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| | | Book Name: The Discipline of Transcendence, Vol 4 | Previous Next | |
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if it is not against God then there is no point in praying. You are ill: if you trust God that means you know that God wants you to be ill. This is how you are at this moment, this is what God's will is. You accept it. Then your prayer is only of gratitude. You don't beg for anything, you simply thank Him: "Thank you for making me ill. Thank you, because I know it must be needed. I may not understand, but I know you give me whatsoever is needed, whenever it is needed." You don't go to the temple or the church or the mosque and ask for help. If you ask, you are going against God. That which has happened already cannot happen against the will of the whole, whatsoever it is. If it is a dark night, then you must be in need of a dark night.
A Sufi mystic used to say in his prayer every day, "Thank you, my Lord -- you always give me whatsoever is needed." His disciples were very annoyed by this, because they had seen him many times when he was poor, hungry, nowhere to rest in the night. And still, he would pray to God five times a day, and he would say, "Thank you. How grateful I am -- whatsoever I need you always give me."
One day it was too much. For three days they had been hungry; nobody had even offered them food. For three days they had been sleeping under the trees, outside a town. and the town was very antagonistic and was ready to kill them. And the morning of the fourth day the mystic was praying again and he was saying, "Thank you. Whatsoever I need you always give me."
One disciple could not contain himself. He said, "Stop all this nonsense! There is a limit to everything. What are you thanking God for? For three days we have been hungry, thirsty, no shelter. Nights are cold and we are getting frozen and you are thanking! For what! What has He given you!"
The mystic laughed and said, "For these three days I needed to be hungry, needed to be without any shelter. It was part of my growth. These three days have done me tremendous good, they have been a great blessing. That's what was needed, and He always gives whatsoever is needed."
In fact, whatsoever He gives is whatsoever is needed.
But when you pray, your prayer
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