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Who are you praying to?

EinsteinEinstein
edited March 2006 in The CenterTao Lounge
[cite] sharon bevin:[/cite]I hope you travel the world again, it'll be good for the soul.

Hi Sharon,

Well, I'm happy you didn't come away from our show feeling irritated! Truly though, I am much better at irritating people in person. :lol:

RE: "good for the soul". It sounds to me like Fox's TV editors hoodwinked you a bit on our show as well. Traveling anywhere is actually a symptom of a "soul" lacking [chref=33]contentment[/chref]. For example, at the most mundane level, I'll sit here as long as I'm content doing so. When I cease feeling content, I'll move on to something and somewhere else (like the toilet maybe) nudged along by another need (I drank a big pot of tea awhile ago :roll: ). The same principle holds true for larger scale circumstances as well, e.g., [chref=80]will be content in their abode, and happy in the way they live. [/chref].

The 'virtue' of travel has become a big part of the modern cultural myth. Like the 'virtue' of sending your kids off to preschool, it is a rationalization to justify a poverty of spirit (i.e., discontentment) that ironically tends to follow the accumulation of wealth. When all is said and done, [chref=46]there is no disaster greater than not being content[/chref]. We just can't have our cake and eat it too. Nuts!

Comments

  • EinsteinEinstein
    edited December 1969
    "Prayer is an act of daily devotion. We who follow Tao do not pray for divine intervention, because Tao does not change its course for any human being" (Deng Ming-Dao). :? So then should we pray, fore it is an act of daily devotion, even though we desire no divine intervention, or does that daily act of devotion inhibit our natural desire to just "be?"
  • CarlCarl
    edited December 1969
    [cite] Einstein:[/cite]So then should we pray... or does that daily act of devotion inhibit our natural desire to just "be?"
    Doesn't it all rest on personal definition? Is the 'God' of the Christian essentially different from the 'God' of the Muslim, or from the [chref=4]'God' of the Taoist[/chref]? Differences are only 'real' in an individual's mind. The differences we feel and see, the judgements we make, are simply reflections of our own needs and fears (which, like all life on earth, are rooted in biology). This becomes self evident once we cease seeing any 'real' difference between us and other life forms. Why do we hold on to our illusions of difference?

    For me personally, prayer = devotion = just 'being' = [chref=16]returning[/chref] to [chref=16]stillness[/chref] and watching the [chref=1]Mystery[/chref] unfold.
  • Lynn CornishLynn Cornish
    edited December 1969
    The more you can stay in the present moment, the more your life becomes a prayer.

    For me a prayer has no words, it's just what Carl said:
    returning to stillness

    It's really cool. Thank you for reminding me. I love this site.
  • TommyOTommyO
    edited December 1969
    For me, prayer is not a request for intervention. Instead it is an effort on my part to hold to the center. People more often pray about what they are anxious about. I pray for two reason. The first is to get help for things that are bigger than myself or are too big for me to handle. The second is to use prayer as a tool for guiding my meditation. I have found success in both.
  • Buddy1Buddy1
    edited December 1969
    like most people, and homer simpson, i seldom pray unless my plane is going down in flames-mostly i pray to take myself out of the moment, to recognize that im not in charge, not the boss of everything...
    ive always liked the saying 'every prayer is answered. sometimes the answer is 'no'.
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