Chant More, Pray Less?

By: Babhru Dasa

Is praying important for a spiritual seeker? Is meditation the same as prayer? What is the significance of prayer in devotional Hinduism?  What is praying? In this context, praying means to reach towards God with your internal voice and internal minds eye. To open your heart and let your personal thoughts, desires, hopes, etc. flow towards God via your individually conceived words and thoughts (often.)

In gaudiya-bhakti, praying is certainly an accepted practice, which is conducive to the culture of devotion for Sri Krishna. That being said, prayer is not exactly emphasized by most gaudiya-bhaktas.  Is it odd that a spiritual path doesn’t regularly extoll the importance of praying to God in an individual way? In some ways yes, and in some ways, no.

One reason why it is not spoken of as a main practice is not because it is unimportant, but because other practices may be considered generally more important. For instance, it is widely accepted that Hari-kirtan (chanting the names of God) is the highest practice to attain God in this degraded age of Kali. So naturally nama-kirtan is extolled in much greater depth than any other aspect of spiritual practice.  Unfortunately, intense prayer, contemplation, meditation, and other aspects of spiritual practice have largely become casualties as a result.

Interestingly enough, prayer is factually not different than kirtan, and especially so if one has the proper attitude. Chanting the name of God is a prayer to attain Gods wonderful grace, and prayer is a vehicle for the same.

So what is so special about prayer and why is it worth talking about herein? Why is it important even though one may perform lengthy chanting of mantras and other spiritual activities?  There are several main points to consider.

First, it is almost impossible to be inattentive and lackluster in sincerity when it comes to silent prayer. In many ways, it is the quickest and fastest method to achieve a sincere state of absorbed being (samadhi.) A truly connected state of being that is very deep like an ocean.  In such a state, one is engaged in deeply focusing and looking at their mind and thoughts. For example, when you speak to a person in conversation, are you inattentive and mindless? Of course not! In the same way, one attentively speaks with God in such contemplative prayer, and is natural and free about it.

Another thing to consider is that chanting the name of God may indeed be the most powerful action to awaken love of God, but for many it is also a very “unfamiliar” and also difficult practice.  What does that mean? It means that chanting the Holy Name of God might not come as naturally as prayer might. The idea being that every human has an ongoing internal dialogue with themselves. So prayer is to a very large extent the same thing, but more than a dialogue with the self, it is the conscious act of trying to ask God (the superself) to come into that internal mechanism. 

That being said, it should be acknowledged that prayer may not be easy for everyone, but is anything that is worthwhile?  Mostly the difficulty is found in rationalizing to oneself that finding time to pray is important.   The ego may immediately fight back and convince one that only chanting Harinama is worth their precious time, or that reciting the prayers of their guru/s is more beneficial than the recitation of their own prayer. But the question must be begged, are they really “more important” than your own personal prayers?

Simply put, yes and no. For example, one should see the guru’s teachings as the template for one’s own sadhana, and use it to unravel their own natural bhakti. That is truly dynamic and real. We should not replace the guru’s prayer with our own and not vice verse. In time of ones individual prayer, a feeling of emotional and natural saturation is generally more prevalent, as the payer is wholly a creation born from within. It is a very powerful thing to reach within ones heart and psyche and make an offering to God. Mere perpetual imitation has a much harder time of invoking the practitioner’s true inner feelings. Furthermore, it is seen over and over again that the practice, which lacks “personal invention,” is also one that generally lacks dynamic taste and energy.

So all in all, introspective prayer should be highly valued. It is a very centering practice, and a practice where one can become very humbled and vulnerable as well.  Praying at multiple points a day can be a good starting point. For example (but certainly not limited too), when we rise from bed, before we meditate or chant japa, in the evening when the sun is going down, and perhaps before we fall asleep. By implementing such practices, one will come more and more to know the inner depths of their own self, and to live in a more aware, connected, and introspective manner. Ones practice will not be simply “lip service,” but something of ever growing substance.