Our philosophy

The prayer of transformation which I had been praying since childhood in school was –

Aasto ma sadagamaya
Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
Mrityorma amritam gamaya !

I read the meaning of this prayer in our school diary which says that this is a prayer to God almighty to lead us from falsehood to truth, darkness to light and death to life.

If the above prayer was prayed to the true God, then we must receive its answer too. God loves human race and answer to this prayer from Upanishad is found in the Bible.

Answer of the above prayer:

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” [John 14:6]

“I tell you the truth; whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” [John 5:24]

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” [John 8:12]

I knew the meaning for long time but I got the answer of this prayer only when I came to know Jesus Christ. I learnt that every prayer prayed in his name is heard by God and answered promptly. It could be ‘Yes’ in God’s mercy or ‘No’ in His infinite wisdom. Any prayer made to the true and living God cannot go in vain.

Let me also tell you about one more prayer, I learnt. It is called Gayatrimantra –

Om Bhoor Bhuvah Svah,
Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi,
Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayaat

which broadly means –
Oh, Creator of the Universe, We meditate upon thy supreme splendour. May thy radiant power illuminate our intellects, destroy our sins, and guide us in the right direction.

For centuries, man has been searching for truth, peace, salvation and guidance of God. This desire is mouthed through this prayer. We need to understand that this prayer is directed to ‘the creator God’ and hence the answer of this prayer could come only from the one who is the creator of the universe, who loves us and is willing to enlighten us with his light and forgive our sins.

If we look at this prayer minutely, we will observe that Bible answers this prayer also –

• This prayer is directed to the Creator
• This prayer is for wisdom, truth, forgiveness of sin and way of God. Jesus said that he himself is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6), he is Light of the world (John 8:12) who came on earth to enlighten us and give us peace and salvation by forgiving our sins (John 3:16, 17).