Silence of a Prayer

Here is a beautiful story by Leo Tolstoy ....

There were three men who became famous saints in Russia. However, the chief priest was quite disturbed, because instead of visiting him, people were going to those three saints. He had not even heard their names, so how could they be saints? Any saint has to be certified by the church, by the priests. The priest was certainly very angry.

Finally, he took a boat to reach those three saints who used to live on the other side of the river. The three saints were sitting under a tree. They were quite simple, peasants, uneducated. They touched the feet of the priest, and the priest was very happy. Now he was quite eager to put them right.

So, he asked them, "How did you become saints?"

They said, "We don't know! We don't even know that we are saints either! We are simple, ignorant people.”

The priest was very happy. He asked, "Do you know how to pray? Are you saying Our Lord's Prayer?"

They said, "No! We don't know any prayer.”

The priest said, "You fools, I will teach you the right prayer." The priest recited The Lord's Prayer.

Those three innocent people kept requesting the priest to repeat the prayer several times, so that, they can remember it. Finally, satisfied, the priest went back in his boat. When his boat reached almost in the middle of the river he was surprised to see that, the three men were coming walking on the deep water! They were requesting him, “Please wait! Please teach us one more time ... we have forgotten the prayer ...!"

Now it was the turn of the priest to touch their feet. His eyes filled with tears, he said, "Please forget about my prayer and continue your prayer, it has been already heard! Please forgive me!"

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, prayer is a state of simplicity. Prayer is not of words but of silence. In a prayer there is no I and in prayer there is no thou. A prayer is not a dialogue between I and thou; a prayer is a merger. The I disappears into the thou, the thou disappears into the I. There is nobody to say anything and there is nobody to listen.

The river disappearing into the ocean is the prayer. The dewdrop slipping from the lotus leaf into the lake is prayer. Seeing the early morning sun, one becomes silent, and something starts rising within ....that is prayer. A bird on the wing and one forgets that one is separate ...that is prayer.

Friends, wherever the separation disappears, prayer happens. When one merges with the whole of existence, that is prayer. Egolessness is a state of prayer. Prayer has nothing to do with the words, it is wordless silence. Prayer is an open, silent sky, with no clouds, no thoughts. In a prayer one is not, only God is....!

Have a Prayerful Day Friends !