Tag: begging

  • Beware the ego of prayer

    Beware the ego of prayer

    Worship, if contemplated against that which we subscribe to, is bound to feed our ego.

    Worship is not worship because of its rituals.

    Nor is worship submission if performed as a transaction.

    That transaction could be an expectation of reward or blessing from the divine, or an alleviation of the struggles of one’s material state.

    Such transactions are prayers, and prayer is not worship.

    Prayer is a need expressed towards the One whom you worship.

    But to worship, you must recognise the divine within the mundane.

    You must connect with peace in the middle of chaos, because chaos is ever present if only you are present.

    Worship is finding solace in the divine despite your reality.

    Worship is a surrender to the realisation that even your most competent exercising of your agency is only effective because of the chaos kept at bay through His mercy.

    Worship is a trust placed in the divine while knowing that His mercy and benevolence is what creates the joy, the peace, the wholesomeness, the fulfilment, or even the sweetness of a moment of beauty that we live.

    Worship is not ritual.

    Worship is submission to the truth that cannot be denied.

    That truth is that we are never in control, nor are we masters of our destiny.

    We are only ever in charge of the very present moment in which we choose to act, or to surrender.

    The wisdom of what is needed in that moment is derived from our understanding of the divine design.

    Reflection is therefore the only teacher, and expectation is the enemy of education.

    Apply your mind purposefully in the present moment, and the future will unfurl as it was designed to unfurl subject to your act in the present moment.

    This, when understood with conviction and reason, enables worship beyond the ritual, beyond the prayer, beyond the praise.

    And with it comes peace in knowing that our actions, informed by our reflections, when purposeful rather than desperate or deliberate, will result in a final destination that will negate every ounce of worry or struggle in this ephemeral life.

    Subhanallah.