Prayer is not of the same meaning to all . Prayer has multiple interpretations to many people .
For some it is just blind faith , mingled with an element of fear . Its these people who believe in rituals and stringent rules to complete their services .
But on a larger platform prayer carries a more holistic message to many .
At least , I believe that through prayers , I can connect to my inner self ,introspect ,analyse and come to acceptable conclusions about many things that happen to us across profession, social interactions , family and self conflicting crusades .It is perhaps through this abstract ” communication with self ” that one can actually say thanks to the invincible for anything that pleases us , express a sorry for conscience bugs which we all have . Besides all this one can actually nurture confidence and trust in oneself to realise what we wish or hope for .
For those who believe in the power of prayers its actually faith in the fact that everything that’s happening in all our lives is not all under our control . A lot of things happen under the influence of forces which we cannot gauge or comprehend . It is this unseen force which one can call ‘destiny ‘ / ‘luck’ / ‘fate’that is beyond the most powerful being to redirect but obviously and unfailingly controls a huge portion of our achievements and happiness in life .
Even the most successful rulers have been helpless to the clutches of disease or accidents .
But the sad thing is at some stage of life when ” everything appears cool ” some people start believing ,that , I am the monarch of all I survey and they actually have a hidden fear / insecurity of loosing grip of success and with that in mind they perhaps start pompous , meticulous rituals that they feel will impress the almighty and keep them moving forward in their materialistically rich life .
However its ,perhaps very important to appreciate that material gains are not synonymous with mental peace
Its been scientifically proved that the highest number of patients with depression are among the financially richer strata of the social circuit . .
We all at some point in life do transcend to a state when we value only social security , love and peace we all get done with our craving for any form of power be it financial , social or material . It is that state of the mind where we start to feel secured , content and blissful not just transiently but always and everyday that we perhaps can appreciate the value of the ” ME Me ” time that some of us spend in prayer .
Prayer is definitely not chanting / singing / offering . All that may be of importance as a token to draw belief for some but to my understanding , prayer remains a part of my daily schedule to connect with the unseen under who’s influence a lot of events keep unfolding and above all it gives me the resilience to take things on my stride because all that happens to us during a day or a lifetime is not always as we wanted it to unfold .
Life goes on but the strength to face the same can be gathered in many ways of which I understand that prayer remains a cornerstone of faith and optimism for those who would agree to believe in it .
Dr Madhumita Priyadarshini Das