________________
to Patna safely, God will listen to your prayers, and will help you arrive at the Patna railway station. However, if you are praying to God to take you to Patna while sitting in a train traveling from Ranchi to Calcutta, God will not listen to that prayer, and you will reach Calcutta, not Patna. The lesson: Wherever you wish to go, first sit in the appropriate vehicle which is going to your desired destination, and then pray to reach that destination safely. In the same way, Allah is compassionate, and the one who walks on the right path—the path which leads from darkness to light-will have his prayers answered.
What is this path from darkness to light? The Koran gives this
prayer:
Show me the straight path.
This straight path is not in the world. It is not easily found in the darkness. However, in light the path is easily discerned. What, then, is the technique for going from darkness to light? The Koran answers this as well: Keep your face and body firm, keep your vision fixed straight ahead in front of your nose and fix your vision on that place.
Compare this to the verses in the Bhagavad-Gita:
Keep your body, head and neck in a straight and erect position. Sit without moving and without looking in any direction; stare straight in front of your nose. (Bhagavad-Gita 6/13)
254
