Prayer for Saturday

The way to the shore
is through the sea within you.
~ Meeta Ahluwalia

O How may I ever express that secret word?
O how can I say He is not like this, and He is like that?
If I say that He is within me, the universe is ashamed:
If I say that He is without me, it is falsehood.
He makes the inner and the outer worlds to be indivisibly one;
The conscious and the unconscious, both are His footstools.
He is neither manifest nor hidden,
He is neither revealed nor unrevealed:
There are no words to tell that which He is.

(Kabir, Indian poet & mystic)

This Week’s Affirmation:

“I have faith in the Universal Spirit and the Universal Spirit takes care of me.”

(For more on Affirmations, go to my Affirmations Page.)

Prayer for Friday (Krishna Jayanti)

Today is the Hindu festival of Krishna Jayanti, celebrating the birth of Krishna, the eighth incarnation of the God Vishnu.

Every night, when I go to sleep, I die.
Every morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.
~ Mahatma Gandhi

Breaker of this world’s chain,
We adore Thee, whom all men love.
Spot­less, tak­ing man’s form, O Puri­fier,
Thou art above the gunas three,
Knowl­edge divine, not flesh;
Thou whom the cos­mos wears,
A dia­mond at its heart.

Let us look deep in Thine eyes;
They are bright with the wis­dom of God,
That can wake us from Maya’s spell.
Let us hold fast to Thy feet,
Tread­ing the waves of the world to safety.
Oh, drunk with love, God-drunken Lover,
In Thee all paths of all yogas meet.

Lord of the worlds, Thou art ours,
Who wert born a child of our time;
Easy of access to us.
O Mer­ci­ful, if we take any hold
Upon God in our prayer,
It is by Thy grace alone,
Since all Thine aus­ter­i­ties
Were prac­ticed for our sake.

How great was Thy sac­ri­fice,
Freely choos­ing Thy birth,
In this prison, our Iron Age,
To unchain us and set us free.
Per­fect, whom lust could not taint,
Nor pas­sion nor gold draw near,
O Mas­ter of all who renounce,
Fill our hearts full of love for Thee.

Thou hast fin­ished with fear and with doubt,
Stand­ing firm in the vision of God;
Refuge to all who have cast
Fame, for­tune, and friends away.
With­out ques­tion Thou shel­ter­est us,
And the world’s great sea in its wrath
Seems shrunk to the pud­dle
That fills the hoof­print in the clay.

Speech can­not hold Thee, nor mind,
Yet with­out Thee we think not nor speak.
Love, who art par­tial to none,
We are equal before Thy sight.
Taker-away of our pain,
We salute Thee, though we are blind.
Come to the heart’s black cave, and illu­mine,
Thou light of the light.

(by Swami Vivekananda, poetic translation by Swami Prab­ha­vananda and
Christo­pher Isherwood)

This Week’s Affirmation:

“I am my consciousness and I have the power to create.”

(For more on Affirmations, go to my Affirmations Page.)

Prayer for Thursday (Raksha Bandhan)

Today is the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan.

A brother is a friend given by Nature.
~ Jean Baptiste Legouve

(The Raksha Bandhan stotram is the sloka, or Vedic prayer, recited by sisters while tying Rakhi (‘Holy Thread’) on to their brother’s hands. It is believed that the mantra will provide enough strength for brothers to protect their sisters.)

On the request of all the Gods, Lord Vishnu tied up the strong and powerful Demon King Bali with his strength. I am tying the power of the Vishnu Shakti, in the form of Raksha, on to your hand. With the force and energy of this sacred thread, all the Gods will stand at your side and keep you healthy and wealthy forever.

(Source: Hindu Devotional Blog)

This Week’s Affirmation:

“I am feeling more and more connected to others each and every day.”

(For more on Affirmations, go to my Affirmations Page.)