“Pinecone” | Anthony Satori

There is a word in Sanskrit: “atha.” It is pronounced “aht-hah.” It is the very first word Patanjali wrote in his ancient collection of the Yoga Sutras. It is a prayer, a request to the Universe for an auspicious, purposeful beginning to the endeavor at hand, and also for a sound, satisfying, successful conclusion to the venture. The prayer does not merely apply to the execution of the endeavor itself, however, but also to the quality of effect that it will have once it is released into the outside world. So, in essence, “atha” is a prayer that is meant not only to guide the virtuous manifestation of one’s creative vision, but also to guide and protect the product of one’s heart and one’s hand beyond its completion, onward into its future effect on the outside world. This makes it an especially powerful word, and a truly valuable and humble prayer to utter over any earnest endeavor of the heart and spirit. When I first discovered this word, I realized that, long before knowing the word, in my heart and mind I had always said such a prayer over the artworks that I create and the words that I write. How wonderful, now, to have a word for it!

As if this weren’t enough, however, there is another beautiful secret hiding within this word. And it is this: literally translated, “atha” means, “now.” It is a prayer meant to encompass the beginning, middle, end, and limitless future of an endeavor, and yet it is all contained in the word, “now.” How extraordinary to cover such a wide expanse of time in the simple “present” tense! In my interpretation, this indicates that this special prayer not only serves as a blessing over a particular venture, but it also contains a pure expression of something even bigger. It suggests that all events, all time, all actions and consequences are somehow also contained within one single, present, eternal moment. It suggests that our prayers, our connection to the Universe – to God, a Higher Power, the compassionate creative consciousness – is a connection that exists within a different realm, a higher realm, a place that exists outside of time and space. Here, everything that has happened, everything that is happening, and everything that will happen are all already existing, simultaneously. This is the spirit world. This is eternity. This is the mind of God.

And the beauty of this, for me, is that when we make a prayer like “atha,” we are praying with that part of our own Being which lives in this other mystical realm. When we pray like this, we are connecting with the spirit of God within us, and with our own inner eternal Self. And there is probably no activity that we can engage in which is more profound and more beautiful than this. I believe that any time we cultivate and nourish this connection that we have been given, we are further discovering our true nature, we are connecting more deeply with our own eternal Self, and we are making the conscious choice to remember our divinity.