Why Pray? Mindful in a Modern World

I pray daily. I set aside at least a few minutes (minimum 1 minute) daily to pray / meditate. It may seem like an odd thing for people to do these days. Praying almost seems out of fashion these days. Not saying everyone is forgoing it. It is just that I see less people praying. Pallavi has on numerous occasions questioned the way I pray or possibly even why I pray.

So why do I pray?

Sometimes you do something for so long you stop to question why you do it, especially if you feel like it’s a positive thing. And so when questioned why you do do something, you may not have a quick answer. Doesn’t mean you don’t know the answer. Just that it’s not as apparent because the reason why you do something may have evolved. We all evolve daily and so evolves our daily rituals.

Defining Prayer:

a devout petition to God. a spiritual communion with God, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession. the act or practice of praying to God. a formula or sequence of words used in or appointed for praying: Prayer.

Which then brings the second questions, God?

Defining God:

the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being. the power behind it all

I believe I started out praying influenced by religion, not just Hinduism but also Christianity ( I went to Catholic school for 9 years) & Islam (a family member married a person who is Islamic). I was intrigued by religion so much I took a few semesters of Eastern Religion & Hinduism at Rutgers University. The idea of prayer is embedded in all religions. What seemed like a forced activity was truly meant to be an act of mindfulness.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the idea of learning how to be fully present and engaged in the moment, aware of your thoughts and feelings without distraction or judgment.

An activity which I look forward to doing everyday.

You can basically say praying or meditating is like hygiene for your soul / mental health.

It’s odd to compare praying / meditating to exercise or brushing your teeth. But its truly a closer definition than you think.

Hygiene is described as conditions or practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, especially through cleanliness.

When I take out time to pray, I basically take out time to refocus and just be present.

My practice goes like this: I ask God & the Universe to:

forgive me and my family if we inadvertently hurt or harmed anyone ( I don’t think we have, but it doesn’t hurt to be more mindful with this one [Do on to others as you wish to have done to you] a Do no Evil type thing).
show us the better way to do things
protect me and all of the people in my life
make us richer with better health, wealth, happiness, longer lives and knowledge
help make my family grow
I take a moment to be thankful for my family and the people in my life

All the burden of these asks are not just on God and the universe but also they are me and should be in my focus. Goals I wish to attain for me and my family. My reiterating them is a reminder that no matter how lost I get into the little details of the daily grind, these are my true goals I wish to achieve. And so for instance, I shouldn’t be eat unhealthy or wastefully spending money. But more so position myself to make meaningful impacts to the lives of my family and everyone else in my life.

Give it a try. I created a small app to help you take a moment to breathe:

Go to -> https://breathe.thareja.org