.If this blog was a book, I could organize this so the most important chapters were at the front. I say that because there is no part of this blog anymore important then this page. I hope the title brings readers here. What I am about to say is going to shock practically everyone who reads this. At times I am going to ask you to stop and think about events that happened in your life. I believe, if you take the time to do so, you will see there is truth in the things I am about to say.
There is one other point I need to make before introducing my beliefs on prayer and meditation and that is how does God figure into all this? In prayer God or a prophet is a given. Meditation does not require a higher power though many that truly meditate accept the concept. The higher power could be the universe or it could be the laws of the universe. There may be no concept of a supreme power or rule but one can still meditate. In all cases I know and have studied, meditation always leads to a belief in ones spirit. Some of the most spiritual people I know consider themselves atheists. I also know devout followers of religion who are very spiritual.
In my following statements I am going to use the term God rather than go into a detailed explanation of how God can be what one chooses God to be. God could be the universe, the laws of the universe, a supreme power or the great poobah. I use the word because most people believe in God, myself included, but I still need to have those who do not believe in a higher power to read what I have to say for one extremely important reason. Prayer and meditation work and they both work a lot better if people don't misuse or confuse the two.
I am going to start by saying something most people will agree with. Prayer and meditation are two of the most profound things anyone can do in their lives. Prayer requires a belief in something that can affect the course of events. Meditation requires no beliefs. All it seeks to do is expand ones mind in whatever direction their unconscious mind or guides take them.
Most would agree that prayer is far easier than meditation but how many of you know why? Clearing ones mind is required in meditation but that is not the prime factor. The main reason boils down to control. In meditation, one gives up any form of control. In prayer control is passed to your God or in many cases the person praying retains control. I will explain that later.
Both prayer and meditation involve the concept of a spirit. Prayer always requires a higher power. Meditation usually does but doesn't have to. So far I believe those reading this can accept most of what I have said. That's about to change.
Most religions support meditation but unfortunately what they call meditation is simply another form of prayer. There is a huge difference and recognizing the difference requires stepping back and looking at both through the eyes of an observer. Praying is obvious, There is nothing subtle about it. The only thing in question regarding prayer is the focus.
There is no doubt what the focus should be in meditation though western and middle eastern religions would have their followers believe the focus is God or a prophet, The focus in meditation has always been and always will be the person who is meditating. If one focuses on God or a prophet when one meditates, it becomes prayer. Most religions openly admit what they call meditation is prayer with relaxation techniques built in.
Put simply meditation is focused directly on the person who is meditating. One meditates and opens their mind to a journey they usually have little or no preconception of. It is directed at self but it is not about self. In contrast, prayer should only be about other people. When a person feels the need to pray in their own interest they should meditate instead. Here are the reasons why.
First I want everyone who prays to step back and look at the prayers in their life. If you do you will see a definite trend, When one prays solely for the health and welfare of another, their prayer gets answered far more often then when they pray for personal help. Not only does their prayers get answered more, sometimes miracles happen. Show me one miracle that has come from asking God for help for your self.
When one prays for help for others, you show God you care. You have nothing to gain. A word of caution here, If you pray for God to relieve you of your suffering caused by the sickness of one you love that is self serving and it takes away from any part that addresses the health of the one you should be praying for. There will be no miracles if everyone is praying for their own pain to be eased. Think back over what you have witnessed and you will see for yourself what should be obvious to far more people than it is.
So where does that leave us when we are suffering? We can meditate. Meditation is all about us. It is total self serving and that is the way God meant it to be. There is a huge warning flag one must always be on the lookout for. Meditation is all about you. That means you are not supposed to be focusing on God. Here is why. If you believe in a supreme power, you believe that supreme power is all knowing. You can't have one without the other. Since God is all knowing, you don't have to tell God anything. If you do not believe in God you have no one to explain anything to. Either way, one connects with their spirit.
There is a good chance you may have no understanding of why you are suffering or why there are so many obstacles in front of you and that is why you meditate. You clear your mind and let God tell you. The problem here is you may not agree with what God is telling you. There is a reason for that. A lot of the problems we face in life are self inflicted and God is not going to let you off the hook. By asking for God's help you maintain control. If you ask for a specific and word it correctly God cannot tell you what it is you need to hear. That is why we must clear our minds and let God talk to us. It is not the other way around.
We pray for others and we meditate for ourselves, It is as simple as that.
That leaves us with phenomena like natural disasters which can claim millions of lives at once. These things happen as a direct result of the forces in play on our planet. Things like earthquakes are natural but they are chaotic. I personally believe in reincarnation and when one life ends another begins. Some of you believe in heaven which I see as the final destination for us all so death should not be feared and I believe, in most cases, it is not feared. It is the lack of control that frightens us and it should.
The message is do all in your power you can so we can control these events and prevent them from happening. We will have the ability to do those things eventually. We keep putting off the ability by all these needless conflicts we find ourselves in. I believe natural phenomena are God's way to keep us on task and we should be spending our energy trying to control the phenomena rather than praying to be protected from it.
