"On Prayer" Summary

A priestess asks about prayer, and Almustafa advises people to pray not just in distress and need, but also in the fullness of joy and abundance. Prayer is but the expansion of oneself into the "living ether," bringing comfort and delight. If one cannot help but weep when the soul gives the summons to prayer, the soul should continue until one laughs. When one prays, one rises into the air to meet everyone praying at that moment - including people one can meet only in prayer. Temple visits are for ecstasy and sweet communion, not to ask for anything for oneself or others. It is enough to enter the "temple invisible." Almustafa cannot teach how to pray in words, for God hears only those words he utters through human lips. Nor can Almustafa teach the prayer of seas, forests...