PRAYER
It's Nature and Technique

Third Edition 1970
 
 

Dedicated to the Almighty God
working through all Masters Who have come
and Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj
at whose Lotus Feet
the author imbibed sweet Elixir of Holy Naam - the Word













To The Reader:

Man shall not live by bread alone,
  but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
                                                                                                                                  MATTHEW 4: 4


    PRAYER is the salt of life and we cannot do without it. It is ingrained in the nature of Man to pray for the fulfillment of his wishes whatever they be. But more often than not we do not know what we may really pray for, how to pray, and what we may do to make our prayer a great dynamic force as may stir up Heaven's mercy.

    The secret of a successful prayer lies not so much in the words we use, nor in the time we devote to it, nor in the effort that we put into it, as it lies in the concentrated attention that we may give it at the seat of the soul so as to make it soulful. The most natural form for a fruitful prayer is the yearning of a soul without the agency of words, oral or mental, with the tongue of thought. A prayer like this generates and releases such a fund of spiritual energy that all the Cosmic Powers are attracted and combine together, shaping out things as best as possible.
A true prayer is one continuous process, independent of form, time and place, and leads ultimately to the stage of Sehaj--a halcyon calm, a perfect equipoise and a complete satiety, with no desire whatsoever. This then is the climax of a genuine prayer and here prayer itself ceases to be a prayer and becomes a state of being, as one gradually rises first into Cosmic Consciousness, with the Divine Will fully revealed unto him. This is the be-all and the end-all of prayer - and how to achieve it is the object of this enquiry.

    At the end of the book, by way of an appendix, are collected, in classified form, specimen prayers from various Saints and Scriptures for the benefit of the interested reader.
 

KIRPAL SINGH
July 1, 1959
Sawan Ashram, Delhi, India
 
 

Table of Contents

    1. Prayer Defined
    2. Prayer: Instinctive in Man
    3. Whom to Address
    4. A Direct Appeal to God Within
    5. Prayer and Effort
    6. The Essentials of Prayer
    7. Hurdles in the Way of Prayer
    8. How to Overcome Inner Difficulties
    9. The Three Types of Prayer
    10. Loud Prayers
    11. Individual and Public Prayers
    12. Congregational Prayers
    13. Place for Prayer
    14. Prerequisites in Prayer
    15. Time for Prayer
    16. Occasion for Prayer
    17. Prayer and Sin
    18. Prayers for Others
    19. Acceptance of Prayers
    20. Need for Prayer
    21. The Advantages of Prayer
    22. Gradations in Prayer
    23. What to Ask from God
    24. Guru is the Greatest Gift of God
    25. What One Should Ask from the Godman


APPENDIX:

Specimen Prayers
Prayers from Kabir
Ode to the Satguru
Hymns of Mira
From Dhani Dharam Das
From Sikh Scriptures
From Book of Common Prayer
Prayers from Various Religions


    References

Webnotes: regarding this web published version of "PRAYER"


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