What is Sahaj Marg Prayer?

Our Sahaj Marg prayer is profoundly different. It is different in content and in purpose. It is a mere statement of certain facts with no request attached to it. Master says that by uttering this prayer mentally just once, a connection with Him is created, and that is its only purpose. The flow of transmission commences thereafter. It is like a switch which, when activated, permits electricity to flow. It is therefore vital to our purpose. If the system we are following is to help us achieve our goal, the use of the prayer is of absolute importance. I would remind you that Master prescribes the mental recitation of prayer just once in the morning, before meditation is commenced. Now if the prayer is what connects the abhyasi to the Master, then if the prayer is not mentally repeated, the connection is not established. It is perhaps for this reason that many abhyasis show lack of progress. In our morning practice, it therefore works as a connecting switch.

HOW SHOULD WE ADDRESS A PRAYER? When we address a prayer to the Master or to God with derogation, with lack of respect, with derision, it is like a mountain echoing back our words to us. He does not answer. But when we pray humbly, submissively, in some way it reaches His heart and the reply comes. So prayer should be done with the utmost devotion, with the utmost love.

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.

WHY SHOULD WE PRAY BEFORE MEDITATION? Babuji said it is the way of connecting yourself at one instant of time to the Almighty whose guidance, whose help, you are seeking. And if that is done effectively your meditation becomes something sublime, something effective.

THE PRAYER OF THE MISSION: (which Master himself has declared as having come to him from above.)

The first line states who and what is my goal. And it is the real goal, you see, there can be so many spurious goals, false goals, temporary goals, glittering goals. What is my real goal? "Thou art the real goal of human life." The next line is an illustration of what I am this moment. "We are yet but slaves of wishes putting bar to our advancement." The third line makes a statement: by your grace alone I can reach it, "Thou art the only God and power to bring us up to that stage." So Babuji said, "Do not misunderstand this prayer, it is not asking, it is not begging, it is nothing of that sort. It is you reminding yourself every morning of your goal, of the purpose of your existence, of your present condition, and trying to remember Him who alone can lead you to that stage which you want to achieve. It is just a statement of fact, it is a remembrance."

WHY IN OUR PRAYER DO WE SAY, "O, MASTER!" AND NOT, "O, GOD?"
It is my Master's teaching that God has no mind. The Ultimate, God, you see, has no mind. (The mind is what, you know, relates to consciousness.) So since he has no mind, how can he hear our prayer or answer our prayer? Therefore, Sahaj Marg says, prayer to God is useless. For two reasons: the first reason is, we are responsible for what we are doing; the second reason is, He cannot hear and answer us.

Therefore, the ancient eastern wisdom says that what God cannot do himself, he sends a master to do for Him. It is the belief of spiritual, shall we say, elevated souls that the Master is God in human form with a mind and heart. Therefore, he is able to respond to our prayer, and he is able to have compassion for us, because he feels as a human being what we are feeling as human beings.

Therefore, he can help us to rise out of a human situation and develop into the divine level of existence. Therefore, it is wiser to pray to the Master than to God, for he is able to - even though he understands that we are responsible for what we are undergoing - yet he is able to sympathize with us, because he is also a human being. And it is that sympathy and compassion which makes him release his divine powers to help us.

So, we have to pray to the Master, and when our prayers are answered, we have to be grateful to the Master. And this is not any disrespect to God. Because it is to God as the Master that we pray. Incidentally, this is an answer to the question why in our prayer we say, "O, Master!" and not, "O, God."

THOU ART THE REAL GOAL OF HUMAN LIFE - what for? This is not the stotra-priya aspect of worship you see. This is not the abhisheka-priya aspect of the worship. This is a positive heart to heart link that we are trying to establish with sincerity, with devotion, with love. It is not a mechanical thing. The process is mechanical, but the attitude behind it is one of devotion and of love. So, when we practice mechanically, we are not getting the full benefit of it. As Babuji said - "If you do it mechanically, there is no motive force behind it, no steam power behind it."

So what is it that distinguishes one abhyasi from another? It is the devotion, it is the love for the Master as something which is very potent and which He cannot resist. When the two are coupled, we have a bhakta, a devotee, one who is doing the practice and also loving his Lord. Then comes this miracle that He showers on us, His gifts.

The prayer indicates very, very clearly, very unambiguously what is the real goal of human life, and the words 'real goal' must be taken particular note of. Why did he use the words 'real goal'? Why not just say 'goal'? Because there are so many goals, you see.

Babuji himself says, He is the real goal, we are only His representatives on earth. But it is my direct experience, you see, I have no hesitation in saying it, I have experienced the presence of my Master as the presence of the Ultimate! I experienced this not once, but several times. And this mistake of thinking that the Master and God are two separate things, and having got God I could negate my Master and leave Him behind, was made by several persons, many of whom do not know Sahaj Marg today. So we need the Master till the completion of this yatra. This will show you where the real goal lies.

WE ARE YET BUT SLAVES OF WISHES PUTTING BAR TO OUR ADVANCEMENT: Our prayer says our desires are putting bar to our advancement. Desire for anything. It may be pleasure, it may be comfort, it may be wealth, riches, health, anything. Why I say this is, there cannot be any such thing as a good desire; there is no such thing as a good desire. If we are able to fulfill the desires it's worse, because the desire is going, like from a small fire, to a big fire, to an explosion. And again it leads to destruction. So that makes it very clear, you see, that desire is, per se, our enemy.

THOU ART THE ONLY GOD AND POWER TO BRING US UP TO THAT STAGE: Here we recognize the fact that by our own effort nothing is possible. We are stating to ourselves the fact that He alone can help us to take us up to that stage of existence. Again, please note that we are not asking God for any help whatsoever.

So the prayer consists of three statements where the first one puts before us the Goal. The second one tells us what is the only impediment to our progress, namely our wishes, and the third one states that the Goal that is God Himself has to assist us to reach Him.

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