April 21

She Shuffles the Cards

Q uestion: If someone prays for something that feels good and seems right but it doesn’t happen, should the person just forget it, or keep praying?

Sri Gurudev: Strictly speaking, your prayer should not be for getting something. It should not be a sort of, “I pray, You give.” That does not mean that you should not ask anything of God. You can ask, but don’t demand. Say, “I don’t know what’s best. I might even be asking for the wrong thing. So if it is Your Will, if You think it’s good for me, then please give it to me.”

We are nothing but puppets. The force that we call the Cosmic Mother functions through you, through me, through everything—even a speck of dust, or an atom. We say that, but it’s not enough. We have to feel it. If we just have that feeling, then whatever we do will become spiritual practice because we are not doing it. If someone else does something to you, you should say, “Oh, whatever Mother is doing is Mother’s business. She shuffles the cards.” Then who is your friend, who is your enemy? We are all one and the same motivated by that power. If you want to pray, say a prayer to God to help you to remember this truth.

In praying for others, we should feel, “Mother, You are putting a desire in my mind to pray for another, so I am praying.” Even the idea to pray for someone comes from that Cosmic Source. Otherwise, how could you pray? The good feelings to wish others well comes from that Mother. The power to pray comes from that Mother. The words to pray come from that Mother. The thought has come from the Mother. Even the energy with which you pray comes from that Mother. How can you say, “I am praying for that,” as if the Mother were waiting for your prayer to cure that person? As if that person would be doomed without your prayer. That’s another subtle form of ego.