A short Prayer

What is a prayer? Dictionary says its a " A solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or another deity"

Do most of us Pray? The answer to that may be a yes. Most of the time our Parents/ grandparents teach us to pray when we are very young. And we continue with the practice into our adult lives. Some of us get disheartened/disillusioned and stop praying sporadically. But for a very large majority, the practice continues till the day of the last breath

But, why pray at all? How does it help? We are not good at theorizing hence we will tell a story. So here it goes.

One day Jamal, a singer and dancer by profession, was asked by the Sufi at the mosque to pray regularly. Jamal, who had seen enough struggles in his life, never believed in the power of prayer. Life had delivered hard knocks to him. Depressed and alone, he had tried to seek refuge in the village mosque. "Pray, and help would come", was all that the sufi had said. "What could prayer achieve,", thought Jamal.

One night, as sleep eluded Jamal, the pain became too much. Mad and suicidal, Jamal sat up and called out to God. "Allah!, Allah!, Allah", cried Jamal all night as his heart ached with pain.

As he was crying out, a voice inside him, started reprimanding him. "Stop being a fool! Do you hear anyone coming to help. Stop braying like a donkey", said Iblis, the inner devil which is present in all of us in different measures.

"You are calling out to someone who doesn't exist. Stop wasting your breath", said Iblis.

Dejected, Jamal stopped. He cried himself to sleep and promised himself not to pray again.

In his sleep, Jamal had a dream in which he was trying to reach a pond to quench his thirst but his legs were tied to a chain and he could not move. When he saw his reflection in the water of the stream, he saw that a cup shaped lock went through his lips and tongue and he could not open his mouth.

In some distance, he saw a human figure in a white robe floating on the horizon. The figure flew towards Jamal and came down to stand next to him. The figure was Al Khadir, a celestial being who governed the rivers.

"Why didn't you pray before sleeping", asked Al Khadir. "Whenever I say Allah, he never responds with Here I Am", Jamal tried to reply but he could not speak. But Al khadir could hear even the words which were not spoken. He said, "Everytime you say Allah,I reply Here I am. We are not separate."

Jamal could only gesture with his hands that he was very thirsty and wanted some water. Al Khadir replied, " I know you want water but first let me tell you a story." Jamal had no choice but to listen.

"A depressed, sad, lonely man who was very thirsty, sat on the top of a high wall of a prison on the banks of a river. He was very thirsty and the high wall separated him from the stream. Many times he thought of jumping from the heights and ending his life."

The story resonated deeply with Jamal. It was like someone was telling him his life story. He gestured Al khadir to continue.

" Suddenly, the thirsty man grabbed a brick from the high wall with his bare hands and threw it into the stream. The sound of the brick falling into the water was like the sound of divine melody in the man's ears. This sound gave him so much pleasure that started to tear away the bricks of the wall and soon he could feel the cool breeze near the stream."

Hearing the story, Jamal got some courage and he began to pull at the lock which keep his mouth closed.

"Jamal, Prayer is the key! How can a thirsty man fail to pray? Tear away the walls that keep you from water. Tear them away with the folded hands of prayer." Al khadir looked deeply into Jamal's eyes and than disappeared.

Within his dream, Jamal uttered the word Allah and instantly the lock on his mouth swung open and the chains that tied his leg disappeared. Jamal knelt down and drank from the cool clear pond. Having drank to his heart's content, Jamal woke up from his dream

THE END

The Learnings

1. Jamal, has a tendency, like a lot of us, to count our misfortunes. However, unlike a lot of us who do not know what to do when struck with adversity, Jamal has the good sense to seek help from the village Sufi. Fortunately for him, the Sufi gives good advice: to pray

2. Sometimes, when we pray, help is immediate. At other times, it takes longer as we have not become open to learning the life lesson which the adversity is trying to deliver. For most of us, it takes very long to accept that there might be a lesson which has come with the suffering and unless the lesson is learnt, the suffering will stay.

3. Our not liking the suffering will not make it go away. we may scream, shout, cry but it will endure. We have to turn inwards at such times and ponder over what needs to change within us.

4. Prayer gives the courage to endure the suffering. It helps us connect to the higher power. When we praise the higher power through our prayer/songs/hymns, it is actually expressing gratitude for the countless blessings bestowed upon us despite the adverse circumstances that we may be facing in the immediate present.

5. Jamal, gets the right advice and is on the path of prayer, when his inner devil, Here representing our doubts/ego/'rationality' comes in the way and takes him off the path.

6. The story in the dream shows Jamal his life like he is seeing a mirror. The bricks in the prison wall are symbolic of our resistance to all things spiritual which needs to be taken down one by one.

7. Prayer is the key to Jamal's redemption. As soon as he starts praying, the locks which entangle him start opening and he is on his path of spiritual awakening

STORY CREDIT: This story is based on the story "The Cup of Praise", from the book "Rumi, Tales to live By", by Kamla K. Kapur

Kamala S. Kapur puts in beautifully in one of her interviews: " Rumi, together with other Guides from all religious traditions, gives us a perch from which to view adversity, a perspective that helps us to take advantage of it, see it in a light that makes it life-affirming instead of life-denying. From this perch we can see how our trials and ‘hard times’ are the very fuel for a series of transformations in our journey to healing, wholeness, happiness."

Here's hoping this story helps our readers! Cheers