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1. During the bed time prayer, I feel connected towards Master. I do repent for my mistakes, but I feel it is still mechanical. After bedtime prayer, I have to spend time with my family which is making it difficult for me to continue in the thought of Master till I go to sleep. I feel helpless regarding this aspect, if I do not spend enough time with family this normally leads to lot of altercations and ashanthi at home.
This is a common problem. What I have been doing is to spend time with the members of the family first and then retire for bed duly attending to my prayers. In the past when I used to come late from office I used to offer prayer late in the night when all are taking rest.
2. I have been regular to Point A and Bed time prayer. For the bed time prayer I still need to develop intense humility and be naked in front of MASTER and beg for his forgiveness.
In fact when we have learnt to pray properly we have also completed realizing our true state. Perseverance is the only way.
3. Regular in doing Point A meditation and Bed time prayer. Still need to develop the feeling of lowliness and humility for effective prayer.
When we know our condition and know His condition automatically the lowliness will be felt.
4. Only of late, I started doing regularly Point A meditation followed by bedtime prayer.
That should do you good. Better late than never.
5. Earlier I used to feel too sleepy to do bed time prayer.
That is nothing new to you. All lazy persons say this only. If you love God you will not say this- being a Hindu you cannot afford to say such things. You should read the Ten Commandments of the Master carefully and follow sincerely.
6. Attended to Point A meditation & bed time Prayer. I seek pardon for known & unknown mistakes committed. Then I pray to the Master to make me eligible to attain my Goal of having complete oneness with HIM.
Happy that you have the courage and may your aspiration find its fulfilment soon.
7. Though I sit without fail at the place of prayer before going to the bed, I need to get closer to the Master at this hour.
The hide and seek game with the Master is an old theme and ever fresh. Have patience; one day the Lord will surely be the closest. In fact he has never been far off from any of us on any day and at any time. That is the crux of meditation on the heart also.
8. Prayer before going to Bed: (Just before retiring) Sir, can it be in continuation of Point "A" mediation?
Yes and that would do good also.
9. Sir, Can I take my dinner after this prayer because after meals it becomes uneasy to sit as also some sluggishness sets in?
Yes. But before really retiring to bed please pray again for a few minutes atleast so that when you get up next morning you will be in the thought of the Master. Thus we try to convert the entire night to be a period of prayer.
10. I am regular in doing prayer, but I feel the submission is not deep enough. I am submitting my blemishes, but deep feeling of helplessness is not there. There were times I felt deep helplessness, but not always.
Despite all the claims we do not agree to have erred and this is a universal phenomenon. When you realise how gross you are inspite of the best cleaning and purification you do real helplessness develops. As they say “ abhimana Bhangamai..” we cry before him. Several lives of grossness do not go that easily. Humility and Abhudiyat are not easy spiritual virtues. Since you are in the right path instead of being in a hurry have faith in the Master and work. One difficulty you have is you do not get sufficient number of individual sittings. Let us think it over. Some solution will emerge.
11. Bedtime Prayer: I continue to improve on this aspect. I keep praying till I get a calm satisfaction of submitting everything to Rev Master. Many times I read EVENT HORIZON before bedtime prayer. I get a push to submission after reading.
It is good you read the book Event Horizon and learn some lessons from that book. To pray naturally should not include expectation or demand and note this point carefully.
12. Bed Time Prayer: Still struggling to get into supplicant mood and pray for His forgiveness for my mistakes.
If you feel that you are not a supplicant what is the other attitude you have? Avoid intellectual analysis of sadhana.
13. Quality of my bed time prayer is improving and I started feeling the essence of this prayer now. I also experienced His responses for my real cry. A couple of times, in spite of my sincere attempts, I felt sleepy and cut short my prayer. This is true particularly if I take my dinner after 9 PM prayer.
Contradictory sentences. What you mean by the sentences that you experienced His responses for your real cry is not clear to me. What is the prayer and how necessary it is for Him to interfere are all matters for deep contemplation. I think YOU MUST READ THE SECOND COMMANDMENT MORE CAREFULLY to understand the meaninglessness of your statement.
14. I am offering bedtime prayers regularly but sometimes-in ritualistic way. Due to tiredness sometimes I feel sleepy instead of being attentive.
Yes. We have no time to pray that being so because the bed is too near! Pray at least to the Lord of Laziness to spare you and perhaps he will hear you and spare you. Dear boy, sloth and laziness is never wished away. They need to be resisted with will and for that God does not help as it is our duty.
15. Sir, now days during bedtime prayer initially I am trying to feel the meaning of the prayer and slowly I am feeling that for everything I should seek the help of Master. Sir, I am becoming helpless as I am not able to find the attitudes which are hindering the spirituality. I am feeling like repentance for known and unknown problems of attitudes. Now days I am not feeling like getting up for sleeping immediately which used to happen earlier.
Read again and again articles on Prayer and understand over a period of time that “asking is not praying and praying is not asking.”
16. Bed time Prayer: Regular but only a few times tears came. Other times feel sincerity is not upto the mark.
Getting tears is not any sign of sincerity. It is a weakness of heart many times. Your ego seems to be too high that you can feel insincere even before Master during prayer. Do not fool yourself with imaginary notions. Read the articles on prayer and follow the path.
17. I am making a sincere effort in offering bed time prayer but it is not to my satisfaction.
You be sincere and let Master decide about its quality.
18. As I start any meditational practice, initially there is some resistance or a kind of dis-inclination which vanishes after few minutes. With this kind of inner resistance I find some difficulty in practicing bed time prayer as the mind is not getting settled easily.
If the mind gets settled easily why then pray? My advice has been “pray that you pray and continue to pray so that prayer may continue”and you seem to ignore the advice and still seek my help.
19. Certain amount of sincerity I am able to develop with respect to all the meditational practices but still I find lacking seriousness for the bed time prayer. Few minutes the thought rests but I am not able to do assiduously.
It is very funny that the art or is it science of weeping that all of us learn from the moment of birth becomes very difficult to practice later as we grow. When innocence and ignorance takes over weeping at our state is natural; till then mimic.
20. Feeling of dependency on Master is felt but that is not getting totally translated into subduedness, I am seriously lacking in performing bedtime prayer for which I seek your kind guidance and help.
It is your sloth and indolence and lack of determination. How to overcome Master himself has written and that is printed in every quarterly magazine we publish. I also donot understand the connection between dependency and subduedness. Dependency on Master is an early state of consciousness in the path. Abhudiyat is a rarified position of a competent person being subdued similar to Hanuman.
21. Point A Meditation & Bed time Prayer: After 11.30 PM every day not able to do very regularly as feeling tired by that time. Could do only on some days.
The universal excuse of not attending to prayer. Kindly understand that this is the corner stone on which we can decide the boundary of our petty self. The most important commandment from my sadhana point of view is the 10th Commandment.
22. Doing regularly. Feeling of submissiveness during the Prayer. Feel that there is lot of preparation required to do bedtime prayer. Sir - I must say that, getting into the attitude of real crying is happening very rarely during the bed time prayer.
First learn to pray then the question of advanced conditions in prayer will come on its own. If you are not able to cry it is because you are having a fairly inflated ego which does not permit you to accept your faults and lapses. But all that is a matter of maturity in prayer.
23. Have been regular and sincere in bedtime prayer.
The lessons of repentance and seeking forgiving is not all that easily learnt nor can you summarily dismiss the same in a single sentence. You need not write everything in the report but then your style of writing betrays the shallowness of your prayer. When you pray and how long you pray and what you were doing before prayer- all these count.
24. There is a considerable improvement. On most of the days I am able to get up with the thought of master.
What is this getting up with the thought of the Master; is it in the morning?
25. Have missed on some occasions but after improvement in health sincerity has increased.
Sloth has many excuses and illness is one such.
26. By his Grace, I started to feel and understand the third line of the prayer. Revered Master is the only God and power, to bring us up to that stage. May his greatness be more and more impressed upon this being. Once during bedtime prayer, I felt veils between us were lifted, and I was exposed to and “facing” him direct. I did not know what to do at that point: should I speak (pray) or be silent, and all the time was afraid of losing him.
The beggar has no choice and can only extend his/her arms. Silence is the language of God and everything that needs to be done is always done in faith and love.
27. Usually, I fall [asleep or in samadhi] during the point A meditation and I am then unable to do something else than falling in my bed. It sounds unserious probably, but that is how things are - I am sorry this tells something about my spiritual status.
If good sleep is the same as Samadhi we need not resort and practice Rajayoga. Sloth and inertia are over ruling factors in the drama of life. One who knows how to control sloth and inertia alone is equipped to move on the path with swiftness.
28. Was not regular in Bedtime Prayer on many occasions
Bed time prayer is of paramount importance. It is the best way by which we can make the night time a part of meditation. You are now to enter Grhasta life and the challenges to perform the prayer before going to bed is going to be much greater. But take it from me boy, that is where our determination helps. Since you write that your prospective wife is spiritually inclined you may adopt the method of sitting together for prayer at bed time. I can only share what I did and do.
29. I have difficulty in bedtime prayer because by the time I sit for it, I am very sleepy and am unable to focus on feeling His Presence. I am trying to sit earlier to be able to pray when I am feeling more alert.
Yes. You may practice accordingly as we should be alert when we pray.
30. Missing many times due to laziness.
It is for you to decide and gird up your loins as Master puts it.
31. The restless tendencies of mind have reduced which I am able to feel it during meditation and also during 9.00 clock prayer and Bed time prayer. My mind is able to be more attentive while offering prayer.
Learn to repent and seek forgiveness while praying and I donot understand much by the words that you are attentive during prayer. To whom – you? Him? Problem? Please do learn to pray.
32. On days when I come home late or when I had to engage visitors late in the evening I sit for 5 min in prayer before going to bed. I feel I am doing this mechanically as most of the time I spend only about 5-10 min. I am not spending enough time for this sadhana. Even on days when I spend lot of time I find it very disheartening as I noticed that my repentance is “mind-felt” and not “heart-felt”.
Perfection in prayer is not achieved that easily. Prayer is also the last condition even as it is the first. Trust in yourself and the Master alone is the way out. Donot worry too much about these intellectual differences. Whether it is mind or heart it is you only.
33. I have to do more on this front. My sincere effort is on.
Prayer is the master key for every thing in spirituality. Please try to be in a state of prayer always.
34. Feel like Master’s grace is always there inspite of me not cooperating to my level best. Praying to the Master to give me the right thinking and attitude.
Never give a negative suggestion to yourself. You are fine and you are doing even better. Divine always rewards every good action including a good thought. Keep the thoughts of the Master with you in the heart and it will become purer by the day.
More on Bedtime Prayer:
1. Kindly give more importance to the prayer before going to bed. I have found in my sadhana that we should learn to pray in such a way that we pray so that we may pray and continue to pray so that we may continue to pray. Try to be in the thought of the Divine and you will feel relieved of these types of problems.
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