From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sun Apr 13 2003 - 02:08:58 BST
Dan, Sam and all:
Sam said:
>Meditation: a glass of muddy water allowed to settle, so that the water
>clarifies.
>Prayer: a decision to go sunbathing, so various actions taken in order to
>expose yourself to the Sun.
Dan said:
.........The silence itself betokes a sort of worship and praise, sure, but
undirected and purposeless. In other words, a person doesn't have to believe
in God to pray any more than they have to be a Buddhist to meditate, though
culturally it certainly does seem to help. Any thoughts?
dmb says:
It seems its the personal conception of God that really makes prayer
different from meditation. I mean, its hard to imagine why anyone would pray
to a God one did NOT believe in. But even the most skeptical of scientific
materialists will allow that meditation has health benefits, reduces stress
and such. I don't know how formal prayer techniques get in the West, but in
the East they've got all sorts of ways to quiet and discipline the mind.
Sunbathing makes sense if one is a theist and the image of clear water works
too, but I tend to think of it in terms of a center or core. A light within
would work if it weren't such a cliche. Its almost like a place one can
visit repeatedly. And I like very much what Pirsig says about sail boats and
such. I think that quiet head-space thing is very much related to
meditation. I think its something most people will do naturally, even if
they don't have a tradition to guide. I think its related to a very basic
human function as natural and as necessary as is sleep.
zzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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