Friday 29 April 2016

PRAYING FOR THE FARMER

                     PRAYING FOR THE FARMERS
 
 Daily as I sit down to eat, I look at my plate with a sense of gratitude. Not only do I get a hot and freshly cooked meal of my choice, but served with love too.
  My thoughts turn towards the farmers who grew it. For them it is an arduous  journey, fraught with problems and  difficulties right from the word go. Rising costs, the constant battle between the chemical dependence versus the demand for organic food, the sheer magnitude of the labor involved, the small margin of profit and most of all the poor rainfall and climatic imbalances in our country, are back breaking situations. Fighting against these, they keep getting more and more desperate till driven to the edge of the abyss. Frustration drives many a farmer to end his life adding one more hapless family left to fend for itself.
 When we say our prayers or in whichever form we connect to the Divine, Higher Power or The Source, do we add a few words praying for the farmer; do we pray for rain for his sake, for the sake of his own starving or orphaned children? Do we even give a thought to the price his family pays to provide us with our next meal? Do we take any steps to prevent climatic imbalance, to rectify the damage we ourselves have inflicted upon Mother Earth ?
 I was very moved and happy to see a post by FB group," Remove Blocks And Make Way For An Abundant Life."  asking the group  to chant collectively thrice during the day at fixed times, for the rains, visualizing the farmers; so as to raise the collective consciousness to a level where we are able to manifest abundant rain. We may not all of us be able to chant collectively but individually a thought for the farmer and some positive affirmations sent his way can go a long way to mitigate his suffering.If compassion for the farmer does not stir in some hearts the thought of their own survival depending on the survival of the farmer, might open their minds to feel concern. They are the backbone of life.
A short prayer I say before every meal :
                         Dear Source, you are kind to me in every way
                         and while I thank you for the food on my plate
                         I pray for all those who worked night and day
                         the one who grew it;
                         one who cooked and served with love
                         I pray you shower
                         grace upon them from up above.
     Few lines added:             
                         The farmer  needs good soil, good grain
                         good sunshine, labor and abundant rain.
                         I pray for to you to ease his life
                         keeping him safe and free of strife
.These thoughts and words make for a few meditational moments making meal times a prayer in gratitude..
Praying FOR rain sends a message of scarcity into the Universe and so attracts more scarcity; so I pray visualizing rain. Few days back I sat in my balcony to pray and as I visualized rain I felt the drizzle pin-pricking on my skin, then the cooling  of larger drops coming thicker and faster; I smelt the fragrance of raindrops falling on dry earth and letting off the smell of relief and satiety. I inhaled deeply letting out a sigh of fulfillment. The leaves of the plants in my balcony glistened  and droplets twinkled in the dark as the rain washed them clean, just as the trees in the garden below swayed to the music of the cool breeze passing through them, the bamboo grove a sea of swishing and rustling greenery. My meditation over I slept peacefully till the loud rumble of thunder and  peals of lightening woke me up .I went and stood in the balcony indulging in the joy of soaking in the first showers of the monsoon honoring the fulfillment of my prayer.
.