Devotional prayers should be said no matter what others may say against them, whether they be termed as ‘easy path’, should not in the least lead you away from such chanting.

This life of yours is to be dedicated to devotional prayers which is one of the foremost Dharma Doors. It has been through this path that you have come into contact with Me and it will be through the same means that you will attain much more. There is every need to practise the chanting of such prayers at all times so that all vagrant thought can be removed. A pure mind will come about after you have applied such prayers whenever you are in the midst of battling with all kinds of thoughts.

To those who practise it, it is a very ‘difficult path’ and to those who are ignorant of it, it will be an ‘easy path.’ How you take it to be, reflects the level of your spirituality and the level of your understanding. To those who have not reached the level of attainment, prayer chanting is but a habit, even though they have a good idea of how to transfer merits to others. But it is more than that. It has to do with your being able to merge with the prayer, to feel the sensations and vibrations of each sound. You will need concentrated effort at first, but a day will come when you chant without thinking, without planning, the prayers will just cross your mind and stay in your mind at any moment when the need for praying does not even arise. You will feel strongly and feelings for those whom the prayers have been dedicated will also arise. Then you have reached the heart of the prayers for then the purpose has been achieved. You and your prayers are merged with those whom you are praying for, and your prayers will bind you into a state of no-prayer and your simple thoughts will then become a prayer, a prayer of devotion, to your Lord, for the others. And you will have understood what compassion is. Though indescribable, the feeling of what compassion is will be perceived.

Let it be a habit to use up your idle time with such prayers which are pure in nature. Pure in nature meaning that your thought become a true prayer if they have been directed towards the well-being of others. To be able to understand the bliss of devotional prayers, you must be able to feel deeply so that states of happiness and sadness will be felt. When you pray to your Lord, He must be in your mind, in your heart, in your feelings of all the senses, and that is what it should be. And that is why when others say that it is easy to just chant your prayers, they have not understood the profundity behind this practice, they have not reached the level of proficiency and neither have they developed their state of mind to right concentration. These people are making remarks for the sake of appearing knowledgeable and wise. There is no need to be impressed by others because they seem to be so intelligent, so well versed in the scriptures and so eloquent. When you can arrive at the true state of samadhi through devotional prayers, stay with it!

Monday, 12th July 1982 (5th Moon 22nd Day)