Book Of Daily Thoughts And Prayers Part 1

Foreword

There are moments when the spirit is mute and powerless to give utterance to its interior yearning. It feels the need for a vibrant word to rouse it from its numbness and voice its voiceless aspiration. Hence attempts to provide, in one form or another, daily thoughts for the day's round are coincident with the rising of the religious consciousness. The ancient Forest-Books or Upanishads of the Vedic period were but the accumulated effort of great sages to help those who surrounded them in their woodland hermitage, to meet the daily problem with the triumphant heart. The medieval breviaries and manuals of devotion were written or compiled to the same end. The present volume is another contribution to this daily sacrament of prayer and holy thought. The idea of preparing it is not of recent conception. As far back as 1812, Swami Paramananda wrote me from Switzerland; "Other day I was thinking a little of the next book— (from your letters). Can't we call it 'A Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers'? What do you think of it ?" I had written to him that the idea had come to me to gather from his later letters and certain notes of his teaching material for a companion volume to the "Path of Devotion," made up from earlier letters. It was not possible, at the time, to carry out his new suggestion, as another book under preparation was practically ready for the press when the suggestion came; but the intention remained with me and at last, has assumed a definite form. The present volume has lost nothing through the delay, for now, it has a much richer store to draw upon. From year to year, I have garnered stray thoughts jotted down on scraps of paper lying on the Swami's desk or work table, or tucked in some book. I have noted vital sayings and set aside countless passages from letters. All the material used, except the lines taken from the Swami's poems, has been drawn from unpublished sources;—chiefly from familiar instructions given to his household at the morning or evening meal; or from fragments of conversation, written down with groping hand and unseeing eyes on the terrace of the Ashrama in the moonlight, or by the flicker of a hearth-fire, or by the dim flame of a far-away candle. The prayers were caught with the same stealthy silent pencil at the moment of their utterance. They sound in consequence the more living note of spoken supplication. The quotations from the Scriptures are from Swami's translations. Coming from such intimate sources, the words which follow possess special helpfulness in the intimate inward strivings of each day. They have been classified and arranged in consecutive and cumulative sequences. The thought is carried forward from day to day so that at the end of a month a new and defined impression will be made on the character. Each day brings its salient thought to be held through the waking hours in continuous mindfulness; a brief lesson amplifies this and imbeds it more deeply in the consciousness; a prayer feeds and strengthens the natural upward-reaching devotional aspirations of the heart. A few lines from Swami's sacred and illumined poems are given as a daily exercise in memorizing. Memorizing is one of the most productive spiritual practices. It provides a rich inner library to which one can turn in the moment of emptiness or distress. A single line called up in memory will sometimes turn the thought into an entirely fresh and wholesome channel. Thus on each page will be found food for all the faculties of the aspiring spirit. The Swami's words lend themselves with the peculiar aptitude to a work of this nature. His sentences have the focused, shining quality of a finely-cut gem that requires no embellishment of ornate setting. They stir the higher, holier impulses of the soul and impel to consecrated living. They carry forward by their inherent vitality and strength. The book calls for no other introduction than itself. With its tender counsel and ringing appeal, it will find its way, by the force of its spiritual power, into the heart and sanctuary of every seeker whose hand it reaches. 

: Contents 

JANUARY: LIVING CONSECRATION

FEBRUARY: STEADFAST RESOLUTION

MARCH: POWER OF HOLINESSAPRIL 

APRIL: BLISS OF HIGHER VISION.

MAY: HUMILITY, SIMPLICITY, AND PURITY OF HEART.

JUNE: FAITH AND COURAGE.

JULY: BLESSING OF SERVICE

AUGUST: TRANQUILLITY AND CHEERFULNESS.

SEPTEMBER: SELFLESS LOVE AND DEVOTION.

OCTOBER: RIGHT THOUGHT AND RIGHT AcrioN.

NOVEMBER: UNFALTERING TRUST AND SURRENDER.

DECEMBER: REDEEMING POWER WITHIN

Be not offended if my mortal hand Lacketh grace to offer Thee oblation. Yet this hand is Thy gift Sanctified by Thy touch. I will use it humbly And lift this offering of love to Thy Feet. I will cherish my mind For it bath brought me thoughts of Thee; I will cherish my heart For it hath given me a vision of Thee, And I will crown this life with a crown of bliss For it bath brought me to Thy gate. 

: JANUARY 

·LIVING CONSECRATION

He who is ever content and meditative, self-subjugated and possessed with firm conviction, with mind and heart dedicated to Me, he who is thus consecrated to Me is dear to Me. 

- Bhagavad-Gita

JANUARY FIRST 

Salient Thought for the Day. 

When we choose the spiritual life, we must make it real and vibrant. 

Lines to Memorize. 

We bring Thee our humble hearts. No merit have we save our faith in Thine infinite compassion. Do Thou make of us Thy tools that at all hours, in work and play, We may revolve in Thy safe-keeping? 

Lesson. 

When we are imbued with the true spirit of consecration, all our activities are turned into worship. All tasks before us, small and big, become of deep significance. When our heart is thus filled with the consciousness of the ever-living and all-blissful Deity, we no longer feel the weary weight of life. 

Prayer. 

O Lord, help me to consecrate my whole life to Thee. May I find all my joy in Thy blessed Presence? Help me to fasten my heart to eternal Truth. Fix my thought on Thee alone. May I never fail to look up to Thee and seek Thy holy guidance? Fill me and surround me with Thy Divine peace. May Thy holy peace reign in my heart and life.