About Prayer (11)

One day Mullah Nasruddin saw the village schoolmaster leading a group of children toward the mosque.

"What are you taking them there for?" he asked.

"There is a drought in the land," said the teacher, "and we trust that the cries of the innocent will move the heart of the Almighty."

"It isn't the cries, whether innocent or criminal, that count," said the Mullah, "but wisdom and awareness."

"How dare you make such a blasphemous statement in the presence of these children!" cried the teacher. "Prove what you have said, or you shall be denounced as a heretic."

"Easy enough," said Nasruddin. "If the prayers of children counted for anything there wouldn't be a schoolteacher in all the land, for there is nothing they so detest as going to school. The reason you have survived those prayers is that we, who know better than the children, have kept you where you are!"

Anthony de Mello

About Prayer (10)

It's no good having our prayers answered if they are not answered at the right time:

In ancient India much store was set by the Vedic rites, which were said to be so scientific in their application that when the sages prayed for rain there was never any drought. It is thus that a man set himself to pray, according to these rites, to the goddess of wealth, Lakshimi, begging her to make him rich.

He prayed to no effect for ten long years, after which period of time he suddenly saw the illusory nature of wealth and adopted the life of a renunciate in the Himalayas.

He was sitting in meditation one day when he opened his eyes and saw before him an extraordinarily beautiful woman, all bright and shining as if she were made of gold.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I am the goddess Lakshimi to whom you recited hymns for twelve years," said the woman. "I have appeared to grant you your desire."

"Ah, my dear goddess," exclaimed the man, "I have since attained the bliss of meditation and lost my desire for wealth. You come too late. Tell me, why did you delay so long in coming?"

"To tell you the truth," said the goddess, "given the nature of those rites you so faithfully performed, you had fully earned the wealth. But, in my love for you and my desire for your welfare, I held it back."

If you had the choice, which would you choose: the granting of your petition or the grace to be peaceful whether it is granted or not?

Anthony de Mello

About Prayer (9)

An elderly woman who was an enthusiastic gardener declared that she had no faith whatsoever in predictions that someday scientists would learn to control the weather. According to her, all that was needed to control the weather was prayer.

She should have changed her silly beliefs.


Anthony de Mello

About Prayer (8)

The Indian sage, Narada, was a devotee of the Lord Hari. So great was his devotion that he was one day tempted to think that in all the world there was no one who loved God more than he.

The Lord read his heart and said, "Narada, go to this town on the banks of the Ganges, for a devotee of mine dwells there. Living in his company will do you good."

Narada went and found a farmer who rose early in the morning, pronounced the name of Hari only once, then lifted his plough and went out to his fields where he worked all day. Just before he fell asleep at night he pronounced the name of Hari once again. Narada thought, "How can this rustic be a devotee of God? I see him immersed all day in his worldly occupations."

The the Lord said to Narada, "Fill a bowl to the brim with milk and walk all around the city. Then come back without spilling a single drop." Narada did as he was told.

"How many times did you remember me in the course of your walk around the city?" asked the Lord.

"Not once, Lord," said Narada. "How could I when you commanded me to watch that bowl of milk?"

The Lord said, "That bowl so absorbed your attention that you forgot me altogether. But look at that peasant who, though burdened with the cares of supporting a family, remembers me twice every day!"

Anthony de Mello

About Prayer (7)

It is the custom among Catholics to confess their sins to a priest and receive absolution from him as a sign of God's forgiveness. Now all too often there is the danger that penitents will use this as a sort of guarantee, a certificate that will protect them from divine retribution, thereby placing more trust in the absolution of the priest than in the mercy of God.

This is what Perugin, an Italian painter of the Middle Ages, was tempted to do when he was dying. He decided that he would not go to confession if, in his fear, he was seeking to save his skin. That would be sacrilege and an insult to God.

His wife, who knew nothing of the man's inner disposition, once asked him if he did not fear to die unconfessed. Perugin replied, "Look at it this way, my dear: My profession is to paint and I have excelled as a painter. God's profession is to forgive and if he is good at his profession, as I have been at mine, I see no reason to be afraid."

Anthony de Mello

About Prayer (6)

A Hasidic Tale:

Late one evening a poor farmer on his way back from the market found himself without his prayer book. the wheel of his cart had come off right in the middle of the woods and it distressed him that this day should pass without his having said his prayers.

So this is the prayer he made: "I have done something very foolish, Lord. I came away from home this morning without my prayer book and my memory is such that I cannot recite a single prayer without it. So this is what I am going to do: I shall recite the alphabet five times very slowly and you, to whom all prayers are known, can put the letters together to form the prayers I can't remember."

And the Lord said to his angels, "Of all the prayers I have heard today, this one was undoubtedly the best because it came from a heart that was simple and sincere."

Anthony de Mello

About Prayer (5)

A cobbler came to Rabbi Isaac of Ger and said, "Tell me what to go about my morning prayer. My customers are poor men who have only one pair of shoes. I pick up their shoes late in the evening and work on them most of the night; at dawn there is still work to be done if the men are to have their shoes ready before they go to work. Now my question is: What should I do about my morning prayer?"

"What have you been doing till now?" the Rabbi asked.

"Sometimes I rush through the prayer quickly and get back to my work - but then I feel bad about it. At other times I let the hour of prayer go by. Then too I feel a sense of loss and every now and then, as I raise my hammer from the shoes, I can almost hear my heart sigh, 'What an unlucky man I am, that I am not able to make my morning prayer.'"

Said the Rabbi, "If I were God I would value that sigh more than the prayer."

Anthony de Mello

About Prayer (4)

After many years of labor an inventor discovered the art of making fire. He took his tools to the snow-clad northern regions and initiated a tribe into the art - and the advantages - of making fire. The people became so absorbed in this novelty that it did not occur to them to thank the inventor, who one day quietly slipped away. Being one of those rare human beings endowed with greatness, he had no desire to be remembered or revered; all he sought was the satisfaction of knowing that someone had benefited from his discovery.

The next tribe he went to was just as eager to learn as the first. But the local priests, jealous of the stranger's hold on the people, had him assassinated. To ally any suspicion of the crime, they had a portrait of the Great Inventor enthroned upon the main altar of the temple, and a liturgy designed so that his name would be revered and his memory kept alive. The greatest care was taken that not a single rubric of the liturgy was altered or omitted. The tools for making fire were enshrined within a casket and were said to bring healing to all who laid their hands on them with faith.

The High Priest himself undertook the task of compiling a Life of the Inventor. This became the Holy Book in which the Inventor's loving-kindness was offered as an example for all to emulate, his glorious deeds were eulogized, his superhuman nature made an article of faith. The priests saw to it that the Book was handed down to future generations, while they authoritatively interpreted the meaning of his words and the significance of his hold life and death. And they ruthlessly punished with death or excommunication anyone who deviated from their doctrine. Caught up as they were in these religious tasks, the people completely forgot the art of making fire.

From The Lives of the Desert Fathers:
Abbot Lot came to Abbot Joseph and said, "Father, according to my capacity I keep my little rule and my little fast, my prayer, my meditation, my contemplative silence; and according as I am able I cleanse my heart of evil thoughts. Now what more should I do?" The elder stood up in reply. He stretched out his hands to heaven and his fingers became like ten lamps of fire. He said, "This: become totally changed into fire."

Anthony de Mello

About Prayer (3)

A Sufi saint set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca. At the outskirtsof the city he lay down by the road, exhausted from his journey. He had barely fallen asleep when he was brusquely awakened
by an irate pilgrim. "This is the time when all believers bow their heads toward Mecca and you have your feet pointing toward the holy shrine. What sort of Muslim are you?"

The Sufi did not move; her merely opened his eyes and said, "Brother, would you do me the favor of placing my feet where they won't be pointing to the Lord?"

The Prayer of a devotee to the Lord Vishnu:
"Lord, I ask you to pardon me for three major sins: first, I went on pilgrimage to your many shrines, oblivious of your presence everywhere; second, I so often cried to you for help, forgetting that you are more concerned than I am about my welfare; and finally, here I am asking for forgiveness when I know that our sins are forgiven before we commit them."

Anthony de Mello

About Prayer (2)

A Hasidic Tale:

The Jews of a small town in Russia were eagerly awaiting the arrival of a Rabbi. This was going to be a rare event, so they spent a lot of time preparing the questions they were going to put to the holy man.

When he finally arrived and they met with him in the town hall, he could sense the tension in the atmosphere as all prepared to listen to the answers he had for them.

He said nothing at first; he just gazed into their eyes, and hummed a haunting melody. Soon everyone began to hum. He started to sing and they sang along with him. He swayed and danced in solemn, measured steps. The congregation followed suit. Soon they became so involved in the dance, so absorbed in its movements that they were lost to everything else on earth; so every person in that crowd was made whole, was healed from the inner fragmentation that keeps us from the Truth.

It was nearly an hour before the dance slowed down and came to a halt. With the tension drained out of their inner being, everyone sat in the silent peace that pervaded the room. Then the Rabbi spoke the only words he pronounced that evening; "I trust that I have answered your questions."

A dervish was asked why he worshiped God through dance. "Because," he replied, "to worship God means to die to self; dancing kills the self. When the self dies all problems die with it. Where the self is not, Love is, God is."

The Master sat with his disciples in the audience. He said, "You have heard many a prayer and said many a prayer. Tonight I should like you to see one."

At that moment the curtain rose and the ballet began.

Anthony de Mello