Prayer and the Greatest Commandment

[Solvedit]

The most important commandment is to love the Lord Thy God with your whole heart and soul, and your neighbor as yourself.  Matthew 22: 36-40.

The Solar Plexus is held by many ancient traditions to be the seat of the soul. 

The scripture may have therefore been intended to be taken as an instruction on where a supplicant's attention should be when praying.  Not the sky because God is everywhere, not your mind where you think up all your needs, but your heart and soul.

Before I even studied Buddhism, some said it was a bit too much like Metta Bhavana.  But Siddharta Gautama was royal and had surely studied other religions.  Perhaps Judaism, but it was not a completely unique religion.   Could he maybe have gotten it from us?  I don't know. 

Perhaps prayer should be more like meditation than shouting requests at the sky. 


It may be important to forming the correct dispositions for prayer.  If your attention is on your mind and what you think you need, you may wind up violating Matthew 6: 7-8,

"But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."

Repetition may be useful for staying in a prayerful state without the mind wandering.  I can't believe the instruction of Matthew 6: 7-8 is to only say the briefest prayer and then stop.  


The second part of the instruction is surely compatible with equanimity because you would not have anyone do any more for you.  A meditation for equanimity which I have read states:

"Regardless of my wishes for you, your happiness is not in my hands.
All beings are responsible for the suffering or happiness caused by thier own actions.
May you do what needs to be done to find happiness.
May you find peace exactly where you are."  Recovery Dharma, second edition

[midicon]

There was a time when I practiced the Metta Bhavana.

I recall reading that Meister Eckhart once said that all prayer is born of desire and therefore is a movement away from God. He followed that up by saying, therefore if you must pray then pray to bring God close.

I'm paraphrasing here,

[Swada]

Meister Eckhardt also said There is nothing in the world that resembles God as much as silence.
Rumi stated "Silence is the language of God. All else is a poor example"
Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God".
Rumi "Look for the one looking for God … but then Why look at all ? … He is not lost … He is right here … Closer than your own breath!” 
Saint Francis of Assisi "What we are looking for is what is looking"
Meister Eckhardt “The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”

Do you see a pattern from those that know? Its so simple its silly. "looking" is our self awareness.  It is the unmanifested eye of God.  A mind empty of all desires and fears.  Is a mind that exist in silence.  A silence that is soon replaced with the sound of nada anahata echoing through our being.  That be the wind of the holy ghost cleansing the mind.  Preparing the way for transformation.  A frequency shift to the higher self.  The 144000 petals of conciousness.  Home again.

[Halfswede]

I would argue that prayer should only be used to ask for strength, or guidance to aid in your spiritual journey. Anything else is implying that your Lord is not handling your affairs correctly or just doesn't understand the situation like they should. I think if you look deeply in any original upright religions, you will see this implied, but it's really become full of messy things nowadays and people will pray for money, friendship etc. -- all sorts of "things"