Acharya Mahaprajna
The secret of prayer is complete identification, the awakening of the power to be fully engrossed in the master spirit. Unless there is complete identification with the Master, nothing is gained. The man who rouses his valour, awakens his capacity to be fully identified with the Master, has his prayer answered. Without valour and complete identification, praying for years together will be of little avail. Acharya Hemchandra says:
It is better for an individual to obey the Master than merely worship and pray before him. A son who salutes his father every day, but does not obey him is not dear to him; the father loves a son who carries out his will and lives a disciplined life
Only he, who follows the Master's discipline, obeys him and carries out his will, is qualified to pray before him. He, who does not obey the Master's commands and acts in contradiction to them, is not entitled to offer prayers. The master commands - "Be pure!“ But a man's thoughts and conduct are unclean. The Master commands - "Beware of wrong conduct! Be honest!“ But a man behaves badly and is dishonest. Such a person is not worthy to offer prayers. By disobeying the Master's commands he loses his capacity to be identified with him. The prayer of such a person is sheer hypocrisy, self-deception.
All the unique personalities of this world-Rama, Krishna, Mahavira, Budhha, Christ, etc. chose a path for themselves which led to the heights, to salvation and final emancipation. Traversing that path, they became great.
