Worshipping is absolutely essential to keep up one’s faith in divinity. Inanimate objects are all around us and our senses can feel their presence again and again. But we need to consciously remind ourselves of and meditate upon what is transcendent and invisible, else naturally that would be forgotten. We tend to forget about even normal objects of daily use that we happen not to use for a while. Man by nature is forgetful, and that’s necessary too. If he weren’t so forgetful, his mind would be crammed with so many memories and reminiscences that there would be no space left for him to listen and understand anything new. Forgetfulness is more natural on what cannot be seen with the eyes or perceived by other sense organs.
God is one such sublime force that is neither visible to the eyes nor can be perceived through other senses. Realization of God is also beyond the grasp of the human intellect. So people normally are oblivious of God. Though generally speaking, we all know about God and believe in Him, we listen and read about Him regularly as well, but such a belief is like a pale shadow consigned to some corner of our mind. This sort of belief does not fulfill the purpose of faith in divinity. To thwart impure thoughts and control our propensity to impure deeds, a clear memory of God must always be imprinted on our heart and we must remember Him as we remember our family and close relatives. Otherwise our mind would not receive the inspiring radiance of the Almighty and would have no fear of His disciplines.
The purpose of faith in God is fulfilled only when we can experience God as our companion. At the occurrence of an impure thought or an inclination to impure deed, if God presents Himself to us in the form of a preacher, a judge or a police officer, only then it would be possible to check our steps from following wrong paths. When a desire to follow a righteous path arises but there is hesitation seeing the obstacles ahead, then God’s presence must be felt as one that always encourages, motivates and supports us. A man who is with a high-spirited, constantly encouraging and cooperating companion can accomplish a lot. And if this encouragement to raze through all the impediments present on the righteous path comes directly from God to man, then there is nothing that a man cannot accomplish.
If God’s enduring image constantly floats in front of our eyes and if His invisible power shows up to us in a living form only then it is possible for our mind to follow the path of righteousness unyieldingly, renouncing all sinfulness. God’s worship alone can lead us to this immense experience and intrinsic feeling that He, the invisible Supreme Self, is a visible friend and a true companion. The devotional practices of chanting, meditation, prayers, offerings etc have been created so that with earnest efforts man remembers God again and gain, and experiences Him in the form of a close relative, a family member, a friend and as a companion always. Worship can fulfill this psychological need. By remembering each other again and again, if two bereft lovers can feel each other’s presence right in their hearts, then why can’t God be experienced like a dear one by constant remembrance through the depths of the heart? If we can experience God as a beloved one always living with us then it would be so easy to stay away from sins and to engage ourselves in righteous deeds. We would also remain courageous, free from worries, optimistic and spirited. Why would one, who has power of God with him, be afraid of anyone? What would be left to cause him worries, fears, sorrows, or despair? Why wouldn’t he see his future bright and his destiny radiant? Such a person can remain happy, content and cheerful always, considering adverse circumstances as transient and have arisen to teach him a lesson or two to correct himself. When God Himself is True, Benevolent, Blissful and Beautiful, why would His worshipper be any different?
God is the focal point of all noble tendencies, virtues and unbounded powers. If the soul wishes to elevate up to the ultimate realms of divinity and expand itself into the limitless, it needs to have a suitable paradigm for itself. Engineers who construct big buildings first prepare models and maps and on that basis embark upon their construction. If we wish to move forward, transform ourselves into great men and visionaries, transmute our soul into God, then we need some sort of models and maps too. God is the absolute embodiment of sat-chit-ananda — Omnipresent, Eternal Consciousness Force and Beatifying Bliss. His reflection is a perfect ideal, looking at which we can chart out a progressive programme for our enlightened progress.
There is an interesting account of a humming bee called Bhring that entices a cricket. The cricket gets completely immersed into Bhring’s intonation and its outer form, and based upon this deep engrossment ends up slowly transforming its own form into that of the fly! The scriptures narrate this example at several places. How true the account is, is a matter of research; but this is absolutely true in relation to soul. The more the soul devotedly meditates upon God, the more it gets transformed into God’s form. Several ordinary souls have been seen getting transformed into great souls along this path of ascent. Evolution is the aim of life; self-transmutation is a natural aspiration of the soul for which, remembrance, meditation, prayers and worship of God provide the necessary light, spirit and support.
The spiritual element of love and devotion in the heart forms the basis of closeness between the soul and God, and the unification of one with the other. It is indeed the ‘glue’ of pure I love that binds the hearts of humans and creates intimacy. The unity of God and the soul also delves upon the same. Physical objects are ephemeral; they are created a moment and destroyed the next. Living beings are also similar; their attitudes keep changing with situations and their predilections. So living beings cannot uphold a true and eternal love. State of a person near us definitely has an effect on us, and therefore one who wishes to devote oneself to Love, needs to search for a basis that is firm and overflows with divine possibilities. Love is the most blissful feeling of human life, and in this cosmos God is the solitary authority that deserves to be the center of human love. Life that dedicates love to God gets blessed. Devotion to Him provides light ever. When overpowering darkness and despair surround, the Light Divine alone all of a sudden shows the way and bestows indescribable happiness and cheer.
Today not just India, but the entire world has fallen into a frightening state. World stands on the brink of total destruction. To save this world from annihilation it is imperative to resort to prayers, individually as well as collectively.
In the Dwapar Era, foreseeing the frightening role to be played by the Mahabharat War and distressed with concern towards this nation and the whole world, lifting both his hands Bhagavan Vyas called out and implored, “O men intoxicated with false pride, Dharma is far superior to artha’ and kāma. Much importance to artha would lead to your downfall. So take refuge in altruistic benevolence and noble deeds” But men enslaved by artha and kāma, did not pay heed to his imploration and the result was the fierce war of Mahabharat.
The world of today has again plunged into the same Mahabharat like condition. Today’s atomic weapons of mass destruction are far more fearsome and devastating than the arms and weapons of that era. At the same time, the world has become far greedier, self-centered and materialistic. Like the great sage Ved Vyas, so many seers and thinkers of today are also calling out and beseeching man fervently but man has gone deaf again, so much like then. He cannot see anything, nor hear anything!
But where on one side people with demonic assets are preparing to destroy this world with their physical resources, on the other side people with divine assets bearing goodwill towards the world are seeking God’s grace using spiritual resources. And in this battle of divinity and demons, based
upon the principle of “triumph of Dharma and extermination of Adharma” Dharma the righteous, the benevolent, would definitely prevail at the end of it all. An elaborate effort is needed to root out destructive elements that prevail in this world. People who have faith in God do not possess a stockpile of physical resources like the people with destructive mentality do, they do not believe in doing that either. However, the limitless power of remembrance of God and its manifestation in the form of prayer that they possess is mightier than all others forces of this world. If all well-meaning men of this world begin to pray daily to their individual or a single God, this world would be rid of all adversities and a spring of peace and happiness would begin to flow instead.
It is an undeniable fact that all the destructive processes of this world would transform to constructive ones if the leading talents of today, the rich and powerful, the scientists, politicians, etc, along with sincere transaction of their works also devote some time for praying to the Almighty for the enlightenment and wellbeing of the world. This would gradually transform their attitude from selfishness to selflessness and pull their mind against the destructive tendencies. Their abilities would be diverted towards upliftment and welfare of this world.
But to bring about such a change in them more and more people must resort to praying and in their prayers must mingle the feeling of getting bestowed with benevolent thoughts.
Time and again it has been seen that whenever a misfortune befalls a man or a nation, praying to God is promptly resorted to for respite. In the times of war all places of worship temples and mosques, churches, Gurudwaras and other shrines begin to resound with chimes and bells and collective prayers are offered. Sacred chants are recited. People appoint religious men and priests for special prayers and to seek God’s grace. This clearly establishes the point that everyone knows the importance of prayers and believes in its potential, but then it is surprising why they don’t pray to God daily and thereby prevent calamities from falling on this world.
Everyone can see disasters waiting at the shore of this world today ready to strike. Why don’t people then, by means of the infallible power of prayers, prepare to subside these before the doom’s day? Are they watching and waiting for the calamities to actually begin ruining their very existence and then they would begin praying to the savior? This would be a grave mistake. Once the annihilating powers are unleashed, man’s intellect would fail completely. Then he would not be able to see beyond himself, and in this tumultuous state of mind his prayers would not be as effective as they would be when his mind is serene and tranquil.
So we all should right from this day initiate a feasible programme for individual and collective worship of God for peace to ourselves and to this world. God’s worship is a resource that can easily bring about an everlasting peace. Conferences for peace are daily organized worldwide. If they are really serious in their endeavour, then along with conferences, prayers are also essential. Collective prayers offered to God induce an excellent psychological impact they generate goodwill among the people. As we all know, peace cannot be established without sincere goodwill, even if millions of conferences are held.
As man starts looking up to God he begins to attain peace. His attempts to bring about peace in this world would be more successful when peace would begin to pervade his own heart. Not only in the world, in a limited expanse of his relations and even in his own individual life everyone greatly needs to attain peace. In today’s world lack of peace in personal lives is as pervasive as the lack of peace in the society. It has become so commonplace to see constant unpleasantness and strife in relationships, among father and son, husband and wife, brother and sister, employer and servant and so on. Does such hellish life befit man? Does it appear right that at each step man should encounter an environment of jealousy, envy, deceit, dishonesty and distrust? Instead of the springs of beautiful, pure brook of love, should fires blaze in this world? Is there anyone who has not got sick of this discordant life? Not one person can be found who doesn’t want respite from such a situation. There is just one way for relief from all the sorrows – prayers. All sorrows and grieves would begin to part from this world the moment truthful heartfelt prayers to God that man should follow the path of righteousness which is free from imperfections and impurities commence.
Prayer is a science that possesses powers to transform a man. If politeness can bring about success even in normal conduct, then it can be easily estimated how profound would be the impact of polite prayers that are directed to God.
When even one man begins to pray, though subtly, he would positively influence the environment and that would encourage others to follow. From one to another, and one day in this manner the ambience across the globe would get positively influenced. Using his simple imitative mind if a man can learn all sorts of evilness, then why won’t he imbibe goodness likewise? When one nation today is mimicking the other, then who can say that if one nation adopts daily collective prayers as its nationwide programme, other nations would not follow it?
Prayer needs to be integrated into our daily life just like all other important activities. Activities like bathing, eating food etc are never ignored; likewise, praying also should never be forgotten. This divine process that unites the soul with God must be treated as a very important activity of daily life and must be carried out every day with sincerity.
It would be even better if something like a revolutionary programme is launched, to make every one understand the importance of prayers and to persuade all to adopt prayers into their lives. Then our India, enriched with faith and devotion, and beaming with the strength of prayers, would not just herself prosper but would make the whole world prosper. Prayer can yield good results only when its philosophy and its true nature are properly understood.
Source: The Meaning, Purpose and Benefits of Worship
