THE SPIRITUAL PATH

If a man leads his life with this prayer in his mind, there will be no evil in his thought, speech or action and he will live a pure and dedicated life.  Thus, due discharge of the duties enjoined by the saastras and continuous contemplative devotion to God are the means to evoke God's grace for making our lives fruitful of the highest spirituality.  

Prayer is an important element of bhakti. The purpose of prayer is not to petition for benefits. Need we tell God to give its what we want?  Being omniscient, does he not know what we want?  Or ' does he wait to be approached and petitioned to?  To believe that God does not know or waits to be told will detract from his omniscience and his mercy. 

But then why do we petition in prayer? Neela kantha Deekshita said addressing Goddess Meenakshi at Madurai:

'Am I going to tell you what you do not know?  Yet if what must be told is left unsaid, the affliction in the heart will remain unhealed. So, give ear to what I say.'  

The purpose of prayer is to find relief from the heart-aches of life by communicating with one who will give ear to what is said and who alone can heal them.

For what should we pray to God'?  We may have all the goods of the world;  but none of them will give us satisfaction if the mind is not at peace.  We must pray for freedom from distraction.  This mental peace will arise only if the removal of certain qualities and the injection of others.

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