|
What is Prayer? Growing up I did not like the idea of prayer. It made me think of my religion and most of the time I had no idea what any of the prayers I was hearing meant. They were recited in an ancient language called Avestan, mostly by male priests. I felt that religion tended to separate us, instead of unite us. I fell in love with Yoga, because it offered a way to get in touch with the spiritual aspects of being human, without religion. Oneness and Inter-connectedness was the message of Yoga. And prayer had a very different meaning. When we practise asana, or meditate or chant, with the intention of compassion towards ourselves and others, then we practise filling our hearts with love. The late, great zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh explains that when we send this energy of love and compassion to another person, it does not matter if they know we are sending it. What matters is that we are creating this energy in our own heart and it is being sent out into the world. When we cultivate love and compassion in ourselves and then send them outward, then that is truly prayer. Over time, we may notice a change in our own heart. We continue to come together at Love Supreme Projects, in the room where it all happens (some of you zooming into it), so that we can set the compass of our hearts towards love and compassion and send this energy outward to our family, friends, community and eventually the whole world.
|
