Prayer Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Buddhism=== [[File:Incense-LE.jpg|thumb|Buddhists praying with incense at [[Wat Phra Kaew]], Thailand]] In the earliest Buddhist tradition, the [[Theravada]], and in the later [[Mahayana]] tradition of [[Zen]] (or [[Chán]]), prayer plays only an ancillary role. It is largely a ritual expression of wishes for success in the practice and in helping all beings.<ref>{{cite book| last=Collins|first=Steven|title=Selfless Persons| url=https://archive.org/details/selflesspersonsi0000coll| url-access=registration|publisher=Cambridge University Press| year=1982|location=Cambridge|page=[https://archive.org/details/selflesspersonsi0000coll/page/6 6]|isbn=978-0-521-39726-1}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=June 2018}} The [[Upāya|skillful means]] (Sanskrit: ''upāya'') of the transfer of merit (Sanskrit: ''[[pariṇāmanā]]'') is an [[evocation]] and prayer. Moreover, indeterminate buddhas are available for intercession as they reside in awoken-fields (Sanskrit: ''buddha-kshetra''). The ''[[Trikaya|nirmānakāya]]'' of an awoken-field is what is generally known and understood as a [[mandala]]. The opening and closing of the ring (Sanskrit: ''maṇḍala'') is an active prayer. An active prayer is a mindful activity, an activity in which [[Mindfulness (Buddhism)|mindfulness]] is not just cultivated but ''is''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sangharakshita|first=Bhikshu|title=A Survey of Buddhism|publisher=Windhorse Publications|year=1993|location=Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom|pages=449–60|isbn=978-0-904766-65-3}}</ref> A common prayer is "May the merit of my practice, adorn Buddhas' Pure Lands, requite the fourfold kindness from above, and relieve the suffering of the three life-journeys below. Universally wishing sentient beings, Friends, foes, and [[Karma in Buddhism|karmic creditors]], all to activate the [[Bodhi]] mind, and all to be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss." (願以此功德 莊嚴佛淨土 上報四重恩 下濟三途苦 普願諸眾生 冤親諸債主 悉發菩提心 同生極樂國)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sutrasmantras.info/prayers.html|title=Buddhist Prayers}}</ref> The [[Generation Stage]] (Sanskrit: ''utpatti-krama'') of [[Vajrayana]] involves prayer elements.<ref>Keown, Damien (ed.) with Hodge, Stephen; Jones, Charles; Tinti, Paola (2003). ''A Dictionary of Buddhism''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 100. {{ISBN|0-19-860560-9}}</ref> The [[Tibetan Buddhism]] tradition emphasizes an instructive and devotional relationship to a guru; this may involve devotional practices known as [[guru yoga]] which are congruent with prayer. It also appears that Tibetan Buddhism posits the existence of various deities, but the peak view of the tradition is that the deities or ''[[yidam]]'' are no more existent or real than the continuity (Sanskrit: ''santana''; refer [[mindstream]]) of the practitioner, environment and activity. But how practitioners engage ''yidam'' or [[tutelary deities]] will depend upon the level or more appropriately ''[[yana (Buddhism)|yana]]'' at which they are practicing. At one level, one may pray to a deity for protection or assistance, taking a more subordinate role. At another level, one may invoke the deity, on a more equal footing. And at a higher level one may deliberately cultivate the idea that one has become the deity, whilst remaining aware that its ultimate nature is ''[[śūnyatā]]''. The views of the more esoteric ''yana'' are impenetrable for those without direct experience and empowerment. [[Pure Land Buddhism]] emphasizes the recitation by devotees of prayer-like [[mantra]]s, a practice often called ''[[Nembutsu]]''.<ref name=smithnovak03>"The Flowering of Faith: Buddhism's Pure Land Tradition" (pp. 185–98) in {{cite book |title=Buddhism: A concise introduction |last=Smith |first=Huston |author-link=Huston Smith |author2=Philip Novak|author2-link=Philip Novak |year=2003 |publisher=HarperSanFrancisco |location=San Francisco |isbn= 978-0-06-050696-4 |url=https://www.google.com/search?q=Smith+novak+isbn%3A0060506962+&btnG=Search+Books }}</ref>{{rp|190}} On one level it is said that reciting these mantras can ensure rebirth into a ''[[Sambhogakāya]]'' land (Sanskrit: ''buddha-kshetra'') after bodily dissolution, a sheer ball spontaneously co-emergent to a Buddha's [[Bodhicitta|enlightened intention]]. According to [[Shinran]], the founder of the [[Pure Land Buddhism]] tradition that is most prevalent in the US,<ref name=smithnovak03/>{{rp|193}}<ref>Smith and Novak (2003) state that "Pure Land Buddhism has entered America almost exclusively from Japan, and the church Shinran founded is the largest Pure Land presence on this continent" (p. 193).</ref> "for the long haul nothing is as efficacious as the Nembutsu."<ref name=smithnovak03/>{{rp|197}}<ref>This quotation is Smith and Novak's paraphrase of Shinran's teaching.</ref> On another, the practice is a form of meditation aimed at achieving realization.<ref>Caldwell, Xenia (2016). "All About Importance of Prayers in Religion". {{ISBN|978-1-283-49986-6}}</ref> But beyond all these practices the Buddha emphasized the primacy of individual practice and experience. He said that supplication to gods or deities was not necessary. Nevertheless, today many lay people in East Asian countries pray to the Buddha in ways that resemble Western prayer—asking for intervention and offering devotion. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page