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Darshan with Swami Krishnananda during 1996
by Swami Krishnananda


23. Prayer

(Darshan given on March 18th, 1996.)

A visitor: You said yesterday that God is in everything, that God is in us.

Swamiji: What I meant is that a permanent something is at the back of everything that isn't permanent; otherwise, even the consciousness of impermanence cannot be there. The impermanent thing cannot know that it is impermanent, so there must be some permanent thing which is responsible for the knowledge, or awareness, that the impermanence is going on. So if all of us are involved in the impermanent phenomena, who is going to know that such a thing is taking place? That is why I said there is an ontological Being behind all the processes of transformation. You may call it God, if you like – the Absolute, or Brahman.

Visitor: I asked myself how and why to pray because it is to something outside us, which is also inside us.

Swamiji: Prayer is a very important matter. I will tell you what it is, to my knowledge. The ontological Universal Being is caught up in the fluctuation of phenomena. These fluctuations are made up of different types of ripples. As when a river flows there are ripples, there is a flow which is constituted of little apparent ripples which make it appear that even the continuous flow is made up of different parts. It is a very serious involvement. It is very difficult to explain it. This so-called universal ontological Being charges itself as the background of every little ripple of the phenomena, and identifies itself with it, and each ripple feels that it is an independent thing – yourself, myself, everybody.

Now, this so-called eternity which is caught up in the little ripple of fluctuation feels a necessity to rise above this limitation, and its yearning for transcending this limitation is actually the prayer to That which is not limited. Do you understand me? It is the finite praying for the Infinite. The Infinite caught up in the fluctuation of things looks like a finite thing, and the finite thing does not want to be finite, so it is inwardly allowing itself to go above itself in the direction of That which is the non-finite. That is your consciousness, which is actually what you call prayer. You may offer the prayer by word of mouth, or even internally you can feel it, and it will come.

Actually, prayer is the surge of soul. It is the rise of your consciousness to the point of its own expansion, and it can be expressed by words, by prayer, by chanting the mantra, whatever it is. It is only an accompaniment to allow the consciousness to rise above itself. Prayer is an act of the soul; it is not merely words that you utter. You can pray with music, you can pray with formulas, you can pray in any way you like. You can even pray through dance. People do that because of the uncontrollable joy that they feel at the prospect of contacting the Infinite. People doing kirtan, etc., sometimes jump. It is not a formality; it is a feeling that is overcoming the limitation, and they want to contact that Infinite.

This is a question of actual meditation by yourself. It is not a question of hearing something that is told, not a question of reading. You yourself are involved in this great adventure of the cosmos. Then you see that help comes from everywhere, not from one side.

Visitor:  It remains an outsider.

Swamiji: It looks as if it is outside, and that is what you call the opposites. The finite thinks that the infinite is outside, just as we think that space is outside us, but space is not outside us. Space is everywhere; how can you call it outside? And when you look at the sky, you look upwards. “I am looking at the sky.” There is no need of looking at the sky; you are in the middle of the sky only. Like that it is a kind of contortion of feeling, which is actually not necessary because you cannot escape the limitations of spatial contact, so when you pray to God you look up as if He is above the sky. Even if He is above the sky, the sky is not here. Everywhere is the sky only, so when you say God is above the sky, you must know what you are actually meaning by that. It is a transcendental height, not a merely measurable, geometrical height. You cannot measure the distance by a yardstick. It is a consciousness travel, logical travel.

It is a question of pure internal personal practice. It is not a question of telling somebody or hearing from somebody. You yourself must well up into that necessity of expanding your consciousness. You are actually trying to rise above yourself to your own larger dimension. It is the lower self moving to the higher self, the finite moving to the infinite, the God in you trying to contact the God everywhere. Am I clear?

Visitor: Yes, absolutely. Thank you.

Swamiji: I will make you a saint before going from here. You are moving in that direction. Do you feel that you are moving in the direction of a saint?

Visitor: I am not a saint. [Laughter]

Swamiji: Don't doubt it. I think you are getting transformed every day, little by little. If you stay here for some time, to that extent you will become a saint. Not a saint – a Godman you will become, provided you listen to my advice and do as I say. Then you will have no problem.

You have to trust in the power of your own soul. The soul is not a poor thing. It has the power of contacting the Infinite, so can you say it is a poor thing? You are a great infinite potentiality inside yourself. It is for the achievement and the actualisation of this potentiality that we are existing in this world. It is a part of the cosmic evolutionary process towards the Absolute.

A little bit of a saint you have become already. Yes, don't doubt it. I am glad. I have done a little service to you at least. God will bless everybody.