Meditation and Prayer

 There has been a Thread recently on meditation, and various meditation techniques that people use. Great stuff, all of it.  Justin started it, and it's called "How To Meditate."  One of the Posters asked if prayer and meditation were the same thing. I published a fairly technical theological response, and then felt that it was out of place in the context of the conversation.

So, I have decided to just re-print that Post as a Blog, so that I can share some of my further thoughts on the similarities between the two, and so on, just as a matter of further thought.  I had an earlier Post on the thread that recommended my own meditation group as one direction (www.sos.org; stands for Science of Spirituality), and another, The Healing Power of Loving Kindness, by Rulku Thondup, which is a guided Buddhist Meditation short book and 3 CD set available from Amazone ($16).

Anyway, my further thoughts on prayer and meditation are as follows: If I may, I would like to offer some additional information.  

In the video of Justin's, the narrator speaks of STILING THE MIND OF THOUGHT, and then receiving divine energy.  In every meditation practice that I have encountered, this is basically the same objective, by whatever name, and the methods vary.  Becky's Contemplative Prayer is one of the strongest in use in Christianity, and she communes with God.  In Debbie's awareness of being alive, her mind is empty of other worries, and she is "in the moment."  In my practice, of Surat Shabd Yoga, we use a mantra to give the mind something to do, so that it doesn't let thoughts in, and lets the soul start the passage to the Universal Being, through various stages.

I am not saying that EVERYTHING is the same, but the similarities are strong.  Many practices have disciplines that allow the mind to focus, so that the thoughts are stilled.  Focus becomes the objective, also viewed as stillness or silence, or "sitting practice."  Some of the exercises for various methods have ways to learn to rid the mind of those troublesome thoughts:  looking at a leaf in a bowl of water for a minute, then five, then ten, as you go on through the days, eventually seeing every vein of the leaf.

Buddhists will look at a drawing of a Buddha, and focus on all its intricate detail, to divert the mind.  Depak Chopra has written about the commonality of this spiritual awakening that is coming to our time, some of it from traditions from other eras, some of it developed by the individual.

I do not mean to diminish anyone's practice by clumping it in with the others, and saying, "your God is the same as something else," as to show that prayer can be viewed as meditation, and has been by many traditions.  It is about clearing the mind of thought, worry, involvement in the material world, and eventual communion with Peace, or some call it/him/her God, or whom/whatever.

[There are, of course, other forms of prayer, using words, music, dance, etc.  But this is in reference to contemplative prayer.  There are also other methods of meditation that still the mind through, example, movement--the Sufis--and music--Gregorian Chants, etc.]