A little pre-meditation prayer that I devised

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
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Laurens
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A little pre-meditation prayer that I devised

Post by Laurens »

Hello

I often found that though I meditate daily sometimes it becomes too much like a habit, something that I just do automatically and because of this my meditation seemed to lack purpose and I often found it frustrating sometimes.

I realised that probably the problem was that I didn't think too much about why I was doing meditation in the first place, and the reason that I was getting frustrated with the technique was because I had little faith in its effectiveness, so I devised the following little prayer to recite before I begin my meditation.

I practice in order to develop morality, concentration and wisdom,
I practice in order to abandon greed, hatred and delusion,
Though my senses may distract me, I have faith that this meditation will bring me beyond the hindrances if I pursue it with great effort,
May all beings be well, happy and free from suffering


I thought I would like to share it to see what you folks think.

Comments, additions and corrections welcome.

All the best
Laurens
"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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Ben
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Re: A little pre-meditation prayer that I devised

Post by Ben »

It looks good laurens
Its important to reflect on why it is that we are practicing.
All the best with your practice.
Kind regards

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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catmoon
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Re: A little pre-meditation prayer that I devised

Post by catmoon »

I like it!
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DNS
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Re: A little pre-meditation prayer that I devised

Post by DNS »

Laurens wrote: I practice in order to develop morality, concentration and wisdom,
I practice in order to abandon greed, hatred and delusion,
Though my senses may distract me, I have faith that this meditation will bring me beyond the hindrances if I pursue it with great effort,
May all beings be well, happy and free from suffering


I thought I would like to share it to see what you folks think.
Comments, additions and corrections welcome.
:twothumbsup: Many people do metta meditation / prayers before the sitting meditation, but your prayer includes the motivation factor, so looks great!

Many people beat themselves up over not meditating "good enough" so I do a metta meditation and then remind myself that if I am just a little relaxed at the end of the sitting session, then that is good enough, no attainments need to be put into the expectations.
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