Prayer versus meditation

I’ve often wondered about prayer. Ever since I was a little girl, my mum would usher us to put on our best clothes and clean our shoes for an annual temple visit to North West London. I wondered if all the masses who followed gurus draped in simple orange cloth had their prayers answered. What would people wish for? Once their prayers were answered, did they come back with more new prayers for money or better health?

In my 20s, I gave prayer very little thought. For me, it seemed a pointless exercise. Of course, it has its validity for those who believe in prayer. On the net, there are countless definitions as there are for meditation. Prayer is the act of communicating with a deity, an urgent request or an appeal for help.

Two years ago my mum had a severe stroke which caused a deep fracture in our family structure. Suddenly, our mum who was very much the bedrock of our small family structure is reduced to a life in a wheelchair, the stroke having paralysed her left side.  She still talks well thankfully and over time has regained her sense of humour.

However my mother’s stroke has had a profound effect on my younger sister who has turned to religion and prayer. Every week, she visits a small temple in Stratford and prays in front of a row of deities. I know she prays for my mum to walk again and to be the active live wire she once was. She has sought a priest’s counsel and by the will of God, he’s asked my sister to cook a meal for 5 young ladies. When she told me this was something she had to do, I automatically balked at the thought, not because I am averse to cooking for people but is this what God would have asked? She cooked that meal a year ago and my mum although determined to walk and performs her walking exercise when encouraged still relies very much on her wheelchair support. I suppose it’s me being cynical. However, I found it strange that for someone who didn’t believe in prayer, had turned to prayer for solace and comfort in a desperate time of need.

I look around and I see many people who pray, with mala beads, in front of deities. Some have a contented happy disposition, others have an urgent request at the tip of their tongue; searching for answers, looking for solutions to life’s problems. I did ask myself how many of these people feel certain and grounded within themselves and secure in the knowledge they will receive what they’d asked for.

Perhaps some do but for those who don’t it may be a long sequence of prayers and when those prayers aren’t answered, then what. Would they pray some more? Don’t get me wrong; I support prayer and every human being has the right to ask for what he or she wants. It must come from a foundation. If your physical being isn’t grounded, then you have to ask yourself if your prayers are going to be answered.

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