A couple of religious leaders explain why prayers and worship are essential in their faiths, in this episode of Do You Belief? They also discuss its purpose, even if we cannot prove whether prayers are answered.
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00:00 And because our God...
00:01 Okay, wait.
00:02 You say conversation, how do you know whether or not he has replied you?
00:08 Hi, I'm Kwek E Seng from the Singapore Baha'i community.
00:23 I'm Seng Koo Teh Van from Inter-Religious Organisation of the Hindu Faith.
00:28 Well, Seng Koo, tonight we're going to talk about this very exciting topic.
00:33 And I know that Hindus have a lot to say about worship and prayer.
00:38 Right, yes. It's going to be interesting now.
00:41 So, in Hinduism, what form does it take?
00:45 Okay, worship itself.
00:47 This is where Hinduism, the optics of Hinduism comes in.
00:50 Where people seem to see they're worshipping a deity.
00:54 In terms of what ways of worship they are,
00:59 many ways, the worship process itself has got various degrees in Hinduism.
01:04 Yes, there are plenty in Hinduism because by the account of the deities itself,
01:09 the worship takes its own flavours.
01:12 So, it can be just from an altar at home,
01:16 worshipping with a God picture or something like that,
01:19 or a place where they built, especially which they call as a temple,
01:24 go there for a worship,
01:26 or they go elsewhere where collectively like it's a place where it attracts all these people for a common cause actually.
01:35 Oh, the rituals are plenty but they're not in vain though.
01:38 Every one of them has got a subtle meaning.
01:41 It's only that when you see it from an onset, you may not understand it.
01:45 Now, you may ask why the ritual in the first place, why is it a worship?
01:49 It's because it has to meet different genres of people.
01:53 To bring it to a bite-size, to an understanding level,
01:57 you have to come down to this level of doing something ritual first.
02:02 And do it continuously and do it faithfully.
02:05 So, you can move up to meditation, in the formless kind of…
02:12 What the scriptures literally tell you is that you start by doing something outwards,
02:19 eventually as you progress towards the spiritual path,
02:26 you start turning inwards for the answers.
02:29 What about in Bahá'� Do you have something…
02:31 Bahá'à prayers are very individualistic.
02:37 You say the prayers in your own privacy.
02:42 It's between you and God.
02:45 We don't have congregational prayer, for example.
02:50 Even if we come together and say prayers, it has to be just one person.
02:55 Right.
02:56 The others don't echo the prayer.
02:59 Somebody can pray for you, yes, but we still have to make our own effort.
03:04 And that is why Bahá'u'lláh has asked us to say our prayers in the privacy of our own chamber.
03:11 You are sincere only when you are in your own privacy, conversing with Him.
03:17 Yes.
03:18 You don't have to show everybody that you are so holy and so prayerful.
03:22 So, to us, it's an individual connection.
03:26 Yeah.
03:27 That is important.
03:28 So, the worship normally is carried out in the house of worship.
03:33 There is no sermon.
03:36 You just read your own holy script and your own prayers individually.
03:40 Right.
03:41 In our terms, the prayer, the understanding of prayer literally means in conversation with God.
03:47 That's what it is.
03:48 Exactly.
03:49 When a prayer is being done, and therefore I don't need a person, I need the divinity.
03:54 Because the whole idea of a prayer is in conversation with God.
03:57 The prayer can be defined in many ways, as if I'm asking for something, seeking for something,
04:04 or an act of gratitude, or just reveling in the divinity and trying to understand the super consciousness within me.
04:12 And because our God…
04:13 Okay, wait. You say conversation.
04:16 How do you know whether or not He has replied to you?
04:20 We don't wait for reply.
04:22 So, how do you know whether or not He…
04:24 We don't wait for answers.
04:25 And then?
04:26 The whole idea in a prayer is that unless you're seeking something, we look for reply.
04:31 We are not seekers. We are not seeking for something.
04:33 See, the fundamental of Hinduism lies with the fact that divinity is all-pervasive.
04:38 So, when I say all-pervasive, it means including yourself.
04:41 So, when there's nothing to go attain, there's nothing to seek.
04:45 Once I understand that no, divinity is all around, it is divinity that is guiding me all the time,
04:52 it's actually a revelation.
04:54 So, in a prayer, what we are trying to do is trying to seek that revelation.
04:59 Prayer in our concept, in our high concept, is still a conversation with God.
05:04 But we do seek for guidance, for example.
05:08 We seek for strength.
05:10 We seek wisdom from Him.
05:14 We seek inner vision also, you know.
05:18 So, all these are what we seek, but nothing material.
05:21 All these are spiritual qualities.
05:23 Very similar, Queng. Very similar.
05:25 So, tell me one more thing.
05:28 What is the difference between prayer and meditation?
05:33 Right. A prayer, there's a transactional element there where I'm conversing.
05:40 And meditation is you are listening to that divinity.
05:45 See the difference?
05:47 In a prayer, I'm actually trying to tell, call for, or say, most of the time I'm doing the talking, right?
05:53 But if you remain silent and let the divinity speak to you, that's meditation.
05:59 So, would you say that there are rules in worship and prayers in your faith?
06:05 Yes, yes. Because if you don't instill any rules or discipline,
06:10 He will first of all destroy the nature and take it for everything by Himself.
06:14 And therefore, it's good to have some rules and discipline because
06:19 otherwise, each and everyone will start to say, "My way is the only way."
06:24 You cannot enter a temple without taking a bath.
06:26 You cannot enter even the altar in your own home without taking a bath.
06:30 So, in temples, you see, even if you've taken a bath at home,
06:34 you wash your feet outside before you go.
06:36 You don't step into these places if you're unclean.
06:40 So, cleanliness is emphasised as one of the disciplines towards this worship.
06:45 It's the same here in the Baha'i faith.
06:47 Before the prayer, the obligatory prayer that we say every day,
06:50 we have to also wash our hands and our face.
06:53 Yeah, correct. Fundamentally, what is the purpose of the prayer means is for discipline.
06:57 You will find that this is the only thing that will follow you all the way right to the end.
07:02 Keep you sane.
07:03 Correct. Absolutely, you know.
07:05 Because when you finish your time with a working lifestyle,
07:09 this is the only one which is being… and this is what you will remember.
07:12 This is also an act of unentanglement.
07:14 Yes, correct.
07:15 That you find yourself in this world, right?
07:17 And another one important thing is you'll never find yourself lonely.
07:21 You'll find that I've been with the prayer, with the divinity,
07:24 then what is this question about loneliness?
07:26 True.
07:27 How can you tell that all these prayers you have said are answered
07:34 versus another person who doesn't believe in God and doesn't pray?
07:39 Wait, that's a very loaded question.
07:41 Because we can never change anybody's perception.
07:45 Your perception is different from mine.
07:47 And what I hold, the values, I can only tell the person and be an example in through my domino.
07:59 You don't need to pray. It doesn't mean there's no God.
08:03 There's no divinity.
08:05 Whether you believe or not, it is a divinity.
08:08 Whatever word you want to say.
08:10 In other words, you say I can get by without having to believe in God.
08:15 I believe that I'm doing very well as well, you know.
08:18 So what is the difference?
08:21 Why should I be doing that?
08:23 Actually, our scriptures got answer for that.
08:25 You see, we all turn towards this divinity of God.
08:28 You know when?
08:29 When the first fall in life and we realise that we're helpless.
08:32 If you're blessed that nothing happens like that, well you're blessed then.
08:36 But there will be a moment in life where you'll find that you are helpless.
08:41 Then you turn towards, there is something called divinity.
08:44 And that's when many people say you can hear all the world, the divinity has been there.
08:49 And this is the time you manage to turn towards the divinity.
08:54 You see, prayer comes with faith.
08:58 If you don't believe in anything, then there's no need for praying.
09:03 When you have tasted that ecstasy, that wine, you know,
09:10 that gives you real joy in understanding what life is all about, the truth and all that.
09:18 You don't look at these material things as priority.
09:25 You take it as it comes.
09:27 I'm happy to have this conversation with you tonight.
09:29 Learned so much from you.
09:31 Likewise, Quek.
09:32 So if you have any questions, please write them below.
09:35 Thank you. Good night.
09:37 Bye.
09:38 (Music)
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