March 24, 2011
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Prayer, Hope, and Wishes.
A few posts recently have gotten me thinking about prayer.
And often it seems like prayer is reserved only for those in a religion or it’s somehow something special that requires secret knowledge to do right, there’s even question as to whether different cultures even pray but it’s beginning to dawn on me that really prayer is something much more universal that religions have just labelled and created rules for.
I’ve got nothing against religion, I personally have never been able to go along with organised religious belief but I don’t judge those that do. But with regards to prayer I don’t think it should be thought of as limited to religious prayer only because prayer is just another expression of an inbuilt human condition, the feeling that due to the limitations of our senses we can never be sure of the world around us, there’s always going to be an unknown, a question, a limit to our perception.
And because of this when things become dangerous or we experience loss or fear we turn to Hope and hope allows us to externalise the unknowable lets us accept our limitations but still feel as though we can affect a change, and this Hope has been interpreted in many ways, we Wish, we Pray, we think positively and visualise.
But in the end it all looks like the same process, an attempt to understand the un perceivable.
I am of course not saying that because it’s a similar root that all the different ways to ‘pray’ are pointless or just made up, personally I think each has it’s value and changes the effect on the person and possibly the effect on reality, but it’s just interesting to think how easy it is to build a myth around something like ‘prayer’ and box it off in your mind as something only religious people do and then turn around and hope for a nice day tomorrow, or blow out candles and make a wish.Image removed due to DMCA violation report. For more information please go to: http://help.xanga.com/about/digital-millennium-copyright-act-dmca/
Comments (9)
It is funny how sometimes it all seems like different paths to the same destination.
@Roadlesstaken - Yeah can be kind of reassuring too though.
I hope and wish every day. I never looked toward prayer, but I guess praying is pretty close to hoping and wishing.
I’m starting to get interested in meditation. But I’m not sure yet how to incorporate it into my life. I find myself wanting “something”, yet religion and I aren’t a good match.
I like the way you explain prayer. I too always assumed prayer was for religion only but I suppose prayer is mediation aswell which is just a moment for yourself.
Silly question – What does that monk has between his legs?
“But in the end it all looks like the same process, an attempt to understand the un perceivable. ”
love that sentence
@jennylovve - It certainly is similar, I realised that even though i didn’t call it prayer i was doing something along the same lines my self.
@Days_likethis - I used brainwave entrainment technology for years to meditate an hour a day, and afterwards often spent time just sitting meditating.
All i do is sit with a straight back, so either in an upright chair or depending on your flexibility in half or full lotus (i only ever got to a comfy half lol) and then place your touge on your upper pallett like your saying ‘L’ then breath into your lower lungs (feels as if your breathing into your belly) slowly and deeply while following your breath with your mind.
The tricky bit is trying not to let your thoughts interrupt, the advice is to try to just acknowledge the thoughts and then let them flow, to realise that you are actually not your thoughts and can be apart from them.
Start at 10 or 20 mins and see how you like it then you can extend if you have time, meditation can be really addictive and pleasant.
Oh and haha i’d not even noticed that thing on the monk…looks a little suspicious, but it’s just a gong knocker i think
@swtaznxtc90 - :D thank you
@BFB1131 - Say, Bede, why are you up so early? haha
And thank you for the advice. I think I’ll go out and get some magazines about meditation today. I’m a reader, you know haha. I love that lotus but like you said, it is difficult.
@Days_likethis - Hehe I actually wasn’t ‘up’ i just woke in the middle of the night and thought i should respond since i didin’t think i’d have much free time in the day.
Good luck with the meditation, i think it’ll help you if you can get into it.
There’s only one God, the one and only, but us humans took a different pathways to found the God.