How can our prayers influence the lives of others? In the same way that they elevate our own: by implanting in the consciousness positive patterns of health, success, and receptivity to divine help. Paramahansa Yogananda wrote:
“The human mind, freed from the disturbances or ‘static’ of restlessness, is empowered to perform all the functions of complicated radio mechanisms — sending as well as receiving thoughts and tuning out undesirable ones. As the power of a radio broadcasting station is regulated by the amount of electrical current it can utilize, so the effectiveness of a human radio depends on the degree of will power possessed by each person.”
The minds of illumined masters, who have perfectly attuned their will with God’s will, can transmit the divine power to bring instantaneous healing of body, mind, and spirit. The writings and lectures of Paramahansa Yogananda abound with examples of such healings. He explained that though they seem miraculous, divine healings are the natural result of scientifically fulfilling the universal laws of creation. By conveying God’s idea patterns of perfection with sufficient will power and energy to manifest them in the minds and bodies of others, these enlightened ones follow the same process by which everything in the universe was formed.
Any person who prays according to these principles will find that his or her prayers also have a tangible influence. And though our individual power is obviously less than that which a master can convey, when the prayers of thousands are united, the powerful vibrations of peace and divine healing thus generated are of inestimable value in helping to manifest the desired results. To this end, Paramahansa Yogananda originated the Self-Realization Fellowship Prayer Council and the Worldwide Prayer Circle.
“First, wrinkle your eyebrows together a little, then close your eyes. Think of any person to whom you want to send healing power.
“Concentrate at the point between your eyebrows and mentally say: ‘Heavenly Father, I will with Thy will. My will is Thy will. With Thine omnipresent will, O Father, I will with all my heart, with all my soul, that this person be healed.’
“While saying this, think that a current is going through the point between your eyebrows into the point between the eyebrows of the person you are trying to help. Feel that you are sending a current from your spiritual eye into the spiritual eye of the person you wish to be healed.
“Concentrate deeper and you will feel heat at the point between the eyebrows. Feeling this heat is proof that your will power is developing.
“Concentrate still deeper. Mentally say: ‘With Thy will I send a flash of Cosmic Energy. Father, it is there.’
“This should be practiced from fifteen to twenty minutes. While you are doing this, your will power develops; and this developed will power will be with you continuously, no matter what happens, to aid yourself and others when needed.”
How Can My Prayers Help Others?
Sri Daya Mata
Time: 4:26 minutes
In these challenging times, there is much we can do through the power of prayer — not only for ourselves but to serve our families, our friends, our neighbors, and the world. You can learn the effective prayer techniques of yoga through theSelf-Realization Fellowship Lessons and develop your own personal relationship with God.
Sometimes people ask, “What is the best way to pray for others?” Sri Daya Mata, third president of SRF, has said:
“To pray for others is right and good...asking, above all, that they may be receptive to God, and thus receive physical, mental, or spiritual help direct from the Divine Physician. This is the basis of all prayer. God’s blessing is ever present; receptivity is often lacking. Prayer heightens receptivity....
“When you are affirming healing for others or yourself, visualize the tremendous force of God’s healing power as a white light surrounding you or the person for whom you are praying. Feel that it is melting away all illness and imperfection. Every uplifting thought we think, every prayer we utter, every good action we perform, is impregnated with God’s power. We can manifest this power in greater and greater ways as our faith becomes stronger and our love for God becomes deeper.”
“Thought is a force; it has immense power. That is why I believe so deeply in the Worldwide Prayer Circle that Paramahansa Yogananda began. I hope you are all involved in it. When people send forth concentrated, positive thoughts of peace, love, goodwill, forgiveness, as in the healing technique used by the Worldwide Prayer Circle, this generates a great power. If the masses were to do this, it would set up a vibration of goodness that would be powerful enough to change the world.”
Modern science has shown that everything in the universe is composed of energy, and that the apparent differentiation between solids, liquids, gases, sound, and light is merely a difference in their vibratory rates. Similarly, the world’s great religions state that all created things originate in the cosmic vibratory energy of Aum or Amen, the Word or Holy Ghost. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made which was made” (John 1:1, 3).
“These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev. 3:14). Even as sound is produced by the vibration of a running motor, so the omnipresent sound of Aum faithfully testifies to the running of the “Cosmic Motor,” which upholds all life and every particle of creation through vibratory energy.
By concentration and will power we can consciously increase the body’s supply of cosmic energy. That energy can be directed to any body part; or it can be released again into space through the sensitive antenna of the fingertips, to flow as a healing force to those in need — even if they are thousands of miles away. Through the great Aum vibration, we can directly contact God’s omnipresent consciousness — where the illusory concepts of time and space are absent. Thus there is instant contact between the earnest request of one in need and the concentrated energy sent forth by those who are praying for others with the following method:
(Stand while performing)
With eyes closed, pray as follows:
“Heavenly Father, Thou art omnipresent; Thou art in all Thy children; manifest Thy healing presence in their bodies.” Keeping the eyes closed, briskly rub your hands together (palms facing) for ten to twenty seconds. (This motion and the one described in the next paragraph are especially effective as a means of gathering and feeling energy in the hands.) At the same time, concentrate deeply on the cosmic energy flowing into your body through the medulla oblongata and going into your arms and hands. You will feel warmth and tingling in the arms and hands as that healing energy gathers there. Do not tense; keep the body relaxed at all times.
Now, raise your hands outstretched in front of you to about the height of the forehead, and chant Aum. Simultaneously with the chanting of Aum, gradually lower your hands in front of you until they rest at your sides. As you do so, mentally feel that the healing vibrations are flowing out of your hands to those in need of healing.
Pray: “Heavenly Father, Thou art omnipresent; Thou art in all Thy children; manifest Thy healing presence in their minds.” Rotate your hands (in a forward motion) rapidly around each other. Your hands soon will become filled with cosmic energy. Concentrate on the cosmic energy entering the medulla oblongata and flowing into the hands. Continue rotating the hands for ten to twenty seconds.
Now, raise your hands outstretched in front of you to about the height of the forehead, and chant Aum. Slowly lower your outstretched arms, all the while visualizing the healing vibration flowing from your hands to those for whom you are praying.
Pray: “Heavenly Father, Thou art omnipresent; Thou art in all Thy children; manifest Thy healing presence in their souls.” (Repeat the technique of rubbing the hands together and chanting Aum, as described in point 1 above.)
With upraised hands, chant Aum once more, sending healing vibrations of peace and harmony to all the world.