Baba Muktananda’s Timeless Teachings
Elucidation by Ami Bansal
Broadly speaking, a prayer is a request, a plea for forgiveness, a “thank you,” or a quiet expression of our deep love for God. The backbone of any prayer is the firm belief that the one we are praying to is present and is listening to our words and sentiments—be they silent or spoken aloud. To hear our prayer, God has to be extremely close to us. Our God, the sole perceiver of our thoughts and prayers, dwells in our heart as the Self. An insightful Sanskrit word for offering worship and prayers to God is upasana. Upasana means “being near” to God, and the Upanishads often refer to upasana as the practice of meditation on God. There is no better way to worship, invoke, and pray to our God within, the Self, than by simply keeping our awareness close to the Self through meditation. The practice of meditation is that alchemy wherein the words of our prayer may ultimately disappear, yet the prayer is truly heard by the most attentive listener.
