Business to the Buddha

Tag: prayer

  • A Hasidic tale – Prayer







    I have been reading one or the other story of Father Anthony De Mello’s books – The Prayer Of The Frog Vol. I and Prayer of The Frog Vol. II and share the same here occasionally. The books have small and very interesting stories. One of the story I read was on Prayers, here it is –

    Late one evening a poor farmer on his way back from the market. He was a religious person and when he found that he has missed his prayer book at home. The worst fear he had was he has misplaced it. This was the most disheartening thing that could happen to this pious and religious person.

    The wheel of his cart had come off right in the middle of the woods and it distressed him that this day should pass without his having said his prayers.

    With this disappointment, he was worried that he is missing something very important today. So he did something interesting. This is the prayer he made: “I have done something very foolish, Lord. I came away from home this morning without my prayer book and my memory is such that I cannot recite a single prayer without it. So this is what I am going to do: I shall recite the alphabet five times very slowly and you, to whom all prayers are known, can put the letters together to form the prayers I can’t remember,”

    And the Lord said to his angels, “Of all the prayers I have heard today, this one was undoubtedly the best because it came from a heart that was simple and sincere.”

    I have heard that Jesus said, “The kingdom of the Gods belongs to people who are like child-like.

    We all must do our prayers and any other works – personal or professional – with such sincerity and simplicity, isn’t it? Do share your thoughts.

  • Matter of choice







    prayer of frogIt’s no good having our prayers answered If they are not answered at the right time:

    In ancient India much store was set by the Vedic rites which were said to be so scientific in their application that when the sages prayed for rain there was never any drought. It is thus that a man set himself to pray, according to these rites, to the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, begging her to make him rich.

    He prayed to no effect for ten long years, after which period of time, he suddenly saw the illusory nature of wealth and adopted the life of a renunciate in the Himalayas.

    He was sitting in meditation one day when he opened his eyes and saw before him an extraordinarily beautiful woman, all bright and shining as if she were made of gold.

    “Who are you and what are you doing here?” he asked.

    “I am the goddess Lakshmi to whom you recited hymns for twelve years,” said the woman. “I have appeared to grant you your desire.”

    “Ah, my dear goddess,” exclaimed the man, “I have since attained the bliss of meditation and lost my desire for wealth. You come too late. Tell me, why did you delay so long in coming?”

    “To tell you the truth,” said the goddess, “Given the nature of those rites you so faithfully performed you had fully earned the wealth. But, in my love for you and my desire for your welfare, I held it back.”

    If you had the choice, which would you choose: the granting of your petition or the grace to be peaceful whether it is granted or not?

    Source – Prayer of the Fro Vol 1, Prayer of the frog Vol 2, by Father Antony De’Mello

  • Blasphemy – cry of wisdom







    It took a lot of time for me to title this blog. Do not confuse the words on right and word on left of the hyphen. Read the story and understand the title 🙂

    One day Mulla Nasruddin saw the village schoolmaster leading a group of children towards the mosque.prayer of frog

    “What are you taking them there for?” he asked.

    “There is a drought in the land,” said the teacher, “and we trust that the cries of the innocent will move the heart of the Almighty.”

    “It isn’t the cries, whether innocent or criminal, that count,” said the Mulla, “but wisdom and awareness.”

    “How dare you make such a blasphemous statement in the presence of these children!” cried the teacher.

    “Prove what you have said, or you shall be denounced as a heretic.”

    “Easy enough,” said Nasruddin. “If the prayers of children counted for anything there wouldn’t be a school teacher in all the land, for there is nothing they so detest as going to school. The reason you have sur­vived those prayers is that we, who know better than the children, have kept you where you are?”

    Source – Prayer of the Fro Vol 1, Prayer of the frog Vol 2, by Father Antony De’Mello

    This is a scheduled and thus auto published blog, author is currently having limited access to the internet.

  • Neeraj in Kabir’s style







    Gopaldas Neeraj is an Indian poet. He wrote many poems, some I studied in my course work may be. I remember his Bollywood songs such as O meri sharmilee (from the movie Sharmilee) and Phoolon ke rang se, dil ki kalam se (from the movie Prem Pujari) etc. Read more poems here, and one of his poetry book.

    The most I like (rather love) is below – Neeraj ka Kabirana andaz. This poem I copied in a diary in 1998, found that diary when I was relocating recently. The poem title in English can be Neeraj in the style of Kabir. Kabir is (was) a sufi saint in India in 1500’s. Kabir wrote many things (called Doha) and tried uniting Hindu’s and Muslims (against their religious “blind belief system” to an awakened self). Here goes Neeraj (trying to translate in English – bold part below – for readers of other than Hindi readers). This translation is line by line translation. In some places a line should be read after the next line e.g. Line Number N+1 should be read before line number N.

    नीरज का कबीराना अंदाज़

    दिल के काबे मे नमाज़ पड़ (Dil ke kabe me namaz pad – pray in your heart)
    यहाँ वहाँ भरमाना छोड़ (Yahan vahan bharmana chhod – do not shout everywhere)
    सांस सांस तेरी अज़ान है (Sans sans teri azan hai – every breath is a call for prayer)
    सुबह शाम चिल्लाना छोड़ (Subhah sham chillana chod – do not shout day and night)

    उसका नूर ना मंदिर में है (Uska noor na mandir me hai – HIS glory is neither in temple)
    उसकी ज्योति ना मस्जिद मे (uski jyoti na masjid me – nor HIS glory is in any mosque)
    जिस मोती को ढूंड रहा तू (jis moti ko dhund raha tu – the pearl you’re searching for)
    वो है दिल के समंदर मे (vo hai dil ke samandar me – is within the sea of yourself)
    भीतर गोता मार बाहरी (bhitar gota mar bahari – jump Within O! worldly person)
    ये सब खोज खजाना छोड़ (ye sab khoj khajana chhod – do not search outside)

    जो कुछ बोले है पैगंबर (Jo kuch bole hai paigambar – whatever Paigambar said)
    वही कहा सब संतों ने (vahi kaha sab santon ne – same is said by other saints too)
    लेकिन उसकी मानी बदले (lekin uski mani badle – but the meanings have been changed)
    सारे भ्रष्ट महंतों ने (sare bhrast mahanton ne – by all the corrupt religious representatives)
    पंडित मुल्ला सब झूठे है (pandit mulla sab jhute hai – Pandit, Mulla all are liers)
    इनसे हाथ मिलना छोड़ (inse hath milana chhod – leave them, dont follow them)

    खुदा खलक से अलग नही है (Khuda khalak se alag nahi hai – God is not separate from creation)
    इसमे ही वो समाया है (isme hi vo samaya hai – God is within the creation)
    जैसे तुझमे ही पौषिदा (jaise tujhme hi poshida – as your own body)
    तेरा अपना साया है (tera apna saya hai – has its shadow)
    दुनिया से मत दूर भाग (dunia se mat dur bhag – do not run away from the world)
    बस मन की दौड़ लगाना छोड़ (bas man ki daud lagana chhod – stop running within your mind)

    पूजा पाठ नमाज़ जप (puja paath namaz jap – worship, Namaaz, chant everything)
    सब छलना और दिखावा है (sab chhalana aur dikhava hai – are show-off & cheating)
    दिल है तेरा साफ तो (dil hai tera saf to – if you heart is pure)
    तेरा घर ही काशी काबा है (tera ghar hi kashi kaba hai – your home itself is Kashi & Kaba)
    मकड़ जाल है ये सब जग के (makad jaal hai ye sab jag ke – this all is a cob-web)
    इनका ताना बना छोड़ (inka tana bana chhod – leave these framework)

    तू ही तो संसारी है रे (tu hi to sansari hai re – you are the worldly)
    और तू ही संसार भी है (aur tu hi sansar bhi hai – you are the world)
    कैदी तू ही, जैल भी तू ही, (kaidi tu hi, jail bhi tu hi – you are the jailer, you are the jailed)
    तू ही पहरेदार भी है(tu hi paharedar bhi hai – and you are the sentinel/guard)
    तीन गुनो वाली रस्सी मे (teen guno vali rassi me – a knot with these three attributes)
    अब तो गाँठ लगाना छोड़ (ab to gaandh lagana chhod – do not knot this rope)

    Specially in this I like the last bit (I would not want to write that in English, as the translation seem to lose the meaning –

    …दुनिया से मत दूर भाग
    बस मन की दौड़ लगाना छोड़…

    …कैदी तू ही, जैल भी तू ही,
    तू ही पहरेदार भी है…

    Whole world is created by our mind – we are the jailer, sentinel and jailed…

    Kabir Good read