Why write a book on prayer? Aren’t there enough books on God, theology, and prayer? How would one more book make any difference? Even as a child, I was a staunch believer in God and I too used to pray in a certain way. But one day, when my Guru, my Spiritual Master provoked me and I went on a quest, I realized the truth about what prayer truly is. I had been praying for over 40 years, but while I had been reciting mantras, bhajans, aarti I realized that I did not know to whom I was praying and what I was saying. This inspired me to stop and contemplate, and to put my thoughts together and write a book on prayer.
Just as I had lived in ignorance for 4 decades, people live through life without realizing the truth. No doubt they are sincere in their devotion to God, but they don’t stop to ask questions: Who is God? Where is God? What is God? Of course, God exists. We all know it. But if we truly love God, should we not go on a quest? Should we not get to the bottom of the root and realize the truth? I started writing this book because I was inspired to share with people how I transformed the way I pray. First, I used to pray to Lord Shiva. Now I pray through Lord Shiva. The change in the way I pray happened after I realized that God is not a statue, God is not a saint, God is not a picture that we humans can paint. God is a Power, a Power that lives inside the temple of our heart. A Power that is everywhere. God is not only omnipresent, God is also omniscient - knows everything and omnipotent, all-powerful. Unfortunately, we pray to a God but we have no clear idea as to whom we are praying to and what we say when we pray.
The whole world prays to a God, barring a few atheists and agnostics. It seems like everybody knows the meaning of prayer. There is nothing complicated about it. Different religions have different Gods and prayer is a mode of communicating with the Divine. I stopped to ask myself the question, ‘We live on one earth but how many Gods exist? If different people are praying to different Gods, then which God is the real Divine Power?’ To add fuel to the fire, every religion claims that their God is the real God and their prayer is the most effective form of prayer.
But, do we even know the true meaning of prayer? Why do we fold our hands and pray to God? To some, prayer is just a thanksgiving to the Almighty, while to others, it is going to God in troubled times. Different people pray for different reasons but most people are constantly asking for something in their prayer. Is that what prayer truly is? Is it a method to ask God to fulfil our wishes? When I introspected, I found answers that made me change the way I pray and even changed my very belief in God.
I started contemplating and reflecting to find out the truth about God and the relevance of prayer. Was prayer just talking to God or was it also listening to our Lord? Furthermore, do we really understand what we are telling God in our prayer? Most prayers are hymns, songs, mantra, aarti—termed differently by different religions but, by and large, these are just memorized pieces of our voice to God. Not many people understand what they say when they pray.
When I realized that the world needs to wake up and realize the truth about prayer, I started writing this book. With my mission of helping people realize the truth, I felt the need for people to understand what prayer truly is. If people truly want to reach out to the Divine then to begin with, they must first realize the truth about prayer.
This book will help us open our eyes to what we say when we pray. It will help us overcome our ignorance and realize the Divine Power we pray to within the temple of our heart. It will help us discover the true meaning of prayer. After reading this book, we will not just pray, but we will understand to whom we pray and what we say.