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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Shaunaka Rishi Das

Good morning.

In a beautiful Tuscan temple, a Hindu temple as it happens, my friend Mahaprabhu and I stood in prayer before the shrine. Mahaprabhu comes from a Jewish background and, like me, chose Vaishnava spirituality as his practice.

He was wearing a tweed cap and I playfully took it from his head and told him to have more respect in the house of God. He smiled and said that as an Irish catholic I would say that but as a Jew he would respectfully wear his cap, and, so he returned it to his head, and added that he was sure Krishna didn’t really mind either way.

Neither of us thought for a minute that God would mind, nor did we pause to take the cap, our cultural heritage, or indeed our different visions of the same God very seriously. On that day in the temple, we saw Krishna differently. Each from our own view. There were as many religions in the room as there were people – at least. And that’s the case in every place of worship. We all approach God as individuals, even when as close as a husband and wife. We all have our own mind, our own desires and our own religion.

I don’t know what people are thinking when they pray, whether it’s a petition for a bigger car, exam results, or for love of God and peace for all, and frankly it’s none of my business. That’s between my them and their Lord. Slap whatever religious name I like on it but their prayer could be my prayer. At least we can stand together before God, and that’s a start. A start to reaching beyond barriers.

May we learn to pray without borders, knowing our limits, accepting of others, and focused on you, because you have no prejudice, no barriers, and no limits. Hats off to you.

Hare Krishna