Prayer and Meditation

Human beings have always yearned to contact infinite consciousness; they reach out- and find. The two universal ways this can be done are through prayer and meditation. Prayer is very proactive, in that we have something specific in our minds, and go for it. We ask for healing, help in finding love or a job. We entreat, with emotion. We ask for blessing, and give thanks.

Meditation, on the other hand, is passive. We empty our minds, stop thinking about health, love and the job, and go deep within. We try to go beyond the cluttered mind: past the senses, the intellect, the creative impulse, and past even the spiritual layer of ourselves, to completely merge with cosmic consciousness.

It has been said that prayer is our way of contacting God, and meditation is the means by which we get the reply. But prayer also gives the reply - it is a two-way channel of communication. Meditation certainly offers a reply, in that answers to unposed questions might come to a person, but it is also a way of reaching the light and wisdom of God. Both are about communication with the divinity, although prayer reaches out, and meditation in. 

Prayer reaches out in supplication and humility; recognizing our connection with the divine, our familial relationship; saying 'Our father who art in heaven....'Meditation also recognizes a familiar relationship: between the original creative force that gave rise to the vibrations of the universe,now manifest in countless physical forms including us.

The connectedness of things beyond our immediate life is at the root of both prayer and meditation, and is that which we yearn for. The warmth of connection enfolds us like a mother's arms, giving reassurance, comfort and the strength to go on.

Fragrance has accompanied many prayers to heaven, and provided the heavenly scent that can act as the focus for meditation. It acts as an avenue, a pathway, a slide, a conduit or rocket to the stars.

Fragrance opens the consciousness, relaxes the mind and body, and puts us in another space - one where we are open and receptive to spiritual exploration.

Reference:The Fragrant Heavens / Valerie Ann Worwood