P R A Y E R

"O, Master!
Thou art the real goal of human life.
We are yet but slaves of wishes
Putting bar to our advancement.
Thou art the only God and power
To bring us up to that stage."

At bed time in the most suppliant mood with a heart overflowing with Divine Love. Repeat the prayer in your mind once or twice and begin to meditate over it for a few moments. The prayer must be offered in a way as if some most miserable man is laying down his miseries with a deeply afflicted heart before the Supreme Master imploring for his mercy and grace , with tearful eyes. Then alone can he become a deserving aspirant. There are many methods of loving God and many "Bhavas" are resorted to, e.g., paternal sentiment (Pitr Bhava),friendly sentiment (Sakhya Bhava),etc. In my opinion there can be no relation better than that of the lover and the beloved. If an Abhyasi thinks himself to be Lover and takes God to be Beloved and proceeds with the same sentiment the result will be that God himself become the Lover and the Abhyasi the beloved in the long run. But if one thinks that one has realised the goal at this stage it will be a serious blunder. What remains further cannot be stated for it is related to practice only.

Prayer remains the most important and unfailing means of success. Through it we have established our link with the Holy Divine. The reason why prayer should be offered with a heart full of love and devotion, is that one should create within oneself a state of vacuity so that the flow of Divine grace may be diverted towards him. When the world emerged into the present form , the central point was already rooted deep in all the beings. This central point rooted in us being a part of the Supreme, turns our attention towards the source. In prayer we try to reach upto the same central point. This is possible only when we create a similar state within. This requires practice. It can be attained by resigning ourselves to the Divine Will, which is absolutely simple and tranquil. Apparently it seems to be very difficult, but in fact it is not so, though only for those who aspire for it. When a man creates in him a strong craving for the Absolute, he is indeed in a state of prayer, and it is for every one to strive for. Whenever a man enters into that state even for a moment, his prayer is granted. But it requires continued practice to accomplish it. People should be exhorted to offer such a type of prayer. If one achieve and settles down in it, what else remains for him to do except remembrance; and that too in a way that it never comes into consciousness even.