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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Why do we have a prayer room?

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JAY SHREE POOJYASHREE SHREE AMMA
JAY MAHAN BRAHMASHREE GOPALAVALLIDASAR
JAY SHREE RADHEKRISHNA SATHSANG

Radhekrishna to all the Readers!

We looked at the second question yesterday; why do we have a prayer room. Let us look at the answer in detail in this post.

Lord Krishna is all pervading. To remind us that He resides in our homes with us, we have prayer rooms. Without the grace of the Lord, no task can be successfully or easily accomplished. We invoke His grace by communing with Him in the prayer room each day and on special occasions.

Each room in a house is dedicated to a specific function like the bedroom for resting, the drawing room to receive guests, the kitchen for cooking etc. The furniture, decor and the atmosphere of each room are made conducive to the purpose it serves. So too for the purpose of meditation, worship and prayer, we should have a conducive atmosphere – hence the need for a prayer room.

Sacred thoughts and sound vibrations pervade the place and influence the minds of those who spend time there. Spiritual thoughts and vibrations accumulated through regular meditation, worship and chanting done there pervade the prayer room. Even when we are tired or agitated, by just sitting in the prayer room for a while, we feel calm, rejuvenated and spiritually uplifted.

Here a question may arise in the mind that not everybody can afford to dedicate a separate room as a prayer room; then what do such people do? Do they refrain from having a prayer room? The answer to it is that no, even such people have a place where they stand/sit to pray to God. It may be a part of any room but it is a separate small space where the Lord is worshipped. This can be observed in majority of the Hindu households. No matter how poor/rich a person is, he will always have a small part of his house reserved for the Lord. India is not called as a Spiritual Paradise just like that! Its because spirituality is in the blood of each and every human being in our country. It is a part and parcel of the day to day life of each individual. That’s the greatness of Hinduism!

We will look at the third question in the next post.

Section II: Information about Indian herbs

The herb that we will describe in this post is called as Quinine.

1. Alkaloid of the bark of the Cinchona tree has been used as a specific cure for malarial fevers for centuries
2. It acts as a prophylactic against malaria
3. It is also a tonic for the stomach
4. If taken in minute doses after breakfast it helps to counteract general debility

That brings us to the conclusion of this post. Till the next post on 6th November, Radhekrishna!

Sarvam Guruvaarpanam

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Why do we have a prayer room?

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JAY SHREE POOJYASHREE SHREE AMMA
JAY MAHAN BRAHMASHREE GOPALAVALLIDASAR
JAY SHREE RADHEKRISHNA SATHSANG

Dear Readers,

Radhekrishna!

In this post, as promised, we will look at the second question

2. Why do we have a prayer room?

Most Indian homes have a prayer room or altar. A lamp is lit and the Lord worshipped each day. Other spiritual practices like japa - repetition of the Lord’s name, meditation, paaraayana - reading of the scriptures, prayers, and devotional singing etc are also done here. Special worship is done on auspicious occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, festivals and the like. Each member of the family - young or old - communes with and worships the Divine here.

Now why do we have a separate prayer room? Why cant we pray in the drawing room or the bed room? Let us know the answer for the same.

The Lord is the entire creation. He is therefore the true owner of the house we live in too. The prayer room is the Master room of the house. We are the earthly occupants of His property. This notion rids us of false pride and possessiveness.

The ideal attitude to take is to regard the Lord as the true owner of our homes and us as caretakers of His home. But if that is rather difficult, we could at least think of Him as a very welcome guest. Just as we would house an important guest in the best comfort, so too we felicitate the Lord’s presence in our homes by having a prayer room or altar, which is, at all times, kept clean and well-decorated.

We will continue with this same question with more details in the next post.

Section II: Information about Indian herbs

In this forthnight, the herb about which we will tell you is named Mirch i.e. Chili (Capsicum Annum in Latin).

1. It is a necessary ingredient of all Indian curries
2. It has a sharp pungent taste
3. Powdered chili applied to bite of dogs neutralizes the poison
4. The numbness of the body and hypothermia of cholera are relieved by it

That’s all we have for you in this post. Do lots and lots of chanting of the Radhekrishna namam and fill your lives with spiritual bliss.

Till the next post Radhekrishna!

Sarvam Guruvaarpanam
 

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