In order to benefit by all the God-warmth within any of these prayers or demands, one should takeonly one paragraph at a time from any demand, mentally picture the meaning, visualize theimagery of the figure of speech, and meditate deeply on it, until the fiery meaning emanates, freefrom word limitations.A word is like a drunken, dumb man, who
feels
what kind of liquor is in him but who is unable to
express
himself clearly about it. He may, by merely a cry or a little gesture, indicate the kind of wine he drank. So are the words in these demands drunk with God, but they would never be ablefully to express and explain the quality of the wine of inspiration within them, except by way of alittle gesture and a mumbled cry of suggestion.One may wish to read a complete prayer or demand, to get a quick view of its entire meaning. Butif he will read it over and over again, many times, and then, with closed eyes, repeatedly try to
feel
the deep inspiration behind and within it, he will thus
spiritualize
it—that is, rouse the inspirationslumbering beneath the thick, silken quilt of words.Prayers and demands are like plants which daily grow new blossoms: the flowers change, but theplants remain. Similarly, a prayer-plant may have the same branches and leaves of words, but everyday will yield new roses of God-feeling and inspiration, if one regularly waters the plant withmeditation. The prayer-plant should be protected from the storms of doubt, distraction, mentalidleness, leaving-meditation-until-tomorrow (the morrow that never comes), absent-mindedness,and thinking-of-something-else while imagining the mind is wholly on the soul of a prayer.Such parasites on the prayer-plants should be destroyed by the germicides of self-control,determination, and loyalty to a teaching. Thus, daily the glowing, immortal roses of inspirationmay be gathered from the plants of these
prayer-demands
.Be still, and let God answer through you. Learn to know Him by knowing your Self. Visualize Himas formless but with form, silent but with voice as well. For example, when God is described as avisible Cosmic Idol, worshipped with drum-beats of ocean-roar, one should actually try mentally tovisualize the entire concept behind the Cosmic Idol. And when the Almighty is spoken of as theDivine Mother, one should feel the same devotion to God, the Universal Mother, as a loving childfeels toward its mother.O! seeker after soul-awakening! Every day, dry with the heat of concentration the form-wetmatchsticks of words in a demand; then repeatedly strike them on the tinder of your mind, and atlast you will see the divine flames leap out.
FOREWORDBy Amelita Galli-Gurci
In
Whispers from Eternity
, by Paramhansa Yogananda, we are taught to pray to Our HeavenlyFather by
demanding
instead of begging, and thus not limit ourselves to the law of beggary. Theauthor explains in the beginning why all our prayers are not answered. All the property belongingto a father can be claimed by his son, but not by a beggar. That is why the author tells us that inorder to demand, we must first realize our forgotten identity with the Father by deep meditation,and that we must learn to remember by right living that God made us in His image.In this sacred book we are shown how to resurrect dead, old-fashioned prayers, and through theirliving qualities bring response from the silent Almighty. Instead of parroting dead prayers, we learnto saturate them with God-invoking love.
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