of disease, beget children and lead a life of enjoyment in this world and also in the next. We have a large pantheon of gods and goddesses each having his or her jurisdiction over a particular aspect of existence i.e., Lakshmi for wealth and prosperity, Ganesh for removal of obstacles and so on. The words in praise of these gods are mainly in the nature of flattery. Usually there is an implied contract between the votary and the god as to in what manner he will be pleased provided the wish of the votary is fulfilled. The Master is quite critical of such prayers and says that one should always pray to Him alone who is the Master in the true sense. It is not proper to pray to slaves i.e., to those powers which are subordinate to man and are potentialized by him. It is a folly to pray for worldly ends except in most exceptional cases when peace of mind is greatly disturbed for want of basic necessities.
Any prayer can be seen to be composed essentially three parts, namely, the first stating the aim, the second the obstacles visualized by the beneficiary in realizing the aim and the third addressing the power being prayed to as the only competent one capable of removing the obstacles in the way and making possible the realization of the votary’s aim. We may see how our prayer contains these elements.
The Master has stated that God is the Adi Guru and all human Masters are receiving light and grace from Him alone. Surely the goal before us is to attain oneness with the God but God in Hisabsolute status is inaccessible to us and the only course open to human beings for gaining access to the Supreme is through great Masters such as Master Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj. There are two sides to the Master, on the one side His personality is void and merged in