A Prayer Shared
Trip Start
Oct 09, 2007
1
28
45
Trip End
Mar 10, 2008
Kolkata (Calcutta),
West Bengal,
India
Monday, January 12, 2009
I find as I pray, the world is always on my heart. The intensity of the suffering, the knotted conundrum of the escalating pathologies, both personally and collectively, that drive us, our relationships, our human institutions, our corrupt governments, our rapacious economy, our ethnic and religious divides and how violently they clash - and the cost to us all, but especially to the innocents who are brutalized and exploited, like the women of DR Congo (all of Africa really) - is never far away from me.
So when I pray, I am praying for us all. Because, frankly, the pathologies just seem to damn deep, the Gordian knots too many and too tightly bound, for humans to work through almost any of it. Our pathetically limited and distorted consciousness just doesn't seem to give us enough to bring to the table, even when we are making a sincere effort to do so. A higher, purer intelligence feels critically needed.
So my prayers are becoming a deepening soul cry as I say the 108 Names of Baba Lokenath each day. Baba Lokenath is a bit difficult for us westerners to grasp and relate to. Simply put, he is a master who achieved complete union with all aspects of Divinity. When I first started saying the 108 Names, they had little meaning to me. I found myself thinking, far too often (and still do), about how far I have gotten through them which, being raised Catholic, I tend to do with any ritualistic prayer. But the tendency toward rote is lessening. In saying the 108 Names, I find myself authentically honoring, offering myself to, and calling upon, the aspects of Divinity that Baba Lokenath embodied in human form and which he still makes available in spirit to anyone who seeks His support. It is not that Baba Lokenath is the only master to embody those Divine dimensions and make them available to humanity but he is the one who has touched my life in the most significant and direct way. For whatever reasons, he is the channel for those graces and qualities for my spirit.
So, when I chant the 108 Names in Sanskrit each morning, silently reading the English translation after each name, I am calling with more and more of my heart to the Sustainer of All Beings, not just for myself, but for all of us. I call on the Giver of All Boons and Benedictions; on the Unmoving and Eternally Stable Spirit; on the Indwelling Spirit Soul in all Beings; on the Destroyer of Obstacles, the Bringer of Light; on the Protector of all who seek Refuge in the Divine; on the One who can drink the poison of human ignorance and cruelty and transform to Light; on the Dispeller of all Darkness; on the One who sanctifies the hearts of every divine child; on the Source of Encompassing Love and Compassion; on the Destroyer of the Enemies of devotees; on the Silent Teacher within the Heart; on the One who leads us to ultimate freedom and peace; on the One who protects all forms of life and who gives peace and happiness; on the Essence of Forgiveness and Mercy; on the birthless, deathless, Pure Existence, the All pervading effulgence of Light Eternal, to bless, bless, bless us. Bless us one and all, lead us to a new way of being with ourselves and with one another. Create openings for all those of goodwill who are working for meaningful change. Bring forth a new generation, a strong and enduring new tradition, of visionary local and world leadership, leaders who work for the benefit of the people, for a more enlightened and humane shared future, and who have the depth of character to act boldly, in the face of all obstacles, to making that future real.
I wonder if all this suffering on the planet isn't Life's way of bringing us to our knees before God, en masse. It's the only sense I can make of it. Whenever in my life I have been really up against the wall and have sent out my soul call to God, help came and it came immediately. A path opened. It is as if the Divine has been saying to me, "I am not so far away from you. All you have to do is turn to me, and I am here." Isn't it us who have removed ourselves from the divine influence? It seems to me that if human history proves anything, it is that we are powerless and pathological when we go off on our own, too far away from the Divine Presence, its energy, its ability to inform and shape our lives harmoniously. We are children of light and love...and we have forgotten how to live from that as the true center of our lives, and the results of are screaming in the world around us.
So I pray for all of us to get back to that, whatever our religious or spiritual belief or non-belief. Whether it is God or all the Forces that stand and work toward Life and Good in the Universe, I pray that we all take greater, deeper, more frequent refuge in the essence of the Good, and cry to it with all of our heart's longing, for the healing of our world.
