About prayer

[Parodite]

Since it is nice, comforting, calming to know people are thinking, praying, empathizing... it should help.

When you are unable to help yourself, you look for help. Somebody or something to pull you out of the pit. The presence of other people trying to help you physically, or just even wishing/wanting to help if they can/could.. helps believing in and anticipating the possibility of being rescued via your own actions and that of others. Hope then means a reason to continue fight for life.

Reducing fear prevents paralyses and shock; it prolongs the ability to fight for your life or of a beloved one, which logically enhances the chances for survival. It prevents you to give up or play dead and instead motivates you to swim to the shore. You may still not make it, but there are people who would otherwise have died.

I don't think people benefit from prayers, best wishes or people just thinking of them... without being aware of them. But when all alone and without any noticeable help around... maybe a prayer of sorts, if you at least are able to pray.. can help in similar ways. To know that on the other side somebody/something awaits you and catches you in the fall. But once in the ultimate struggle of death, with God knows what pains and exploding fears taking over... all poetry will be out of the window.

Gazelles caught by the Lion with its teeth in their neck without escape are anesthetized by an overdose of endorphins.

Prayer under healthy and non-threatening circumstances though, must be quite something different.

[Hoosiernorm]

Nothing wrong with begging, especially for mercy.

[Parodite]

Nothing wrong with begging, especially for mercy.

Totally sensical. In fact the only moment begging makes sense; when mercy is required to survive. Some Tarantino movies comes to mind.

[ansuchin]

Since it is nice, comforting, calming to know people are thinking, praying, empathizing... it should help.

When you are unable to help yourself, you look for help. Somebody or something to pull you out of the pit. The presence of other people trying to help you physically, or just even wishing/wanting to help if they can/could.. helps believing in and anticipating the possibility of being rescued via your own actions and that of others. Hope then means a reason to continue fight for life.

Reducing fear prevents paralyses and shock; it prolongs the ability to fight for your life or of a beloved one, which logically enhances the chances for survival. It prevents you to give up or play dead and instead motivates you to swim to the shore. You may still not make it, but there are people who would otherwise have died.

I don't think people benefit from prayers, best wishes or people just thinking of them... without being aware of them. But when all alone and without any noticeable help around... maybe a prayer of sorts, if you at least are able to pray.. can help in similar ways. To know that on the other side somebody/something awaits you and catches you in the fall. But once in the ultimate struggle of death, with God knows what pains and exploding fears taking over... all poetry will be out of the window.

Gazelles caught by the Lion with its teeth in their neck without escape are anesthetized by an overdose of endorphins.

Prayer under healthy and non-threatening circumstances though, must be quite something different.

Well said, "Parodite" aka Rhapsody. Good to hear from you again.

(Is "Parodite" some form of igneous mineral or is it a burlesque of one? )

Due to having a different religious background than most here, I probably do not understand prayers and miracles in the same way. Prayer, to me, is not a supplication, since I have no idea to whom I should present such a request to. Some Buddhist pray to gods, others do not. I do not. Miracles are simply those events that inspire my awe and wonder, whether consistent with the laws of established science or not.

Prayer is an opening of my mind and heart to kindness, compassion, and sympathy, all held in delicate balance by equanimity. These are sometimes called the Brahmaviharas, the abodes of Brahma, or the four immeasurables. These practises allow me to approach the suffering of others with an open heart and without fear. The separation that divides us is only an illusion anyway, and when I have been with those in pain and fear with this prayerful attitude and mind, the afflicted I have encountered have known that they are not alone in their trials. Fear grows from isolation derived through pain, grief, and infirmity, and causes much suffering for so many. A loving, prayerful presence, free of anxiety, despair, or horror can provide much peace and courage and has been helpful to the people I have engaged in these unfortunate circumstances.

As far as miracles go, I do not define wonders unexplained or unexpected by science as evidence of some supernatural intervention. The state of our scientific understanding knows many things but remains ignorant of many others. Physicians often are clueless and wrong in their prognostics, since there are so many variables at play that defy their confident predictions. In any case, I do not see why God, if such a being exists, would not be working miracles through the natural laws He created. A dichotomy between natural vs. supernatural occurrences seems just an unnecessary and confusing dualism to me.

I probably take a pretty concrete view on miracles. They are to me simply events that inspire my awe and wonder regardless of their origin. It is not in my power to undo the endless, complex karmic forces that accompany all of us: we are all vulnerable to sickness, we will are all susceptible to growing old, we will all die, and all that is dear to us will be taken from us. Nevertheless, when I have been able to become prayerful by entering the Brahmaviharas, the openness of my mind and heart has allowed me to witness so many wonders: breathing, movement, speech, emotion, the ever changing moments of the ill, as well as their ever shifting moments of celebration and despair. These are all miracles of that infinite mind stream that I, as a conscious being in this life, am one with and inseparable from, and I have been filled with awe and joy with that realisation and the compassion that demands.

There are many who revere Amitābha, in the Pure Land School, but I do not understand all that. Nevertheless this prayer to Amida or Amitābha is close to the essence of what I pray every day:

Metta Karuna Prayer

O Amida,
Oneness of Life and Light,
Entrusting in your Great Compassion,
May you shed the foolishness in myself,
Transforming me into a conduit of Love.
May I be a medicine for the sick and weary,
Nursing their afflictions until they are cured;
May I become food and drink,

During time of famine or flood,
May I protect the helpless and the poor,
May I be a lamp,

For those who need your Light,
May I be a bed for those who need rest,
and guide all seekers to the Other Shore.
May all find happiness through my actions,
and let no one suffer because of me.
Whether they love or hate me,
Whether they hurt or wrong me,
May they all obtain true entrusting,
Through Other Power,
and realize Supreme Nibbāna

[Parodite]

Well said, "Parodite" aka Rhapsody. Good to hear from you again.

(Is "Parodite" some form of igneous mineral or is it a burlesque of one? )

Also Hi again Madammme An! I had to google myself the meaning of Parodite afterwards; in French it seems related to the salivary glands.. in Italian a plural of Parody... so indeed, is has to be some kind of weird mineral! Saying things before I know what they mean is a bad habit. I'll try do better.

Miracles and prayer... well as you say it is hard to really understand people who really believe they talk to a person when they pray if you are not brought up in that mold. And miracles... I would define as events that do not happen often enough to be of much use, such as a local rain shower only once every 40 years or so.

I like rain that rains often enough. Nice rain. Not miracle rain that only reminds you of the crisp n dry misery the rest of the time.