Question: For Buddhism, it is an non-self religion while in other religions, there is a big self or trueself, so they will often pray to a supreme being to get something. Please explain the Buddhism perspective on praying and gratitude. When being grateful, is it an attachment?
In other religions, they accept someone and something. They accept someone special or something special. They accept the idea of self, there is grasping and attaching on the idea of self in their minds. They need to believe in, they need something to do. It is because of ignorance and attachment of someone or something in their mind.
When we practice vipassana meditation, we need to accept non self, no self, not someone, not something, not someone special, not something special, just cause and effect of impermanent nature. If there is right action, speech, view and understanding, there will be good or right reactions, experiences. If there is wrong and bad actions, there will be wrong and bad reactions, results for sure. Both of actions and reactions are caused by ever new impermanent nature, which is not something, not someone, just impermanent nature.
In this way, as a meditator, we can pray for something or someone, without grasping or attaching in the mind. Praying for someone or something with ignorance and attachment is not much powerful, not the best. Praying for someone or something with mindfulness and detachment is the best we can do. It is really powerful. As a meditator, we should accept our own physical verbal and mental actions in the past and at the present is creating our consequences or results of good and bad. No one or nothing can change each action and reaction or cause and effect of impermanent nature. Only by not doing what is wrong and bad, doing what is good, practicing the mind to be stable and pure, we can prevent bad karma or results.
Even if we can’t prevent the bad karma, we can endure. If we can’t endure pain, anger, hunger or old age, sickness, death, these will be troubles in our mind. If we can detach or endure these bad experiences, they will not be bad experiences anymore in the mind.
Praying or not praying, being grateful or not grateful is to be doing or not doing only, without rejecting or attaching these opposite actions in the mind.
We all are in harmony with grasping or controlling something or someone in our mind. The mind is not natural, not relaxed. The natural mind is just ever new impermanent nature. That impermanent nature is permanent by itself. The mind of living beings are not natural, not relaxed, just creation of our own ignorance and attachment.
To be natural mind, which is ever new impermanent nature, we need to let go or abandon our physical verbal and mental action. We are using the idea of something or someone, I or you, mine or yours. All these are created by ignorance and attachment. By practicing mindfulness and detachment, we should fight against ignorance and attachment. Our own ignorance and attachment are our real enemies. The mind is not free from ignorance and attachment. That’s why, the mind of living beings is difficult to let go of every physical verbal and mental action. We are difficult to accept whatever good and bad, actions and reactions of impermanent nature.
If you are feeling tight in your shoulder and body because of practicing meditation to be natural, you don’t need to change the actions or results, you just need to detach from whatever results or consequences, with the right understanding is nothing or no one is permanent, only impermanent nature is permanent. Experiencing good or bad, right or wrong, relaxing or grasping, detaching or attaching, all these are to detach with mindfulness at every present moment. It will take time to get success in practicing mindfulness and detachment. You are just a beginner, that’s why it will be difficult to practice mindfulness and detachment. Difficulties and failures are the beginning of easeness and success in our practice.
So you should practice again and again to be skillful in practicing mindfulness and detachment.