Prayer and Buddhism

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Pulsus , pulsus , sententia hiberna ventus Sententia professio secus unkind , Ut man's ingratitude.......

I have found a pressing need to give thanks. Many of my meditations have begun with my palms together, placed upon the crown of my head, to my forehead and then to my chest, leading to three bows of respect.

Thanks to whom? Bow to whom?

There are prayers to be found within the bounds of Buddhism. In the west, with our foundation so steadily built over several generations upon Christianity, prayer has for us strong Christian connetation. It is not so with many Buddhist traditions, spared by our belief of a great God upon a throne with his mediator, Jesus Christ. I have struggled with this, as my 9/25 post appears to indicate. So I posed this question to some of Buddhist colleagues at http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/index.php and found this little gem, among others; http://www.thebuddhadharma.com/issues/2003/spring/forum_do_buddhists_pray.html

What say you?

Comments

They call him James Ure said…
Thank-you for this offering. In my practice I agree that "prayer" (say to Avalokiteshvara) is really a call to that Buddhanature within myself to emerge and clear away the duality spell cast by my ego.

I also like the idea of saying things such as, "May all beings find peace" as a form of dedication in my life. To remind myself to work to help other beings find peace, etc. And hopefully when they find peace then they will pass the good energy and help back to me.

And in turn reminding myself to work toward peace in my own life.

The whole idea of interconnectedness being that we rely upon each other so that we can all realize enlightenment, Nirvana and beyond to parinirvana. Om.
5:48 PM
Kathy Trejo said…
I love this photo! so beautiful. I'm on my way to ead the links provided i n this post.
Thanks
6:29 PM
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