Vedic Heritage Teaching Program- Human Development and Spiritual Growth: Volume-III: Part-9 (An Old and Rare Book)

Foreword The culture of the people of India is religious. Even Indians who are committed to faiths like Christianity and Islam have essentially the same culture. The Indian culture will disappear if its constituent elements are devoid of any religious content.

Language, dress, home, food, customs, manners and fine and performing arts are the elements that constitutes the culture of a given group of people. None of these needs to have anything to do with religion. Therefore, one can see a more or less secular culture in many countries.

In the Indian culture, however, all these elements are connected to the Vedic religion. This is so because in the Vedic vision of God, the world is non-separate from Him. All human pursuits are also connected to religion. The pursuit of wealth is seeking the grace of the Goddess of Wealth, Dhanalaksmi. Making a good home is the grace of Grhalaksmi; success is Jayalaksmi children are Santanalaksmi; marriage is Varalaksmi and one's well-being is Saubhagyalaksmi Even virtues like courage and strength are looked upon as the grace of God. Any knowledge is looked upon as the Goddess of Knowledge. In short, no pursuit or object of pursuit is secular, The human body itself is a temple. Bathing, dressing and ornamentation, alankara, are all a ritual of worship. Washing the dwelling place every day and decorating the entrance with rangoli are done to invite Goddess Laksmi. Greeting people with folded hands is an act of worship.

This religious culture, which touches every aspect of one's life, including the scheme of things in which one lives, was imbibed naturally from one's home and the cultural atmosphere of the immediate community. Not anymore. The parents are busy earning their livelihood in the competitive society and a joint family is a rare exception. So, the children have to be taught methodically the religious cultural forms and their meaning, in a class-room situation.

Keeping this in view, we have evolved a course in Vedic Heritage for children of different age groups. Drawing from ten years of experience teaching this heritage, Sunita Ramaswamy and Sundar Ramaswamy, my students, with the help of other students, have put together manuals for teachers and workbooks for children. I hope the educational institutions in India will make use of these books to conduct regular Vedic Heritage classes for children. Individual parents can also make use of these manuals to teach the children their heritage.

Introduction Prayer is the highest form of communication with the Lord, and can be offered in simple words or as an elaborate ritual. The modes of prayer may differ from person to person but the attitude is fundamental to all. Prayer helps nurture one's special relationship to the Lord- the relationship of the created to the Creator by invoking the devotee in the person. Unlike the other relative roles one plays, the role of a devotee is no demanding since the Lord seeks nothing from us. When one's relationship to the Lord becomes primary in life, other relationships become secondary and, thus, less problematic.

Prayer has its purpose in helping one achieve an object of desire, be it mental clarity or a given end. Ultimately, prayer helps one gain the maturity to be a qualified recipient of spiritual knowledge. This knowledge teaches us our identity with the Lord and helps us discover freedom and happiness, the nature of oneself.

Three Types of Prayer

Prayer is expressed in three ways: physical, kayika; oral, vacika; and mental, mimamsa.

A ritual or a pooja is a physical form of prayer. Singing in praise of the Lord or chanting verses and Vedic hymns is oral prayer. Japa or worship done silently is mental prayer.

**Contents and Sample Pages**