Relax as you are being cooked

Prayer is energy in motion. Before you begin praying, you form a thought as to what you want – money, power, relationship, promotion, a position, a home or even freedom from a difficult situation.People who are atheistic or rationalistic in their beliefs, think that prayer is for the emotional and weak and not for the strong-willed. Prayer is the clearly-defined thought formation that spells out what you want in life in the next few days or months. It is called a Samkalpa. Kalpa means thought or what is imagined, and Sam is something that makes it complete.What does this Samkalpa do? Ideally, our success stories happen when we perform a task in a high state of awareness. However, nothing is sure until it happens before our perception. I continue  with the example of last week of the mother, who went about the admission for her ward at a city college after a long wait. It seemed like a late-night miracle when the principal announced that the student would get the admission, his name was written on a register and he would be called for on the phone or by post.That oral confirmation was enough for cake-cutting and celebrations of a mission accomplished, but nature, it seems, had other plans. The family was waiting, but no call or mail came. When they approached the college again, they realised that it was not just him, but nearly every student whose name was recorded  and told that they would be called for. It was a harrowing two-day wait, with neither food nor water that was available on time, umpteen doors knocked at, phone calls made and as many prayers that the child, the mother and others could say – yet all the while maintaining an expression of patience with a smile.Each human being is a soul within the apparent exterior of a body. That soul goes through numerous trials and tribulations in the form of emotional and intellectual experiences, through its interactions with people, places and situations. It is being constantly washed by the waters of the universe, rinsed, wrung and dried by the passage of time and experiences. Prayer and complete surrender to the will of this universe, supreme, god, self, or whatever you may call it – like a baby in the foetus -  is the ultimate way.There is no ‘your way’ or ‘my way in life.’ It is just ‘our way,’ or rather ‘The Way’. It is called the Tao in Chinese. We are like myriad particles of matter that move in this massive assembly line called ‘The Way’, almost as if you are pushed in and out of a Mumbai metro. Fortunately, you and I as human beings, happen to be aware particles who can sense the pain and joy through the process of moving, while in the pressure cooker of life.