Questioner: Does Prayer work in this empirical world? I understand (intellectually) that at an absolute level there is nobody praying to no one.
Rory: Vedanta encourages us, as jivas, to develop a devotional and prayerful attitude to life. The recognition that Isvara is the one running this whole show ought to humble the ego into submission, gratitude and reverence. The act of prayer is underscored by recognition that there’s a greater force operant in the creation; specifically, the Intelligence that creates, sustains and governs the cosmos—and that we ourselves, as jivas, are completely reliant upon it.
There are, of course, different types of prayer and the answer to your question really depends upon what is being prayed for and the mindset with which it is being prayed.
People at the earlier stages of their spiritual development tend to view God as a big cosmic dispensing machine, and so bombard Him/Her/It with all kinds of requests, invariably materialistic in nature. Such an approach may or may not yield fruit. Let’s face it, I can pray to win the lottery until I’m blue in the face, but it’s ONLY going to happen if Isvara wills it. And because Isvara is responsible for all beings, including all the other people who bought lottery tickets that week, I have to understand that I’m probably not going to get what I want—and why should I when everyone else wants the same thing? The results are determined by karma, and with so many different causal factors at work, karma is largely impossible to fathom.
That’s not to say that prayer doesn’t work. It pays to remember that, contrary to what we generally assume, the entire creation is actually one single great physical body (the Sanskrit term is virat), interfaced by one vast subtle body (hiranyagarbha), both of which are projected from one vast and undifferentiated causal body. In spite of the appearance of differentiation and multiplicity, everything in creation is actually one, and nothing exists in isolation. To me, it stands to reason that since our individual gross and subtle bodies are actually parts of one divisionless whole, our thoughts, words and actions will have a ripple effect, with any action, no matter how small, sending ripples across the surface of the cosmic pond. We truly can influence our karma through thought and action. Indeed, that’s why the Vedas place so much emphasise on prayer and ritual. With our actions and even our thoughts (which are subtle actions) we fashion our karma and, by living prayerfully we can generate a high degree of punyam (good karma).
Prayer plus purposeful action is the key combination. What we pray for is usually a good indication of what we focus our minds and hearts upon. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna promises that “In whatever form you worship Me, I will bless you accordingly”. If our lives centre around specific goals or material ends, and we devote our time and energy to their pursuit, putting in the necessary time and action, Isvara may well bless us with the result we seek, if it’s in alignment with our karma.
The greater benefit of prayer isn’t to do with specific end results, however. The more we pray and come to rely upon God, the greater it calms the mind and relieves the false burden of doership and ownership which lies at the root of our existential suffering. Ultimately we don’t own anything in this world; it all belongs to Isvara and Isvara alone. Anything we do have is only on temporary loan, including our bodies and minds. We are, in fact, just trustees.
Vedanta prescribes upasana yoga, or meditation upon Isvara, as a means of purifying the mind and rendering it fit for the assimilation of Self-knowledge, which alone leads to liberation. Upasana yoga may include prayer. There are basically two types of prayer: prayers motivated by personal desire (sakama), and prayers offered with an absence of personal desire (nishkama). In other words, we have prayers related to a specific desired end, and prayers of supplication; worship offered out of devotion and gratitude, with no strings attached!
The prayer of the samsari, or worldly person, is generally a list of wants and desires, whereas the prayer of the seeker of liberation is born of a single desire, which the Bhagavad Gita calls the “desire that is not opposed to dharma”: the desire to be free and to realise our Oneness with God.
As for the effectiveness of those prayers—that’s something which depends, as I said, upon one’s karma. As karma phala data (that which determines and delivers the results of karma) Isvara has to factor all jivas and the environment as a whole into account. Those are a whole lot of factors and variables at play. Sometimes we will get what we want, and other times we won’t. This will be a cause of either jubilation or suffering for the samsari.
The seeker of liberation, however, lives by karma yoga, and therefore accepts whatever results come as a divine gift. The karma yogi is not only a humble devotee, but also a pragmatic and mature person. By accepting both desirable and undesirable results with equanimity, the karma yogi is no longer bound by action and its results. The ultimate aim of the seeker of Truth is a pure mind with which to realise our true nature as the Self…so, as long as karma yoga is exercised, it’s a win/win situation.
As you point out, at the Absolute order of reality, there is neither subject nor object, worshipper nor worshipped, for all is pure, indivisible Consciousness/Awareness. Prayer is, therefore, for the jiva inhabiting the relative order of reality, and it’s a good way to live.
I hope this is of some help.
Questioner: Sincere thanks for the reply and highly appreciate you taking out time to answer my queries.
I’ve been reading your response multiple times and it is giving more and more insight every time i read. I’ve not come across such a beautiful explanation on Prayer before.
