"Why pray? What is the point of prayer when the Advaita Brahman is everything. On the outset I am a believer in Advaitin Brahman and full faith in Karma theory.
There are two types of prayers (I am talking of Bhakti).
1. Is begging to get some favors from God.
2. Praising God to get some brownie points (As if Brahman is a Royalty that will throw some crumbs).
I assume Lord Shiva meditating on Brahman is not same as Prayer.
When I go to Bhajan, and listen to the lyrics I feel very uncomfortable. It does not match with my philosophy. Similarly when I go to puja's and understand the meaning of the verses, I feel uncomfortable. I almost hate to go to Satya Narayan puja, and suffer through the Katha which seems so hollow to me. I life a social life so have to endure it even if it bothers me personally.
We visit Temple almost every week, having been associated with my local Temple. I also visit Temples all over the world, but of late I have become more of a tourist than a devotee.
Kabir Das says:
paahan pooje hari miley to mai poojun pahaad
taatein chakki bhali jo pees khaaye sansar
translation :
if praying to an idol (stone) leads to God then I will pray to a mountain
better than that is a stone flour mill
which feeds the world grinding grain
Similarly Rahim Das says:
"Rahiman yachakta gahe,bade chot hoye jaat.Narayan ko he bhayo,bawan angul gaat."
Meaning that one becomes very small (in status) when asking something from someone.
Remember , your success depends on the inward state of your mind. Yes, I agree that most of us want to have riches, healthy lives, nice children and prosperous future. But if we always approached God with a begging attitude then we are treating Him as our bearer to supply the things required by us at once. This is no devotion to God but devotion to our own selfish desires.
All religions including Hindu religion only cater to the security/insecurity needs & desires of its followers.
This includes all forms of rituals of every religion including Hinduism.
Pursuit of Security (Artha) and desires (Kama) constrained by Dharma are indeed valid pursuits and does not contradict any Vedantic teaching.
However Vedanta only begins for someone who has matured beyond the above two pursuits. Therefore it is not valid in my view to bring Vedanta into religious practices of its followers who may be at another phase of learning and growth.
Mutts largely cater to the needs of people who are in the ritual phase.
In fact anyone desiring to be student of Vedanta cannot pass judgement of pursuits of Artha and Kama of others (provided they are not done in an adharmic manner).
The concept of Prayer or worshiping Isvara in a form like a deity is not contradicted by Vedas or Vedanta. The only thing that happens is that concept of Isvara matures with more learning.
There are prayers attributed to Adi Shankara. It is immaterial whether it was created by someone else or not. Those slokas do not contradict any of the Advita teaching for those that truly understand what the teaching is about.
When a child is young in some household one is taught about the God coming and poking your eyes etc. (
உம்மாச்சி கண்ணை குத்திடும்).
Some of these ideas are carried forward in adult life by some when they undertake special forms of worship like reciting stories in Sathyanarayana Pujas !
Some people may or may not grow out of these for other forms pursuits. The world is large and can accommodate all forms of worship and there is no need to pass judgement.
The vedic teaching did not support or prohibit anthropomorphic Isvara (which is why there are many atheists during Vedic time could still support Vedas)
Anyone that believes in Karma model has to know that prayer - which is action of the mind done with free will - is also an act of Karma and will have consequences which may or may not be what the devotee asked for.
So let those that pray continue.
There are actually scientific studies by scientists (and not some religious nuts) that claims that mass thinking by many beings can impact the environment. There is one person who claims to have installed random number generator at many locations around the world in labs. There are statistical tests to verify the degree of randomness from the list of generated numbers. During special occasions (New year, inauguration of Obama Presidency) there were sharp deviations from randomness of the numbers generated. There are many such experiments by other serious scientists. Therefore until there is more data it is not possible to conclude that mass action (including prayer which is mental action) has no impact on the environment.
In the mean time the best approach is to live and let live - let us equally respect those that want to pray or not pray provided they do not cause harm to others.
