@chaski Said
As a side note, a conclusion of sorts, in terms of
Christianity:
There are only two necessary prayers from the believer. All other prayers are selfish and self-centered.
> The 1st is the
Lord's Prayer
> The 2nd is the
Jesus Prayer.
> I suppose one could add, "please help me not be a complete and irredeemable jackass"... but again, that is ultimately selfish.
The only "creed" necessary is "suck it up, tough it out and be the best you can".
The Christian mystic Meister Eckhart said that the only prayer necessary was "thank you". This would be "enough". In a non-theistic context, Pure Land Buddhists would agree. I have found, over time, that the Nembutsu morphs into Thank You quite naturally, without calculation. Thought or actually said in
all circumstances.
Some question how true thanks can be given without "someone" to thank, but this confuses non-dualism with the idea that "all is one". In the Pure Land tradition there is a wide spectrum of understanding. From Amida, "up there", who will come for us at death to escort us to the Pure Land, to Amida as a personification of Reality-as-is, and the Pure Land is
here, now . And all stops inbetween.
I'm not suggesting here that there need be any necessary progression from one understanding to another, and certainly not that one is better than another. Faith is not "sight" or allegiance to any "conclusions". What matters is the unfolding and opening to grace.
For me some of this would relate to the so called "mysteries of the Trinity", spoken of sometimes when it is questioned why Jesus prayed to God, thanked God, asked not to be called good as "only God was good." And yet, according to the "mysteries", He
was God. For Pure Landers (at least as it has unfolded for me) the "mystery" is not within the
"relationships" of some transcendent Being beyond us, but comes to be within us and around us. Within and around us
all .
I am a Universalist. It is the ground for recognising the hand and touch of Grace in others, of diverse faith, or of no faith at all.
(Even in the Costa guy who has just moved me on from my comfortable seat as it was not a designated area, compelling me to sit outside where the sunlight bothers my eyes......
)