SERENITY PRAYER

 

When you wake up in the morning, pray to the Almighty,  only peace and beyond that, ask nothing!  The reason is when you are in peace, you could handle any situation.  Peace means composure.

When I was in my 20s and freshly employed, my boss used to suggest me to pray God not  for abundant wealth,  but rather for a smooth flow of life.   Those eternal words of mid-90s  of my boss  who was an Army's colonel are still echoing in my ears.

One of my morning prayer doesn't put any wish list before God, but ask Him only one thing : Please don't snatch  peace from my life.  In fact, it is vital oxygen to my system.  Even not having it for a fraction of second, I feel deeply suffocated.  

There are so many unanswered questions.  If you see, you will find that not a single individual's pattern of life matches with you.  Some die in 20s, some others in 40s and some others remain up to their ripe-age.  

Constantly, we are caught in the game of uncertainties and don't know what happens next and what is in store for the next moment.   You don't even have a slight hint.  

In the process of understanding and controlling the wild mind, we need to pray. Therefore, the question of believer or non-believer doesn't arise.  Even if you are a hardcore atheist,  you must accept that one Supreme Force is working beyond the human realm.  Call it by any name.    But, I profoundly believe that we all must pray. Rather than adding your material wishes to that laundry list, simply do the following 'Serenity Prayer authored by the American theologian  Reinhold (1892-1971).  The prayer covers everything, both your material and spiritual goals :

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference. 

It should be followed by this action  prescribed by  Swami Vivekananda :

Sit in a straight posture,
and the first thing to do is 
to send a current of holy thought
to all creation.
Mentally repeat,
''Let all beings be happy;
let all beings be peaceful;
let all beings be blissful.''
So do to the east, south, north and west.

The more you do that
the better you will feel yourself.

Prayer should be the background activity for every moment of your life. One can achieve progress only in small increments on daily basis. Mechanical way of wishing material prospects is the lowest form. We must raise with age.  All the civilizations of the world have made an institutional mechanism wherein  religions have some particular timings/days for prayers.  Whether you go to shrines or not, it doesn't matter but always feel your body as a temple of your Soul which is some way mystically connected with the Higher Self!