Prayer Guide

Prayer Guide

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Book Specification

Item Code: IHL553
Author: Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Publisher: Arsh Sahitya Prachar Trust
Language: English
Edition: 2013
ISBN: 9788190605915
Pages: 261
Cover: Paperback
Other Details 8.5 inch X 5.5 inch
Weight 370 gm

Book Description

Back of the Book

“A Prayer is an act, and prayerfulness is an attitude. The right attitude serves like a shock absorber against a sense of disappointment and failure. Seeing through the complexities of a situation to choose the right course of action is possible if one has adequate grace; and grace is earned by prayer. Mature, objective response to both pleasant and unpleasant situations comes from prayerful attitude. The act of prayer serve to make one prayerful.

Being prayerful, one’s response to varying situations would be effective without one being in anyway affected. This attitude also helps one to accept one’s past, as well as the present situation. The more prayerful one is, the freer one becomes from guilt, hurt, and from self-loath. In the wake of graceful acceptance, there is serenity.”

Preface

This is a very useful book consisting of independent topics under one title ‘Prayer Guide’. A given topic may be a discussion on a verse that one may be chanting daily, or a word that needs to be understood thoroughly.

Over a period of time I had talked on different occasions like Guru-purnima, Sankara-jayanti and so on, and they are all here; each is found strengthening a weak link in our total understanding. Therefore, I consider this book will be found useful to every reader. I enjoyed my reading and re-editing this book.

Contents

Preface ix
Key to Transliteration xi
Understanding Prayer
Need for Prayer 1
Action is mithya 2
Control of hidden variables 4
Our free will is not that ‘free’ 5
Following dharma helps us ‘become’ free 7
Prayer is the only ‘completely free’ action on the part of a kartr 11
Primarily prayer is for adrsta-phala, unseen result 12
The world is a manifestation of Isvara 15
Conforming to dharma is being in harmony with Isvara 16
Prayer produces punya 19
Sastra reveals the existence of adrsta-phala 21
Human life is a mixture of punya and papa 22
Ritualistic Prayer
Srauta-karma 29
Smarta-karma 30
Ritualistic prayer produces the maximum punya 31
Altars 32
Oral Prayer
All names are Isvara’s names 34
You can invoke Isvara in a particular name 36
Mental Prayer
Meditation is mental activity focused on Isvara 40
Japa 43
Japa helps train our mind 45
Mind is but an instrument 47
Significance of 108 48
Prayerfulness 49
Devotion
Becoming a devotee 50
The lord is the creator and I am the created 52
Relationship with Isvara is crucial to one’s becoming a devotee 54
Puja 54
Altar of worship 57
Meditation 58
Love has to be discovered 59
Puja helps us gain jnana 60
Akhanda-nama-japa 60
Three types of japa 61
Akhanda-japa transforms you 61
Mantra Initiation
Mantra initiation is also for girls 64
Initiation before teenage years 65
Make your vows public 66
Father initiates son into the mantra in upanayana 67
Japa becomes an inner guide for the initiated 67
Initiation 69
Count by time 69
Every committed person is eligible for a mantra 69
Forms of worship
Everything is sacred 73
Worshipping a form is a blessing 74
Lord Ganesa 74
Lord Nataraja 75
Sri Daksinamurti 77
The Lord as the eight aspects 77
The lord as the teacher 79
Sivalinga 81
Worship of the Five Elements 82
Mantras and Stotras
Suklambaradharam 85
Agajanana-padmarkam 87
Ya kundendu 89
Gayatri-mantra 91
Om namo bhagavate daksinamurtaye 95
Maunavyakhya 97
Nidhaye sarvavidyanam 100
Om namah pranavarthaya 101
Isvaro gururatmeti 102
Tatpurusaya vidmahe 103
Rajadhirajaya 105
Na tatra suryo bhati 108
Srirama rama rameti 110
Namaste astu bhagavan 111
Sivamanasapuja 114
Saha navavatu 127
Om
Om as a word 131
Om as a sound-symbol 133
Pranava, om, is only for sannyasins 137
Overview of Rudram and Camakam
In Camakam we ask the Lord to give us everything 138
The Lord is the order that sustains everything 140
Recognising the order helps reduce our subjectivity 141
Our subjectivity is part of the order 142
Chanting Rudram reduces our subjectivity 143
The vision of oneness 144
Rudram and Camakam are complementary 145
In the Lord’s vision everything is in order 145
The Gist of Purusa Suktam
Description of the purusa 148
All beings are the purusa 150
Chanting Purusa Suktam regularly neutralizes the sense of ownership 150
The Lord can be recognized in the heart 154
The Lord is everything 155
He is the Lord of time and of all the worlds 156
Introduction to Visnusahasranama
Why so many names? 157
A stotra is meaninggul only when it comes from a wise person 159
A word and its meaning are inseparable 161
Three sets of words:
Svarupa names 162
Guna names 163
Lila names 165
Invoke the Lord’s grace through prayer 166
Seek help from one who does not beed help 167
Purna-kumbha mantra 168
Paramananda is attained by renunciation 171
Ignorance veils the Lord’s presence in the intellect 172
The sannyasins committed to knowledge ‘gain’ paramananda 174
How do they gain this knowledge? 174
Such sannyasins are totally liberated 177
Kirtans
Vandeham saradam 183
Daksinamurte amurte 189
The world is like a tree 190
The Lord as the guru 193
Khelati mama hrdaye 195
Religious Festivals
Sarasvati puja 199
Everything is sacred 200
Navaratri festival in Tamil Nadu 201
Ramanavami 202
Sivaratri 221
Lord Siva is auspiciousness 221
Lord Siva is the lord of time 222
Gurupurnima 225
Caturmasya-vrata 225
A guru unfolds spiritual knowledge 226
We invoke the Lord in the guru 228
Knowing implies removal of inhibiting factors 231
The teaching method 236
Sri Sankara Jayanti 238
Sri Sankaracarya as upadhi-visesa 240
Sri Sankaracarya and the teaching tradition, sampradaya 245
Sample Pages



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