Meditation and Prayer - Two Paths to Divine Connection
Meditation & Prayer: The Differences
Prayer is Expression.
Meditation is Observation.
Prayer is connecting to the current of a powerful river.
Meditation is becoming a still ocean.
Meditation And Prayer : Two Paths to Divine Connection
Meditation and prayer are vital elements of the spiritual journey. If you are spiritual, you might have wondered what the differences are between the two and which one is best suited for you. If you are accustomed to prayer you might be looking to foray into meditation or vice versa. In this post, we explore the similarities and differences between prayer and meditation and bring clarity into how to choose a practice that suits your consciousness and spiritual goals.
Meditation and prayer are both ways of connecting to the divine.
Prayer - Expressing Oneself to The Divine
While prayer is often religious ( although it may not always be), meditation does not conform to religion. Prayer is a conversation with the divine while meditation is an experience of the divine.
It is human nature to create intimate bonds through honest conversation and prayers allow us to express ourselves to the divine. For most people, a simple prayer is the most powerful form of connecting to the divine. Prayers utilize the power of thought to connect to a higher power. Faith plays a significant role in prayer and often, the individual praying feels protected by a presence of tranquility and courage.
Meditation - A Quiet Communion
Meditation is a quiet communion. It transcends thought, to become one with a higher presence. The observer observes the stillness rather than focusing on thought and becomes aware that there is a presence of profound calm underlying thought. This presence is one’s own divine nature. Meditation is the discovery of oneself as the higher power. Meditation does not have to conform to a religious practice, although one may apply their religious preferences to supercharge their sessions.
Meditation is an observation, it is an act where one becomes the observer. What is being observed is often breath or the observer itself.
Meditation and Prayer - The Differences and Which One Is Right For You?
Simply put, prayer is expression and meditation is observation. Prayer is like joining the current of a powerful river, while meditation is becoming a still ocean. In both scenarios, the divine is the destination. On the level of consciousness, the greatest difference is on the level of perception. In prayer, one is perceiving two entities. In meditation, there is only one - the witness. If you are on a path where it gives you great calm and joy to simply express yourself to the divine, then fulfill your consciousness completely through prayer, song and dance. Because it is the divine that expresses itself through you even in prayer. Your asks are not your own, it is a part of your purpose here.
Choose whichever is best for your current state of consciousness and perception. The good news is that they are both complimentary. The most fundamental truth about the spiritual journey is that an evolving consciousness goes through many stages on its journey. What is important is establishing a consistent routine for either practice or both. All spiritual practices are cumulative, the more you apply yourself to them, the deeper the connections you forge with the divine. Creating this level of consistency ensures your consciousness always has clarity and space for the direction it is heading towards.
Most people often find their way to meditation through prayer. At some point when you feel you prayer has been heard and you fall silent to simply be in the presence of God, that is meditation. Spiritually speaking, when you are praying, you often become childlike, telling God about your life, asking Him to complete it, thanking Him for what has been given. When you are meditating, spiritually you are more grown up, you know that this presence you are before does not need any introduction to you, does not have to be told what to do for you, it does not expect anything from you and it is overwhelmingly fulfilling just to be in it. The love, the joy, the ecstasy all arrive without ever asking once the connections are deep.
There are moments of being grown-up when suddenly you may choose to be a child just to play in the lap of the divine. As much as the spiritual path is a still ocean, there is room within it for dancing upon waves and expressing oneself to the divine too. Your relationship with the divine is the most intimate relationship you will have throughout your life, so it is yours to create. Both meditation and prayer fulfill different aspects of one’s consciousness - the stillness of being, and the uniqueness of the spark you carry. May you find blessings in both from the beyond.
Love and Light,
The Center For Subtle Arts
