The Heart's Song: Ajapa Japa and True Prayer

We may feel many times that our heart is fully silent. We may believe that our heart is fully silent. But as you learn to live more and more in your heart, you will find that your heart loves to sing praises of God, huh? It loves to pray to God. So that is how the Ajapa Japa can happen. Initially, it may sound like you are saying it just mechanically, verbally. Then it may seem like it's become mechanical, but only your lips are going. Sometimes just the moving of the lips keeps you focused on the prayer, that you don't have to necessarily say the words, so you can just keep moving your lips. Then it's just like a mental process; you bring your attention to these thoughts that you can palpably bring into your attention. That is true Chintan. Then the prayer drops into your heart. It's full of fragrance, full of life. Prayer drops into our heart.

Switch... not a thing. It's like when the newer modes come into play, it doesn't mean that the older modes have to go away. In the sense that the Ajapa Japa started happening, so we should not feel that, 'Oh, now it's Ajapa Japa, now I don't need to chant, I don't need to use the Mala, I don't need to say the words, I don't need to do mental chanting.' No, all that can also happen, you see? Because we can never predict. It's not a one-time thing. It may completely happen here also that praying so deeply from within my heart... this is praying so deeply from within my heart one night, and next morning I wake up and it's all dry. It's all dry. So what? You just have to start again. So you start praying, you go to God in full humility and full devotion. Because you can never become... otherwise what would happen? We become proud. 'Oh, look at these people using Mala, look at these people saying the prayer. Why? It has to happen from the heart.' So God knows how to keep us in check. He knows very well.

And these ideas of finality... we must never... this is a beautiful process, but we can never say, 'Oh, this one is not a worthwhile disciple because he's using a Mala,' or 'She's using a Mala. This one is not an advanced disciple because they are praying using their mouth,' is it? We can never say that. Anything that anyone is doing for God is the highest already. So we must never benchmark ourselves also like this. All this that I'm saying is not meant to make you believe that, 'Oh, Father is at that level because his prayer comes from the heart.' I'm the most foolish. Sometimes I feel so disconnected that I feel out of oxygen, so I try to swim to His dwelling within my heart. So no means are bad, no means are lower or higher. I'm just introducing the beauty of how it can unfold deeper and deeper.