Thich Nhat Hanh: The Power of Prayer
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Description
Book Introduction
Change you
Save you
Connecting you to the source
Thich Nhat Hanh's story of heartfelt prayer
Be a person who gives courage and comfort
Rest and recovery are achieved
Life deepens
Guides you into the world of true prayer
Everyone prays.
I sincerely hope that you get a job, that your sick child gets well, and that your work goes well.
Whether we pray earnestly to God, Buddha, or our ancestors, swear to the sun and moon, or make firm promises to ourselves, we live in prayer.
But even as we pray, we doubt our prayers.
Because I know from experience that not all prayers are answered, and sometimes the opposite of what was prayed for happens.
In this book, Thich Nhat Hanh answers five of the most pressing questions we face in prayer, across all religions.
In the stories told by the monk, we discover universal wisdom that can help us escape the irony of prayer and enter into true prayer.
When you're cornered and find yourself in a difficult situation, the most realistic option is to pull yourself together and gradually change the situation.
And prayer is the most effective way to give us true rest, true wisdom, and strong will.
I hope this book will be a source of nourishment for many readers, and that the world and their hearts will become more peaceful.
Save you
Connecting you to the source
Thich Nhat Hanh's story of heartfelt prayer
Be a person who gives courage and comfort
Rest and recovery are achieved
Life deepens
Guides you into the world of true prayer
Everyone prays.
I sincerely hope that you get a job, that your sick child gets well, and that your work goes well.
Whether we pray earnestly to God, Buddha, or our ancestors, swear to the sun and moon, or make firm promises to ourselves, we live in prayer.
But even as we pray, we doubt our prayers.
Because I know from experience that not all prayers are answered, and sometimes the opposite of what was prayed for happens.
In this book, Thich Nhat Hanh answers five of the most pressing questions we face in prayer, across all religions.
In the stories told by the monk, we discover universal wisdom that can help us escape the irony of prayer and enter into true prayer.
When you're cornered and find yourself in a difficult situation, the most realistic option is to pull yourself together and gradually change the situation.
And prayer is the most effective way to give us true rest, true wisdom, and strong will.
I hope this book will be a source of nourishment for many readers, and that the world and their hearts will become more peaceful.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
Opening Remarks_Why Pray?
1.
Five Questions and Answers About Prayer
The Boy and the Prayer - The First Question
What Makes Prayer Possible - The Second Question
What Does Prayer Achieve? - The Third Question
Me and God
Faith and Prayer - Question Four
To Whom Do You Pray - Question Five
Prayer that reflects on me
Can prayer change others?
Two Conditions for Effective Prayer
2.
Reasons for Prayer
The Truth About Health and Success
The performer's prayer
The Power of Prayer Together
3.
About the praying soul
God and Buddha are not two
Three keys
Connection with God and Buddha
Prayer of unity of body and mind
Praying for those around you
I walk with Buddha
Praying to the trees, stars, and moon
Invisible results
The Lord's Prayer
4.
How Prayer Helps Your Health
Mind and body are connected
Collective consciousness and health
The healing power of collective consciousness
How to protect your body and mind
Prayers for everyone's health
5.
Mindfulness and Prayer
The Miracle of Meditation
Mindfulness, concentration, enlightenment
The Four Objects of Mindfulness
Untie the knots of the heart
true happiness
6.
Five Basic Meditation Practices
Exercise One: Controlling the Clumps of the Mind
Exercise 2: Keeping your body calm and relaxed
Exercise 3: Nourish Your Body
Exercise 4: Finding Nutrients in Nature
Exercise Five: Reconciliation
Appendix_Prayer for a Full Daily Life
Cultivating happiness
I take refuge in the Tathagata
Neither coming nor going
Prayer of the day
1.
Five Questions and Answers About Prayer
The Boy and the Prayer - The First Question
What Makes Prayer Possible - The Second Question
What Does Prayer Achieve? - The Third Question
Me and God
Faith and Prayer - Question Four
To Whom Do You Pray - Question Five
Prayer that reflects on me
Can prayer change others?
Two Conditions for Effective Prayer
2.
Reasons for Prayer
The Truth About Health and Success
The performer's prayer
The Power of Prayer Together
3.
About the praying soul
God and Buddha are not two
Three keys
Connection with God and Buddha
Prayer of unity of body and mind
Praying for those around you
I walk with Buddha
Praying to the trees, stars, and moon
Invisible results
The Lord's Prayer
4.
How Prayer Helps Your Health
Mind and body are connected
Collective consciousness and health
The healing power of collective consciousness
How to protect your body and mind
Prayers for everyone's health
5.
Mindfulness and Prayer
The Miracle of Meditation
Mindfulness, concentration, enlightenment
The Four Objects of Mindfulness
Untie the knots of the heart
true happiness
6.
Five Basic Meditation Practices
Exercise One: Controlling the Clumps of the Mind
Exercise 2: Keeping your body calm and relaxed
Exercise 3: Nourish Your Body
Exercise 4: Finding Nutrients in Nature
Exercise Five: Reconciliation
Appendix_Prayer for a Full Daily Life
Cultivating happiness
I take refuge in the Tathagata
Neither coming nor going
Prayer of the day
Detailed image
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Into the book
The real question is, 'Do we want to change or not?' --- p.28
When you pray with your hands clasped before the statue of the most precious Buddha in the world, or the one you serve, you should picture him in your mind.
Because the statue before you now, whether made of copper, jade, or diamond, is nothing more than a symbol.
The prize appears to be outside of you.
But Buddha, or the one you serve, is not some being outside of you.
You and He are connected to each other.
You have to visualize that connection in your mind.
--- p.35
When we send out the energy of love and compassion to others, it doesn't matter whether they know it or not.
What matters is that there is energy there, that there is a loving heart, and that it is being sent out into the world.
When love and mercy are within us and we express them outwardly, we are truly praying.
As we spread love outward, we feel a change taking place within our own hearts.
Prayer bears fruit within us.
--- p.45
Among the family and friends who surround us, there are people who give us strength and inspiration.
Just thinking about them can bring more energy to our bodies.
One time, one of my students came to me with a very sad face.
I was about to leave on a trip, so I said this to him.
“Even if I’m not there, if you want, you can come into my room and sit alone.”
Sitting in my room is like being with me and receiving my energy.
Communication like this is also a form of prayer.
--- p.79~80
We can also pray to the pine trees, the moon, and the stars.
The pine tree is strong, the moon is always there on time, and the stars always shine freely and brightly for us.
If you can deeply connect with the pine tree, you can also connect with God.
If meeting God means that He imparts His energy to us, then the pine tree can also impart its energy to us.
--- p.86
We already have enough conditions to be happy today.
So, we must pray that we may be connected to the conditions of happiness that are within us and around us.
When you pray with your hands clasped before the statue of the most precious Buddha in the world, or the one you serve, you should picture him in your mind.
Because the statue before you now, whether made of copper, jade, or diamond, is nothing more than a symbol.
The prize appears to be outside of you.
But Buddha, or the one you serve, is not some being outside of you.
You and He are connected to each other.
You have to visualize that connection in your mind.
--- p.35
When we send out the energy of love and compassion to others, it doesn't matter whether they know it or not.
What matters is that there is energy there, that there is a loving heart, and that it is being sent out into the world.
When love and mercy are within us and we express them outwardly, we are truly praying.
As we spread love outward, we feel a change taking place within our own hearts.
Prayer bears fruit within us.
--- p.45
Among the family and friends who surround us, there are people who give us strength and inspiration.
Just thinking about them can bring more energy to our bodies.
One time, one of my students came to me with a very sad face.
I was about to leave on a trip, so I said this to him.
“Even if I’m not there, if you want, you can come into my room and sit alone.”
Sitting in my room is like being with me and receiving my energy.
Communication like this is also a form of prayer.
--- p.79~80
We can also pray to the pine trees, the moon, and the stars.
The pine tree is strong, the moon is always there on time, and the stars always shine freely and brightly for us.
If you can deeply connect with the pine tree, you can also connect with God.
If meeting God means that He imparts His energy to us, then the pine tree can also impart its energy to us.
--- p.86
We already have enough conditions to be happy today.
So, we must pray that we may be connected to the conditions of happiness that are within us and around us.
--- p.98
Publisher's Review
Five Questions and Answers About Prayer
In this book, the monk honestly shares his answers to five of the most frequently asked questions about prayer.
As we follow the story, our preconceived notions about prayer are shattered, and we gain a clearer understanding of what true prayer is and what a life of prayer is like.
After turning the last page, I feel a thrill of wanting to live a life that is one with prayer.
So let's look at those five questions one by one.
One, do prayers really come true?
- As we see it, prayers are sometimes answered and sometimes not answered.
But in the ultimate sense, true prayer is accomplished in some way.
Second, what makes prayer possible?
- Prayer without the energy of faith, mercy, and love is like making a phone call through a dead telephone line.
Third, what does prayer accomplish?
- Prayer opens a new stage for our body and mind through new energy, new awareness, and new faith.
Since everything is subject to change, we can live a new life on a new stage prepared through prayer.
Fourth, if your faith is weak, will your prayers be ineffective?
- It is because we do not notice the change that prayer brings about, but even if our faith is weak, prayer is definitely effective.
Prayer always contains ‘love’ for something.
Whether it's love for others, love for the world, or love for yourself, love changes things.
I don't know about anything else, but a change definitely occurs within the person who prays.
Of course, the stronger your faith, the greater the change.
Five, to whom should we pray?
- In Buddhism, nothing can exist alone.
Whether it is Buddha, God, ancestors, the sun or the moon, everything is connected to me who prays.
So when we pray in Buddhism, we pray to ourselves and to someone outside of ourselves.
There is no difference between the two.
The Three Pillars of Prayer
Thich Nhat Hanh says there are three pillars that support prayer.
These are mindfulness (being fully aware of what is happening in your body and mind at this very moment with conscious awareness), concentration, and enlightenment.
The reasons why mindfulness and concentration are necessary are clear.
“Mindfulness brings our body and mind into true presence.
The body and mind come together in one place called this moment.
If this is not done properly, prayer is impossible no matter how much faith you have.
“Who will pray when you are not here?”
The enlightenment that the monk speaks of is a little different from our common sense.
This is because it does not refer to a mysterious and noble state that can be reached through practice.
All things are interconnected, so I and God, I and Buddha are not separate beings, and therefore, not only I, but also the pine trees, the moon, and the stars possess the love, mindfulness, and wisdom that they possess. To realize this fact is what the monk calls enlightenment.
So what is prayer that combines mindfulness, concentration, and awareness? It is about fully experiencing the specific reality we face in this very moment.
True prayer is mindfulness, concentration, and enlightenment in every gesture we make in our daily lives.
(Here prayer and meditation meet.) Prayer is not just asking for something from an abstract idea.
We can encounter Buddha and God in concrete reality: in the sky, in trees, in rice, and in the faces of our neighbors.
If we fill each moment like that, our lives will become one with prayer.
When washing your face
When drinking tea
When walking down the street
With an awake mind
Become one with it
When you know you are not alone
Every single moment is a sacred ritual,
Change you
Save you
Connecting you to the source
It becomes the most true prayer.
In this book, the monk honestly shares his answers to five of the most frequently asked questions about prayer.
As we follow the story, our preconceived notions about prayer are shattered, and we gain a clearer understanding of what true prayer is and what a life of prayer is like.
After turning the last page, I feel a thrill of wanting to live a life that is one with prayer.
So let's look at those five questions one by one.
One, do prayers really come true?
- As we see it, prayers are sometimes answered and sometimes not answered.
But in the ultimate sense, true prayer is accomplished in some way.
Second, what makes prayer possible?
- Prayer without the energy of faith, mercy, and love is like making a phone call through a dead telephone line.
Third, what does prayer accomplish?
- Prayer opens a new stage for our body and mind through new energy, new awareness, and new faith.
Since everything is subject to change, we can live a new life on a new stage prepared through prayer.
Fourth, if your faith is weak, will your prayers be ineffective?
- It is because we do not notice the change that prayer brings about, but even if our faith is weak, prayer is definitely effective.
Prayer always contains ‘love’ for something.
Whether it's love for others, love for the world, or love for yourself, love changes things.
I don't know about anything else, but a change definitely occurs within the person who prays.
Of course, the stronger your faith, the greater the change.
Five, to whom should we pray?
- In Buddhism, nothing can exist alone.
Whether it is Buddha, God, ancestors, the sun or the moon, everything is connected to me who prays.
So when we pray in Buddhism, we pray to ourselves and to someone outside of ourselves.
There is no difference between the two.
The Three Pillars of Prayer
Thich Nhat Hanh says there are three pillars that support prayer.
These are mindfulness (being fully aware of what is happening in your body and mind at this very moment with conscious awareness), concentration, and enlightenment.
The reasons why mindfulness and concentration are necessary are clear.
“Mindfulness brings our body and mind into true presence.
The body and mind come together in one place called this moment.
If this is not done properly, prayer is impossible no matter how much faith you have.
“Who will pray when you are not here?”
The enlightenment that the monk speaks of is a little different from our common sense.
This is because it does not refer to a mysterious and noble state that can be reached through practice.
All things are interconnected, so I and God, I and Buddha are not separate beings, and therefore, not only I, but also the pine trees, the moon, and the stars possess the love, mindfulness, and wisdom that they possess. To realize this fact is what the monk calls enlightenment.
So what is prayer that combines mindfulness, concentration, and awareness? It is about fully experiencing the specific reality we face in this very moment.
True prayer is mindfulness, concentration, and enlightenment in every gesture we make in our daily lives.
(Here prayer and meditation meet.) Prayer is not just asking for something from an abstract idea.
We can encounter Buddha and God in concrete reality: in the sky, in trees, in rice, and in the faces of our neighbors.
If we fill each moment like that, our lives will become one with prayer.
When washing your face
When drinking tea
When walking down the street
With an awake mind
Become one with it
When you know you are not alone
Every single moment is a sacred ritual,
Change you
Save you
Connecting you to the source
It becomes the most true prayer.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: July 4, 2016
- Page count, weight, size: 208 pages | 290g | 145*200*20mm
- ISBN13: 9788974793203
- ISBN10: 8974793202
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