Prayer II

My last post was on prayer but I do not think that I have exhausted the topic by any means.

This morning I woke to the sound of thunder. The sky was ominously dark and the wind was beginning to pick up. In short, we had a classic Western New York thunderstorm rolling in and, sure enough, as I dressed, the rain began to come down.

I have to walk a third of a mile, in the open, and then stand out waiting for my bus each morning. I am exposed to the elements for 15 minutes or more as I wait so I have rain gear for days like today. No matter how well prepared you are though, you are going to get a little wet.

I have been working on being grateful of late so, as I stood making my lunch this morning, I focused on what the Lakota would call the wakinyan, the Thunder Beings, and thanked them for bringing rain to the land and norishing our Mother, the Earth. I asked, quietly, that the rain might be soft and nourishing so that the Earth could derive the maximum benefit from it and so that I might avoid getting soaked as I made my way to work.

Long story short, the rain had subsided by the time that I left the house and continued in abeyance even after I got downtown. It seems to be raining gently outside now - a nourishing rain that will benefit the earth. Could be a coincidence, I suppose. Then again, I think that, were I a Thunder Being, I would be more likely to listen to someone who spoke respectfully to me rather than all the folks who look to the sky and curse the rain as an inconvenience.

The Lakota end their prayers with the phrase "mitakuye oyasin" - all my relations - as a way of acknowledging that all beings are their relatives and that they pray for the sake of all their relatives and not just for themselves. I like this idea; prayer is simply talking to your relatives or to the One Power from whence those relatives come.

As I said in my last post, offering prayers is not for everyone but it is something for every person on a spiritual path to investigate. My experience is that prayer makes me more deeply aware of the One and of the infinite diversity of "all my relations".

Prayer

I was talking to my wife the other day and mentioned that I say prayers every day.  She looked at me and asked me what I pray to and that set me to thinking about why I use prayer as a way of relating to the One.

Buddhism and Taoism tend to be nontheistic philosophies but, if you look at them in their cultural religious forms, there is still a good bit of praying going on.I think the reason for prayer is pretty simple.

It is one thing to have an intellectual understanding that there is a Power that flows through the universe (whatever you want to call that) and that our job as humans is to try to move in the flow of that Power.  The next big question that arises, once one has accepted this premise, is how?  How does one align oneself with that Power in order to live life effectively and to the fullest potential.

The answer to that question is, I think, wholly dependent on the person.  Some individuals will align through the use of meditation practices.  Others will see and feel the Power in formal religious rituals and disciplines.  Still others will require movement or rhythm to come into contact with the Power.

It is often the case that a single person may need to use a number of techniques to come into contact with the force that flows through all things.  For myself, movement (as in tai chi and chi gung) and prayer are my primary ways of relating to the Power.  The movement actually allows me to feel the flow of the Power around me (on a good day :-)) but prayer is my time of personally relating to the Power, what Lakota people called Wakan Tanka, the Great Mystery.

Yes, I am guilty of blatant personalization.  I feel, when I pray, that Someone is listening.  You can explain that feeling in any way that makes you comfortable because this is my subjective reality and it works for me.  Your mileage may vary.

What is important in all this thinking is the idea that we need to experiment to see what hooks us up with that Power.  Too often, our relationship to the Source is dictated by outside influences - family or friends, for instance.  As we look for ways to express our true nature, we have to realize that part of that nature is finding our connection to the Power, seeking what works best for us and then working with that to move ourselves into the flow of life.

Wrong Side of Bed

Did you ever have one of those days where you woke up "on the wrong side of the bed"? 

I read a good bit of on-line content but it always seems to me that people, in particular bloggers, and even bloggers who are trying to encourage self-development or spirituality, neglect the fact that not everyone is starting from a place of determination or motivation or engagement.  Some mornings, we wake up, look out the window and just want to go back to bed.  We drag ourselves out of bed from a sense of duty and routine and we haul our carcasses off to work because we really don't want to use up vacation time indulging a bad mood. 

I am sure that most people who read this will be able to relate to what  am saying.  So, if you are on a spiritual 
path, how do you deal skillfully with a morning where you want to crawl back under the covers and tell the world you are taking a pass on the day?  I would love to be able to give you a point by point breakdown on what you should do when the morning blahs strike but life is not as simple as some (usually people who get up happy no matter what) would have you believe.  I will tell you what I did when I got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. 

First of all, I got up anyway.  There were places to go and things to do and even though I did not feel like it, I allowed that knowledge to get me out of bed and into the shower.  I immersed myself in my morning routine to get myself moving and, even though I was cranky, and family around me knew it, I tried to put on as good a face as I could manage.  Sometimes, if you try to act happy it is contagious and you begin to feel happy. 

That strategy did not work for me this morning since I really was feeling rushed.  No excuses.  I was cranky but I tried to keep the damage to a minimum by keeping my mouth shut.  Not an easy task in a household with two 'larks' who are busily buzzing around and asking questions.

I made it out of the house without too much drama and accomplished the task that I had to get done early today.  Then I utilized the time in the car and then on the bus to pull myself together.  I said my morning prayers in the car (offering thoughts for others is always a good way to divert yourself from feeling grumpy) and then used the bus ride for meditation.  The bus dropped me off in front of work earlier than usual so I took the opportunity to take a short walk and, while I walked, I outlined to myself some of the reasons that I have to be grateful.  This always helps me to adjust my perception and I strongly encourage people to try it when they are feeling down.  Just thinking about the things you have to be grateful for seems to elevate mood when nothing else can.

Finally, I sat down and wrote this blog.  On another day, I might have made an entry in my journal, but today I am writing this in hopes that it will help someone else move past a "slow start" morning.  I am smiling now so it is possible to work with the wrong side of the bed syndrome but it takes a little time and space.  I am grateful to have a family that (usually) allows me that time and space :-)