THE POWER OF PRAYERS MY WORDS, SOUNDS AND PHRASES OF INSPIRATION

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WORDS, SOUNDS AND PHRASES THAT CHANGE THE LIVES OF PEOPLE By Dr Ram Lakhan Prasad Published in Brisbane August 2020

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LIST OF PUBLICATIONS BY DR RAM LAKHAN PRASAD 1. Managing People in the Business World 2. Motivation Techniques 3. Motivation Towards 2000 4. Motivating the Unmotivated 5. The Bhagvad Gita Translation and Commentary 6. Attachment A Collection of Short Stories Part 1 7. An Anthology of Our Poems 8. Colours of Love 9. Future of Fate 10.History and Development of the Fiji Teachers Union 11. History and Development of an Indentured Family in Fiji 12. Silence is Golden A Hindi Novel 13. A Collection of Hindi Short Stories Part 1 14. Anuraag A Collection of Hindi Short Stories Pt 2 15. People Power in the Business World 16. Managing People in the Commercial World 17. A Collection of Shaayari 18. Mere Atma Ki Pukaar 19. Songs of My Soul 20. Home Alone 21. Tanhaai 22. My Way The Highway 23. When The Going Gets Tough 24. The Angel of The Family

25. Treasury of My Fond Memories 26. The Return of the Pretty Lotus 27. Incomplete Dreams 28. Everlasting Love 29. Love is Fire Love is Flame 30. To Love and Cherish 31. Innovation A Collection of Personal Views 32. The Pretty Lotus 33. Feeling of Despair 34. Power of Parenting 35. Blood, Sweat and Tears 36. Bond of Love 37. Shradhanjali 38. Kavita An Essay 39. Saved By the Bell 40. Compassion 41. Shadows of Life 42. A Slice of Life 43. Challenges of Life 44. Search for Peace, Joy and Contentment 45. The Indenture Days in Fiji 46. A Diary of a Devotee 47. Shadows of Childhood 48. Childhood Experiences 49. A Journey of My Life 50. Roads Taken In Life 51. Selling Tactfully; A Customer Driven Approach 52. My Fifty Five Years in Fiji 53.A Collection of Muhawarein (Hindi) 54. Power Of Prayers

All Copyrights are held by Dr Ram Lakhan Prasad Of 76 Ghost Gum Street Bellbowrie Qld 4070 Prasad Publications srlprasad40@hotmail.com

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Dedication This publication is dedicated to my Gurus that have given me the various tools of learning over my life time.

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru devo Maheshwara, Guru sakshat, param Brahma, tasmai shri guravay namah.

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Guru govind dono khade, kaake lagu paaye Balihari guru aapno, govind diyo bataye My Teacher and My Lord are both standing in front of me and I am not sure who to address first and adore however, it is indeed a pleasure that my teacher who is my great guide, told me that God is greater indeed.

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ज ज

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म म

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INTRODUCTION My ancestors believed in the original way of life they called it the Sanatan Dharma and so did not prefer to be called Hindus because they said the word Hindu was given to the people of Indus Valley during the invasion by the Muslims and the British.

I could clearly understand their logical explanation and had pleasure in following this idea after studying Indian History during my school days.

Therefore I am proud to belong to the Vedic Sanatan Dharam but have never been a blind follower of all the obsolete traditional ceremonies because I think and do whatever is right and proper for me to follow for my living and for my prayers. I believe in the powers of the Supreme Being because He is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscience.

People all over the world and of many different kinds and types use the ability to pray as an advantage to making their lives better on earth. I believe that prayer can help anyone who uses the words, sounds and phrases with conviction and full faith in the love, blessing and kindness of the Lord who created this world and us. However, I have never been taught to use prayers for selfish reasons like the need of healing from sickness, diseases or problems that interfere with daily lives because if I pray daily for world and my peaceful existence then automatically the God Almighty will take care of all my needs and wants. Often my prayers have helped me to achieve my goals, dreams and other tasks I wanted to accomplish in life because my prayers 7

inspired, motivated and gave me confidence to do things. So I believe that prayers are out there to help people live their lives better and more comfortably and not to ask for things for any selfish reasons and never to put God Almighty to any ransom position by offering specific activities and things in return.

First of all it should be worth noting that when we pray we get the feeling to belong to God who answers our prayers regardless of our prayers because since He created us His kindness and blessings are His responsibilities for His creation.

We pray for becoming strong believers in our efforts and gaining the needed inspiration to enjoy life and get self satisfaction. I have always believed in the powers of God in order for him to look after me the way He wants and thinks best. I also believe that prayers enable us to develop and maintain devotion because they have untold powers.

Over the years that I have enjoyed my living I was able to seek solitude from time to time for intense spiritual practice through my prayers and this became possible for me while enjoying the duties and responsibilities of my daily busy family life.

However, it was very necessary that I took some time to set aside everyday for prayer so that it all became not only my habit but my routine. As a result of my prayers I have been able to develop total faith in the existence of god because believe that this has not only being the foundation of my spiritual life but my total living as a human being.

My ancestors did not want me to be a non-believer because then the loss would have been mine alone 8

when I was going to fritter or throw away the golden opportunity of this unique human birth, which is meant for attaining liberation, happiness and salvation.

I was led to firmly believe by my ancestors that God is ever ready to help His devotee and the way to reach him is through prayer but we should not be selfish to expect things in return only because God knows our life well and He knows what, when why and where He should grant us. I have gradually come to accept that if a time is set aside for prayer everyday it will get ingrained like any other habit and in course of time devotion will take deep root where all our needs and wants will be taken care of by the Supreme Creator. Initially the distraction of family, work and social life was a slight disturbance but when I was determined to pursue with my efforts I could notice steady progress and success in sight.

After gaining devotion and knowledge, almost all my worldly attachments that were affecting me I began to feel that there was a total change of perspective in my living. I as a devotee gradually but surely became a totally metamorphosed person whose focus shifted from the worldly attachments to attachment to the supreme soul. My kind of devotion enabled me to accept both joy and sorrow with equanimity of mind. For me joy and sorrow became relative and there was absolute joy only in my realization of God. The human mind can be compared with milk. When milk mixes with water it will only become dilute and watery. Instead, if it is kept in one place 9

without disturbance and set into curd and then when churned it yields into butter. So I was led to believe that the mind that engages in the world acquires its mundane qualities whereas if it is trained to meditate in solitude, wisdom results. Just as butter remains afloat in water without mixing or getting affected by it, a person of wisdom will remain steadfast in his line of pursuit and will remain unaffected by worldly affections. Till such a stage was reached I as a spiritual aspirant kept striving by praying to God, which I found was the only way to stay attained to Him. Then all the benefits that came from this procedure were mine to keep and treasure. I realized that this was the only way to be cheerful in my living and in course of time cheerfulness became a habit reflecting inner peace and tranquility. My soul stood elevated as a consequence of all these.

My last point in my introduction relates to prayer which has become my direct line with heaven because it has been my communication process that has allowed me to talk to God whenever I felt like it and whenever I wanted to do so. I always felt that He wanted to communicate with me person to person because he had placed what was His, the soul into my body. Since we all are children of God, He loves us and knows all our needs and because He is so kind He wants us to continue talking to Him through our prayers. As I was successful in making my habit of approaching God through my prayers I came to know Him even better and kept drawing myself nearer and nearer to Him. Gradually almost all my desires became more like 10

His and so I was able to secure for myself and my family the needed and required blessings that He was always ready to give if we asked in faith.

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The Words, Sounds and Phrases That Change Life During this short life as a result of my reasonable and methodical upbringing by my parents and grandparents, I was given a collection of words and sounds that were designed to promote focus, concentration and inspiration that gradually increased my confidence. My parents and grandparents who were all good human beings rather than religious beings named this vital tool of learning and living as mantra and made all of us recite these for ours as well as the good of many others in our circles.

I have learnt to use these mantras of words and sounds interchangeably with a variety of affirmations starting from my early childhood and developing into a firm habit during my mobility from adolescence to my adulthood. I was convinced that the main difference between the affirmation and mantras is that all my mantras were the sounds, words and phrases that began with Om and let me practice some elements of meditation designed to assist me to concentrate but the affirmation that I was asked to practice were centered around positive thinking phrases also

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mainly used to build my confidence, inspiration and motivation.

I was constantly told and then came to know precisely how these mantras and affirmations worked for me because many mantras that I used are based on specific repetitive words, sounds and phrases like the Gayatri Mantra and many other similar utterances to reach our subconscious mind.

I always found that these sounds are not only very soothing to the mind but they calm the soul whether I fully understood them initially. However, as time went on and my maturity increased I had full comprehension of these mantas and affirmations. Of course, translating these mantras gave me an affirmation where those words began to have the additional benefit of imparting these sounds by providing me a good sense of confidence with time when repeated.

Not surprisingly as a teacher of self-confidence, I ended up turning these pieces of affirmations, mantras and additional inspirations around for my personal development and welfare in later life for myself, my family members and some of my faithful friends. Thus my self-worth began to rise up to meet all my bigger dreams and planned objectives in life. Naturally I began to find and feel that my self-worth began to rise up eventually and gradually to meet all my bigger dreams and visions for my living.

As a simple human being I often needed additional inspiration because life ahead was filled with massive goals and a vision for family and work life.

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develop some valid reasons to live a life that had values of humanity such as truth, beauty and goodness. I moved slowly, surely but gradually with some of my early struggles to achieve some of my lofty goals in order to adequately hold and add small specific and useful values to my personal worth.

It is one of difficulties of human life that deep down we think we are not good enough to get what we are and what our future visions are and what we are dreaming of. It was not my hindrance but the mantras became my inspirations and occasional motivation for me to move ahead with confidence. I was encouraged constantly that I did not deserve to delay my peace, progress and prosperity that were waiting for me in life. That is where and when I had a second birth, so to speak and filled my life with words; sounds and phrases that made me rise to the demands of humanity. Sadly while with my growing family I too had some lofty dreams heavily speckled with increasing my financial freedom and position but the more I moved into my affirmations the greater I began to believe that I came in this world with nothing and will depart this earth with nothing. I wanted to have a clear bill of health, a perfect partner, impressive physical attributes, good family life, some independence, a few dreamy vacations and a successful professional and entrepreneurial career that was going to make a difference in the world. I could have all these and be content and satisfied with whatever I had with no greed and avaricious feelings but being a good family man.

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There were times when I swam with the sharks but there were a few moments when I had to swim in shame, starve my body, feel fully and well fed, pick at the tiniest things that make me feel so insignificant and unimportant and at the same time keep doing what were my duties and responsibilities because my words, sounds and phrases made me move on with confidence. I never felt that I was not worthy to lead a balanced work, family and community life because I had developed enough hope and faith in all my words, thoughts, actions, character and habits. Consequently and gradually I began to manage my life as per my wishes, needs and wants and all my words of prayers and affirmations kept giving me the needed directions and courage to continue with pride. The great things and feeling was that I began to believe in what I used to say and learnt fast to do what I said. Those were all that I needed for my family, friends and the community to prosper as I wanted to.

Deep down me whenever I began to feel like we were not good, smart and worthy enough to live up to our bigger and more important goals we learnt to slow down but never lost hope and moved away from our prayers. Fortunately for us it was all forms of blessing in all possible languages from all directions that made us remedy all forms of hardships and sadness or sorrows to feel physically, mentally, socially, culturally and economically acceptable with high sense of self-worth. I moved away from all forms of discrimination, prejudices and inferiority complexes for all my fellow beings 15

and life began to get better day by day with very little to no stresses at all.

In general, as human beings we always want more and we secretly ask for these needs such as more money, better professional security, more kids, prestigious life, more space, more vacations, more time, more peace, more domestic workers and a lot more wine to enjoy life but I was able to gradually wean myself out of all these greed and unnecessary life requirements.

As days moved on I became a simple human being with some acceptable and reasonable goals for my family and me. Somehow I managed to always find a reason that I needed to give a lot more than to receive. My prayers and affirmations kept giving me good reasons to play on all the games of life responsibly and with deeper hope, faith and confidence. I could notice peace dwell at every step of my life and continued to give me enough confidence, courage and desire to live for others I loved.

There always was a huge gap between me, my selfworth and my personal goals but it was with good time management that we all made it safely. As I have said in a lot of my personal presentations I wanted to tap into my big dreams to allow my selfworth to rise up and meet them head-on. I certainly and convincingly realized and knew that I was quickly on my way to meet the biggest dreams and visions I ever had in my life It is definitely not selfish in my way of thinking to command a high sense of self-worth because it is selfless. I always felt that to come to this universe 16

and get what you want out of this experience is not only big but is bold. Of course for me it was courageous, commendable and one of the sure ways I could meet my dreams for my family, friends, community and me. There were times that I felt unsure and whenever I caught myself sleeping and thinking that I was un-deserving, unworthy or simply not good enough, here are the seven most powerful mantras that I personally used to raise my self-worth to meet my lofty goals.

I wish to narrate some of these to show how I managed to do those. I used to pick my quiet and peaceful time of the day as well as some of the powerful words, sounds and phrases that I have given below and for my daily recital and then take a couple of minutes each day to look into the mirror as I said these transformative words into my reflection. In the beginning, I used to repeat these and many other mantras quickly and slow down the speed at which I speak with each couple of repetitions. There was no hard and fast rule or traditional elements attached to these activities but I would stop when I found that I was fully satisfied and had said my mantra with conviction. There were even times when I had to write these and other mantras as well as the affirmations down on a sticky note and keep them handy around me for my daily practice and reminder that all these were worth doing to achieve some of my biggest dreams and objectives in life. The other thing that I remembered was to say them out loud to give life and meaning to these exercises as well as to let the family participate whenever they had time and 17

could do so willingly. I used to change my mantras daily, depending on what I needed the most for my family and me. These exercises took only a few minutes of my time but gave me multiple ways to enjoy and feel good.

Almost all of the useful words and sounds and phrases that I used during my family life as my prayers were well chosen by my elders and they made sure that I learnt them for my benefits such as mental, spiritual and general developments. I was told to give all the needed recognition, respect and honour to all my teachers, who were my gurus who gave me the necessary tools of writing, leaning, knowledge and speaking. These gurus included the God Almighty, my ancestors, my teachers and my other elders. They were all like God to me and my words and sounds constantly reflected these sentiments as seen in this phrase.

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru devo Maheshwara, Guru sakshat, param Brahma, tasmai shri guravay namah.

This guru mantra was the one that my gurus at home who were my ancestors gave me as their disciple, and then I began chanting the mantra for my spiritual growth. The guru, therefore, is a remover of darkness, and the mantra is a means to liberation.

My next spiritual learning began from chanting the sound OM . I was told that Aum or Om is one of the most powerful mantras of all time. I do not remember well as to how many times a day I used to repeat this sound but that I did it well and with all care and great faith. With this sound I used to repeat many others for my self-purification such as: 18

Om Bhooh asking the Giver of life to make my intellect pure Om Bhuwah asking the Remover of pain to make my sight good Om Swah asking the Giver of Happiness to enrich my voice Om Mahah O Great Lord purify my heart Om Janah O Creator of the world give me strength Om Tapah O Generator of all actions make me act well Om Satyam O Embodiment of truth make me alert Om Kh Brahm O God please purify my body and soul.

With all these mantras and others my ancestors made it sure that I remained always humble while praying and ask God that although I had no deep devotion, not many good deeds and not even so pure in my heart, mind and body to chant the glory of God yet I knew that God Almighty was merciful and will always accept my prayers and rid me of all my sins. I repeated all my words, sounds and phrases with such an inbuilt faith and confidence that I could feel the impact of them always. Since God was always kind and merciful He gave a lot more than whatever we needed therefore another important aspect for our consideration that was brought to my notice early in my life was that there was no demand of any kind from Almighty God because it would sound as if it was a kind of ransom. So I never asked God to grant me anything in return for special offerings.

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Then I was given the simple prayer of living well and success in life that was: Sarve Shaam Swastir Bhawaatu through which I asked that there be good health and happiness in us.

Sarve Shaam Shantir Bhawatu which meant that we needed peace and prosperity in life.

Sarve Shaam Mangalam Bhawatu which made us pray for our success.

Sarve Shaam Purnam Bhawtu asked for our completeness in everything we did.

All other words and sounds were gradually given to me and I had a list of mantras to chant selectively and at times that suited me. These included the Gayatri Mantra. It became a Mantra for me which kept on inspiring righteous wisdom and illuminated my intellect leading me on the path of knowledge.

Gayatri Mantra is now a sacred prayer of praise for awakening the vital energies and giving liberation and deliverance from ignorance to me. || Om Bhur Bhuvah Swah Tatsa Viturvarenyam Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayat || By reciting this mantra we meditate on that most adored Supreme Lord, the creator, whose effulgence (divine light) illuminates all realms (physical, mental and spiritual). We pray that this divine light keep illuminating our intellect.

My Prayer for Long, Happy and Useful Life has always been my once a day recital. I was told that 20

this mantra of Mahamrityunjaya is mentioned in Rigveda and bears a special significance for all human beings.

Om Triyambakam yaja-mahe sugandhim pushTivardhanam, Urvarukamiva bandhanan mrrityormokshiya mamrritat By reciting this divine prayer I worship the Lord of three eyes, (Trinity) the one who nourishes all living entities. O Lord please help us severe our bondage with samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth to which life in the material world is bound.)

by making us realize that we are never separated from our immortal nature.

Then I obtained the Universal Prayer for Enlightenment for my daily recital and kept this in my wallet for regular usage.

Tameva Maataa Cha Pitaa Tameva Tameva Bandhush-Cha Sakhaa Tameva Tameva Viidyaa Dravinnam Tameva Tameva Sarvam Mama Deva Deva O Lord, You alone are my mother and father You alone are my relative and friend You alone are all my knowledge and wealth You are my everything O Lord.

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PRAYER FOR PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE

I could not be left without the prayer for peaceful co-existence and at the end of each day I just feel more at ease to recite this at my leisure. The more I recited this the more I was able to understand the cosmic infrastructure.

Om Dyau Shanti Rantariksha Gwam ShantiPrithvi Shanti Rapah Shanti Roshadhayah Shanti Vanas Patayah Shanti Vishwed Devah Shanti Brahma Sarvag Wam Shanti Shanti Reva Shanti Sa Ma Shanti Redhi Om Shanti Shanti Shanti May there be peace in the whole sky and in the whole external, vast space.

May there be peace on earth, in water in all living beings.

May there be peace in trees, creepers, greenery, flowers, in water and all herbs – all environment.

May there be peace in the whole universe and the Supreme Being.

May there be peace among all and everywhere – all live in peace along.

May there be peace to us and all beings.

Of course, in my own collection of prayers I kept adding more words, sounds and phrases that suited me and thus increased my collection for all my situations and conditions.

However, I went to deal with the Affirmations that assisted me with my life as well.

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Some of my Affirmations that made me write my first book Motivation Towards 2000 were: 1. I am strong. I used this when I used to think I could not make it through any pain.

2. I can do this. I used this when I was exhausted and overwhelmed.

3. I have got this. I used this when I used to think that any outcome was not in my favour.

4. I am worth it all. I used this when I was asking for something big and had worked hard for it.

5. God is on my side. I used this then when apart from my prayers I needed a blessing or an angel.

6. Today is my big day. I used this when I use to lose sight of my purpose.

7. I am a success! I used this when I doubted the path I had chosen for myself.

Not only these, but I used to develop other affirmations as I went along my way as could be seen from the list below.

Thus I was able to allow my self-worth to rise up and meet many of my bigger dreams and visions. I kept challenging myself to use these words, sounds and phrases as well as the mantras for the last few years of my life to start to bridge the gap between my self-worth and my bigger goals because I knew that I deserved it all really all of it. When I started this pleasant journey I did not know the end result but today the destination has paid me big dividends. I only want to be always surrounded by a guardian angel that keeps illuminating the paths I am destined for the rest of my life.

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LIST OF MORE AFFIRMATIONS

I am worth it in the future.

I love myself. No matter what!

I am in complete control of determining my emotions.

My body is good and I have a sound mind in it.

I choose me and my actions when I need them.

I am in control of my own emotions.

I can change the things I can change.

I can make peace with the things that cannot be changed.

I believe in my skills and abilities.

I surround myself with loving people.

I have everything I need.

Where I am right now is exactly where I need to be.

I choose to be happy.

Every day is a new beginning.

Suffering is temporary. It gets better.

I am thankful to God, my family and my friends.

All I need comes to me when I need it.

I am blessed.

I am worthy of good things.

Let me be me I am not just a drop in the ocean. I am the ocean in one drop.

I am thankful for all life has given me.

People have assisted me in adding to this list and my readers can extend the list if they so wish.

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My Mantras for Positive Thinking I found out very early in my life that positive thinking is one of the key benefits of mantras. One of the thoughts behind mantras is change. When you are trying to change yourself and your habits, repeating positive mantras will help you convince yourself that something is true and possible, In many ways (I have heard some defeated people say that) mantras are the “fake it ‘til you make it” method of habit change. Of course, positivity will not work in a vacuum. You are not going to become more confident over night by JUST repeating a few mantras and a few phrases from Affirmations, but when you couple the mantra repetition as well as the Affirmations by putting yourself in situations where you can grow and gain confidence, surely then the mantras can help to speed up the process, I can assure the readers.

However, let me put a caution here that when repeating these positive daily mantras and affirmations be sure to: Declare your mantras and affirmations powerfully Believe in what you say and what you do Take actions to back up your words Trust that in time, your negative self-thoughts will no longer have power and your thoughts will only inspire you Develop positive thoughts at all times Never Give up and keep saying I CAN. During my work and family life I always felt free to use many of the positive affirmations that are listed below. I even used them as mantra templates to create my own powerful affirmations. If I were you I would eventually create my personal affirmations to reflect the things that are important to me. If possible I would record these in my own unique 26

voice to be used daily at home or while travelling in the car to and from work.

LIST OF POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS It will get done.

I am proud of myself Happiness is a choice, not a condition. I choose to be happy.

Negative thoughts only have the power I allow them.

My greatest struggles are my greatest lessons.

Only you can steal your own joy.

Tomorrow is a new day My thoughts are filled with positivity and my life is plentiful with prosperity.

If I can change my thoughts, I can change anything.

I am calm, connected to others and cared for I do not judge myself or others Whether you say, “I can” or “I can’t,” you’re right either way.

I believe in my potential My thoughts do not control me, I control my thoughts.

I have the power to create change Nothing lasts forever. Not the good, and not the bad.

I feel beautiful, I am beautiful Great things are achieved thru small steps I radiate beauty, charm, and grace.

I do not need anyone’s approval but my own.

My life is just beginning I am the person I want to be. My future is in my hands.

Choose kindness. You have no idea the things other people are going through If I desire greatness, I must work for it.

My business is growing, expanding, and thriving.

To struggle is not to fail.

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Go slowly. Take the time to do things right.

I will not take for granted the people who love me.

A river of compassion washes away my anger and replaces it with love.

Look back at the past. Marvel at how far you have come.

The grass looks greener on the other side. Stop looking at the other side. Stop comparing. Stop complaining. Begin to water the grass you’re standing on.

The true measure of success is not how many times you fall down, but how many times you get back up.

One bad chapter does not make the book of your life.

Worry is a waste of time. It has no benefits and takes away time and resources better spent on doing.

Good riddance to decisions that don’t support self-care, selfvalue, and self-worth.

No one has ever been blinded by looking at the bright side of things.

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WHO AM I ?

In this WHO AM I presentation we can also see the WHEN, WHERE, WHAT, WHY, and HOW of the presenter whose life has been a collection of various known and unheard echoes and he needed to wake up to start hearing those melodious sounds so he needed to go beyond the horizon to identify and make them into songs that can be appreciated and sung by my loved ones whenever they liked and wished.

However, I have to fill in the missing links of my life to add to the words, sounds and phrases. What I sent out has come back to me in many ways and what I have sown I have reaped in many ways in my life. What I have given I have received back and whatever existed in me I now see them in my loved ones, hence I created this presentation for my people to read and enjoy.

I began my life as a simple village boy and kept moving through the ladder of progress until I became a teacher and then ventured into educational administration. After completing my post graduate qualifications in Human Resources I became the director of human resources of a business organization. I migrated to Australia and worked as a senior lecturer for twelve years before taking my retirement.

My hobby during my retirement was service to people as a justice of the peace and continuing with my creativity. Now I am fully satisfied with all that I have gained and done and I thank my family, friends and the God Almighty for everything that came to me in the last eighty years of my life.

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My name at birth was Ram Lakhan and I was born on the 27 th of December 1939 in a small remote village of Fiji called Botini that is part of Sabeto in Nadi. My father Bhagauti Prasad registered my birth on 18th January 1940 so that became my official birth date. This was because my father served the daily needs of the soldiers who were part of the World War 2 contingent in Fiji and could not find time to do this task any earlier. Thus I got my surname as Prasad.

Botini is a fertile valley on the west bank of Sabeto River that has its source in the mountain range known as the Sleeping Giant. Almost all the residents of this village lived a self sufficient life growing their own basic food requirements. Early housing structure was of thatched nature but as soon as people entered the sugarcane and pineapple growing industry together with their own vegetable gardening things improved considerably and housing as well as other living conditions of people accelerated.

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My parents Bhagoati Prasad and Ram Kumari lived on an extended family farm with my grandparents Sarju Mahajan and Gangadei together with other members of the extended family.

My grandparents who were cunningly recruited from Northern India Uttar Pradesh (Basti) in 1909 as indentured labourers to work on CSR’s sugarcane plantation, had established themselves as successful farmers but passed away during 1980s living for around 90 years each and my parents died early in 1990s hitting 80 years of good life each.

My early childhood was a typical middle class environment but as my parents moved on a separate farm of their own things became worse for a while before improving considerably. In the early stages of separation we experienced hardship and poverty but as my parents began managing their farm with better techniques our financial status improved.

Our family was one of the most enterprising in those days because my parents had a very cordial relationship with the native residents of the village. They all lived in harmony and assisted each other in the farm. Hard work, honesty and community service and involvement were the norm of the family. My father eventually was elevated to the position of village headman and later as the president of the cultural group.

My parents had nine children; two boys and seven girls. I was the eldest and had to work on the farm to help my parents while attending the village primary (Sabeto Indian) and then urban high school, Natabua Secondary. My parents believed in educating the children according to their capabilities. I was fortunate to have entered schools with quality teachers who helped and motivated me to excel and do well at school.

Very early in life I found out that there was always light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. I then became a strong person who tended to be hopeful and confident about my future and my success for everything kept moving along smoothly. I did not want to remain a persona non grata but be someone who was important and worthwhile for everyone as a useful adult.

Life during the entire period of my indoctrination was smooth and exhilarating where all my Gurus gave me the best knowledge, skills and talents. However, my work life was not

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that easy and plain sailing. I had to struggle, meet the competition, fight for promotions and get recognized for scholarships. Consequently I became a residue from the school of hard knocks. Thus I was shaped, changed, controlled and fitted into the system as I wanted. My greatest asset was that I never gave up. I kept going forward with my prayers and my beliefs in doing the right things for the right purpose.

I went forth to serve the rural community as an educator and served well to be recognised for elevation to higher level of service. At the same time the people in authority sent me on scholarship to equip me adequately to serve even better. After my marriage and the birth of four intelligent children I became a successful education administrator, national examiner and curriculum innovator.

National Industrial relations and international involvement became an extramural interest for me and I served the Union of teachers for two decades both nationally and internationally. I represented my country at various conferences and seminars around the world and presented research papers. Creativity has always been my forte so I edited a variety of official and organisational as well as business journals, books and magazines and began writing and publishing my own fictional and non-fictional works. By my 80th birthday I had published over fifty five books of various genres in three languages.

As a result of ministerial interference, jealousy and animosity at my Education Department work place I had to take my early retirement from government service to take the offer from a business organisation as their Director of Human Resources where I had the opportunity to contribute professionally and enhance my own academic qualification. Over a decade of active service in the commercial and industrial sector enabled me to get the best human resources practices and the management of people in the business world and equip me with post graduate qualifications of Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from University of California in USA. Even here all my prayers assisted me.

Through my international connection I was offered to take on the position of Senior Lecturer at Brisbane Youth Training

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Centre and had to apply to migrate to Australia. However, the health authorities in Canberra declared that I was obese and needed to shred at least ten kilogram of my weight. With the help of my medical practitioner Dr Gerona I was able to overcome this hurdle and take up my new position with Education Queensland in 1995. I worked diligently with the institution for a decade before taking my retirement. I worked my way out of this blockage and slight problem through sticking to my prayers as well.

Within this period in Australia I used my financial wisdom to buy and sell real estate in a speculative way thus using the profit from one sale to invest in the other. After trading in a few properties I managed to build my last home free from all encumbrances. By this time all my children were happily married and living their own family life independently and my wife and I lived in retirement.

My wife developed heart and lungs malfunction (PAH) and I had to become her fulltime carer. Despite so many medical manoeuvres we could not keep her safe and she passed away in 2013 leaving me and the family distraught. It took me good four years to get over the shock and sadness of this loss. My indulgence in scriptures, healthy interaction with my family members and friends and various overseas trips acted as my therapy.

Life was getting difficult to live alone because I too had developed a variety of health problems related to my thoracic domain such as SNIP, COPD, GERD, VERTIGO and OSA Sleep Apnoea. My GP referred me to the Department of Community Services and they approved Aged Care Package for me to ease the problems and let me stay in my own home independently. It became evident that I needed a fulltime carer myself and it was by a stroke of luck and coincidence that I became friends on social media with a lady with a lamp known as Ganga who had lost her spouse some 9 years ago. We began communicating and somewhere and somehow we clicked and decided that we needed to strengthen our relationship and get together for the rest of our life for mutual benefits.

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Life goes on and I pray that things in my living will move smoothly and I conclude this with the most important thing in my life, my family. All my children are doing well and I keep praying for their continued prosperity daily. I am now remarried to my best friend, Ganga. This marriage was conducted on 10th June 2017 in a ceremony at home with a few family members, friends and relatives as witnesses. It was solemnised by my brother in law, Dr Naveen Sharma, a marriage celebrant.

We both, Ganga and I, are retired people of almost similar age, attitude and disposition. I am extremely happy that we are married and living a fruitful and rewarding life together. As time passes our words, sounds and phrases that have become our prayers would strengthen and consolidate to give us a better and more peaceful living.

One thing is quite clear to me and that is that all the developments of my life have been the direct result of all my prayers and I thank God Almighty for making things happen in the right way for me.

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CONCLUSION There were moments in my life when I used to ask ‘why should we pray?’ because I thought that God already knows what is in our minds and hearts as well as He already knows all our desires. Then I knew that it was through all my prayers that I got my needed inspirations, motivation and confidence in life so that I had no worries to thing about while I was moving on with this short life.

Our relationship of love in the family is one of enjoying each other. If I say "I love my wife" or “I love my children” but then I never get to speak to them then that is not unconditional love at all, On the other hand if I love them, then I will want to talk with them regularly, spend time with them and desire to care for them. This is my reason to communicate with God as well as my family using the appropriate words, sounds and phrases that I call my prayers.

Of course, it is only humane to feel gracious and show gratitude to anyone who so willingly and kindly attends to all our needs and wants and so I regard my prayers as my gratitude to God Almighty and all these give me joy and satisfaction. I have been praying all my life because I wanted to know God more fully and for me there was nothing lovelier, nothing greater and nothing more enjoyable to my heart, soul and mind than the time when I indulged in my words, sounds and phrases that I accumulated as my prayers to provide me with total fulfillment in life.

As a consequence of my spiritual actions, one particular thing that I have never forgotten to ask the Lord God and that has been my internal desire that I should always dwell well in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the 35

beauty of the Lord and to inquire more knowledge for better living in his temple that I have made and regarded as my home sweet home. This was all because I wanted to know Him and wanted to know God in all His glory. If that is the case then it becomes my duty and responsibility as a simple human being to conduct and continue my communications with God. I have conducted my prayers all my life to understand me even better and know my own heart and mind more fully and I found that there was always a real benefit in coming before the Lord in silence and so all my prayers laid open my heart not only before God but before me as well. Through my prayers I was not trying to change God but always wanted God to change me, my living and my family to experience better moments. During all my prayers my heart has been shaping well and molding the way God wished where I found that all my affections got stirred and my mind and soul transformed. My prayer closet has over the years become my academy of righteousness and whenever I try to enter it as a truant I always come out and emerge as a fine cadet and a good human being.

Finally I must say that I have been praying all my life because I wanted to acknowledge my dependence upon Almighty God and wanted to give Him something and receive everything from Him. I chose Him as my means to live in harmony and recognize all His glories.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I wish to show my sincere and grateful appreciation for the kind gestures, spiritual knowledge and all the other needed information about life that were planted into my mind and soul by my ancestors, my Gurus and my family members and my faithful friends. They were all needed support to make my living a healthy, wealthy and full of peace, prosperity and prestige.

Then there were specific scriptures that gave me the needed inspiration to get nearer to God Almighty so all those who wrote those essential aspects need my sincere appreciation for letting me get the ideas that I have used.

The best acknowledgement that I can place in this publication is to my personal will to keep striving to find the love and care in all the services of God Almighty that I have been able to enjoy in my life.

Thank you everyone for inspiring and motivating me to be a good human being.

Dr Ram Lakhan Prasad.

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