Everyone is familiar with prayer, and it’s one of the more popular attributes of today’s religions. Out of a sense of belonging to big groups and ideologies we gather concepts that suit our personal needs, to make us feel better. Unfortunately, this act usually boosts our egos when prayer is meant to humble us in the face of uncertainty. Causing an avoidance to prayer for many people. God is leveraged out in so many different directions for personal use, displaying out loud: I will pray for you.

Prayer looses its power or purpose when judgments or personal ideologies surface in the process, which negate any good use that comes from them. Selfless prayer quietly done in private is rare today, few understand the value of the humble servant. True selfless prayer does help in life, when it’s done with sincerity and in private, not waiting for a thank you. Passing on good thoughts might not help much either, however empathy with sincerity is the best you can this in most situations. Thoughts have a subtle power to them, although they may not change anything on the outside, they can help you and people deal with the tragedy on the inside.

My teacher used Blessings as a replacement to prayer, and I think its benefits help the one who is blessing besides the blessed, helps us to see things differently.

The idea behind blessings is that sometimes shit happens, and there’s not much you can do about it, besides sending some good blessings their way, to help them and yourself in dealing with this crisis.

I’ve added a few words to the blessings, but for the most part they are the words of Vethathiri Maharishi.

Picture the people in your mind and say silently and in private, “ you are blessed by God’s Divine power, you are blessed in all your activities day and night in all places. You will live a long life, good health, prosperity, happiness, wisdom and peace, by the grace of the Divine. Or repeat: you are blessed by the Divine, as often as you think is necessary, and notice that it is done by the first person, the ultimate power within the Soul, instead of asking for an external favor from another source which shows a misunderstanding, so one is directly delivering the blessing from within. At the point of blessing focus on the warm or tingling sensation within you. Picture a white light engulfing the one you are helping. We forget about the Divine that is within us, this reaffirms this fact, that we are that, an extension of that, so we should act accordingly. It forces us to stop thinking of God as something external that we need to shore down, when in fact the Soul is what you need to shore down.

Back it up with a global blessing:

“May the rains fall timely and sufficiently along all parts of the world, so that good grains, fruits, and vegetables grow abundantly to the satisfaction of all living beings, by the grace of the Divine.”

“May the leaders of all nations enjoy spiritual progress and do good services for humanity.”

“The whole world may enjoy prosperity, happiness, wisdom and peace, by the grace of the Divine.”

Backing it up with these blessings is an ego neutralizer.