Why Pray? [Article]
I remember my prayers as a little girl. I would lie in bed and recite an original prayer that I had composed that I felt covered all the bases. It included requests to bless all the important people in my life (including my cat), requests for peace on earth and for things to go smoothly at school. And then I would say thank you and tell God that I loved Him.
What I don’t remember is when I stopped saying those prayers. At some point as I grew up, the prayers just decreased in frequency until I was out of the habit, and eventually forgot about them completely. For a couple decades after that I had no formal practice of prayer.
Then it entered my life again…
And then I found myself introduced into the world of Buddhism, and here was prayer again. At first, I felt uncomfortable with it. Many of the prayers were in Tibetan, and while I had the translations, the whole idea of it felt foreign. Why am I doing this? Do I even believe in these deities? And if not, why am I asking them for anything?
Slowly, I came to understand from my teacher, Tulku Lobsang, that praying is not asking. Praying is giving. What we are giving is our love.
The benefit of prayer is received in the moment of praying.
The benefit of prayer does not happen in some future moment when you get what you asked for. Rather, the benefit of prayer is received in the moment of praying.
This is because prayer opens our heart. We become humble and grateful and we practice positive thinking. We feel connected to something greater than ourselves. This feels good and right. And it all happens immediately!
A practice of gratitude and devotion - the way to change ourselves.
When we pray, we practice gratitude and devotion. This is the preparation for spiritual practices. Whatever we do after prayer—after opening our hearts—will be done better than if done without the prayer.
This is the way to change ourselves.
And so my friend, I pray that we all continue to open. I pray that we all experience the beauty around us. I pray that we all feel happy. I pray that we all recognize our deep interconnectedness.
A deep thank you to Tulku Lobsang Rinpoche for his teachings.