Anonymous wrote:OP here, and I really appreciate everyone's thoughts, experiences, recommendations, and insights. Already I've learned some things -- I'd never heard of collects or the Westminster Divines, nor has anyone ever talked to me about praying the rosary.

Re: meditation being about me. That doesn't feel quite true to the intention or effect, though the in-meditation experience does prove to me how difficult it is to *not* have something be about me. When I sit down to meditate, I focus on my breath, in, out, with the intention of quieting all that noisy mental chatter. And for a second or two, sometimes, I can even do it. (In, out). And then a thought bursts through, and I follow it without even realizing it. Then I notice I've forgotten about my breath, so I return to it. (In, out.) And then another thought, and another return, on and on, over and over. But the very act of noticing my thoughts takes them outside of myself (if I'm able to observe my thoughts and reactions, that means they're not "me."). So the net effect is that I'm a bit more detached from my thoughts, which makes them lighter to carry (and also they're a little less likely to control me).

When I finish meditation I feel peaceful. I always assumed that into that peace, *something* would enter. Some meditators do talk about feeling oneness, transcendence, something bigger-than-self. But I never felt that. The peace is the end of the line.

Anyway, I like the idea of praying to something/someone. Maybe the time to do it is right after meditation, when I'm starting in a peaceful place. I feel like at this point my prayers would have to be pretty generic, so I don't get pulled down by overthinking ("Do I actually believe that Jesus was literally raised from the dead, and that he was the literal son of God, and if so, what IS God, how does that work? And also why did he come then, and not before, and what about all those millennia of people who lived and died before him, what happened to their sins and souls? And also where are all the women, do I really believe that holiness is male-plus-one?" I can really get on an overthinking roll, which doesn't help). Maybe collects are my starting point, and I just kind of shift them to be a little less specific— so I can worry less about what I do/don't believe, and just...say what I have to say, and be open to whatever happens comes back.

Anyway, I do appreciate everyone's thoughts. Very much.

Anonymous wrote:I will have the same effect as meditating daily, which is good.

All prayers is a form of meditation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not religious. I mostly feel like this is all a happy accident, though it's also simultaneously/paradoxically proof that there IS something bigger than me. I mean, what is all this <looks around, waves hands> if not something more than me?
I also know there is good, and evil, and a whole lot in between.

Sometimes I think about praying, as a way to tap into that something larger than myself.
I've even done a few days, and then I stop. Mostly that's because I forget...but I think I forget because nothing happened the first couple of times.
If I were to start praying daily regularly, would I begin to feel something?
I guess the question is, does the belief have to come first? Or does the prayer itself unleash something?

Not sure if my question is making sense.

OP thank you posting this. It’s an interesting question to ponder.

As an evangelical Christian my response to you is that praying to our God and Creator is not about “tapping into something larger than yourself.” It’s about finding a true relationship with God. Like any relationship it becomes a two way street.

I suggest that you start perhaps along with reading the Bible. Start with the book of Matthew or John and read about Jesus’s life and ministry. Pray that God will reveal Himself to you.

Op does not need a middleman between them and God.

If you meditate or pray, it will eventually come through straight to you not through some man

By what authority do you say OP doesn't need a mediator?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not religious. I mostly feel like this is all a happy accident, though it's also simultaneously/paradoxically proof that there IS something bigger than me. I mean, what is all this <looks around, waves hands> if not something more than me?
I also know there is good, and evil, and a whole lot in between.

Sometimes I think about praying, as a way to tap into that something larger than myself.
I've even done a few days, and then I stop. Mostly that's because I forget...but I think I forget because nothing happened the first couple of times.
If I were to start praying daily regularly, would I begin to feel something?
I guess the question is, does the belief have to come first? Or does the prayer itself unleash something?

Not sure if my question is making sense.

OP thank you posting this. It’s an interesting question to ponder.

As an evangelical Christian my response to you is that praying to our God and Creator is not about “tapping into something larger than yourself.” It’s about finding a true relationship with God. Like any relationship it becomes a two way street.

I suggest that you start perhaps along with reading the Bible. Start with the book of Matthew or John and read about Jesus’s life and ministry. Pray that God will reveal Himself to you.

Op does not need a middleman between them and God.

If you meditate or pray, it will eventually come through straight to you not through some man

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will have the same effect as meditating daily, which is good.

All prayers is a form of meditation.

Many Christians would dispute this. A very old definition of prayer is this, from the Westminster Divines: "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with the confession of our sins, and thankful for acknowledgment of his mercies."

It doesn’t matter what they think or what they are told. Who cares what the Westminster devines say they are human and full of errors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not religious. I mostly feel like this is all a happy accident, though it's also simultaneously/paradoxically proof that there IS something bigger than me. I mean, what is all this <looks around, waves hands> if not something more than me?
I also know there is good, and evil, and a whole lot in between.

Sometimes I think about praying, as a way to tap into that something larger than myself.
I've even done a few days, and then I stop. Mostly that's because I forget...but I think I forget because nothing happened the first couple of times.
If I were to start praying daily regularly, would I begin to feel something?
I guess the question is, does the belief have to come first? Or does the prayer itself unleash something?

Not sure if my question is making sense.

OP thank you posting this. It’s an interesting question to ponder.

As an evangelical Christian my response to you is that praying to our God and Creator is not about “tapping into something larger than yourself.” It’s about finding a true relationship with God. Like any relationship it becomes a two way street.

I suggest that you start perhaps along with reading the Bible. Start with the book of Matthew or John and read about Jesus’s life and ministry. Pray that God will reveal Himself to you.

Op does not need a middleman between them and God.

If you meditate or pray, it will eventually come through straight to you not through some man

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not religious. I mostly feel like this is all a happy accident, though it's also simultaneously/paradoxically proof that there IS something bigger than me. I mean, what is all this <looks around, waves hands> if not something more than me?
I also know there is good, and evil, and a whole lot in between.

Sometimes I think about praying, as a way to tap into that something larger than myself.
I've even done a few days, and then I stop. Mostly that's because I forget...but I think I forget because nothing happened the first couple of times.
If I were to start praying daily regularly, would I begin to feel something?
I guess the question is, does the belief have to come first? Or does the prayer itself unleash something?

Not sure if my question is making sense.

OP thank you posting this. It’s an interesting question to ponder.

As an evangelical Christian my response to you is that praying to our God and Creator is not about “tapping into something larger than yourself.” It’s about finding a true relationship with God. Like any relationship it becomes a two way street.

I suggest that you start perhaps along with reading the Bible. Start with the book of Matthew or John and read about Jesus’s life and ministry. Pray that God will reveal Himself to you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if you'd like to meditate daily? It is supposedly very relaxing and centering.

OP. I’ve gone through phases of regular breath work meditation (Ten Percent Happier type stuff, mostly). I have found it incredibly helpful, mostly to notice and by extension detach from my own thoughts. It made me much less reactive, and I felt more present/relaxed in my own life.( I am out of the habit right now, and typing this I realize I should get back into it.)

But meditation never made me feel connected to something bigger. It wax always kind of all about me — my breath, my thoughts, my observing, my returning. That sense of “oneness” that people sometimes describe… I just never felt it. I’d like to. I’d like to feel like there’s something more, and that there’s some way of tapping into it.

I wondered if prayer was a way in, or if the fact that I don’t really “believe” (in what? In the bearded guy in white robes, I guess) means by definition it wouldn’t be prayer. Maybe I just have to try and keep at it and see for myself.

That’s because meditation is not about God. It’s about you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will have the same effect as meditating daily, which is good.

All prayers is a form of meditation.

Many Christians would dispute this. A very old definition of prayer is this, from the Westminster Divines: "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with the confession of our sins, and thankful for acknowledgment of his mercies."

Anonymous wrote:Not religious. I mostly feel like this is all a happy accident, though it's also simultaneously/paradoxically proof that there IS something bigger than me. I mean, what is all this <looks around, waves hands> if not something more than me?
I also know there is good, and evil, and a whole lot in between.

Sometimes I think about praying, as a way to tap into that something larger than myself.
I've even done a few days, and then I stop. Mostly that's because I forget...but I think I forget because nothing happened the first couple of times.
If I were to start praying daily regularly, would I begin to feel something?
I guess the question is, does the belief have to come first? Or does the prayer itself unleash something?

Not sure if my question is making sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if you'd like to meditate daily? It is supposedly very relaxing and centering.

OP. I’ve gone through phases of regular breath work meditation (Ten Percent Happier type stuff, mostly). I have found it incredibly helpful, mostly to notice and by extension detach from my own thoughts. It made me much less reactive, and I felt more present/relaxed in my own life.( I am out of the habit right now, and typing this I realize I should get back into it.)

But meditation never made me feel connected to something bigger. It wax always kind of all about me — my breath, my thoughts, my observing, my returning. That sense of “oneness” that people sometimes describe… I just never felt it. I’d like to. I’d like to feel like there’s something more, and that there’s some way of tapping into it.

I wondered if prayer was a way in, or if the fact that I don’t really “believe” (in what? In the bearded guy in white robes, I guess) means by definition it wouldn’t be prayer. Maybe I just have to try and keep at it and see for myself.

Anonymous wrote:I will have the same effect as meditating daily, which is good.

All prayers is a form of meditation.