Prayer has been taught by all religions, in all forms: by bowing, by prostrations. As soon as man began to feel the immanence of God in nature, he began to prostrate himself before that Being, calling his limited self helpless before that Being, bowing before Him, worshipping Him. In the Christian religion man knelt before God. In the present time man's pride is grown so much that he thinks, "Why should I pray, why should I prostrate myself before another?" But even now, in Russia, we see rich and poor prostrating themselves, bowing down. A person might say, "What effect should prayer have upon the soul that is pure, aloof from everything?" The soul, when it sees the external self bowing down before it, rejoices and is glad. Prayer gives a nobility to whoever prays, be he rich or poor.