Prayer vs. Meditation

Man born in this world often seeks security in one or other way. Security of power, security of relationship, security of authority anything. The essence is he wants to be secured. Above all he wants to be in safe hands.  Darwin  in "Origin of Species" claims that the state of insecurity in living beings when compared to higher beings leads to troubles. Man in earlier days, say it the beginning, he was afraid of darkness, thunder bolt, fire etc., He was troubled and he believed there is this existence of this supreme being. Leave the science, what do religions have in text for us. Whatever it is all about the relationship with the Supreme being called "God" and the inferior being called "Man".


When man seeks security from God, he forgets often there are more needy same like him out there. Sequential queries like "I need this, I need that, Help me do this, help me do that", all comes seeking out a helping hand. Prayer is a kind of seeking. The eternal father, formless spirit, prevailing everywhere, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient knows realizes whatever our needs are. But man needs a kind of security by praying. But don't know exactly how to pray, what he seeks out of prayer.


Often we take up lot of printed books, Bible, Qu-ran etc., read verses, chant mantras, follow a system blindly. We forget often "What exactly a prayer is?". This is the essence of all these books. If we talk a language without knowing its meaning of the words how useful that would be? A pure awareness is needed to pray. The following discussion is my revelations of exactly what I got out of the cosmos while talking with the eternal father.

Seeker: Anna, I want to know whether what we do in churches, temples and mosques and all are real prayer? If it is not then what kind of prayer do I have to offer to God?

A.V.R. : I do feel little bit strange about your question my friend. There is nothing called “Such kind of prayer”, if the question is like that, then it means you have divided the prayer into many divisions. There is only one kind of prayer, that is the “prayer” alone. I know what is the problem of you and why you have such divisions in prayer, it is because the religious organizations teach you so. Prayer for the well being, Prayer for the sick, Prayer for the poor so on and so on.


Do really think we can divide a concept called “Prayer”? underline that a prayer is a concept. In that it means you are handling something, an idea of doing something. Isn’t it?

Seeker : Yes, anna. So if there is no different forms of prayers, then how do we have to pray?

A.V.R.: I don’t know how you have to pray. But I can tell what a prayer leads to or what actually the concept of prayer is. We all understand the existence of supreme being, the eternal father, who is the cause of all this creation and our existence in this world. If we know that he is existent, we seek security in him, we take hostage in him. It is a kind of security that you have somebody to hear all your pleas, somebody like your father, somebody with mother’s care, somebody so friendly, somebody so concerned about you. If you don’t find any of these qualities in God, will you ever think of something called prayer?

So it is we find all these qualities in him, the eternal father. But where is he? How can we see him? How can we feel his presence? How can we assure his existence? This all remains still questions. But the very Idea of he is there warms us in all aspects. So we are preparing ourselves to talk to him. We tell him our pleas, our worries, our life’s happenings as if he is the supreme being and he don’t know anything at all.

But do you really know, what we get out of it actually? A satisfaction. Isn’t it? A satisfaction that my loads are dumped into the supreme being, the God and he will take care of the rest. Am I Right?

Seeker : Yes. That is what the prayer is mean’t to be. To talk with God and ask him to solve our needs.

A.V.R.: I wonder you are mistaking. There is a contradiction. Prayer is of course talking with God. But how can we ask him to solve our problems and needs as they belong only to us. Are you expecting miracles? Wine out of Water? Then have you ever questioned yourself are you that eligible water to be turned to wine?

I admit that Prayer is talking to God. But I always suspect the process of you doing the talking. Are you really open when you talk? Are you not acting a hypocrite, pretending that he may not know something? You ask him to solve your sins. Are you sure you are not going to do a new one? Have you ever ensured that you won’t do that thing called “Sin” anymore? To talk with God your mind needs more transparency, though you are already transparent to him. He have a greater plan of you. But still he wants the plead from yourself.

And how? He needs a more "transparent" of you. Your True Yourself. Are you doing that? What they do in temples, churches, and mosques. There is an allotted system to pray. You keep an agent for taking your pleas to God. Call that a priest, a guru, a master anybody? You repeat what they say in the masses or in an offering. Aren’t you saying, a prayer an offering? How could ever a prayer be an offering? You are not offering anything to God. Instead you seek something from God, who offered this precious life to us. Then how can we call such things a Prayer at all.

Seeker: Oh. I can understand Anna. We cannot offer anything to God. Also it is not a readymade system. So we have to pray ourselves. And do you mean not in masses, but in person?

A.V.R. : Mass or in your room. It is you, the one who is talking with God. As long as you remain in a Mass and repeat whatever the priest says, without a least idea, a complete state of awareness, of what that prayer is going to do for you or others, it remains as a ritual. A mass nowadays is considered as a sacred ritual, a sacrament defined by a higher organization. They say if you don’t do this, then you are sinful. I will talk about that later. But can I ask, if you are going to repeat whatever they say, in case if you are going to repeat when they say “Central budget is too heavy on me” amidst the mass, by the priest, then if you are going to follow and say the same, then what kind of other utter foolishness will be there other than this. But actually this is only happening in the Mass prayers currently in the world.

It is not in the chanting of the mantras, repeating of the pre-defined prayers printed on books or the hymns, the real prayer is. But a real prayer is when you talk to God, silently, even amidst these kind of chaos. Am I right, correct me If I am wrong?

Seeker : But they say Mass prayers are so powerful than the individual prayer?

A.V.R. : It's all about how far you believe it and practise it. Think about this my friend. Why do you pray, mass or individual? Is it not the want of something, in your life? Are you really going to a mass prayer in order to pray for others. Is there not a self interest in that? Yeah. There is only self interest in that. If that is the case, you are one among that crowd, each in that crowd being an individual with self interest. If you have a need, they have their own need too. The organized system of prayer, conducted as rituals have something in common these aspects only. But when it is only out of your tongue, as a part of the ceremony how could that help you.

In a mass prayer, if the whole group with full awareness of what they are seeking upon is there, and they seek it truly, then it is the power. If one fails even, it reduces the power of that mass. Instead think of this situation, with full mind, without anything else in your mind, only You and God, one on one, with full awareness, if you talk to him, your needs, cry, ask help for others etc., will that not be powerful?

Seeker :  Yes, I can understand the reality of the prayer Anna. What I need, only I have to say to God. I should not let others to indulge in it.

A.V.R. : Of course you cannot too. In case if you are going to dislike a phrase which they say in the prayers, how come that will be the true prayer. First we are not knowing this essence of prayer, What it is, and we are controlled by someone even in our needs, while we talk to God also. I say my friend, there cannot be any mediators, between you and God. Any mediator, a saint can be a helper, understand, he can be a helper, but at any moment or any point of time he cannot solve your needs directly. When I talk about saints who cannot solve, who are these priests, nothing but trained personalities, only a few as exceptions.

You talk with your God. I am not talking about the existence or the form or God now. But I talk about talking with God, if you have realized that there exists one above us all. You talk with him, one to one, tell all you want to. Tell him even “the central budget is too high on me”, this time it is not repetition, but really your concern. Tell all your concerns. I mean all your concerns. Tell him how your neighbours suffers, or else how you feel envy about the other neighbor who bought a new car or television recently. Tell him how you long for buying a new trendy mobile phone. All that sort. Sincerely and honestly. I think you understand both the words are two different ones. Finally when you finish your prayers, feel how lighter you are. How happy and peaceful you are.

Seeker : Anna, so this is the essence of prayer.

A.V.R. : This is what we seek out of prayers.

Seeker: So is it a kind of meditation you are talking about?

A.V.R. : Oh yeah. I forget to say about it. Will you be okay, if you keep on talking to one person and that other person talks nothing in return, utters not even one word. Will it be okay for you?

Seeker: No. certainly not.

A.V.R. : So when you pray you seek something. Say you ask for a new car, a new promotion, a new girl friend or boy friend, a lottery whatever it is. How will you realize he approved your needs. Sometimes he may have some other plans on you. Praying alone doesn’t ensure that God will give whatever you need. If  you pray sincerely and honestly even. How will you understand exactly what is God's plan on you? Then Is it not necessary to hear from him? That is meditation. When you meditate, again silently, opening up your mind as ears to hear what he answers for your needs, will certainly convert a water like you to a real “Wine”.