I’ll explain the science of prayer. Usually, the mind always operates from duality. If you utter the words, “he is not good,” you have already came to the conclusion that he is bad; you can’t take a stand that he is not good without saying that he is bad. As a natural flow, your logic is always taught to take the extreme stands. The moment you hear that he is not good, immediately you feel that he is bad. Understand, duality keeps the mind alive.
Duality keeps dilemmas alive. Your mind is so brilliant, it can even use religion to keep itself alive.
Prayer is one of the most misunderstood, abused concepts. The moment you are asked to pray, the moment you need to put the God in the high pedestal, you always decide to put yourself on a low pedestal. In some stupid traditions it is even celebrated as humbleness! No! Humbleness is not thinking less OF you, it is thinking less ABOUT you! Humbleness is not the image you have about yourself, it has nothing to do with the image you have about yourself. It is to do with how many times you remember yourself. One of the most stupid mistakes humanity has committed is putting yourself down and thinking that only then you can put your God up. No! Putting your God up does not require putting yourself down. Putting yourself down does not necessarily make you put your God up.
Prayer itself is a technique to break this non-duality; it is to break this non-dual perception.
Lower inner image is the worst sin.
If you are consciously asked to build that, it is like you are building your own cage where you will be locked. Can there be anything more stupid than this? The upanishadic rishis are very clear, “Even when I pray, I am you. Sohamasmi!”
In any form, consciously engaged powerlessness will only lead to bondage, whether it is during the period of your study, or during the period of assimilation and cognition of the truths about your life, or the time when you build your relationships and career, or when you pray or meditate, in any part of life entertained powerlessness will only bring tremendous bondage and suffering to you. Understand, even in front of God, you don’t need to feel powerless to pray to Him.
The Vedic rishis have outlined clearly, “Even while I have not experienced it and realized my oneness with You, even though I am a devotee and praying to You, I know the truth: I am one with You.” This is the definition of prayer: remember,
God is above, above, above, true. But you don’t need to be below for God to be above.