Question: Could you please tell us what is the most powerful way for us to feel the Supreme's Protection?

Sri Chinmoy: Only by praying to the Supreme. As soon as you get up in the morning, sing the Invocation. Invocation means "to invoke the Supreme —- His Presence, His Blessings." Then afterwards, you have to pray to the Supreme for His Protection.

During the day, if you are in a car, even if somebody else is driving, you must pray for protection. The driver will pray, plus the passengers also have to pray for protection. Most of the time, only the driver prays. Sometimes unfortunate accidents take place because inside the car there are some people who have not prayed. If the driver is alone, and he has prayed to the Supreme for protection, at that time 95 or 98 times out of 100 we see that protection has been granted. So sometimes unfortunate accidents take place because of the passengers.

Again, there are some people who pray to the Supreme for one minute before driving, but their prayer is mechanical. When the prayer is mechanical, it does not work. When you pray to the Supreme, it has to be like a fresh beginning. Every morning when you get up, there should be freshness and newness in your prayer and meditation. Similarly, when you pray to the Supreme for protection, at that time you have not to think of the previous day's prayers. Do not think that for the last ten days or ten months you have been praying for protection. No. When the day starts, after singing the Invocation, if you pray to the Supreme for protection, then it has to be very fresh. Do not think of yesterday or ten days ago or ten years ago.

At every moment we have to pray for protection. It is absolutely necessary. Prayer solves each and every problem. To conquer jealousy, to conquer pride, to conquer any undivine force, we have to pray. Protection is something that we need at every moment in our lives.

To give you an example: Just recently, when I was in Sanya at the previous hotel, I was walking very slowly inside the hotel. I was walking practically against the wall. One hotel worker, a young girl, suddenly came running, not very fast, but perhaps she was not keeping her eyes open. I was going absolutely against the wall, grinding the wall, and she had to dash against my left shoulder. Now she was a very thin girl, very light, so luckily I did not fall down. Nothing happened. But I felt miserable for her. It was one hundred per cent her fault, her unconscious life. She did not pray to the Supreme for protection, far from it. It is her own life, but I am the one who could have been injured. So you see, at every moment we have to pray for protection. Otherwise, we are not responsible for what happens.

Again, so many times it happens that when you do pray to the Supreme for protection for yourself, if your protection is very, very strong, it goes to the other person also. It does not last only for yourself. If you pray for protection very seriously, then you can help the person who is going to dash against you.

In this city, our driver was driving so dangerously. He was absolutely callous. My seat was right behind him and I could see that many times we were on the verge of having an accident. So I had to scold him. I said, "Now, go slowly!" Then that stupid fellow began going fifteen miles per hour. Before that, he used to go forty-five!

In New York, I like to go twenty-five or thirty miles per hour. When my disciples drive me, I ask them to go twenty-five miles per hour. It is my law.

So this fellow was going forty-five miles per hour or even more. Then, when he got my scolding, he reduced the speed to fifteen miles per hour! Today I had to tell him, "Go a little faster!" I do not know which lane is faster, but whichever lane he took, he stayed at fifteen miles per hour. So slowly! Finally, I surrendered. I said, "All right, that is better than going very fast!"

Here, in this case, I am praying for protection, but I have to think of the hostile attack that may come from somebody else. If we pray for more protection, then our prayers will enter into the persons who may unconsciously attack us. So many times, when something untoward happens, we say, "Not our fault, not our fault. We prayed for protection, we prayed." But if we can pray for more protection, then God will enter into those people who are going to unconsciously attack us and they do not attack us.