by Swami Tejomayananda

First of all why should we analyze so much? Before hoisting a flag, we fix a pole in the ground. Then we shake it to see if it is firm. The understanding that we gain by analysis makes our knowledge firm. Otherwise, when we are saying our prayers and someone says there is no use of praying, we will get shaken.

Why should we pray? Why not just do good work?

For any good work, we require strength and a noble goal or an ideal. Do we have the strength to do good always? For a person, who is doing good, the question arises as to why should I go on doing good when others are not doing so. Besides, we are not able to do good always. That requires tremendous strength. In order to avoid getting shaken from doing good work we must understand the secret of prayer. For a fan to move, it must be connected to the electric supply. We will call the connection, the fan’s prayer to the source of energy. Lord is the source of all goodness. The strength we require to lead a noble life is called spiritual strength and God is the ultimate source of all strength to do good.

Prayer is not begging – give me this, give me that. We want to do good but every time our mind is such that it gets distracted. Duryodhana also knew what was good and what was bad but his mind was such that all the time he went on doing only the wrong things. So, we pray for strength.

For whom should we do good?

We should do good for the Lord because we want to please Him. In life do your dharma and when doing so remember God. In doing so, your mind will get tuned to Him and all His qualities and power will come to you.

When people do good for money and if they don’t get it, they stop. When we work for Bhagavan, even if people criticize or crucify us, we will not be shaken.

Also, if we remember that beauty, strength, talent, everything is a blessing and gift of the Lord, then we will not become proud and arrogant. Ravana suffered a lot, but he could not surrender because of his ego. Prayer helps us remove our ego. So, now we understand that when we pray, we derive spiritual strength, we dedicate our work to God and thus we remove our ego.

We have seen now, why we should pray. Now the question is who or what is God? Is there one God or many? Is He real or just imaginary?

God is ONE. His powers are manifold!

How is that?

See, you are one but many also! When you are listening you are the listener; when seeing, the seer; when singing, the singer; when joking, the joker! The seer, listner, singer are not different, you are only one. You are the listener as the power of hearing is in you, the seer as the power of seeing is in you. The power is one but the instruments are the ears or the eyes. The power is in you, it cannot remain separate from you. In the same way, understand, God is One. His total power is one but His expression is manifold.

Now when you make a pot, you are called a pot maker, when you break it, the pot breaker and when you keep it, the keeper. God is the creator of the entire world, its maintainer and destroyer. Destroying means it becomes unmanifest. Even when the mud pot is destroyed, the mud remains. Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesha are the expressions of the Supreme God. God is the wielder of the cosmic energy that manifests differently, just as the government is one and the ministers are many, God is one with innumerable devata-s like Vayu, Agni, Indra, Varuna, who are the controller of the different powers in nature.

God is that consciousness which makes the inert living. Because of him the eyes see, the ears hear. Some people say “There is no God”. But they don’t know that the power because of which they are able to talk is God. The Veda-s say:-

Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti

God is one, the wise people called Him by various names.

Pray to God because He is great and we get the power for following dharma.