“The best prayer, is thank you.”
— Sri Mooji.
Thank you.
This simple, understated prayer is the most powerful prayer we can raise in our heart.
Perhaps we feel we don’t need to pray, or that it won’t work, that it has only imagined powers.
But can we deny that prayer works?
When we look, truly, with open mind and open heart, at the power of prayer.
Sri Mooji advises a simple practice, an act of gratitude, that we can practice easily, every day. It’s beautiful. Pressing our hands together, bowing our heads, drawing our attention within, and simply saying a silent “thank you” at our heart. That's it.
“I didn't come here of my own accord, and I can't leave that way. Whoever brought me here, will have to take me home.”
— Rumi.
Today, the Quiet Letter has come late. I don’t schedule them, nor draft them. They write themselves. This one was later, because the energy was flooding to another place.
That place, is prayer.
A dear Sangha friend’s father is on life support. As his story has unfolded, a powerful movement to prayer, for him, for her, for the reduction of their suffering. It has been an unstoppable force, which not only moved me, but mobilised many Sangha friends, in numerous Sanghas, Buddhist Centres and monasteries around the world, to pray for him.
The impact is felt deeply in my own heart.
When suffering is witnessed so strongly in another in this way, something moves to help.
Prayer happens.
Just like that.
Sometimes prayer simply happens.
Unplanned.
Naturally arising.
Prayer.
Just as we cannot plan for life, we cannot plan for our response to it. Nor for our response to the cries and suffering of others. Or to our own suffering.
When this friend sent a photograph of her father, this beautiful elder of our community, to me last night, to graphically express the situation, it struck me so powerfully. I had already begun to make prayers, naturally flowing from my heart for this gentleman.
But on seeing the photograph, witnessing him, a flood of compassion and prayer arose, and I was driven to share it with others, to invite them to participate.
This strong move to prayer brought others into the flow.
Initially, the mantra of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion arose :
Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ :: ओं मणिपद्मे हूं
Listen here, to hear me singing it.
“When we send the energy of love and compassion to another person, it doesn't matter if they know we are sending it. The important thing is that the energy is there and the heart of love is there and is being sent out into the world.
When love and compassion are present in us, and we send them outward, then that is truly prayer.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh.
— Thich Nhat Hanh.
When we send this love to others, the energy of love flows through us, into the world. It opens us up.
As I asked others to join me in prayer, more and more beings joined force. Now, members of many global Sanghas are praying in unison for this man, including a monastery in Tibet, Buddhists across the world, Advaitans, Hindus, Christians, Jews, the list goes on. No one is excluded from prayer.
Because it is our own heart, our One Heart, praying. All sense of individual identity dissolves in prayer. Silence arises. Compassion for ourselves and others arises.
I received many messages today, from people thanking me for inviting them to pray for this gentleman. They are deeply grateful for this opportunity to connect with the heart of the presence of another living being, of all living beings, in this way.
“That thing
at the centre
of all faiths.
It’s your heart.
it’s who you are.”When we join forces in this way, this direct and primal way, we connect to the greater presence, the One Heart. How else could prayer move so many mountains as it does, daily? For those prayed for, and for those doing the praying.
Don’t worry if you don’t know how to pray. Don’t worry if you’ve never prayed in your life. When you are moved to prayer, you will not need instruction. You will be touched and moved by spirit.
Be quiet. Unless we are quiet, we cannot pray. Quietening our mind, our lips, we turn away from our own wants and complaints. We turn to a state of gratitude for what is, and for compassion for others, naturally arising from this quietness.
“I pray in silence.
I know no words.”
I know no words.”
If you feel it in your heart right now, pray. For this gentleman, for a friend, a family member, for all those suffering in the world. Pray to see clearly, right now, your True Nature, so that you can be free of all suffering.
Or simply bow your head, place your hands together, and pray thank you.
Thank you for whatever life brings, in this moment, in every moment.
May this remain my eternal prayer.
Thank you, the simplest prayer.
Love,
Bhagavati
If you would like to understand more about prayer, Thich Nhat Hanh gives a teaching here. Or you can read his book, The Energy of Prayer.
Note : The Quiet Letters are written spontaneously published on Sundays. Unless otherwise credited, all words, quotes and poems are by Bhagavati.
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