Praying for Prosperity

Mantras have an amazing power to calm the mind. They usually are part of a prayer, to be chanted individually or as a group. Mantras can be used to attract many different benefits. As part of the Wealth and Wellbeing special, we decided to explore mantras that can help us create material prosperity.

Mahalakshmi mantra

Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth. She stands for beauty, power, generosity and auspiciousness. Mahalakshmi is claimed to fulfil the promises of material wealth and contentment. Chants in her name are essentially requests to the goddess that we may stay rich and content with material belongings.

Aum Mahalakshmaye Vidmahe
Vishnupriyaye Dhimahi
Tanno Lakshmih Prachodaya

Meaning:

Let us meditate on the Great Goddess Sri Lakshmi, the consort of Sri Maha Vishnu. May the Mahalakshmi Devi inspire and illuminate our mind and understanding.

A part of the Mahalakshmi Mantra goes:

Sarvagyay Sarvavarday Sarvadushtbhaydkree
Sarvadukhaharay Devi Mahalakshmi Namostutay
Siddhi Buddhipraday Devi Bhuktimuktipradayeenee
Mantramurtay Sada Devi Mahalakshmi Namostutay

Meaning:

O Mother Lakshmi, you know everything, you grant favours to all, you are a terror to evil and you remove the misery of all. O goddess, I surrender to you.

O divine goddess, you are the provider of success and intelligence. You grant worldly pleasure as well as freedom. The mantras verily comprise their form with your grace.

O goddess, obeisance to you.

The Holy Bible

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou may prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers. — Apostle John to Gaius, his friend [Third John 1:2]

There are two kinds of prosperity indicated here:

• Spiritual prosperity ["just as your soul prospers"]
• Material prosperity ["that you may prosper in all things and be in health"]

What we can conclude from this is that the pursuit of materialism is not prohibited as such. In fact, John wished Gaius to prosper in all ways including materialistically. However, we should also remember that spiritual prosperity is the eternal aim of life. It is indeed possible to be well-off as well as spiritually inclined — just as John wished Gaius to be.

Talmud

"One should love God with all one’s heart, all one’s life and all one’s money."

Having loved God with all one's life, why does the Rabbi stress on loving God with all one’s money? One conclusion we can draw is that we should elevate the love of money to the love of God. We love money a lot, and we spend countless hours at work in its pursuit, often at the expense of balance in our lives. If we love money as much as we love God, we would follow what God stands for and recommends - balance. By lifting love of money to love of God, we would, in fact, reduce our material pursuits and achieve a balance, a peace of mind.

The reason we pray to God for prosperity is that we are afraid we may not have the riches we have today. India has seen tremendous change in the last few decades. Many of us have seen very adverse conditions and now are well placed. We fear and hope that we do not have to face the adverse times again. This drives us to accumulate more and more. We do not realise when the need to save for the rainy day gets transformed into greed. We have to realise that there are a number of people who are striving as much as we are, yet they do not reap the benefits. We are blessed to have the prosperity we are enjoying. We have to believe that God will continue to bless us if we stick to the righteous path. Having faith in God’s blessing of continual abundance will free us from the belief that we must accumulate too much wealth or that we must do so through immoral activity. In fact, Rabbi Akiva regarded wealth as a long-term debt to God, which we have pledged to repay by living a righteous life.

Rational prayer

Not all mantras need to be from the scriptures, written many years ago. There are some modern-day chants that say the same things as Talmud, helping us achieve peace of mind.

I am open and receptive to new avenues of income
Help me to feel at peace with my finances
Help me release my fear and to know that I am worthy of abundance
I affirm a life of joyful prosperity.

This is a simple chant that seeks divine help in dealing with the financial pressures of day-to-day life. God has been regarded as the kind benefactor, who grants all wishes to humankind. Hence, He answers all prayers are including those for financial stability. With these positive affirmations, we become more positive in our attitude. The fear of the future gets replaced by the trust in the Eternal benefactor. The peace of mind and calmness of the spirit help us deal better with the joys and sorrows that life throws at us.

As Meister Eckhart said, "If the only prayer you ever say in your life is thank you, it will be enough." As you focus on gratitude, more abundance will flow. It is most important to be grateful for the current prosperity. The more we focus on being happy in what we have received, the more we reduce greed from our lives, the easier it is for us to be calm and take decisions about life.

Chants or prayers don't necessarily change things for you, but they change you for things. All these chants may or may not transform the universe into providing more prosperity. But they will change your perspective on prosperity. They will make you more aware, more receptive of the windows of prosperity that life provides you.