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Prayer and Aspiration, Part 3 · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  What is the experience of prayer in our being?
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  If it is a form of bargaining with an expectation of a return,
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  then it takes on the colour of a business deal.
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  We give from our side the prayer and the expression of gratitude
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  or adherence, and in return we get something we desire from the
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  Divine. But prayer need not be reduced
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  to some form of a bargaining session.
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  When an individual experiences the spontaneous movement of
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  prayer from whichever aspect of the being it originates, there
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  is a sense of openness, a feeling of devotion, and a
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  process of tuning the being to a vibration that brings with it
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  calm, peace, and assurance. There can be a sense of a flame
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  welling up from the deepest parts of the being.
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  Many people create a ritual of prayer, for instance, prior to
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  sleep, they quietly pray and express their gratitude.
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  If this is a formulaic expression rather than some
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  deeply felt experience, they may simply be calmed and move to a
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  status of peace in preparation for sleep.
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  The practice may, however, have added benefits by creating an
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  auto suggestion that works during sleep and thereby works
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  to carry out the intention behind the prayer.
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  There is a reality and a truth that underlies the formulation
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  of prayer and if done with the correct focus and intensity, it
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  can have real and unpalpable results.
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  Prayer can unite the individual consciousness with the Divine
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  personality, the being in manifestation, and thus bring
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  together our deeper aspiration with the adherents of the
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  external being, the mind, the vital, and the physical.
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  The aspiration of the psychic being can be brought into the
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  external being through the instrumentality of prayer that
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  carries that aspiration into the mind, the vital or the physical
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  as the case may be. A prayer that is filled with the
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  consecrated energy of the psychic aspiration and express
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  verbally or non verbally through these elements of the being can
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  have a palpable impact in the external world.
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  In particular, the verbal expression of a prayer of this
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  type sets up a vibration that impacts matter, life and mind in
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  a very concrete way. The Mother notes quote Certainly
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  one may have an aspiration in all the domains, but the very
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  center of aspiration is in the psychic being.
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  Whilst one may pray in all the domains, and the prayer belongs
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  to the domain in which one prays, one may make purely
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  material physical prayers, vital prayers, mental prayers, psychic
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  prayers, spiritual prayers, and each one has its special
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  character, its special value. There's a kind of prayer at 1,
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  spontaneous and unselfish, which is like a great call, usually
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  not for one's own self personally, but like something
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  that may be called an intercession with the Divine.
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  It is extremely powerful. I have had countless instances
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  of things which have been realized almost instantaneously
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  due to prayers of this kind. It implies a great faith, a
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  great ardour, a great sincerity, and a great simplicity of heart.
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  Also something that does not calculate, does not plan, does
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  not bargain, does not give with the idea of receiving in
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  exchange, for the majority of men give with one hand and hold
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  out the other to get something in exchange.
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  The largest number of prayers are of that sort, but there are
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  others of the kind I have described.
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  Acts of Thanksgiving, a kind of canticle, and these are very
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  good. There you are.
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  I don't know if I've made myself clear, but this is how it is.
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  End Quote. Reference Srioro Bindu and the
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  Mother Powers within, Chapter 9, Aspiration and Prayer, pages 86
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  to 87.