Evolution of Prayer

Aum Sairam

Sri Sai Baba says: Four types of persons pray to me:
Those who are in distress,
Those who are in need,
Those who are curious, and
Those who are wise [Jnani]

Out of these the first one can be excused for he prays out of panic and
helplessness, and the second one remembers the Lord only when his needs
cannot be fulfilled. The third and the fourth categories are of
selfless aspirants. The third devotee - the curious one, like a
scientist, tries to know the secrets of this mind boggling universe of
name and forms, of joys and sorrows, etc. He says: Oh Lord, I do not
understand the intricacies of this universal order [or disorder]; pray,
tell me the secrets of this Sun and the Moon, the Earth and all your
creation! But the fourth, the Jnani, prays because he has had realized
the glory of the Self. Lead me from darkness to Light, lead me from
ignorance to Knowledge, lead me from mortality to Immortality, is one
such true spiritual prayer.

The Lord naturally loves His fourth devotee who prays Him through
Knowledge and whose prayer transforms automatically into the highest
form of worship. In Jnana one finds the true and esthetic synthesis of
prayer and worship; in Jnana we find beauty of simultaneous complaint
and reverence of a sadhaka towards God. However, the highest prayer
comes from the highest Knowledge of Advaita. Albeit, when such a person
comes down to ordinary level of human consciousness his knowledge of
universal solidarity stays with him and his prayer becomes universal in
appeal and compassionate in content. The highest Advaita prayer is:
Rise thou effulgent one, rise thou who art always pure, rise thou birth
less and deathless, rise almighty, and manifest thy true nature.

No prayer should ever be ridiculed or despised, how so ever crude it
might be, and how so ever selfish it might appear; for, in every prayer
one finds the acceptance of higher authority of God. Every person who
prays accepts the higher Self and his ego takes a secondary place at
least for that period of time. Gradually, with some inexplicable
factors, his power of discrimination leads him to selfless prayer in
course of time.

Allah Malik