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Prayer and meditation are similar
practices in that they both offer us a connection to the divine, but they
also differ from one another in significant ways. Put simply, prayer is
when we ask the universe for something, and meditation is when we listen.
When we pray, we use language to express our innermost thoughts and
feelings to a higher power. Sometimes, we plumb the depths within
ourselves and allow whatever comes to the surface to flow out in our
prayer. At other times, we pray words that were written by someone else
but that express what we want to say. Prayer is reaching out to the
universe with questions, help, gratitude, and praise.
Meditation, on the other hand, has a
silent quality that honors the art of receptivity. When we meditate, we
cease movement and allow the activity of our minds and hearts to go on
without us in a sense. Eventually, we fall into a deep silence, a place
that underlies all the noise and fray of daily human existence. In this
place, it becomes possible for us to hear the universe as it speaks for
itself, responds to our questions, or sits with us in its silent way.
Both prayer and meditation are
indispensable tools for navigating our relationship with the universe and
with ourselves. They also are natural complements to one another, and one
makes way for the other — just as the crest of a wave gives way to its
hollow. If we tend to do only one, we may find that we are out of
balance, and we might benefit from exploring the missing form of
communication. There are times when we need to reach out and express
ourselves fully, exorcising our insides, and other times when we are
empty, ready to rest in quiet receiving. When we allow ourselves to do
both, we begin to have a true conversation with the universe.
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