It’s Routine

You Exist In Prayer

Always remember one thing: there are things below you and there are things above you. Things that are below you, you can be exact about them. Things that are above you, you cannot be exact about them. They are bigger than you. When prayer exists, it is not that prayer exists in you – on the contrary, YOU EXIST IN PRAYER. Prayer is higher than you. You just vibrate in that enormous dimension, that plenitude. But we have been taught, to be exact about everything. That has destroyed many beautiful values in life, that constant desire to be exact. And if you cannot be exact about something, then the mind tries to deny it.

You cannot be exact about God, so the mind says, “Then God cannot be.” You cannot be exact about love; then the mind says, “Love is just dreaming and nothing else.” You cannot be exact about beauty; then the mind says, “Beauty is just fantasy. It is not a truth.” But then what is left? Then the world is no more beautiful, no more loving, no more good – because there is no more God. Then the world is empty of meaning. Not that the world is empty of meaning, but your mad desire to be exact about everything has made it empty of meaning.

Meaning is a delicate phenomenon. It is like the fragrance of a flower. You cannot catch hold of it in your hands – but it is there, still it is there, whether you can catch hold of it or not, whether you can keep it in a safe deposit or not. It is still there!

Still, a few things can be said about prayer – but they will not be exact, so I cannot fulfill your desire. The very nature of prayer prohibits it. And to try to do something against its nature is sacrilege.

So the first thing that I can say about prayer is: a feeling of immense gratitude, thankfulness. You are here, in this beautiful world, with these trees and rivers, mountains and stars. In this tremendous beauty you are pulsating, you are alive. This opportunity you have not earned. It is a gift. Prayer Isa thankfulness for this gift of life. Just to breathe is such a joy, just to open your eyes and see the greenery. Just to listen to the chirping of the birds, or the sound of running water, or the silence of the night and the velvety darkness. Or the dawn and the sun rising… we have not earned it! It has been given to us, and we have not even thanked.

Whether there is a God or not is irrelevant – thankfulness is a must. People think that “If there is a God, then we will thank him.” I tell you just the opposite: “If you start thanking, you will find him.” There is no other way. If you start feeling grateful, you will find him because he happens only in that dimension of gratitude.

Just as you cannot see from the ears and you cannot hear from the eyes – eyes can only see, ears can only hear – exactly like that, only gratitude can find God, can feel God. Gratitude is your sensitivity for God. Prayer is that sensitivity.

Second thing: prayer is a way of living. It is not just something that you do early in the morning like ritual. If it is a ritual, it is meaningless. If it is a ritual, it will not make you religious – it will make you a Hindu, it will make you a Mohammedan, but NOT religious. Prayer has to be something absolutely informal, of the heart, not a ritual. Not something that you finish some-how in the morning because you HAVE to do it and you have been taught to do it – it has become a duty. If you don’t do it, you feel a little guilty; otherwise, doing it, you don’t feel any joy out of it. When you don’t do it, only guilt arises. To avoid that guilt, you go on doing it. This is not prayer.