Praying for Basic Needs

Aum Sairam

When the child cries for milk, the mother does not mistake the child for its desire for milk saying that love should be without desire. The same mother [if wise] will find fault with her grown up daughter asking for her ornaments because ornaments are not basic needs like milk. The wise mother will say that she will give the ornaments to the daughter only after her death. But the same mother will not say that she will give the milk in her breast to the child after her death because the dead body cannot give milk and moreover the child cannot wait for the milk for a long time. Similarly, God will not mistake a pure soul asking for the basic needs of life, especially when the soul is participating in the divine service. For a mother the cry of the child is needed because the mother is not always Omniscient like God. But God is Omniscient and knows the basic requirements of the devoted soul and will give the basic needs even without the soul’s cry. Yet, the mother experiences love in giving milk to a crying child. Similarly, God experiences love when you cry to God asking Him to grant your basic needs. There is no necessity for crying to God but after all the crying gives the experience of love. Moreover, the soul should not think that God would automatically grant his basic needs like the salary given by the employer in return for the employee’s service. In the case of God, the service to God itself is the salary and there cannot be an additional salary for accepting the salary.

Nivritti [Spiritual field] is quite opposite to Pravritti [Materialistic field]. When the soul is pure and deserves a favor, God desires that the devotee ask Him like an innocent child so that He can enjoy the love. God takes pleasure in fulfilling the desire when the child asks for it. A child crying for milk is not equal to a prostitute crying to snatch away your property, since property is not a basic need. A fool does not distinguish between basic needs and property. A foolish mother will give away all her ornaments to her daughter like the milk from her breast. Then she will end in trouble because the son-in-law will force the daughter to kick out her mother, since the mother’s ornaments are already in their possession. When the devotee is in the service of the divine mission, praying to God for basic needs is not wrong because the basic needs are essential to maintain the body and the family. Such a request is not like the extra worldly desires and it is in fact a part of the divine mission alone. Jesus asked God to favor Him on several occasions but each favor was a part of the divine mission alone.

Allah Malik