The fact is we have to relate to the world. It is unavoidable, and it need not be avoided. While relating, we are called upon to respond to different situations, and our responses can be objective and dispassionate. However unpleasant is the situation, we can respond without being stressed. But to be objective is easier said than done. To be objective takes a lot of understanding.

There is a psychological order in the behavior of a person. Like there is a physical order, a physiological order, a biological order, and an epistemological order, there is also a psychological order. Whether we know or we don’t know why a person behaves the way he or she does, we can still understand that there is no other way possible for that person to behave at this time.

Every individual has his or her own background, and at any given time, they are doing their very best. We always worry and question, “Why did he do that? Why did he not do this?” But given the background, that person can behave only in the manner he does at this time and place. There is no other answer.

When we understand very intimately that all the significant people who bother us are behaving exactly as they can (there is no other way the person can behave), then there is no problem. And the fact is that anyone who bothers us is significant. Insignificant people do not bother us as much.

Anything that exists in time (what is time-bound) both known and unknown, including our physical body, mind, and senses, constitutes the jagat. While the jagat is not independent of ½Úvara, ½Úvara is independent of the jagat because he can exist without the jagat.

The rule is that an effect is not independent of its material cause. The material cause, however, can exist without being a cause. The clay can exist without being a cup, but the cup cannot exist without being the material of which it is made. This is the same truth with reference

yHe is both the maker and the material cause. Like in the dream, we are both the maker and the material cause.The truth about the material cause is that it sustains the effect. In fact, there is no effect; it is just the material cause. We have this example of a simple pot and clay. The pot is not independent of its material.

This is a very interesting thing: You are looking at the world, and in the world you want to have a vision of ½Úvara. In fact, whatever you see right now is ½Úvara. The seeing eyes are ½Úvara, the seen object is ½Úvara, and the seer is not separate from ½Úvara. All that is here is ½Úvara. If this is so, isn’t it a foolish thing to locate the Lord in a particular place? God is called all-pervasive, almighty, and the cause of everything, and still he is located at a particular place.

All that is here is ½Úvara, and ½Úvara exists in a two-fold way: one way is in a manifest form that is available for our perception and interaction; the second way is as the unmanifest potentials that are ½Úvara. Prayer is a special action that taps those potentials. Prayer is the only act where our free will enjoys total freedom. In all religious cultures, prayer is common.

Prayer can be in any language and in any form. The Lord does not have a linguistic problem. He can be invoked in Hindi, Latin, Greek, French, Hebrew, English, or an Arabic language. This is not the same as saying all religions lead to the same goal. They do not! When I say all that is here is ½Úvara, what is here you have to claim, and you claim that through prayer. If you do not claim it, then you are the loser.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati

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