seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

What type of prayer is permissible? Suppose a Buddhist were to find himself in a
desert without water. He knows that there is no Great Cosmic Buddha who can, if He so
desires, produce a lake or a six-pack upon request; but what, then, does he pray for?
He prays for that which is at least possible - for a lessening of the effects of
dehydration and an increase in his ability to withstand the ordeal. He prays for a lowering of
his body's requirement for water, a slower pulse rate, a calmer state of mind, and so on. He
also prays for an increase in acuity of both thought and vision, for becoming aware of a
source of water he may have overlooked, for a solution to the problem of finding or creating
shade, for constructive measures such as a means of collecting urine, dew, and so on. If it
becomes obvious to him that he cannot preserve his life, he prays for wisdom, patience and
grace. He prays not to be abandoned in his hour of death, but to be blissfully absorbed in his
Lord as his term of life expires.
Consider a case: Two men are stuck in the desert without water. Help cannot reach
them for several days. Man A prays for rain. He chants and does a little rain dance. He lets
The Good Lord know how deserving he is of some small liquid consideration. He scans the
horizon for clouds. He anxiously waits, alternating between hope and despair.
Man B is like each of us, a sensible Buddhist. He asks The Good Lord for
constructive help in surviving the ordeal. If he, unlike the rest of us, has attended faithfully to
his practice, he may be able to pray himself into a state of nearly suspended animation,
minimizing his water requirements.
Now, if the rescue party finds only one man alive, which man will that be? It will be
the man who didn't dance.
Prayer's subtle potential can best be demonstrated by the pendulum experiment.
Take a piece of thread about a foot long and tie a small weight to one end of it,
creating a pendulum. (Any small weight will do... such as the nut from a nut and bolt, a
metal washer, or a fishing line weight.) Hold the other end of the thread between your thumb
and index finger and, with the palm of your hand facing downwards, rest your elbow on a
table and let the pendulum dangle above the table. Without making any movement in your
hand, imagine that a map is under the pendulum and begin to think "north and south." Simply
hold your hand steady as you concentrate on the north and south directions. With no
conscious help from you, the pendulum will begin to swing back and forth. The more you
think `north and south' the more forcefully the pendulum will swing in those directions. Then
change directions. Think "east and west." The pendulum will wobble eccentrically for a
moment and then, with no conscious help from you, will begin to swing from side to side,
east and west.
Suppose that you are given the task of consciously getting the pendulum to swing in a
perfect north and south direction. If you allow your ego to take charge of the project, you
CHAPTER 19 RIGHT MEDITATION
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