We all are Spiritually Hungry

Spirituality is becoming a necessity now a days because we become reckless for the other parts of the human being. We are not single we are three actually. We put your all attentions on the materialistic part the human being; the body. We concern only about the bodily part of human instrument. We forget there is a mind, there is intellect and there is a life principle. You can give a name; the soul, to this life principle.

We should know how to care for and feed our minds and souls. Now clinical psychologist are recommending to adopt the practice of spiritual programs. Spirituality is essential to human happiness and mental health.

Vedanta is a thought from spiritual minds from India. The knowledge of Vedanta actually is a happening to minds of those who practice mediation and deep contemplation. In that deep state when brains waves went to minimum; the life force give rises to a kind of spiritual knowledge. That knowledge can be received by anyone who undergo that experience.

Contemplation, meditation, prayers and other spiritual practices from any branch of religion have the power to release the life force in the deepest level of human minds. There are couple of evidences showing that religious and spiritual practices can help when everything else has failed.

In recent study in US it is found that most of the Americans want to be spiritual but not want to be religious. The idea behind this is to nourish the mind and underlying principle of life force.

Human instrument is not a single entity; the body. At the same time this instrument is comprises of a body, a mind and a soul. All these three entities are different from each other. Methods of nourishment for the each must be different. Methods of nourishment of body are so many as the entire World is working upon it.

But method of nourishment for mind start from contemplation and meditation. According to the Mental Health Foundation one out of four British adults practice the art of meditation. Besides this 50% would be interested in learning meditation because they think that meditation can help them improving their health.

We all are fighting for peace and happiness. Whatever we do in our life is to bring the happiness in our lives. Sometimes we forget about the peace and only fight for happiness. But Vedanta says happiness is a state of mind. When mind releases tranquility we immediately become happy.

Wonderful, indeed, it is to tame the mind, so difficult to tame ever swift, and seizing whatever it desires. A tamed mind brings happiness – Buddha.

A tamed mind brings happiness. Spiritual Practices like yoga, yoga nidra and meditation helps to tame our mind. After taming the mind there are chances to nourish our soul. Because the way to reach the soul goes through a silent mind only. After silencing the mind and after taming the mind we could be able to understand the underlying principle.                 

So care of all three parts of a human instrument is necessary to avoid the stress and to live a peaceful life.

Mind alone is cause of bondage as well as Liberation

The phenomenal powers of the mind are evident in one’s dreams, wherein it projects a whole new world of dream objects. Shankaracharya in ‘vivekchudamani’ in verse 170 told - 

 “In the dream state, even though there is no contact with the external world, the mind alone projects the entire dream-universe of enjoyer etc.

Similarly, the waking-state is no different. All this (world of myriad phenomena), is but a projection of the mind”.

It is the same mind which was projecting everything in dream state and we experience it. That same mind is again projecting everything in our waking state. We need to think over it again and again and try to know the truth behind. 

In dreams mind is causing bondage and in waking state too same mind is causing bondage. Mind is producing thoughts and these thoughts are actually cause of bondage and liberations. 

Thus the triad of ‘experiencer-experienced-experience’ of the dream state is the mind alone.

The mind alone causes man’s attachment to the body and sense objects. These attachments bind him like an animal being bound by ropes, denying him the freedom to be the infinite blissful self. Thereafter the same mind creates distaste for the sense objects as though they were poison and liberate mind from bondage. Therefore the famous declaration of the Amritabindu – Upanishad – “The mind alone is the cause of both bondage as well as liberation”. 

Do we really pray?

Art of saying Prayers.

Prayers are combination of some words and some emotions addressed to the almighty God. Words may be differ from religion to religion and from culture to culture but emotions remain same in the prayers. Emotions and uninterrupted mind are the main contents of a prayer. If emotions are not there and if uninterrupted mind will not be there that prayer would not generate any result.

Mind has so many characteristics and drifting is main one which is a real enemy of our prayers. As we start saying prayer our mind starts drifting. Drifting of mind is a kind of wave of mind where mind generate so many thought in response to a thought said within it. Neglecting and forgetting the words of prayer mind drifts on others words of any kind and in this way our mind take us away from our prayers and break our divine communication.

As communication without current is not possible and in the same manner prayer with interrupted mind is not possible. Drifting of mind break the current of our prayers. We need to train our mind for a better communication.  We need to silence the mind before we said a prayer.

I have experienced that when I have prayed without any interruption it gave me immediate peace with results. Prayer offered with uninterrupted mind immediately release peace and tranquility. Results may come sooner or later but peace of mind is guaranteed.

Did you remember the story “The Three Hermits” written by a Russian author Tolstoy. This story appeared in the short-story collection Twenty-Three Tales. The title of the story refers to its three central characters; unnamed simple monks living on a remote island where they were praying and meditating for the salvation of their souls.

A bishop when traveling in that area overhear a discussion about that remote island and those three unnamed monks. He also came to know about their prayer which was – "Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us.”

Subsequently, the bishop acknowledges that those monks have a little knowledge but are ignorant of the true meaning of the doctrine and how to pray properly. He wants tell them that he will teach them not a way of his own, but the way of praying as guided in our book of religion.

He arranged a small boat and traveled to that isolated Island to teach them exact method of prayer and exact words of praying. He want to teach them words of prayer as given in religious book. He reach there on the Island, meets the three hermits and taught them guided prayers the whole day.  After he was satisfied that they have properly memorized the prayer, the Bishop departs from the island leaving the hermits with a firm instruction to pray as he has taught them.

The bishop then returns to his boat and continues his voyage. While on board, the bishop notices that his boat is being followed. At first he thinks that there was a boat behind his boat but very soon he realizes that the three hermits are running across the surface of the water "as though it were dry land." On reaching near to him they inform him that they have forgotten the prayers and remember nothing of it. Please teach us those prayers again.

Astonished was the Bishop. Yes, The Bishop was astonished.

Very slowly very faithfully the bishop replied to the hermits “Pray your own prayers to God and also pray for us sinners.”." After this the hermits turn around and walked back to their island.

This story of Tolstoy tells us what actually important for a prayer. The devotion, the emotion and the intention. For those three hermits words of prayers were not important, their devotion to almighty, their emotions for almighty and their pure intention for all mighty was important.

There were only emotion and uninterrupted mind in prayers of those three unnamed monks.

This story tells us when you speak to the almighty speaks in your own words speak as you want to speak to, speak what your heart want to speak.

True prayers are beyond the words.