Prayers, to who?
Prayers, to who?
As someone new to Buddhism I often wonder, Sometimes I hear people ask for prayers for example on this site. Who do the prayers go to if most Buddhists do not believe in God or believe Gods are from within our own mind? Is it to the Buddha's or something else.
Re: Prayers, to who?
Buddhas, bodhisattvas, gurus, etc. There are also aspirations to personally accomplish something.
-
- Posts: 2124
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:32 am
Re: Prayers, to who?
Buddha's and Bodhisattva's.
Re: Prayers, to who?
There may be some aspects of Buddhism that are hard to relate to or believe to begin with like the existence of 'external beings', karma , rebirth and so on but it's sometimes best to put those aside temporarily and focus on any of the teachings that you find useful and helpful at this moment in time. You can always return to the other topics at a later time and if you have read around enough, you'll be better able to contextualize their pedagogical purpose within the body of provisional and ultimate teachings
'When thoughts arise, recognise them clearly as your teacher'— Gampopa
'When alone, examine your mind, when among others, examine your speech'.— Atisha
'When alone, examine your mind, when among others, examine your speech'.— Atisha
Re: Prayers, to who?
One way to look at prayers is that personal effort is being put forward to make positive imprints on the mind. The direction of the prayers doesn't matter, but the effort toward refining one's motivation using the content of the prayers does matter. When we notice a change in our mind, this is what inspires genuine faith in the method through experience.
"For as long as space remains,
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world."
(Shantideva)
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world."
(Shantideva)
Re: Prayers, to who?
A teaching to be considered here:
"Householder, there are these five things that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world. What five? Long life, householder, is wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world. Beauty … Happiness … Fame … The heavens are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world. These are the five things that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world.
These five things, householder, that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world, I say, are not obtained by means of prayers or aspirations. If these five things that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world could be obtained by means of prayers or aspirations, who here would be lacking in anything?"
(Ittha Sutta)
"Householder, there are these five things that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world. What five? Long life, householder, is wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world. Beauty … Happiness … Fame … The heavens are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world. These are the five things that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world.
These five things, householder, that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world, I say, are not obtained by means of prayers or aspirations. If these five things that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world could be obtained by means of prayers or aspirations, who here would be lacking in anything?"
(Ittha Sutta)
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Re: Prayers, to who?
He was telling them what they needed to hear. The fact remains that prayers are useful when they change our mental dispositions through the actions they inspire and the resulting faith they generate.Astus wrote: ↑Fri Jun 29, 2018 9:58 am A teaching to be considered here:
"Householder, there are these five things that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world. What five? Long life, householder, is wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world. Beauty … Happiness … Fame … The heavens are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world. These are the five things that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world.
These five things, householder, that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world, I say, are not obtained by means of prayers or aspirations. If these five things that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and rarely gained in the world could be obtained by means of prayers or aspirations, who here would be lacking in anything?"
(Ittha Sutta)
"For as long as space remains,
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world."
(Shantideva)
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world."
(Shantideva)
Re: Prayers, to who?
Sometimes it's a straight forward as that.
"Meditation is a spiritual exercise, not a therapeutic regime... Our intention is to enter Nirvana, not to make life in Samsara more tolerable." Chan Master Hsu Yun
Re: Prayers, to who?
Indeed. It would seem to depend on the mind of the person making the prayer. As long as it's genuine, there is benefit.
"For as long as space remains,
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world."
(Shantideva)
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world."
(Shantideva)