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Not so much: 'What is prayer' but: 'How
does it work?'. What makes prayer effective? To read Chinese
or Egyptian, even if one is a speaker of it, one has to
work out the meaning and context. In other words it has
to acquire a meaning as added by its user or reader. English,
contrariwise, can be read even if one does not understand
a word of it. Our language links squiggle and noise together.
Once learnt anyone can do this. We are led to believe that
meanings are IN words. Instead it is: meaning is in the
mind and feelings of the beholder. Prayer, like a Celtic
geis, only works when one fully means it. Not unlike a legal
contract, every word refers to something and as a whole
it has a theme, message, unity.
This is not quite as simple as it sounds.
Take the Tibetan OM or Aum. A mantra, also a prayer, but
compacted. It means: The jewel in the Lotus. One has to
read around quite a lot in Tibetan myth, philosophy, social
practices and beliefs to begin to fathom what it refers
to. Lotus is flower, fleur de lis, rose. It is also omphalus
and yoni combined. Three leaves plus a stamen or how fertilisation
works. A prayer, in that sense, names something inserted
or injected into the universe to have something grow and
develop. This begs oodles of questions about how the relation
between man and the universe is made up and explained. Here
the universe is modeled as productive, positive, cooperative
with man. In other words saying a prayer will have an effect
that returns to the sender.
But, unless one knows exactly what is required
it will be as with the Three Wishes. One might get what
one asks for and that may not be what one wants or needs.
So, a prayer has to be aimed at one's long term good, even
survival. Pray for an ice cream and you might well be hit
by an ice cream truck. This refers to the intensity of one's
feelings and the concentration of that: Being one focused.
Although most prayers we are taught as children are dedications
to god prayers can be used to heal, improve one's lot, smoothe
out the problems of life, release unwanted feelings and
ideas and more. There are also bad prayers like curses,
black magic spells, abjurations and more. One's frame of
mind in praying has to be positive. A mind cluttered
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up with trivia will carry along what is
said what is felt and thought when praying.
In Hebraic custom the rabbe says, once
a year at Christmas, the Holy Unspeakable Name of God. This
means that one's grasp and understanding is complete and
whole. It cannot be packed together in a few words. OM so
compacts the entirety of one's understanding into a symbol.
This is, literally, beyond understanding since one also
lives that, even embodies it in one's being. As an ideal
or perfect way to pray few of us can do that. Ideals can
be achieved but in most cases it is better to aim for it
and not worry too much if not attained. Simply put: one's
focus, attention and intention should be in and on the prayer.
St Theresa, the abbess, was fond of chicken.
At one meal, chicken, she gutsed herself. A prim, young
nun told her off for doing so. She retorted, When it is
prayer time, pray, and when it is chicken time, chicken
with all one's heart, might and being. This is also known
as living in the present, here and now. In other words:
Pay attention. One can hardly pay attention unless one knows
what it going on and its meaning. Brother Laurence, a 17th
Century monk was assigned to the garden as he was too thick
to read books. He invented his own prayer, the practice
of the living presence of god. Everything he did he did
for god. It took him seven years to attain enlightenment,
so, obviously, he meant what he meant. Carrying little knowledge
around in his head it was easier too. A same anecdote is
told about the 17th Patriarch of Zen. He was the stable
boy, for the same reason as for Laurence. So it is not learning
but meaning and attention that counts the most.
Most of us want but little things, here
and there. That's OK too. Size, weight, importance, scale,
does not count in the universe, only for us. A Mother, living
in a rural community, near illiterate, wanted to help her
son with schoolwork. She prayed for some way to do so. Going
outside one day she saw in the glimmerings on the road a
message. She realised it would help her son. It did. From
there on, whenever son had school problems she would go
outside and wait for a message. It always appeared.
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Perceptions
Awakened Perceptions
