Page 53 - Imperience Beckons

DEDICATION (Commandment 2)
The second commandment advises us to "Begin your puja with a prayer for your spiritual elevation with a heart full of love and devotion".
This whole commandment is on prayer. We start our meditation, but with a prayer. Prayer is the sign of devotion we have. It makes us feel that we are someone who is less than the Master, we are a serf of Him, a servant available at the feet of the Master. Here Revered Babuji suggests the name of the Great King Bharata, the brother of Lord Rama, for whom nothing mattered except Lord Rama. Revered Babuji says this example must be kept in view for maintaining the relationship, which is the true form of devotion. There is nothing wrong in repeating the same concept for better understanding. We should ensure that our eyes are fixed firmly at the feet of the Master. Whatever other people may say about us, we are not concerned, our attention is only on that. It literally means following the Master forever and ever. Now that particular thing is possible when we are devoted. In the beginning when we start practice, it doesn't mean that we have already achieved it. It is a drama, an attempt, a cry, some sort of managing a situation. But this must be done because it establishes a link with the Master or God.
Revered Babuji, to explain this need for devotion, mentions the example of a telegraph system that if we touch at a place it vibrates in another. Similarly with a bhakta (devotee), if he thinks about the Master, automatically there is a ring there. Many of us are not very sure whether it is heard or not. We are trying to question the cable path and the person who controls it. That's our problem. Of course this particular effort, is the beginning of some sort of signal to Divinity that we have started moving towards Him. The ultimate stage is one of communion. We will be in a position to be with the Divine. That is the path. Articles on prayer have been written both by Revered Babuji Maharaj and Revered Dr.K.C.Varadachari. This state of prayer some how has to become devotion and in turn devotion has to move towards love. The actual process by which this happens is inexplicable. It is just like a seed. We know, it is capable of sprouting. It is sown and we water it constantly, and all of a sudden it sprouts. Similarly this devotion takes on the form of love for the Master. Revered Babuji says there is no fixed time for the prayer as such, because prayer is a state of consciousness. It develops.