Which is more important? Prayers or Life?

[renuka]

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I witnessed two situations where people gave more importance to prayers than life.

First example:

1)A sick person at home whose existence depends on the usage of an oxygen tank 24/7..Ok when oxygen tank is being used there should be no naked flame nearby which could cause an explosion if there is a leakage.

There was an altar nearby with an open flame burning in the oil lamp and when I suggested that the flame be extinguished the answer was "No..thats a prayer lamp how can that be put off?"

I then said "the flame is very near to the oxygen tank..so its not advisable cos dont hope to survive if the oxygen tank blows up"

Still no one agreed and the flame was on!


2)Second case..a person met with an accident and hit his head on the side door of his car when a tanker crashed into his car.Head was swollen and person was complaining of pain.

So I wanted him to go for a CT brain but his spouse said that they have to go to the temple first cos they have to light a lamp every friday as part of a Pariharam to ward off some problems.

I then said "your problems is NOW..if you dont go to the hospital now your life could be in danger"

They said "The astrologer said we can not miss even one day of lighting the lamp..so we have to go to the temple first"

They actually went to the temple first and went to hospital the next day!


So I was just wondering....does prayers need one to lose Viveka and put their lives or the lives of others in danger?

So which is more important..Prayers or Right Action?

 

[prasad1]

The question should be about ignorance and misconceptions.
The so called conservative Hindus even on this site will support known misconceptions and then blame. They refuse to take responsibility for their actions and cry when they face the consequence of their actions.
There was a thread about treatment of Snake bite, these medhavis were preaching of useless remedies, that would surely kill the victim in real poisonous snake bite. Similarly there was a thread about epilepsy, these same medhavis were recommending old remedies which were outdated.

When you shun the modern science (yes sometimes science is wrong), for prayers and miracles, tragedies will follow. There are consequences.
Prayers are good to calm your mind, not for a desired material results.
We need to get rid superstitions that can harm us or other animals around us.
The right action, that too prescribed by Renukaji is the only way to go.

 

[renuka]

Dear Prasad ji,

In the second case where they did not want to miss the Pariharam really seemed totally ignorant to the fact that if their astrology says they are having a bad time and need to do Pariharams to ward off the bad luck..cant they see that the head injury itself is "bad luck" staring at their faces and the prescribed best 'pariharam' would be getting a CT scan that could prove life saving.

Yet they chose to ignore that and went to the temple instead!

 

[Raji Ram]

Dear Renu,

The best philosophy is to accept that 'avanindri OraNuvum asaiyAdhu' and follow the rules of science. :thumb:

In the first case, lighting a lamp near the O2 cylinder is total ignorance and calls for danger!

In the second case, they could have had total belief in God and first proceeded to the hospital (rule in emergency)

since the accident itself is a decision by the Almighty, to make them suffer temporarily!

 

[renuka]

Dear Renu,

The best philosophy is to accept that 'avanindri OraNuvum asaiyAdhu' and follow the rules of science. :thumb:

In the first case, lighting a lamp near the O2 cylinder is total ignorance and calls for danger!

In the second case, they could have had total belief in God and first proceeded to the hospital (rule in emergency)

since the accident itself is a decision by the Almighty, to make them suffer temporarily!

True..RR ji.

 

[Raji Ram]

Dear Renu,

You know that I believe in Shakthi Vinayakar. Whenever I become a 'damsel in distress', I keep some money aside for Him

and drop in the Hundi, later on; not that God wants my money but it is just a way of 'Thanks giving'! ray:

 

[renuka]

Dear Renu,

You know that I believe in Shakthi Vinayakar. Whenever I become a 'damsel in distress', I keep some money aside for Him

and drop in the Hundi, later on; not that God wants my money but it is just a way of 'Thanks giving'! ray:

Dear RR ji,

But doesnt that become a 'impersonal act"?

Why say Thanks with a token of appreciation and gratitude becomes a transaction?


May be we should strive to rectify one of our "faults" instead as a token of appreciation and gratitude.

Recently a priest suggested that a CD of Vishnu Sahasrarnamam be played for a sick relative at his bed side and I felt that it was too mechanical and impersonal just to play a CD .. the reciter in the CD does not really have the emotions specific for the sick person..so how is it going to help?

I felt the best is to be someone reciting it with the person is his/her mind instead of just playing CDs.I have noted that CDs have started to replace the need for actual personal prayers.

That is why I also do not really believe in Pariharams..I feel its impersonal..for example some people from here pay money to some astrologers in India to give their name to do pooja in some specific temples in India..

I was wondering..firstly the person is not even present at the temple..secondly its highly impersonal that the person doing the pooja would just rattle off to finish his work for the day.

So its better if one learns to do things themselves and pray to God directly for anything that needs some "help" and take the needed actions.

 

[Raji Ram]

Dear Renu,

I strongly believe in 'avanindri OraNuvum asaiyAdhu'. So, I know that He only 'makes' me think of the money for the Hundi.

The money is used only for the improvement of the temple and so it is a good idea, according to me. I know that even if I don't

do it, God will give what he wants to give - nothing less; nothing more! My dad used to say always, 'unakku uLLadhu kidaikkum!'

ParihArams are done ONLY to give some peace of mind and hope for something good to happen.

 

[talwan]

I witnessed two situations where people gave more importance to prayers than life.

First example:

1)A sick person at home whose existence depends on the usage of an oxygen tank 24/7..Ok when oxygen tank is being used there should be no naked flame nearby which could cause an explosion if there is a leakage.

There was an altar nearby with an open flame burning in the oil lamp and when I suggested that the flame be extinguished the answer was "No..thats a prayer lamp how can that be put off?"

I then said "the flame is very near to the oxygen tank..so its not advisable cos dont hope to survive if the oxygen tank blows up"

Still no one agreed and the flame was on!


2)Second case..a person met with an accident and hit his head on the side door of his car when a tanker crashed into his car.Head was swollen and person was complaining of pain.

So I wanted him to go for a CT brain but his spouse said that they have to go to the temple first cos they have to light a lamp every friday as part of a Pariharam to ward off some problems.

I then said "your problems is NOW..if you dont go to the hospital now your life could be in danger"

They said "The astrologer said we can not miss even one day of lighting the lamp..so we have to go to the temple first"

They actually went to the temple first and went to hospital the next day!


So I was just wondering....does prayers need one to lose Viveka and put their lives or the lives of others in danger?

உங்க மாமியாருக்கு ஆபரேஷன் பண்ணனும், ரெண்டு லட்சம் ரூபாய் ஆகும்…!
என்ன டாக்டர், கூலிப் படையை விட அதிகமா சொல்றீங்க…!

Renukaji,

The prayer in the first case and The Pariharam in the second case are acts of faith,Belief etc where Mind is controlling the person (say mindset). The Bhuthi (Thinking,analysing,logic etc) will not work/lie low.
It requires lot of persuation,explanation,reasoning etc to change the mindset
or we have to just leave at it saying " Pattu Therinchukattum".

Now to your question " So which is more important..Prayers or Right Action?"
my answer is 'prayers with Right action' is important. One should have a controlled mind to exercise what the Buthi says on that situation.

Alwan

 

[cmano1981]

In childhood, when one touches a flame in lamp, it makes them never forget the pain the flame can cause. Hoewver, in temples we see elders and kids compete to "walk in the fire" ritual. What happened to their common sense. Numerous vaccination injections are added to babies life to bring in benefit, but now many in the western world thinks vaccinations are the source of Autism and other issues and some of them do not want to give vaccinations. We go by the logic that we think right, but may be others think more than common sense or logical items for better solution.

 

[prasad1]

In childhood, when one touches a flame in lamp, it makes them never forget the pain the flame can cause. Hoewver, in temples we see elders and kids compete to "walk in the fire" ritual. What happened to their common sense. Numerous vaccination injections are added to babies life to bring in benefit, but now many in the western world thinks vaccinations are the source of Autism and other issues and some of them do not want to give vaccinations. We go by the logic that we think right, but may be others think more than common sense or logical items for better solution.

Some people learn from others experience, and you do not have to have first hand experience. We know Potassium Cyanide is deadly poison, without trying it.
According to wiki:
Firewalkers do not spend very much time on the embers, and they keep moving.
Firewalking is frequently held to imply that the feat requires the aid of a supernatural force, strong faith, or on an individual's ability to focus on "mind over matter". That is not at all true. One must have faith in themselves to walk on fire.

Modern physics has explained the phenomenon, concluding that the amount of time the foot is in contact with the ground is not enough to induce a burn, combined with the fact that embers are not good conductors of heat.

David Willey, professor of physics with the University of Pittsburgh, says he believes firewalking is explainable in terms of basic physics and is not supernatural nor paranormal. Willey notes that most fire-walks occur on coals that measure about 1,000 °F (538 °C), but he once recorded someone walking on 1,800 °F (980 °C) coals.

Additionally, Jearl Walker has postulated that walking over hot coals with wet feet may insulate the feet due to the Leidenfrost effect.

 

[Raji Ram]

Dear Prasad Sir,

The reason why fire walking does not hurt the feet could be explained scientifically but for the not so educated people, the belief in

God / Goddess (not self) gives the power to run over the glowing coal-bed. Turmeric water is poured over them before they start the

ritual. Water prevents the burns and our ancestors knew that turmeric has antibacterial and antifungal properties!

 

[renuka]

I feel fire walking is becos of altered sensorium..that is an altered state of mind makes us not feel pain.

Surgeries have been conducted on people who have been hypnotized and the person does not feel pain.

If you observe devotees who fire walk or pierce their bodies for Kavadi..they have intense momentary faith that God protects the devotees and take the daring decision to fire walk or get their bodies pierced.

Intense momentary faith is a powerful auto-hypnotic mechanism where the individual disconnects his/her mind from the surrounding and only focuses on God hence pain is not felt.

But yet at the end of the day we see no injury or burns wound..that is still not fully understood.

Possible reasons could be in an auto-hypnotic state the body could go into state where the responses of the body actually slow down hence no acute reactions to any raised temperature or injury becos of piercings of sharp instruments.

Whatever the reason..what we can see from this is... intense concentration..in this case faith can totally disconnect the mind from the body and we are rendered signs and symptoms free.

So it all falls back on being Eka Gratha(One Mindedness) and disconnecting from the surrounding and its external inputs.

 

[renuka]

my answer is 'prayers with Right action' is important.

Alwan

Thank you sir...simply love the answer..will put that into practice.

 

[sudeshwer]

I think prayer and life go side-by-side; not together. I do 'prayer' daily but at the sametime I do take medicine as reqd to my age. God never wants anyone to only 'pray'; he says 'do yr duty'. even by 'praying' one may not get what one wants; if that happens to me (many times it happened) I take as if 'I would have been worst'. - srinivasan