How To Pray

Prayer is an effective way to communicate your intention to Divinity. Unfortunately, however, some of us never learned how to pray, and some have been put off by the dogmatic approach of religion and are confused about prayers. So here is the basic of how to pray. (Photo credit)

Format of a prayer

In The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief, Gregg Braden analyzes the three-part sandwich format of a prayer:

1. Opening
2. Body
3. Closing

He explains how prayer works as the command code in the matrix, just as a piece of computer code works in the computer software. (For more about the nature of this matrix, you might want to read his The Spontaneous Healing of Belief, too.)

I know a few very basic codes. For example, when I want to bold words in this blog, this is what I write:

<strong>the text I want to bold</strong>

As you see, it has three parts:

1. Opening: <strong>
2. Body
3. Closing: </strong>

The function of the opening is to signal the system that I am going to make a certain request. Then I state what it is in the body. Finally, I mark where my body ends with the closing.

Prayer has the same format. In the opening, I call to the Divinity to signal that I am going to make a certain request. Then I state my request in the body. Finally, I close my prayer to signal this is the end of my prayer.

Asking requires faith

Prayer is not just chatting with Divinity or spirit guides. When we pray, we make requests. And let me assure you there is nothing wrong about asking for what you sincerely desire. In fact, the Universe is waiting for you to make requests.  (The key word here is “sincerely”.  I am not talking about satisfying every whim you feel when you go to the mall.)

Why doesn’t the Universe (or God or Matrix or whatever you want to call) just give you what you want? Is it too dump to figure out what you want? Why do you have to bother and pray?

Because you have a free will and all positive beings respect free will. God / angels / spirit guides are not going to shove you what they think is best for you. It’s your responsibility to decide what you want and ask.

Asking requires at least some faith. If you absolutely don’t think you can get what you want, you won’t bother to ask. Even a very hungry little boy won’t ask for a candy if he absolutely knows there is no candy in the house and his family is so poor that there is no way his parents can buy him a candy. Asking for something you know you won’t get is stupid and no one would do it.

So prayers — not the prayers you just say out of habit or sense of obligation, but the real prayers in which you ask for something — require faith, the belief that you would, or at least might, get it. This is the beauty of prayers. By praying, you reinforce your faith in a power greater than yourself.

Name of Divinity

So, a typical opening is the calling of Divinity. If you are comfortable with the word “God”, you can use it here. You can also use the name of God you believe in such as Jesus.

But what if you don’t like any organized religion and not comfortable with the word “God”? Can you still pray? Definitely. Prayer is simply a request to higher power. You can be creative in the way you call your Divinity. Here are some ideas:

• My higher power
• Creator of all beings
• Universe
• Nature
• Great spirit(s)
• God of my understanding
• Divine intelligence
• Divine mother / father

You can also call multiple names of Divinity, such as adding the names of saints you like.

The body of a prayer

Then you state your request, or your intention. Make it clear, straightforward, and complete. Don’t beg nor bargain. Your prayer can be long, and you can take time “listening” to the response to your request before closing, or you can “hold” the intention for a period of time, but don’t nag.

Begging means you don’t really believe in the benevolent nature of God nor your own self-worth to have what you are asking for. Perhaps you had to do that to get a candy from your parent, but God is a bit different from your parent. Begging in the prayer defies the basic point of praying, that you have faith in the chance you will get what you want. Same with bargaining — you don’t do that if you believe in the infinite wisdom and power of God.

Many people have problem communicating in a clear, straightforward and complete manner even with people, so I know this takes practice. But it’s worth practicing.

Closing the prayer

Closing can be quite simple. In my case, I say either something like, “I entrust this prayer to be answered in a way that is best for me and for all beings everywhere.” or simply, “Thank you. Amen.” You can also repeat the name of Divinity before saying the gratitude.

Surrender

Then comes the challenging part. You need to release the prayer. In other words, you surrender. You don’t hold your breath watching out when and how your prayer is answered, or even if it ever be answered.

Some prayers are answered immediately. Some takes time. And some appear to be never answered. For instance, you may pray that your loved one survive a terminal illness and they may die after all.

I believe prayers work in a way that is best for all beings involved, not just for my personal (and often temporary) satisfaction. In the aforementioned example, perhaps it is time for your loved one to go. Death is nothing to be ashamed of — it’s a transformation process. Of course it’s sad because it is about separation, but maybe you have grown strong enough to go through this sad experience. So the request you made in the prayer is not granted, but if you are open, you would be comforted. And years later, you may be surprised how the loss contributed to your spiritual growth.

We don’t always know what is best for us. This is why we want to surrender our prayer to Divinity. You want to express what you desire, but you don’t want to control it. God cannot work on your prayer if you keep holding onto it.

Do you pray? Do you have any questions about prayers? Please let me know in the comment. Thank you.

Online Gratitude Journal January 2010 Edition #37

Are you having a great start of the year? Keeping up with your new year’s resolution? Time is speeding up and I can hardly believe one twelfth of the year is already gone. (Photo credit)

January in review

My big goal of this year is to write a book on Akashic Records. This will be published in the old fashioned way in print. The starseed series will be incorporated in the book, with some additions and updates. So I’m putting extra effort in completing this series.

My another goal is to eat healthy and well. The Slow Down Diet that I reviewed was very influential to me. I want to pay attention not just to WHAT I eat but also to HOW I eat.

Fun & Challenges

This is the dilemma I face: When I was working in the corporate world, I wrote in the evenings and weekends. I love writing. I forget foods when I write. I can almost forget sleep when I write. I love to express my thoughts and feelings, and the possibility that my writing might help you is exciting.

Now that I work for myself, writing for this blog and the book is part of my life and work. I do what I love all day long — reading interesting books and blogs, writing my own, and doing Akashic Record Reading. Life is full of joy and fun, right?

Right. Yes. And a bit of no somehow. When I have so many things to do (again, all fun things I like to do), I’m a bit overwhelmed, and for a reason I don’t really know, the fun becomes a challenge, too.

Does anyone know how to keep the fun as fun? Do I need to introduce some dread so that fun can stand out as fun? Do I need to meditate more?

Link Love

Be sure to check the book review of the controversial The God Delusion, by my friend Hunter Nuttall. I think the discussion in the comment section is very interesting, too.

My old post on meat eating vs vegetarianism still gets hot comments. While some people insist vegetarianism, or even stricter veganism, is good for health and environment, I found a few information that question this statement.

One is from someone who has been raw vegan for 15 years who found some deficiencies when he had blood test.

Another is a book called The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability. I haven’t read the book yet, but I read the review here and on Amazon. I find it interesting that we need some form of animal products to grow plants. I checked my bag of organic soil and it has earthworm castings. Other organic soil mix has chicken manure or bone meal. So what happens to the chicken afterwards? I bet they were either hens for eggs or meat chickens. And if vegans are committed not to eat even honey because they don’t want to force the bees to work, how do they feel about the earthworms that worked for the soil? The dogma of veganism to never harm any animals is very hard to sustain, I think. Even if someone is not eating any animal products, some animals are dying to grow their vegetables.

I don’t think this is a bad thing, however. All lives are in the big ecosystem, supporting one another. The problems happens when we reject this system. When I die, please throw the cremated ash in the ocean so the fish can benefit. The fish may end up on your dinner table or become fertilizer for the farm that grows your vegetable. This very Buddhism view sits fine in my mind and spirituality.

Word of month

“Laughter is a great way of letting go. . . Laughing releases endorphins and lowers stress hormones in our system. The other two activities that do the same are sex and meditation.”
– Lisa, aka Mommy Mystic

Well said. Let’s pick at least one of the three for our well-being.

This is all for today. Enjoy your weekend — the day is getting so much longer (in the northern hemisphere, that is )

Related reading: After I posted this article, I was informed about another great post about the problem vegans face, especially raw vegans. (HT: Gena) I think the whole discussion on vegan nutritional health is very interesting.  Additionally, this part by Shazzie caught my eye:

“…many raw food enthusiasts who identify themselves as vegans are in fact not totally vegan. Whether it’s a free range organic egg or a little raw goat’s cheese once a week or some fish once a month, these people think of themselves as vegan and will tell you they’re vegan…This makes us wonder how many more who identify themselves as vegans are doing the same but not admitting to it.”

Ah. So there is honesty and awareness issue, too.

Starseeds: Arcturians

I’m putting in extra effort to complete this starseeds series. Sorry if you are not a fan of this New Age niche . . .I will be posting more general spirituality articles, too, so don’t un-subscribe — Yes to Me has something for everyone. (Photo credit)

Arcturians, Earth’s guardians

Arcturians come from the star system of Arcturus. There is a book called We the Arcturians, which was channeled by the non-incarnated Arcturians, but I have not read it yet.

It is said Arcturians are the guardians of planet Earth. Arcturians have been watching us evolve for eons of time and their presence is the main reason why Earth has been spared from major catastrophes such as being involved in star wars. I don’t know why, but many starseeds, both the incarnated ones and the non-incarnated ones, seem to have intrinsic reverence for Arcturians.

The way Arcturians work to protect the Earth and her residents is different from that of Alpha Centaurians. Alpha Centaurians are hands-on and practical while Arcturians are more off-hand, observing and guiding us at an arm’s length. Arcturians are certainly not micro managers. They have a way to “live and let live.” I think this approach saves them some stress.

Arcturians’ ideal

Again, Arcturians’ motto is, “Live and let live.” While they know justice, they are not judgmental. I have a feeling that Arcturians love the Earth Experiment even though the Earth is so much behind in development compared to their home.

Arcturians’ ideal remains to be somewhat of a mystery. The Arcturians I know are well spiritually developed and many are working actively to help others grow spiritually. From this, I feel comfortable to say they are here to help us grow further. But is their ideal the same as what we call Ascension? Maybe.

Generally speaking, Arcturians have “my way” in life. They don’t explain what their way is, they just live their way and don’t bend, which contributes to a level of mystery about them.

Arcturians’ gifts

Arcturians are well developed mentally, emotionally, and intuitively. We often see mental and emotional capacities to be one or the other option, so Arcturians are hard to understand for many people. Arcturians are intelligent and well read about the topic they are interested in. They are analytical and fully capable of making a strong argument about it. At the same time, Arcturians are very selective in using their intellect and they have no opinion about the topics that they are not interested in.

When Arcturians express themselves about the things they feel strongly about, they are not only intellectually well prepared but they also utilize the power of emotions and brilliant insights. This way, Arcturians offer valuable perspectives to this world.

Arcturians’ challenges in loving relationships

Life on Earth must be quite challenging for advanced souls like Arcturians. While Arcturians are compassionate and forgiving, they are also very sensitive, so they often feel hurt and offended. News of social injustice break their heart. And many Arcturians become vegetarians primarily for compassionate reason. Of course, this compassionate yet sensitive nature defines Arcturians’ social life as well.

In terms of romantic relationship, it all depends on whether they can find an appropriate mate. Being the Arcturian’s partner is a tall order. Not that Arcturians are demanding, but you can sense they are special. When they do find a good partner, I think Arcturians are one of the happiest in partnership. Their partnership is more about friendship than conventional marital bond.

Arcturians’ challenges in career and finance

With their brilliance and mature interpersonal skill, Arcturians are capable of achieving high goals. It’s just Arcturians are not that interested in worldly success. For Arcturians, spiritual growth and spending time with their loved ones are far more important than climbing a step higher in the corporate ladder. In fact, the whole idea of working in the corporate structure is ridiculous for Arcturians. Many Arcturians start their own business and achieve just the right amount of success they aim.

Healing, both conventional healthcare and alternative healing, is one of the popular career choices among Arcturians. And even when they are not in such career, they often find others reaching out to them to be healed. Those distressed people can sense the special quality Arcturians are emitting.

The only possible problem for Arcturians’ career life is when they disempower themselves by internalizing the negativity in the collective consciousness. There are many negativity floating around such as negative beliefs about money and wealth. Also, because Arcturians’ expertise is not a quantifiable skill that we usually put on resumes, others may try to put down Arcturians. “You are smart and sensitive? That’s nothing special. What kind of job skills do you have?” may be the typical response if Arcturians seek the conventional jobs. And if the Arcturian buys into this limiting view, they can put themselves down very badly because they are indeed sensitive.

While many of my Arcturian clients are happy and successful, some seem to have severe hardships, and I believe this is the fundamental reason. I hope they empower themselves by seeing this dynamics.

Arcturians’ role on Earth

Again, the exact agenda Arcturians have remains a mystery at this time. Perhaps they remain to be the benevolent guardian they have been, or maybe they will be more active as the Ascension progresses.

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