Experience and Prayer

I once heard a story related by an announcer on All India Radio. It was about a man in London, who was looking for a job. He applied to several companies and institutions but failed to get a job. Finally, he thought of a unique strategy. He wrote on a placard ‘Please give me a job’, and holding this placard aloft, he stood out on a street in London. It started raining, but he just kept standing there. That evening, a timber merchant of London who was passing along that street read the words on the placard. He got out of his car, came up to the man and gave him his card. He said, “Come to my office tomorrow, and I’ll give you a job.” And the very next day the man got a job.

When I heard the story on the radio I felt a great unease. I was reminded of death, of the Hereafter, and of Paradise. Then I prayed to God: “Please give me a seat in Paradise.”

This is a simple example of how an experience can be turned into a point of reference. It is a fact that while leading our lives in the present world, we have different kinds of experiences, almost on a daily basis. If our mind is awakened and we have attained realization of God, all these experiences or events can become points of reference for us. As a result of these experiences and events, the realized soul, the believer will remember God. Prayers full of devotion will keep coming to his lips. He may be living in the material world, but it is this material world which will become a source of spiritual provision for him.