The Sanskrit word ‘Upāsanā’ explains the most comprehensive meaning and purpose of ‘worship’. The word Upasana comprises of two words: upa and asana. ‘Upa’ stands for proximity and asana stands for state. In simple terms upāsanā means to ‘sit’ near God. As near we ascend our state to the state of one whom we worship, as favorable and akin do we make ourselves to it, in the same proportion its capabilities, strengths and prowess would keep entering into ourselves and keep showering us with its sublime and perceivable attributes even if that center of worship is just an imaginary object.
Ghost has no existence but all know, that based upon a person’s conviction and belief, ghost can actually conjure itself up as real in darkness and scare the wits out of him. If a make-believe ghost can drive some one crazy and kill him, then how is it possible that brimming with divine attributes and divine capabilities our object of worship wouldn’t make our lives divine too?
Scientist Dr. Geldard, the writer of “The Human Senses” has written in his book that the configuration (nature) of one’s astral body influences one’s mental and physical actions. By giving an example of a scientific experiment in support of this principle, he explains that human cells possess an impressive ability to attract favorable substances, to assimilate these by absorption and on this basis to replenish the energy that has been expended from the body. This was examined when a living portion of a body was cut and kept aside. A poisonous chemical was already kept at that place. Despite having no connection with the process of the brain, the molecules of that living part began to move away from the toxic object. Scientists were astonished when they observed this. They removed the poison from there immediately and in that place when they now put a beneficial medicine, the characteristics of the cells completely changed. They began to show an attribute of attraction to the medicine. In his analysis, Dr. Geldard states that each cell is a tiny substation that is connected to brain that is the main station.
An immediate unmistakable effect of whichever emotional wave arises in the brain begins to show in these cells. On the same basis man gets influenced by invisible powers in the sky. By the magnetic powers of his mind he can attract and assimilate within him the power-flows from distant astral bodies and develop his own internal capabilities. Great rishis (seers and sages) of ancient India had realized these power-flows in the form of sublime currents of divine powers. Classifying them based upon their attributes, denoting them as different manifestation of the Supreme Force of God, the rishis had devised procedures for worshipping these as deities. Awakening their hidden faculties by practicing these procedures, they had attained tremendous physical and spiritual powers. Many people today may regard these possibilities as mere concoctions of mind, but results of studies establish that these are no fantasies but reality. Modern Scientists, who have investigated the deeper powers of the human mind, also affirm this reality.
Quantum theory in the form of an ultimate principle has agreed that matter gets converted from solid form to liquid, from liquid to gas, gas to plasma and further into similar kind of more subtlized light particles…. and so on…. Likewise, in the reverse order of manifestation of energy vibrations’, the most evolved etheric particles of consciousness in a serial progression at one stage can express themselves in the form of matter. Scientist Heisenberg has put up a similar hypothesis. He writes about the existence of a domain in the universe where, if matter were left free it would on its own get converted into energy. Just as matter’s existence is bound within the domain of time and form, likewise the manifested-existence of consciousness is expressed in the form of feelings, memories thoughts and images. In spite of the great diversity in their peripheries and manifestation from sentient perceptions, mental conceptions to sublime realizations, all forms of existence of matter and consciousness are highly interwoven. They do not just affect each other but also assimilate into each other. Worship is meant to earn benefit from all components of Nature including the divine powers of Nature by enriching the hidden linkage of individual consciousness with them.
Renowned natural therapeutic Dr. Henry Lindlahr in his book ‘The Practice of Natural Therapeutics’ has accepted the fact that by connecting the human mental feelings with those of the Omnipresent, Eternal Consciousness Force (Braham), some divine presence, invisible Angel, supernatural talents, or great satguru, or at the more earthly level even of some beloved ones, the sublime vibrations, divine messages or the thoughts and feelings may be grasped without any physical medium or process. Not only that, he also agrees that in such a situation the physical atomic and bodily experiences of one who is meditated upon also get attracted in an amazing manner.
If water of river Ganga is taken to another place by constructing a canal, all the attributes of its waters would go with it as far as the canal goes. In the same way our body, mind and feelings develop speedily. Remembrance of gurus, worship of deities and two incidents supporting this fact are now put forth in the form of evidence and witnesses. In the book ‘An Introduction to the Psychology of Religion’ the author Prof. Thouless has provided a truthful description of St. Catherine. At the time when Jesus Christ was crucified with nails on the cross, St. Catherine experienced the same pain at various places on her body as is inflicted when nails are hammered into the body. A doctor had to take care of her in that state. Diagnosis by doctors found that Catherine’s experience of pain was genuine.
This is a result of harmonious mental linkage and deep union and between the worshipper and the worshipped. Not just particles of consciousness but inanimate bodies and that too beyond the limits of time and universe can be linked by deep bonding and in this way seemingly impossible information about incidents in the past and the future can be collected as well.
Scientists have also attempted to measure the power of the mind. According to them mind is the conscious force of physical body. According to Einstein’s principle of relativity, a small amount of matter has a power equivalent to the square of the speed of light (1,86,000 miles per second). The amount of power that is generated by burning 14 lakh tons of coal is the same power that is contained in one pound of matter. If it were possible to completely convert matter into energy then the ‘nuclear energy generated by converting just one pound of coal would be sufficient to meet America’s energy requirement for one full month.
Dr. Venetern calls mind as ‘a great electrical force’. The Vedas describe the mind as Jyotiṣāṁ Jyotiḥ (Light of all lights). Mind is the electrical power of body’s matter. The more the mind gets concentrated, the stronger its power would be. If it were possible to convert the entire physical body into energy then the electrical energy of a body of 100 pounds (which would get converted as capability of the mind) would be so much that it can provide electricity to the United States of America continuously for 10 years. Using this tremendous potential the Indian Rishis (yogis, seer-sages) used to cause explosions in void skies and without preaching anyone, just with their force of resoluteness could direct solutions to the human problems of the world.
Professor Elisha Gray in his book ‘Miracles of Nature’ has supported the aforementioned great potential of the mind and has described it as most powerful amongst all the known forces. According to Dr. Louis Crown thermal electricity can influence the physical matter only to a limit but ‘thought electricity can comprehensively influence the entire environment. Prof. Upton Sinclair¹25 has written in his book titled ‘Mental Radio’ that each person’s brain is a powerful wireless set. Without any physical means a person can transmit his thoughts to another easily. At the same time he can develop his own self by keeping his brain, his mind open to superior thought-flows and divine messages. He can connect his self to the infinite, immeasurable source of happiness and joy.
In view of the above, we can now fathom the immense possibilities the engrossment of mind in upāsanā offers. However, we don’t see such outcomes for every devotee. So, a natural question arises why and when upäsanā is not fruitful? A straight answer is when it is done superficially or without interest.
When is upāsanā not pleasurable?
When a person does not have faith in it or when he considers it as a special or extra duty different from his regular life style. With such a feeling, in a short time he begins to find worship unnecessary and useless and so in place of experiencing elation begins to feel exhausted and soon leaves the worship altogether.
This is a simple human nature that a person experiences annoyance in any activity that is not assimilated in his daily routine or he is not accustomed to doing it. Even in his regular routine daily work if some work increases as a sudden necessity, he would do it as if it is an uncalled for burden on him.
The same principle applies to upāsanā as well. So worship or upāsanā should not be a special obligation outside the daily routine but should be done as an integral part of the same. When upāsanā becomes an a natural part of life then fulfilling that gives as much pleasure as fulfilling any other need. Once it gets integrated with life then till it is performed the heart remains as impatient as in anticipation of meeting a beloved. Worship is an inseparable part of human life. This is the form in which it should be accepted. Taking up worship as a special obligation brings in a feeling of doing something other than the routine. All along the thought persists that I am giving effect to some special task and thus concentration is not achieved, due to which desired pleasure is not gained. It is quite natural that the task that entails distaste and displeasure cannot be continued for long, and even if continued no great results could be anticipated.
Upāsanā does not evoke pleasure when it is carried out to fulfill some profit or greed too. When upāsanā is done with a selfish intent then the attention of the worshipper is directed towards his wants rather than towards who is being worshipped. One whose flow of feelings is directed towards his wants in place of his object of worship gets his greed fortified. This greed gradually grows unbounded and the process of upasana begins to fructify right in the opposite direction. Man turns fearsome for himself by transforming into a store of greed, wants, selfishness and desires. Anything going against his expectations appears to him as a consequence of ‘some mistake’ in upāsanā and what not…
In this manner when such misled worshippers due to their proximity to eagerness, dissatisfaction, sorrows and unhappiness eventually become their prey begin to find faults with upāsanā or the object of worship and make this conception that one who sincerely worships has to bear sorrows, hardships and poverty. Such conceptions are tremendous mistakes.
It can be safely assumed about any worshipper who is miserable, poor or lowly that greed is active in his upāsanā that his greed, delusions or wrong approach have led him to this state. Else the immediate fruits of upāsanā, the divine attributes like brilliance, strength, self-discipline, sensitivity, etc, should have sprouted in him.
Additionally, expectations driven upāsanā also does not continue uninterrupted for too long. Such a worshipper keeps equating fruits of his endeavors in this regard with his expectations day by day; and when his desires do not get fulfilled he gradually gets weary, begins to consider upāsanā as a worthless activity and then losing all the interest in the same gives it up in the end. Such a worshipper leads a tragic life of a coward who is scared of death and has lost all hope in life.
Continuity of is also doubtful in case of those worshippers whose upāsanā is based upon elaborate rituals and show-off. For one, this kind of upāsanā takes up a lot of time, very little of which can a man usually spare in his busy life. Secondly, to collect the required variety of equipments and appliances a lot of money is needed. In these costly times when it has become difficult to just make ends meet, how can a man continue an expensive upāsana? To continue it, an ordinary being would have to cut into some of family expenses which would certainly cause him or his family some sort of financial problems indirectly, if not directly. To meet expenses of upāsanā he would have to divert his attention to make adjustments to his domestic budget. So such upāsanā would translate into a financial planning, which may create more mental tension than any internal peace, and in such a situation it is doubtful that upāsanā would last too long.
Excessive ostentation and show off is not good for upāsanā either. A worshipper who lives unusual life is seen by the society as odd. Some look at him with curiosity, some with respect and others regard him as a great worshipper (upāsaka). Due to this, until the mental state of the upāsaka has ascended to a certain level, his mental feelings do not create the desired effect. By becoming a symbol of curiosity in the society, he keeps vacillating between times of extreme pleasure and sadness, which does not have beneficial effect on his sādhanā. In addition, an ostentatious upāsaka considers himself as a special person in the society and regards himself more pious than other ordinary beings. Sometimes he needs to express such feelings to others to maintain this ostentation. Because he considers himself special and superior than others, pride begins to swell within him, which works like poison adulterated in the nectar of upāsanā.
To be normal from within along with being simple and normal from outside is more beneficial to an upāsaka. Due to their usual nature and value systems, most people get more attracted to ostentation. As a result, in place of paying attention to enhancing his dedication and devotional sentiments, the upāsaka gets trapped in the attraction of popularity in public and begins to pay attention to ostentation.
Lack of self-control on time and sadhana is also one reason. that does not bring about requisite seriousness in the upāsaka. The desired intrinsic values and sentimental impressions (sanskaras) do not get inscribed in the mind and the brain which drive the upāsanā to regularity and depth and the upāsaka to spiritual benefits. To worship at any odd time is the same kind of religious or spiritual irregularity as that of food habits and lifestyle. Such irregular upāsanā, in place of making a person spiritually enlightened turns him into a spiritually sick; then to expect any peace or happiness from such an upāsanā would be an unusual fantasy.
Changing the deity (divine focus) of upāsanā means that you play with divine powers like toys without giving importance to their grace. This means that their importance depends upon your predilection. At the same time this alteration also exposes the feeling that you consider one divine power to be superior or inferior to another. Such feeling of inequality and lack of faith is very dangerous in the realm of upāsanā. With this kind of attitude, only mental fickleness increases and as a result neither does the mind settle into upāsanā nor does it bear any fruit.
True upāsanā is that which is performed without desires, which is directed towards one chosen deity believing it to be the abode of God’s authority, adopting a single procedure, adopting self control; which is practised with a concentrated mind as an integral part of daily routine, and done with regularity and without ostentation. Such upāsanā continues uninterrupted life long and also bears fruit. In this world all substances and all actions are only resources. The true goal of life is just one spiritual peace. If peace is lacking in one’s soul then any amount of affluence, talent, or power one may possess, any amount of respect or prestige he may have in the society, he cannot experience anything that termed as happiness.
In the absence of spiritual peace great kings and successful men who we believe have enjoyed all the worldly pleasures and accomplished life, have died a fearful death full of discontentment. Their soul leaves the body while they writhe in agony and they leave this world while crying disconsolately. When all the worldly pleasures and objects have been enjoyed, why cry when the end is near?
It is clear that there is discontentment in the soul of such men, which drives the soul back to the world again and again. Discontent lives where there is no soothing quietude. When the soul is afflicted with the fever of discontentment, there cannot be any coolness of peace in there.
It is not possible to attain peace of soul through worldly pleasures and objects. It is attained only when one inculcates the virtue of greatness in his way of life. Greatness is the sole basis for the peace of soul. Men with great souls never need to bear the torture of discontent or anguish even if they are poor or lonely. Wise, benevolent people and true devotees are always great humans with great souls. This is the single basis based on which they lead their lives, be that full of hardships, peacefully and part with their bodies with content. No mental distresses torture them. All the sages, saints, doers, thinkers and philosophers have never been rich or prosperous, nor have they devoted their lives to enjoyment of worldly objects. Their lives have always been simple and ordinary.
Their food, their clothing, and their living has always been as average as could be. Their daily routine and labour has been so arduous and demanding that to anyone it would appear as suffering. In times ahead also this kind of people would live a life of dearth and those of this category present around us now can also be seen to have adopted such a living. Even then rarely can anyone be found as happy and contended as they are. There is just one reason behind this and that is the greatness of their soul. Whoever develops this greatness in his soul, spiritual peace certainly becomes his property. Who would like to remain stuck to the equipment’s that led him to his goal when he has already attained the goal itself? If light is available from the Sun, there remains no need to light a lamp.
The attribute of greatness that leads to peace of spirit is the attitude of goodness. Great men find goodness all around in the world, in every direction, in every incident and in every circumstance. He does a good deed only for goodness, and views and visualizes its result in all forms as good only.
Hopelessness, dejection, regret, unhappiness, remorse or the suspicion of inauspiciousness or impossibility does not upset him. His mental state in prosperity and success remains the same in poverty and failure as well. His happiness, his bliss and his contentment are never perturbed.
With one look at the world, not one or two but hundreds of people can be seen making merry, talking and smiling and in a pleasant state. Looking at them, it would be difficult to say that in their lives there would be any pain or unhappiness, any discord or discontentment. It may even appear that these all are men with great souls and they have attained spiritual peace, which is why such bliss abides on their faces.
But what is seen is not truth. Their happiness is just like someone is laughing or being happy in a dream or unconsciousness. This happiness of them is neither original nor permanent. That time either they are satiated with enjoyment of some object or charmed with some gain or profit. If the cause of their pleasure is identified and removed, then all their cheerfulness would be destroyed.
Real or spiritual happiness can only be that which has no cause, whose basis is the soul and nothing else. Happiness that is experienced from ephemeral and worldly enjoyments is a deception and so like other ephemeral illusions, its effect does not last too long. True and stable happiness is only that
whose alternative never is sadness. One who has gained in his trade today, one who has got married today, or one who is blessed with a son today, one who has achieved great success or honor, would appear happy and pleased. This does not mean that any greatness of soul has been expressed through this cheerfulness. This happiness and cheer is a mere reaction to the said gain or festivity. It gets terminated at the passing of the wave of passion and the one gets back into his state of discontent and begins again to experience dejection, unhappiness, tension, etc as before….
That happiness which stays alike in gain and in loss, which is experienced in prosperity but stays the same in poverty, which is awaken in favorable circumstances but does not get waned in adversities, can be called the true happiness, happiness that has originated from greatness.
Greatness of soul is attained by the upāsanā of the Supreme Soul. An atheist or a spiritual person may gain any amount of prosperity, any object or pleasures, but he cannot attain enlightenment and elevation of the soul. Whatever in this world is good, is great, is glorious and benevolent is all the Great Father’s adornment. It all ends in Him and rests in Him. Beauty of the universe, prosperity of the earth, riches of the seas, the taste of vegetables, the potency of medicines, the brilliance of stars and planets, the enjoyment of seasons, and man’s capacity to experience behind all these lies the grace of the Supreme Soul. Whatever is superior and great in this world has been regarded as the subtle hint of the presence of Supreme Soul. All the beauty is attributable to the Supreme Soul, all auspiciousness is due to Him. So to attain spiritual greatness one must perform upāsanā of the Supreme Soul rather than running behind worldly possessions.
The meaning of upăsana is to sit near; have nearness or company. When we stay close to something, the qualities of that would come to us naturally. A cold piece of iron placed near a hot piece of iron would itself become hot by absorbing the heat from the other. Objects coming in contact with ice turn cold themselves. In a jungle a tree growing near a sandalwood tree acquires the scent of sandalwood due to its contact and the objects that come in contact with light also get illuminated. Contact, proximity or nearness has been regarded as an important cause for acquisition of good or bad qualities among humans as well.
A person engrossed in upāsanā is very close to the Supreme Soul and as a result keeps inculcating supreme virtues. Supreme Soul is the excusive source and embodiment of all the greatness and preeminent qualities. So these attributes begin to arrive and start assimilating in the devotee as well. There is no reason why a man who is near snow-capped mountains would not experience the chill. That a mind and body would not turn fragrant in a garden filled with flowers is not possible. Who ever attains closeness of the Supreme Soul by upāsanā and stays close to His Light, it is absolutely natural and imperative that the attributes and greatness of the Supreme Soul would be transferred to him.
Millions of people can be seen daily performing prayers and rituals. They also feel that they are performing upāsanā. Several other men also believe and regard them as upāsaka. But this upāsanā of theirs never succeeds in providing the desired results. Neither do they attain any greatness nor any spiritual peace. Even after their prayers and rituals they speak lies, display cunningness, remain enslaved in anger, greed and attachment, and as a result they neither attain mental calmness nor any spiritual contentment. As they are, they continue to suffer from grief, unhappiness, torture, pain, doubts, dearth and discontentment. They continue to remain sick with worldly passions and thralldoms as always. The divine qualities of the Supreme Soul that are commonly denoted by the names of love, brotherhood, mercy, dearness, bliss and peace etc are not found in them. Despite thinking (and talking about) of the Almighty hundreds of times these people remain blank like the trunk of a barren tree; neither new leaflets bloom, nor any blossoming flowers occurs in them.
It is an absolute truth that by performing upasanã of the Supreme Soul the noble virtues of God get transferred into the individual self, there is no denying this fact. A person who is seen to perform upāsanā but no signs of refinement towards greatness are visible in him then any wise man can undoubtedly proclaim that the upāsnā of this fellow is not a true upāsanā but merely a ritual, a show off, an ostentation, a mockery….
The true meaning of upāsanā is to link the inner self with the Supreme Soul. Just as using some system when an empty reservoir is connected to a filled reservoir, the water begins to flow from the filled one into the empty one and the latter also gets filled up like the former. In the same way by establishing contact with the Supreme Soul all His divine greatness deigns to flow into the sole of the upāsaka. But if some obstruction were placed in this connection, the flow would stop. Water would not reach reservoir and man would not attain greatness.
Cold iron receives heat from fire when it comes near it. But if a board of wood is placed between it and fire then iron would be depri of the heat of fire. In the same way, in the process of upāsanā when the obstacle of doubts and desires is put between the soul and the Supreme Soul, man gets deprived of receiving the grace of the Supreme Soul. It can be assumed about a devotee in whom inculcation of Supreme Soul’s attributes is not seen that between his soul and the Supreme Soul lie the obstacles of desires, wants, passions, and delusions and unless these hindrances are removed, the true fruits of upāsanā cannot be attained. Of all the people that pray and perform rituals, most do not perform upāsanā, but they only make a show or imitation of it. Either they are driven by ignorance and emotional excitement or the thought of displaying their importance through upāsanā pervades their minds. Or the objective of their upāsanā is fulfillment of some desire and not the attainment of the Supreme Soul.
The long cherished aim of human life is to attain spiritual peace. The bases of this peace are those attributes, which are the natural qualities of the Supreme Soul and can be attained only through upāsanā. But the true upāsanā is that which is done only for its own sake without any other motive. Begin doing upāsanā, which is free from all expectations, to establish contact between your soul and the Supreme Soul. And by attaining divine light and greatness experience the infinite upāsanā and the life that is brimming with the grace of indestructible peace and unalloyed happiness.
Every feeling, thought, action and object becomes a form of upāsanā – in order to attain that high state it is our pious duty that daily we must continue (for a short time at least), to perform upāsanā of the Supreme Soul with a true and devoted mind. This apparently small effort of upāsanā when becomes an integral part, an essential requirement of our life and when its absence begins to cause discomfort, then in this practice of upāsanā itself would start inducing the joy, the eagerness, the inner force of the individual self (to unite with its Supreme Origin). The effect of this enriched feeling and bliss of upāsanā would then sustain during the entire long period of the day and for all that time we would experience the proximity of the Supreme Soul.
This way our brief attempt of upāsanā would gradually mature and assimilate internally, its effect would augment, deepen and sustain for longer and longer periods and if our sincerity and emotional depth in this upāsanā simultaneously get enhanced in greater proportions, then there is no doubt that through this brief upāsanā we would enter into the state where the self identity, the beings and the whole world appears to be contained in God and God appears to be pervaded in everything, every where in the world. Each action and reaction, feeling and thought, even the inhalation and exhalation of breath begins to be experienced as a form of God.
What’s that prayer which is aimed to overcome sufferings and to satisfy selfish desires? It is no better than begging. True prayer is that which is offered to enhance more and more the internal riches of devotion and bliss. For most people, when sufferings do not mitigate and selfish desires are not fulfilled mental irritation develops towards prayer. The whole basis of their prayers appears to be wrong. True prayer in fact continuously fills up our pot of incompleteness. A true devotee would find satisfaction in watching his inner pot filled up more today than it was yesterday. In an effort to reach near the saccidānanda (eternal source and embodiment of absolute bliss and divine light) how can upāsanā result in any despair or annoyance? Every step taken in the direction of bliss must generate happiness only. Distortion of the basis leads us astray and annoyance is the results of that.
Prayer ascends us higher and takes us up to meet those who are already (spiritually) evolved. The object/deity of our prayer must be such that one who reaches near that forgets crying and learns to smile, and through his laughter makes the whole neighboring environment laugh too.
Discontentment and sorrows are not our goals or objects of our aspirations. Then why should we carry out an anuṣṭhāna (a mode of sādhanā) or avhāna (invocation) and visarjan (ritual of completion of upāsanā) of these? While marching towards the supreme element our every step would take us closer and closer to truth, benevolence and beauty. An engrossed mind and bliss are blessings in themselves. Easy attainment of these blessings is obstructed by contemplation of discontentment. If prayer has to be done at all, why not adopt content and happiness and tie a knot with these with a devoted and engrossed mind.
Prayer can never be a solicitation; it originates and is inspired by the feeling of surrender. People have seen benefits of receiving but have not understood the pleasure of giving. No gain or satisfaction can be compared with the glory that we attain by performing the supreme sacrifice of surrendering ourselves to God.
When our desires get dispersed and God’s wishes begin to take their place, then it should be believed that our prayers are attaining success in the same proportion. God’s vision takes place in this same form that He eliminates all the ugliness (vices) from the inner self and illumines it with His beauty. In other words, in place of wishes like mitigation of sufferings and fulfillment of selfish desires those noble ideals get established which in the form of enlightened engrossed of mind and bliss of heart spread their rejuvenating fragrance everywhere, every moment. One who adopts God’s wishes as his own and then follows those, begins to feel that the supreme element is itself coming to him and that his journey is nearing to its ultimate aim.
What words should be used for prayers? Sitting where do these calls get heard? Reaching where can we sight our chosen deity? Answers to such questions cannot be obtained by searching for any procedure or place in the sentient world. Voice does not reach Him. Physical objects offered in the ‘procedures of worship’ also get scattered all around in no time. Places may be naturally special in some way but the light that dispels all doubts of the soul cannot be found anywhere. What eyes cannot see at all, at which place can that be seen? The nearest place to gain closeness with the supreme element is your own antaḥ-karaṇa (inner self). That is where the power of all mantras, which arises with the call of the soul, works. It is not essential that these be taught by ancient scripts or told by the spiritual gurus. When the soul reaches near the Supreme Soul then the limits of languages are broken and the feeling of communion itself begins to sound just like the words of speech. There is no more appropriate place than your own antaḥ-karaṇa for this meeting. True prayer is one that converts your selfish desires into altruistic sensitivity. When the urgency to give rather than receive begins to overcome every other impulse of mind, it can be said that blessings of your chosen deity have begun to enshower upon you.
Source: The Meaning, Purpose and Benefits of Worship
