10 dec 06 sat ( religious man)

Prayer Is a Complex AffairLike all deep human problems, prayer is a complex affair and not to be rushed at; itneeds patience, careful and tolerant probing, and one cannot demand definiteconclusions and decisions. Without understanding himself, he who prays may throughhis very prayer be led to self-delusion. We sometimes hear people say, and severalhave told me, that when they pray to what they call God for worldly things, theirprayers are often granted. If they have faith, and depending upon the intensity oftheir prayer, what they seek - health, comfort, worldly possessions - theyeventually get. If one indulges in petitionary prayer it brings its own reward, thething asked for is often granted, and this further strengthens supplications. Thenthere is the prayer, not for things or for people, but to experience reality, God,which is also frequently answered; and there are still other forms of petitionaryprayer, more subtle and devious, but nevertheless supplicating, begging andoffering. All such prayers have their own reward, they bring their own experiences; but do theylead to the realization of the ultimate reality?Are we not the result of the past, and are we not therefore related to the enormousreservoir of greed and hate, with their opposites? Surely, when we make an appeal,or offer a petitionary prayer, we are calling upon this reservoir of accumulatedgreed, and so on, which does bring its own reward, and has its price.… Doessupplication to another, to something outside, bring about the understanding oftruth?