Meditation & Prayer thread

[akai]

I include both meditation and prayer because I think that both have a lot to do with one another, and that prayers in themselves could be meditative and that some meditations involve praying. For me, what distinguishes prayer from meditation is that prayer is asking my higher power for answers whereas meditation is, perhaps, waiting for answers.

In my prayers, I pray for the health and well being of those I encounter. Then at the end, I include my deepest wishes. In my meditations, is where my desires and wishes are let go of. I focus on my breathing and centering myself. Another way that I meditate is by going on long walks (usually silent and I try not to use the phone, but if I do I make a phone call and listen to guidance from another man).

This thread can be a discussion about meditation or praying in general, or even about experiences you had while meditating or praying.

[joyboy]

I find meditation to be very useful for me. My approach to it is a secular one, but my methods are informed by Theravada Buddhism and Zen. It's something in the same family as hypnosis, NDE, and lucid dreaming. In my model of meditation, I split it between formal meditation (sitting down, picking an object, applying my focus to it and getting absorbed in it, being deeply aware of my bodily sensations and emotions and mind) and informal meditation (aka mindfulness, being aware of my thoughts and feelings, consciously breathing throughout the day).

Popular secular meditation guides are essentially stripped down versions of traditional Buddhist meditation practices with equal efficacy but I think the Buddhist tradition tries to take deeper looks as obstacles, functions, and applications of meditation for bettering a person. Christian and Islamic meditation are not fundamentally different from Eastern meditation traditions though, nor do Eastern meditation traditions do things fundamentally against God imo.

Two books that I think can help someone develop meditation from a Buddhist perspective:

• The Mind Illuminated // Culadasa
• Right Concentration // Leigh Brasington

phrases I would describe what meditation "does":

• learning how to be bored
• learning how to do nothing
• wrestling with frustration, dissatisfaction, and anxiety
• being in the moment
• listening , accepting

My wife finds great benefit for her epilepsy and asthma in meditation and breathing exercises. A major reason I got into meditation were the scientifically proven health benefits of doing it -- which is the main reason why I would encourage anyone to try picking it up!