There have been many
discussions over the usefulness of prayer and meditation. But what’s the
difference? Are there any similarities between the two?
Definitions
Let’s look at the definitions
to see if we find any similarities or differences:
Prayer: to make a request in a humble
manner; to communicate God with adoration, confession, supplication, or
thanksgiving.
Meditate: to engage in mental exercise (as concentration on one’s breathing or
repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of
spiritual awareness.
They both use the mind. They
both are concentrated thoughts. But their goals are different.
In theory, there are 7 billion
different types of prayer. There are also 7 billion different types of
meditation. Each person has a different goal for their session. Thousands of
different prayers exist, as do thousands of meditations. Both can be silent or
spoken aloud.
It would be silly to try and
generalize, saying that all prayers are a certain way, and all meditations are
a certain way.
Alas, we’re not here to make
friends. We’re here to state the facts. Call me silly and let’s do this.
The Facts
Prayers are an integral part
for monotheistic religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam. When people
sit down to pray, it’s a time for sending thoughts to God (or Yahweh or Allah)
and praising Him. There are prayers for the sick and for those less fortunate
than the one praying. There are prayers for forgiveness. Most prayers, though,
include a part or all of these components. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus talks
about praising God and asking for His blessing and safety.
Meditations are found all over
the world, especially in Eastern religions. Most of these meditations come from
Buddhism and its founder, Siddhartha Gautama, aka Buddha.
Rather than sending thoughts to one God and turning outward, most meditations
focus within the person’s soul in order to reach a higher sense of spiritual
awareness. Meditations follow a certain formality; sit in silence and put
certain thoughts (or no thoughts) in your mind. Mindfulness meditation is the
most popular meditation because it’s one of the easiest meditations to learn.
You sit there and follow your breath.
These are just a few
differences. What does science have to say about both?
Scientific Reasoning
Scientific studies on
meditations are much more prevalent, possibly because meditations are secular
in nature. Prayers sometimes have a negative connotation, and the prayers for
any religion will be different not just from religion to religion, but from
denomination to denomination and congregation to congregation.
With the few studies we do have
on prayer, here’s what they have to say about prayer:
·
Prayer helps with self-control.
·
Prayer helps with forgiveness.
·
Prayer helps with stress.
Guess what the studies say
about meditations?
·
Meditation makes you less stressed out.
·
Meditation helps with self-control.
·
Meditation helps with empathy.
·
Meditation helps us forgive ourselves and others.
Other Similarities
At their core, meditations and
prayers are the same. Both are ways for people to sit still and reflect. Both
are used for good intentions – most of the time. And both meditations and
prayers make you a better person. But the results are not the main focus of
either prayers or meditations. They come about because we all are more aware of
our surroundings. Our actions, not our thoughts alone, will change the world.
The best way to summarize the
differences is this: prayers look up, and meditations look in. And no matter if
you pray to a higher power or meditate with your soul for strength, it will
change your life for the better.
Helpful? Kindly share to your
friends…
Source: thefactsite .com
Comments
Post a Comment