Why do we have a
prayer room?Most Indian homes
have a prayer room or altar. A lamp is
lit and the Lord worshipped each day.
Other spiritual practices like japa
(repetition of the Lord's name),
meditation, paaraayana (reading of
the scriptures), prayers,
devotional singing etc is also done
here. Special worship is done on
auspicious ocasions like birthdays,
anniversaries, festivals and the like.
Each member of the family young or
old communes with and worships the
Divine here. The Lord is the entire
creation. He is therefore the true
owner of the house we live in too. The
prayer room is the Master room of
the house. We are the earthly
occupants of His property. This
notion rids us of false pride and
possessiveness. The ideal attitude
to take is to regard the Lord as the
true owner of our homes and
ourselves as caretakers of His home.
But if that is rather difficult, we could
at least think of Him as a very
welcome guest. Just as we would
house an important guest in the best
comfort, so too we felicitate the
Lord's presence in our homes by
having a prayer room or altar, which
is, at all times, kept clean and well-
decorated. Also the Lord is all-
pervading. To remind us that He
resides in our homes with us, we have
prayer rooms. Without the grace of
the Lord, no task can be successfully
or easily accomplished. We invoke His
grace by communing with Him in the
prayer room each day and on special
occasions. Each room in a house is
dedicated to a specific function like
the bedroom for resting, the
drawing room to receive guests, the
kitchen for cooking etc. The
furniture, decor and the
atmosphere of each room are made
conducive to the purpose it serves.
So too for the purpose of meditation,
worship and prayer, we should have
a conducive atmosphere hence the
need for a prayer room. Sacred
thoughts and sound vibrations
pervade the place and influence the
minds of those who spend time there.
Spiritual thoughts and vibrations
accumulated through regular
meditation, worship and chanting
done there pervade the prayer
room. Even when we are tired or
agitated, by just sitting in the prayer
room for a while, we feel calm,
rejuvenated and spiritually uplifted.
