New Delhi
Friday, December 17, 1982

My dear Sister,

Thank you for your affectionate letter of the 10th December.

It is a funny question you have asked, though it is also a very pertinent and intelligent question. When we pray for Master's long life and good health, how does it help Him? It does help, in a very positive and beneficial way - of that there has never been, and can never be, any doubt. Do we help by using power? No! I don't think so. Only if power is to be used, then so much could have been used long ago. Also, even if it is Master's power which we are using - and of course it is - how can Master suffer if He is having infinite power in Him? Infinity cannot be reduced, or weakened, even if infinite power is drawn out of it. That, precisely, is the nature of infinity.

But all this, while true, is not how prayer helps Master. I believe this very deeply, that it is not power that is used in prayer. Then what? I believe it is love! Prayer fails when it is not heartfelt prayer; in other words, formal prayer is of no value. Prayer must come from the heart, not the head. In fact, I feel that prayer fails because it is generally only formal prayer, done out of a sense of duty, and not out of love for Him for whom we are praying.

So it is the love expressed in the form of our longing for the well-being of the Beloved that is prayer. This is how I would define prayer if asked to do so. Prayer is an outpouring of one's love, expressed in an anguished longing for the well-being of the Beloved. I don't know if I am correct, but that is how it appears to me. Master cannot suffer by our meditation. The only thing is, no one should meditate in the same room where Master is - even when he is well. When Master is resting or sleeping, we should not meditate in His physical presence. It is an act of discourtesy and implies bad manners. Babuji once wrote to me that such persons are blood-suckers! We should never stop the spiritual practice given to us by Master.

Yours affectionately,
Parthasarathi