To awaken spiritual emotion rapidly, initially one needs to make constant efforts at the level of the mind and intellect.

    From Issue 206 onwards, we have been discussing prayer and its importance. We also discussed the importance of prayer in overcoming distressing energies and some spiritual experiences of seekers in this regard. In this Issue we will discuss various stages of prayers.

(Continued from Issue 213)

    If one undertakes a task after offering obeisance to the tool which one will be using in the task, then the tool assists in the task. A spiritual experience elucidated below is in this context.

Stages of prayer

     After realizing the importance of prayer, initially the number of times that one prays needs to increase. Initially, prayer is just a repetition of words, devoid of spiritual emotion. Later however, it improves qualitatively, that is it is done with spiritual emotion. Stages in praying are given below.

First stage: Here prayer has to be done with effort. It is beneficial to fold hands in obeisance (namaskar) and pray because it helps in quick generation of spiritual emotion. Once the impression of prayer is created in the subconscious mind, it can be done mentally with spiritual emotion, without folding hands. Here, prayer has a specific purpose and specific words. The feeling that ‘I am praying’ is very much there.

Second stage: Once one gets used to praying and it occurs spontaneously at regular intervals, contemplation on it commences. One begins to realize that prayer is conversation with the Guru. Now it does not follow a fixed pattern, but occurs wholeheartedly. The spiritual emotion here is that one is pleading to the Guru.

Third stage: Here one feels that the Guru is in front of oneself and that one is prostrating at His feet, surrendering and pleading before Him. One does not need to compose the prayer, or words flow spontaneously.

Fourth stage: With passage of time, prayer occurs spontaneously without effort along with repetition (chanting*) of The Lord’s Name, as the impression of prayer is already created in the subconscious mind. It is also full of spiritual emotion. During the prayer, one recollects the Guru’s form, feet, gestures, etc. Even the words in the prayer are suggested from within. In fact, The Lord Himself suggests the prayer from within, according to the situation. The example cited here will illustrate this:

     Mr. Ghanashyam Gavde renders service at the Sanatan’s ashram in Dhamse (Goa), India. Once he was asked to blow the conch during the ritual of waving lit lamps (aarti) amidst singing of hymns in the ashram. Since he did not know how to blow the conch he prayed to the Guru to get it done from him and was able to do so to perfection. The same day he had to clean the toilets in the ashram. As usual, before commencing the task he was about to pray to the Guru, when he realized that he should not bother the Guru for assistance in such a task. So he prayed to the Guru, “Please get this satseva done from me as per Your expectation.”

Fifth stage: In this stage, prayer occurs with the sole spiritual emotion of complete surrender unto the feet of the Guru. Often prayer is devoid of words, it consists only of the feeling of gratitude. One is aware that ‘I exist for the sake of the Guru, He is my everything’. In the initial stages of prayer, gratitude has to be expressed separately, but in this stage one experiences that they are one and the same.

    In the next Issue, we will discuss Spiritual experiences as a consequence of prayer done with spiritual emotion