Unexpected Freedom

Prayer and DevotionGod. Similarly, both the Dhamma and the Sangha arereferred to in Thailand as Lord Dhamma and Lord Sangha.This is not simply child-like naïveté – this is to qualify theserealities with words that raise them up as worthy of veneration.Heart matters are more important to us than casualconcerns. If we don’t get to read the newspaper one day, sowhat? We like to read the newspaper or drink coffee in themorning, but we can do without gratifying these casualdesires, which are ultimately of trivial significance. But ourheart’s longings – if they go unattended to, there are seriousconsequences.There has been a general trend in our culture over the lastfew decades towards a philosophy of relativism. The outlookof relativism is that there is no objective good or bad – thereare only personal preferences. This is reflected in our day-todaylanguage: we have lost the usage of words that oncetestified to the fact that we held certain things as sacred andworthy of our deepest respect. In prayer – as a personal andprivate matter – we have the opportunity to give expression tothese feelings that we all have in our hearts. It’s a conversationwith a higher principle – an intimate conversation.Prayer and ‘Merit’The Buddha made it very clear that if we make the right kindof effort in the conduct of our body, speech and mind, wegenerate an active potential that he referred to as puñña,which is rather limply translated into English as ‘merit’.Puñña is a living force of goodness. In most schools ofBuddhism it is a common practice to dedicate thewholesome potential one has generated to particularindividuals or to all beings. We can think of this as eitherblessing or prayer.135