Question 7
QUESTIONER: YOU OFTEN SAY THAT PRAYER IS A STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS. AND YOU ALSO SAY THAT PRAYER IS A STATE OF GRATEFULNESS. THEN HOW IS IT THAT PRAYER IS NOT NON-DUALISTIC?
No, I never say that prayer is a state of mind, I say that prayerfulness is a state of mind. My word is not prayer, it is prayerfulness. And there is a great difference between prayer and prayerfulness,
Someone offers a prayer in the morning; it is a kind of ritual. Another person is prayerful even where he just rises from his seat and walks in the garden. He is prayerful, in a state of prayerfulness even as he ties the laces of his shoes. And when he takes off his shoes and puts them in their place, he does so as if he is handling an idol of God. This man is prayerful. When he stops by a flower on the road-side, he stands there as if he has come across God himself. This man is prayerful; he is not praying. He never prays, yet he is in prayer, in a state of prayer. I don't call prayer a state of consciousness; prayerfulness is that state. A prayerful heart is altogether different; such a heart is in meditation. To be prayerful and to be meditative are the same.
Only he who goes to prayer is not prayerful. How can a prayerful person pray? He lives in prayer; he is prayer itself, and he does not do anything except prayer. And one who prays does many other things at the same time. He runs a shop, he competes with others, he is jealous, he is angry, he hates, and he and one things -- one of which is prayer. Prayer is a small item in the long list of hi activities.
Prayerful is he who is prayerful even when he is selling tea in a tea shop. Kabir is prayerful. He is a weaver by trade, and he has attained to the highest in life, he has found God. Yet he continues to weave and sell clothes. Someone asks him why he does so even after attaining to lofty sagehood. In answer Kabir tells him, "It is my prayer." Kabir says, "It is meditation when I walk, it is meditation when I eat, and it is meditation when I weave the cloth." He says, "O monk, the enlightenment that is natural, is of the highest. Whatever I do is meditation, prayer and worship. When Kabir goes to the market with a bundle of cloth to sell, he goes there dancing. He addresses his customer as Rama, his God, and tells him that he has woven this piece of cloth especially for him, that he has interlaced it with prayers. For him both the seller and buyer are God; it is God who sells and it is again God who buys.
This is what I call a state of prayerfulness, a state of consciousness. And this is what I call prayer.
No one ever sees Kabir praying. He never goes to a temple or a mosque, as others do to say their prayers. He says in one of his beautiful poems, "O priest, is your God deaf that you shout your prayer to him? I don't even say my prayer and he hears it; I don't even utter a word and he understands it. So why do you make so much noise about it?" Here Kabir is kidding those who have turned prayer and worship into a ritual. And he can well joke at their expense because he is really prayerful; otherwise, he cannot poke fun at them.
So I stand for prayerfulness, and not for prayer.
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Next: Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 8
Energy Enhancement Enlightened Texts Krishna Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy
Chapter 8
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 1
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 1, KRISHNA'S LIFE, PARTICULARLY HIS CHILDHOOD, IS FULL OF STORIES OF HIS EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM. HE KILLED THE TYRANT KIND KANSA AND DESTROYED DEMONS LIKE KIRTI, AGHA, BAKA AND GHOTAKA; IN A DUEL HE DEFEATED POWERFUL WRESTLERS LIKE CHANOOR AND MUSTIKA. HE SUBDUED A VERY VENOMOUS SNAKE KNOWN AS KALIA, AND PUT OUT A WHOLE FOREST FIRE SINGLE-HANDED. DO YOU THINK THESE ARE TRUE STORIES OR MYTHICAL ONES? AND WHAT DO THEY SUGGEST AND SYMBOLIZE? IN THIS CONTEXT I WOULD LIKE TO RECALL YOUR WORDS, 'WHEN KRISHNA SAYS THAT HE IS HERE TO DESTROY THE WICKED, HE ACTUALLY MEANS TO CHANGE THEM, TO REFORM THEM.' BUT THESE STORIES CLEARLY SAY HE REALLY DESTROYED THEM at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 2
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 2, KRISHNA IS SAID TO HAVE SHOWN YASHODA, HIS FOSTER MOTHER, THE WHOLE OF THE UNIVERSE ENCLOSED IN HIS MOUTH. HE IS ALSO SAID TO HAVE GIFTED HIS DIVINE EYE TO ARJUNA TO ENABLE HIM TO SEE HIS UNIVERSAL FORM. IT IS ALSO SAID THAT KRISHNA TOOK BACK THE DIVINE EYE FROM ARJUNA AFTER HE HAD SEEN HIS UNIVERSAL FORM. PLEASE EXPLAIN THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE EPISODES at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 3
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 3, IS DIVINE VISION REALLY FRIGHTENING? HOW IS IT ARJUNA WAS SCARED BY IT? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 4
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 4, THE LAST PART OF THE FIRST QUESTION REMAINS UNANSWERED BY YOU. ACCORDING TO YOU, WHEN KRISHNA SAYS HE IS HERE TO DESTROY THE WICKED, HE REALLY MEANS TO CHANGE THEM, TO TRANSFORM THEM. BUT THE MANY STORIES OF HIS LIFE CLEARLY SAY HE ACTUALLY DESTROYED THE WICKED at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 5
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 5, DO YOU THINK THAT THE PAST CONDITIONING OF THE SUBTLE BODY AND ITS MIND CHANGES WITH THE CHANGE OF THE GROSS BODY? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 6
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 6, ONE OF MARSHAL MC LUHAN'S MAXIMS SAYS: THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE. SOME CRITIC SUBSTITUTED 'THE MASSAGE' FOR 'THE MESSAGE' AND THUS GAVE AN ALTOGETHER NEW MEANING TO THE MAXIM. IN THE SAME WAY CAN WE CALL KRISHNA'S FLUTE A BEING'S LOVING CALL TO GOD? THEN I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS THE MEANING OF KRISHNA BLOWING HIS CONCH, PANCHJANYA, ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF KURUKSHETRA. AND IS IT SOMETHING SYMBOLIC THAT HE CARRIES HIS FLUTE AND A WEAPON LIKE THE SUDAR SHANCHAKRA TOGETHER? THERE IS A SHLOKA, A STANZA IN THE BHAGWAD'S CHAPTER ON MAHARAAS, WHICH DESCRIBES KRISHNA'S PLAY WITH THE GOPIS IN THESE WORDS: YATHA ABHRAKA SWAPRATIBIMBA VIBHRAMAH -- AS IF THE CHILD IS PLAYING WITH HIS OWN SHADOW. WHAT IS THE UNDERLYING MEANING OF THIS METAPHOR? AND A MYSTIC HAS SAID THAT 'LIVING BEING'S EGO IS GOD'S FOOD ' IS THIS THE REASON THAT KRISHNA SUDDENLY DISAPPEARS, FROM THE MIDST OF THE DANCING GOPIS IN MAHARAAS? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 7
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 7, YOU OFTEN SAY THAT PRAYER IS A STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS. AND YOU ALSO SAY THAT PRAYER IS A STATE OF GRATEFULNESS. THEN HOW IS IT THAT PRAYER IS NOT NON-DUALISTIC? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 8
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 8, A PART OF THE QUESTION STILL REMAINS UNANSWERED. IT IS ABOUT KRISHNA'S CONCH, PANCHJANYA, AND HIS WEAPON, CHAKRASUDARSHAN. AND WHAT ABOUT THE BHAGWAD'S DESCRIPTION OF MAHARAAS -- THE GREAT DANCE -- AS A CHILD'S PLAY WITH HIS SHADOWS? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 9
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 9, IT IS SAID THAT VALMIKI WROTE THE BIOGRAPHY OF RAMA MUCH BEFORE HE HAPPENED, AND RAMA IS ALSO KNOWN AS AN INCARNATION OF THE DIVINE. SO HOW IS IT THAT THERE IS A SEQUENCE, A CHAIN-LIKE CONTINUITY IN HIS LIFE? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 10
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 10, DO YOU INTERPRET KRISHNA IN THE TERMS OF MARTIN BUBER? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 11
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 11, WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN SOMEONE SAYS,
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 12
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 12, WHAT IS THE PLACE OF MEMORY IN WHAT YOU CALL A SEQUENTIAL LIFE AND IN A LIFE OF SPONTANEITY? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 13
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 13, DO NOT OLD MEMORIES CREATE A PROBLEM FOR KRISHNA WHEN HE IS EXPLAINING THE GEETA TO ARJUNA? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 14
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 14, DOES NOT KRISHNA, IN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH ARJUNA, MAKE USE OF HIS PAST MEMORIES? IS HE ALWAYS YOUNG AND SPONTANEOUS? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 15
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 15, YOU SAY THAT IF SOMEONE DIES AT THE HANDS OF KRISHNA IT MEANS THAT HE HAS EARNED IT THROUGH MERITORIOUS KARMAS. TO HEAR YOU SAY IT GIVES RISE TO A BLISSFUL PAIN IN MY HEART. SO I VENTURE TO ASK IF ALL YOUR PLAY-ACTING IS WITHOUT CAUSE? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 16
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 16, WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN SAYING ABOUT KRISHNA AND HIS MYRIAD VIRTUES HAS SWEPT US OFF OUR FEET, AND WE SEEM TO HAVE TURNED INTO HIS DEVOTEES. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THERE ARE NO INADEQUACIES IN HIS LIFE? IS IT NECESSARY THAT WE JUSTIFY HIS EVERY ACTION WHETHER IT IS DANCING WITH THE GOPIS OR HIS STEALING THEIR CLOTHES OR GOADING PIOUS YUDHISTHRA TO LIE ABOUT THE DEATH OF ASHWASTHAMA? AND CAN WE CALL IT A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 17
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 8: He Alone Wins who does not Want to Win, Question 17, IS IT POSSIBLE THAT SOMETIMES MIND AND HEART, THOUGHT AND FEELING, MEET AND MINGLE WITH EACH OTHER? PERHAPS THEY DO, AND IT IS GREAT at energyenhancement.org
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