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Why do we pray?

Why do we pray?  A long but very interesting read, worth sharing...  No matter which culture we may belong to, there is a practice of prayer in every culture. Some of us pray and some of us don’t. Among those who pray, not many know why they do pray. Sometimes, it’s simply that since childhood, we have seen our parents praying, and we have picked up the practice. Of course, at exam time, our faith in an unseen, unknown power gets reinforced. Then, as the saying goes, there  is no atheist in a battlefield. There is also the story about an airhostess on a flight asking, “How many of you believe in God?’ One hand goes up. She replies, “Good, we are one life-jacket less.” A prayer can be expressed in simple words, or can be an elaborate ritual. But all prayers have a purpose. In Hindu culture, before the start of any ritual, we make the sankalpa (promise) that “mama upätta samasta durita-kshyärtham, sri parameshwara-priti-artham,nitya-kalyäna-läbhärtham, aham idam pujäm ka...