Question: Is there any difference between prayer and meditation?
Sri Chinmoy: They lead to the same goal, but there is a slight difference between prayer and meditation. When we pray, at that time we feel that our Eternal Father is listening to us. Prayer goes upward. But when we meditate, at that time we feel that God is talking to us and we are listening. Meditation goes outward. So prayer is when we talk to the Father, and meditation is when the Father talks to us.
Sri Chinmoy, Sri Chinmoy speaks, part 3, Agni Press, 1976