The Purpose of Prayers

The Purpose of Prayer

Prayer is a process of thinking, a particular type of thinking. In a prayer, there is someone who prays and an altar to which the person offers his or her prayers. There is also a mode of prayer involved, which differs from person to person.

A prayer can be said in simple words or it can be an elaborate ritual, highly traditional and scripturally sanctioned. It can be purely oral or purely mental. Ramana Maharishi, in Upadesa Saram, describes prayer as three different forms of action (karma): physical (kayika), oral (vacika), and mental (manasa). Ritual is a physical form of prayer. Singing in praise of the Lord is an oral form of prayer. Chanting a mantra silently is a mental form of prayer.

Prayers always have a purpose, as does any fiction. You pray because you want something. Without an object of desire, there is no prayer. You may want something specific or you may want mental clarity (antahkarana suddhi). Or you may pray, “Let the Lord be pleased with my prayer,” because you want to be in the Lord’s good books, you want Him to glance at you now and then. He seems to look upon others all the time, but when it comes to you, something happens – He blinks or He closes His eyes all together.

It may look as though you cannot pray for another person just as you cannot eat for another person. Even though prayer is an action, it is not like eating; it is more like bathing. Not only can you bathe your own body, you can also bathe your child’s body. I can pray either for the sake of achieving something for myself or for the sake of someone else. Yet even when I pray for the sake of another person, the prayer is still my prayer. When I see someone who is unhappy, who is suffering, I also suffer – because I am human. I am affected by the condition of that other person and I can’t stand it. I want the person to be happy, which really means that I want to be happy. Therefore, a prayer for others is also for the sake of my own happiness.

All prayers, then, is only for my sake. When I pray for my wife and also child, when I say, “Let my family be protected,” there is an extended me, a me that gets affected all the time. In the same way, one need not be an American to be affected by an American being taken hostage. Any human being will be affected, once he or she knows the possible consequences of such an action.

Author:- Sri Swami Jitatmananda Saraswati