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Saturday, September 13, 2008

The Buddhist's Lord's Prayer

Every Christian is familiar with the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).  Some say that the purpose of this prayer is to provide a guide as to how to pray.

I suspect that many prayers follow this wonderful and enlightened guide.  

I also suspect that many more prayers are made as an entreaty for some kind of divine intervention: to change the behavior of another, to change the outcome of a severe illness, to change one's financial condition, etc.

But what is a Buddhist's view of prayer?

In Buddhism, prayer is meditation which has self-change as its object. Prayer in meditation acts as an aid to understand one's nature. It attempts to purify three faculties -— thought, word and deed. Through meditation, we can understand that 'we become what we think'. 

The Buddha once used an analogy of a man who wants to cross a river. If he sits down and prays, imploring that the far bank of the river will come to him and carry him across, then his prayer will not be answered. If he really wants to cross the river, he must make some effort; he must find some logs and build a raft, or look for a bridge or construct a boat or perhaps swim. Somehow he must work to get across the river. Likewise, if he wants to cross the river of suffering, prayers alone are not enough. He must work hard by living a religious life, by controlling his passions, calming his mind, and by getting rid of all the impurities and defilements in his mind. 

A Buddhist poet has offered this meditation to cultivate the mind (perhaps as a Buddhist's Lord's Prayer): 

'Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it. Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved, but for the patience to win my freedom.'

1 comment:

The Violet Hoarder said...

This prayer is so relevant right now. Thanks for sharing it. I like your blog.