“Real prayer begins from pain; it is not a pleasant experience, a ‘nirvana’. What kind of pain is it? One is troubled in the good sense of the term. He feels pain, he groans, he suffers when praying for anything whatsoever. Do you know what it means to suffer? Yes, he suffers. Because he is participating in everyone’s pain or in the pain of one particular person. This participation, this pain, is rewarded by God with divine exultation. Of course. he doesn’t ask for this exultation, but it comes as a consequence, because he participates in the pain of others.”

– ‘Spiritual Awakening’