“Every strong desire is a prayer,” Easwaran reminds us as he comments on the name Vara-Da, Answerer of Prayers, in this week’s reading, pages 146–152 of The Constant Companion.* “When we have a powerful desire that we can’t forget, we are meditating on that desire, actually praying for it to be fulfilled. In time, the very depth of that desire will release the deeper resources to bring it within our reach.”
Often, he points out, “we do not realize how our pursuit of personal desires affects other people” and our world. For example, “From a spiritual perspective, the underlying cause of industrial pollution is desire.” With this understanding, the content and depth of our desires take on new significance for all of us longing to heal our Earth’s environment, “because it is our thoughts and desires that will shape our future actions – not only as individuals, but as a society.”
Identify something in your life that you find confusing at this time, and where you wish you could ask Easwaran for his tips. See what he has to say in our readings. How can you apply his words to your situation?
We are taking this book study as an opportunity to give special attention to our practice of Spiritual Reading. On the days you are able to do spiritual reading, what benefits do you find?
Let’s turn again to The Thousand Names Talks** in the Easwaran Digital Library for our spiritual treat, this time with Talk 5. The full talk is 50 minutes, but you can listen to part of it now and when you return the player will resume where you left off. If time is short, consider starting with the first five minutes, where Easwaran describes his ancestral family’s observation of Navaratri, in which the Divine Mother is worshipped.
* For those using electronic versions of The Constant Companion with different page numbering: this week’s reading is Easwaran’s commentary on the names Maker & Destroyer of Fear through Answerer of Prayers. (Please note that the latest edition of our ebook is titled Names of the Lord.)
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