Swadharma » Sonali

Approaches to Prayer

Sonali — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 04:48:21 +0000

From our weekly discussions, it seems that even among those who believe in God, our approaches to God/religion vary. For the most part, I’ve noticed two main ways of thinking of God/religion. Of course, many of us probably mix both approaches together in our practice of religion. Also, please correct me if you’ve noticed other views, or if these distinctions make no sense!

Approach 1: God is a being with infinite strength, and His grace can lead us to success in this life. For this reason, we pray to him for things like strength, peace, and material success.

Approach 2: God is not some outside being, but rather, We are God — that strength, peace, and success all comes from within us. For this reason, we pray to be able to find this source of inner strength so that we can spread strength, peace and success to others.

My ideal has always been to be so grounded in my spirituality that I no longer prayed for myself (the first approach) but rather that I prayed as a way of reminding myself of my inherent divinity. In other words, I want to have such inner strength/peace/happiness that I don’t need to ask any outside entity to supply me with it. Then, prayer will be a way for me stay charged and strong, so that I can constantly give without asking for anything in return. In that way, achieving that second approach to prayer is my goal.

Given that, I thought I would share the following poem with you – a close friend sent it to me, and it struck me as a beautiful way of expressing this goal. The poem was written by the venerated Saint Francis of Assisi, a Catholic friar and preacher — its similarity to the sentiments echoed in Hindu philosophy are striking!

“Prayer of St. Francis”

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

How do you approach religion? Do you think the sentiments expressed in this poem can actually lead to inner peace and happiness, or is it just meaningless self-sacrifice? What is the point of prayer?

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Today’s Vivekananda Quote of the Day

Sonali — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:29:32 +0000

“What is mind but that ceaseless enquiry into the meaning and mystery of life?” -Swami Vivekananda

I really liked it, and thought to share it with you all, especially since we are all (theoretically, haha) using our minds ceaselessly during finals right now. I’ve always found the most rewarding classes to be those that showed me how to use my mind in the way that Swami Vivekananda expresses above — the material that sticks with me is that which has shown me how to better apply my mind to understand the world around me, and my place in it. And as much as possible, I try to derive this sort of lesson from every class (or more broadly, every possible experience) I have.

Hope this provides some inspiration and direction to everyone’s studying during the next week!

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Promises To Yourself

Sonali — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 03:53:34 +0000

One of my Vidyapith teachers sent this to me, and I really liked it. I thought I’d share it with you all — its nice to see that someone has so eloquently voiced the way I try to live.

Promises To Yourself

Promise yourself…

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your

peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to

every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is

something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and

make your optimism come true.

To think only the best, to work only for the

best, and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success

of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and

press on to the greater achievements of the

future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times

and give every living creature you meet a

smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of

yourself that you have no time to criticize

others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for

anger, too strong for fear; and too happy to

permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this

fact to the world, not in loud words, but in

great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on

your side so long as you are true to the best

that is in you.

(Published as “The Optimist Creed” almost a hundred years ago by Christian D. Larson, the words complement and provide inspiration to those reaching out for spiritual realms.)

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Are all religions essentially the same?

Sonali — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 03:52:44 +0000

I recently received this Vivekananda Quote of the Day, and it got me thinking; I was raised with the idea that all religions are essentially the same — that they are all different rivers that lead us to the same ocean, that one reaches the same goal whether he sincerely worships Krishna, or Christ, or Allah. My involvement in the Interfaith Council has put me in the position of having to explain these beliefs to others who didn’t necessarily agree with that viewpoint, and it has really made me think:

ARE all religions the same, in essence? Or are there fundamental differences that really can’t be resolved? Given my background, I’m always tempted to find ways to explain away what seem like fundamental differences; however, I wonder if that is the best approach…

In any case, here is the quote that spurred this post:

The idea of an objective God is not untrue–in fact, every idea of God, and hence every religion, is true, as each is but a different stage in the journey, the aim of which is the perfect conception of the Vedas. Hence, too, Hindus not only tolerate but accept every religion, praying in the mosques of the Muslims, worshiping before the fire of the Zoroastrians, and kneeling before the cross of the Christians, knowing that all the religions, from the lowest fetishism to the highest absolutism, mean so many attempts of the human soul to grasp and realize the infinite, each determined by the conditions of its birth and association, and each of them marking a stage of progress. We gather all these flowers and bind them with the twine of love, making a wonderful bouquet of worship.

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Misinterpreting Freedom

Sonali — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:52:48 +0000

Recently, I was discussing Hinduism and the ideas of freedom and maya with one of my close friends. When I explained to her that for me, the goal of Hinduism — and of my life — is to become free and to understand that there is more to reality than just this physical world, she made a really interesting point: doesn’t such thinking justify our lack of concern about the deterioration of the world around us?

In other words, if we assume that the world is an illusion, it becomes really easy to do all sorts of terrible things; if the world isn’t real, then it doesn’t really matter if we pollute it, or brings species to extinction, or exhaust our natural resources, or wage wars; thinking that the world is an illusion may give some people license to damage the earth.

I wasn’t sure how to respond, other than that people who honestly believe that there is something beyond this world would naturally act in ways that help others and in ways that don’t damage the earth…But I thought she had a really important point, that it is really easy to misinterpret this idea of freedom.
How would you guys respond to this? How can we know the correct way to interpret our religion, assuming that my earlier explanation is “correct”?

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