Volume 27, Spring Number 1 2020 Babaji’s Kriya YogaO Journal Prayer versus Yoga By M. G. Satchidananda Prayer is not an activity which is help, forgiveness or an expression ritual dimension where the yogin mentioned in the Yoga Sutras, the of thanks addressed to God or an experiences absolute being, consci- Bhagavad Gita, nor the Yoga Upan- object of worship. It has four main ousness and bliss. ishads. Why? This is an intriguing types: adoration, contrition, thanks- An autosuggestion is a positive question whose answer requires an giving and supplication. It is also an statement of change to motivate the understanding of not only the nature earnest hope or wish, and therefore subconscious, expressed in the pre- of prayer, and how it differs from the contains an element of doubt as to its sent tense, and repeated when one is yogic practice of meditation, auto- efficacy. It is one of the principle ac- in a state of deep relaxation. Patanja- suggestion and mantras, but also tivities of any religion. It is a mental li tells us in Yoga Sutra II.33: “When the purposes of Yoga, how you ans- activity often mixed with emotion. bound by negative thoughts, cultiva- wer the questions “Who Am I?” and Its absence in the literature of Yoga te their opposite.” To use an analogy, “What is my relationship to God?” In distinguishes Yoga from religion. if the subconscious is like a compu- our tradition of Yoga, it also requi- Meditation in Yoga does not inclu- ter filled software or analogously, res an understanding of the word de any request for help, forgiveness, with mental habits, conditioning and “Guru.” nor any petition directed to God or a memories that direct ones thoughts, Supreme Being. It does not include words and actions, then an autosug- What is prayer? How does it dif- an expression of hope or desire, nor gestion is a program which is instal- fer from the yogic practices of any feeling of doubt. Concentration led deliberately by the owner of the meditation, autosuggestions and brings stillness and penetration of computer to effect a positive change. mantras? the ordinary mental and emotional Much of what fills the subconscious Prayer is a solemn request for activities to the eternal, infinite spi- was not put there deliberately. Life experiences leave impressions or memories automatically. When of- Inside ten repeated these impressions be- 1. Prayer versus Yoga, by M. G. Satchidananda come stronger and become habits. So, if you want to remove them, the 6. Divine Inner Alchemy of Kundalini Yoga, by M. G. Satchidananda best way is not to fight them or try to suppress them, but to simply replace 9. News and Notes them with new programming. Many persons believe in the po- bB wer of prayer. Its effectiveness has published quarterly by Babaji’s Kriya Yoga and Publications, Inc. been studied by science. Scienti- 196 Mountain Road P.O. Box 90 fic studies at Duke University have Eastman, Quebec, Canada J0E 1P0 confirmed that prayer is effective in Telephone (450) 297-0258; fax: 450-297-3957 email: [email protected] Internet home page: http://www.babajiskriyayoga.net Continued on Page 2 Prayer versus Yoga continued accelerating the time required for someone to recover on the skin etc. In ordinary dream consciousness, which from surgery. But few make the connection between the includes daydreaming, your consciousness is also con- power of suggestion and the effectiveness of prayer. tracted and absorbed in memories and imaginations like The yogic practice of autosuggestion makes no appeal anxiety, desire, judgments. To gain the benefit of man- to a higher power, a Supreme Being. Prayer does. Prayer tra practice, therefore, you need to concentrate on the often implies a feeling of helplessness or even doubt, de- sound or pronunciation of the mantra in order to pene- spair, fear, regret, guilt or unworthiness. As such, it may trate the ordinary movements of the mind to the spiri- be sabotaging the very power of suggestion. Like auto- tual dimension. The benefit will be even greater if you suggestion, prayer is most effective when it is expressed can remember the sacred, higher state of consciousness without any hint of doubt. For this reason, the preacher’s experienced during the initiation into the mantra. That admonition to pray with full faith, even certainty, that state of consciousness is a wide calm, and energy rich the Lord will do what is best, protects the prayer from with presence, love, peace and silence. the effects of doubt on the subconscious mind. The purpose of Yoga is to weaken the causes of suffering and to cultivate Self-realization, or sa- Mantras madhi according to Patanjali’s in his Yoga Sutras II.2. While autosuggestions work at the level of the sub- The original cause of suffering, he states, is ignorance conscious, they can help remove many of the bad habits of our true identity. and negative thinking which make your life difficult. From this, originate However, there are spiritual practices such as mantras, the other kleshas, or that link us to superconscious levels, and which ena- causes of suffering: ble you to align yourself with the Will of your higher egoism, attachment, Self. By “superconscious” I mean the capacity to receive aversion and fear knowledge without of death. (Yoga Sut- using the five sen- ras II.3-9) Your ans- ses or memory. By wer to the question “spiritual,” I refer “Who am I?” evolves to that dimension as you identify less of one‘s existence, with the physical which transcends body, personality, time and space; that thoughts, emotions, which is a constant, our past, and more which never chan- with a witnessing ges. It is formless consciousness. As and limitless. It is your identity evol- pure consciousness. ves your conception It is the ground of of God also evolves. your existence. All The practice of Yoga thought and events brings about an evo- have their ultimate Govindan giving mantra diksa. lution in your identity: from I am my body, I am a mo- origin and destina- ther, father, professional, male, female, fan of that team, tion there. member of that political party, I am cold, I am hungry, Unlike prayers, mantras are not petitionary. You ask to simply I am. You identify with the Seer, or Self, not for nothing, save the Lord or “That” itself. As such they the Seen. You identify with That which never changes. help to free you from the grasping nature of egoism, the You experience more and more a sense of unity with habit of identifying with the body-mind complex and all everything. I am in everything, everything is in me is ex- of its inherent movements. By definition, mantras are perienced. As your identity so evolves, you realize that sound vehicles of consciousness, which can transmit a egoism, with its attendant attachments or desires, and higher level of consciousness to the recipient in a pro- aversions or fears, is the cause of your suffering, and you cess referred to as initiation. learn to “let go” of them. Mantras are a language between levels of conscious- In the ordinary egoistic state of consciousness, God ness, so it is important to repeat them with so much con- is viewed as one who can help me to satisfy my desires centration that your consciousness both deepens and wi- or to avoid what I fear. Prayer is a means to communi- dens, like a seed, which grows into a tree. You suspend cate these wants. But when your aim is no longer to try ordinary mental movements while repeating the mantra. to satisfy the ego’s manifestations, but rather to rise ab- In ordinary physical consciousness, your consciousness, ove these and to identify with your true Self, to let go of even your identity is absorbed in the phenomena being them, to remain as a Witness, and merely to fulfill your experienced through the five senses. You are preoccu- pied with what we are seeing, reading, hearing, feeling Continued on Page 3 Page 2 Babaji’s Kriya Yoga Journal Prayer versus Yoga continued duties and follow a path which will enable you to remain the effect of a “desire” or “feeling” – for God can have in a higher state of awareness, then your relationship neither desires nor emotions – but of a “metaphysical with God changes. Meditation replaces prayer. Seeking sympathy” between the Lord, Ishvara and the soul, pu- for a state of spiritual communion with the Lord or see- rusa. In essence, Ishvara is a purusa that has been free king guidance or wisdom replaces petitionary prayer. since all eternity, never touched by the causes of suffe- You trust that the Lord loves you and is guiding you. ring. Commenting on this verse, the sage Vyasa tells us Therefore, you seek to listen to the Lord’s wisdom and that God does not submit to being summoned by rituals guidance by turning inwards. or devotion, or faith in his mercy, but that his essence, consciousness, collaborates with us the Self that seeks What is my relationship with God? emancipation through Yoga. This relationship is therefo- This is the subject of theology, the study of the re- re one of sympathy, born of Nature’s purpose or design, lationship between God, the soul, and the world. The to collaborate in the deliverance of the many “selves” belief in their reality is referred to as theism. The be- (purusa) entangled in the illusory meshes of existence. lief that these distinctions are not real, but illusionary, (Note 2: Eliade). and that there exists only However, what is for first importance in the Yoga Su- One, referred to often as tras is technique and the yogins will and capacity for Brahma, in the Indian li- self-mastery and concentration.