I have aways considered an important part of my spiritual education the study of the Buddha and Buddhism. I believe that whatever your religion or belief system is, there is value in having some knowlege of these teachings. Recently I’ve been revisiting some of the materials that I haven’t looked at for some time and I came across what I want to share this week. It is the Buddhist definition of prayer which I offer to you without comment:
Buddhist Definition of Prayer
Most fundamentally, prayer is the process of bringing forth the supreme state of life referred to as our "Buddha nature." A potential possessed equally by all people, the Buddha nature is the fundamental, compassionate life force inherent in the cosmos. Prayer is the process of realigning our individual lives (the lesser self, with all its impulses and desires) with the rhythm of the living cosmos (the greater Self). In doing this we unleash previously untapped sources of Self-knowledge, wisdom, vitality and perseverance. And because, in Buddhist philosophy, there is no separation between the internal world of human beings and their environment, changes that occur in our inner life are reflected in our external circumstances. The experience of having one's prayers "answered" is the manifest result of this process.
Daisaku Ikeda has written that the ultimate form of prayer is in fact a vow—a vow to contribute to the happiness of others and the development of human society. It is this vow and pledge to action that most profoundly attunes our lives to the larger life of the universe and brings forth our highest, most noble "Selves”.
If you would like to know more, I recommend these two books from several in my library. “the herart of the Buddha’s teaching” by Thich Nhat Hanh (author of more than 20 books on Buddhism). This covers The Four Noble Truths, The Noble Eightfold Path and other basic Buddhist teachings. Also, ”Awakening The Buddha Within - Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World’ by Lama Surya Das,. Both of these books are available, in paperback, from Amazon for less than $10.00.
But wait, there’s more -
"The perfect is sometimes the enemy of the good.” Voltaire. (Focus on excellence rather than perfection.)
