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VEDANTIC PRAYERS Sections from The Upanishads.
UNBORN THAT THOU ART
Unborn that Thou art, I as one afraid of birth and death Seek refuge in Thee O Thou the terrible One! Ever protect me by Thy benign face. (Sv.U. IV:21)
NOT
BY THY LAW BUT BY THY GRACE CAN I BE SAVED.
Thou alone art immortal
in this mortal universe. Thou alone art eternal in the midst of the evancescent. Thou art the one immutable Being underlying all the transitory forms. Finite things and beings pass away. But Thou abidest forever. Beyond birth, beyond death, beyond growth, beyond decay, art Thou. Everything begins in time and ends in times. But time begins and ends in Thee. Timeless art Thou, without beginning or end.
In this world of
ceaseless change, Thou art my sole refuge. On none else can I rely; nothing
else can I hold to in this life. Youth, beauty, power, and prosperity
come and go. Friends come and go. Nothing is constant. Pain and pleasure, growth and decay, triumph and defeat, birth and death are my inevitable lot in this mortal plane. There is no security anywhere but in Thee. None but Thou canst save me from bondages, sufferings, delusions and death.
Thou art the sole
reality in all that appears to be real. Everything exists because of Thee.
Behind the shifting scenes of life and death, of light and darkness, of
creation and destruction, of rise and fall, of harmony and discord, Thou
shinest forever. Unobserved, Thou observest everything; unseen, Thou seest
everything; unheard, Thou hearest everything. Unknown, Thou knowest everything; unsupported, Thou supportest everything, unchanging, Thou holdest all that changes. From Thee the universe arises, by Thee it is sustained, into Thee it is reabsorbed. Throughout the projection, preservation, and dissolution of the universe Thou art ever awake. Thou are the stern Ruler of the universe. Thy laws govern nature. At Thy command the sun shines, the planets keep to their respective courses, the seasons change. At Thy command wind blows and fire burns. With unerring justice Thou dispensest to human beings the fruits of their good and evil deeds. As they sow, so they reap. None can escape Thy inexorable law. What can save me then? Bound by desires,
over powered by weaknesses, thwarted by evil tendencies born of past karma,
I find no strength to rescue myself. I try to practice virtue, but I fail.
Even when I know the right course, I cannot follow it. My emotions, thoughts,
and actions are not under my control. I am weak.
How can I stand on
my own feet? I am blinded by ignorance. How can I find my
way? I am bound. How can
I free myself? Therefore, O Lord, I have no other way to Liberation but through Thy grace. I surrender myself to Thee. Not by Thy law, but by Thy grace can I be saved. Be gracious unto me. I do not know how to pray to Thee. I do not know how to worship Thee. I do not know how to meditate on Thee. I have no merit whatsoever. I depend wholly on Thy mercy. I take refuge in Thee. Thy grace is my only support, my only treasure, my only equipment in the journey through life. Be gracious unto me! Thou art sever and Thou are beneficient. Thou art the subduer of the wicked and Thou art the protector of the virtuous. Thou art the dispenser of justice and Thou art bestower of mercy. Thou art the stern Ruler and Thou art the compassionate Father. In destruction as well as creation. Thy benign hand works. In prosperity and adversity, in beauty and ugliness, Thy will prevails. Thou art terrible and Thou art blissful. With
hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere, with
ears everywhere, That exists pervading everything in the Universe.
The wise realize
Him as shining through the functions of all the senses, yet without the
senses, as the Lord of all, the Ruler of all, the Refuge and the Friend
of all.
(SV. U. III: 16,17)
THINK THAT THOUGH YOU DO NOT SEE GOD, HE IS CONSTANTLY WATCHING YOU AND PROTECTING YOU.
He is ever ready to help you, guide you, and reveal Himself unto you. But you pay no attention to Him. You can get whatever you want just for the asking. "Ask, and it shall be given you," says Jesus Christ. Pray to Him to reveal Himself unto you. Imagine that you are in the very presence of the Divine Lord. You see His blissful form, radiant with joy, beauty, wisdom, and love. You see His benign face with soul-enthralling smile. You see His compassionate eyes showering grace upon you. You prostrate yourself at His feet. Lo! The Lord in His infinite kindness and unbounded love takes you up in His loving arms. You feel that you are a child reposing in the bosom of the Divine Father. You feel that you are within Him, you are one with Him. Around you, above you, within you, He alone exists. He is the Life of your life, the Soul of your soul. He fills you through and through. You are suffused by Divine Radiance. Your egoism vanishes, leaving just a shadow. You realize yourself as a channel for the expression of divine power, divine wisdom, divine love. He sees through your eyes, he hears through your ears, he speaks through your mouth. He works through your hands. In fact, it is all He, not you. Those eyes are His eyes, those ears are His ears, those hands are His hands, those lips are His lips. You are His; He is yours. I bow to Brahman, the supreme Being, Who is All-Bliss, Who is present everywhere, Who was in the past, Who will be in the future. (Ath.V. X:8.1)
"I know that Immutable, Eternal Being, Who is the Self of All, Who is omnipresent because of His all-pervasiveness, Whom the knowers of Brahman declare as birthless and perfect." (Sv.U. III:21)
Om shanti, shanti, shanti. Peace Be With Thee with these realisations.
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