Prayer and Meditation: An Essay
A Psychological Perspective on Religious Developments
Religion is a complex field with no clear, accurate, and binding definition due to the many religions in the universe, each with its characteristics, history, and practices. However, some descriptions are generally acceptable.
Different approaches have been employed to try and explain the origin, existence, and development of religion and religious practices; among them is the psychological aspect. Therefore, religion can be explained as a particular set of fundamental practices and beliefs generally accepted and practiced by a given group of people. It can also be explained as an organized compilation of cultural systems, beliefs, or values associated with humanity or existence. Though religion cannot be fully and satisfactorily defined, every human being is associated with a particular religion that explains their origin and existence. Some examples of religions include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
The psychology of religion entails applying different psychological techniques and frameworks of interpretation to religious practices and traditions towards religious persons and irreligious persons. Through science, scholars have tried to explain a detailed and accurate account of the origin and existence of religion and the utilization of the different religious behaviors, practices, and beliefs. However, scientists and psychologists have unevaluated many fields and areas of religion. Though religion plays a vital role in many people's lives, it needs to be clarified how these religious beliefs and practices affect the different outcomes. The most critical and universal component of religions that significantly impacts people's lives is the practice of prayer and meditation. However, the exact mechanism through which prayer and meditation impact people's lives, particularly religious development, still needs to be fully explored. This assay, therefore, aims to explore the psychological perspective of prayer and meditation on religious development.
Understanding the Concept of Prayer and Meditation
Prayer can be described as a devout petition or a deliberate spiritual communication with God, a deity, a spiritual being, or an object of worship. Prayer is a form or part of a religious practice. It can be performed at an individual, congregational, or communal level, in private or public. Prayer can be offered either as a song or simply by the use of words. It can also include incantations, hymns, or unstructured utterances. There are different reasons for prayer: prayer for thanksgiving, prayer for a petition, prayer for praise or worship, or prayer for supplication.
A prayer can be addressed to a spirit, a lofty idea, a deity, a deceased person, or God. It can be undertaken to ask for guidance, worship or praise a supernatural being, express an individual's feelings and thoughts, and ask forgiveness. Prayer can also be offered for the benefit of oneself or for others. Most religions engage in the act of prayer during their daily practice. Most studies that have researched the aspect of prayer have focused on the effect of prayer on the restoration of health among the sick or the disabled. Most studies have reported that there is no effect or minimal effect if present. Such studies have, however, been criticized mainly due to associated biases.
Meditation is the act, practice, or technique of turning attention away from multiple issues and focusing on a single point of interest. All things, actions, or ideas considered destructive or disruptive are avoided to allow total focus and concentration on the present need. Specifically in religion, meditation is a technique of removing oneself from all the corners and the chaos of the world and initiating a deliberate and purposeful communication with the high authorities of heaven or the world of spirits. Meditation is considered a practical and valuable tool for discovering the true self, a spiritual being that lives in the world as a physical body. This gives one ample opportunity to experience freedom from the restrictions imposed by the physical world.
Spiritual meditation is primarily centered on the fact that humans are spiritual beings living as physical beings. By the virtue that humans stay in this earthly world, they tend to forget that, in essence, they are spiritual beings whose actual home is the spiritual world. When humans become overwhelmed by the world's values, activities, and chaos, their minds gradually become cloudy, while their physical bodies become weary and fatigued. The best mechanism to relieve the body from this fatigue and weary condition is to allow the soul to rejuvenate spiritually with the high realms of heaven, God, or the spiritual world, depending on one’s religion. To attain complete rejuvenation, humans need to temporarily distance themselves from the chaos and issues of the physical world and concentrate on the heavenly or spiritual world, an act described as meditation. The innate energy of the soul and body is restored through this act.
A combination of prayer and meditation is one of the significant weapons religious humans use to fight and defend themselves against the troubles and issues of the physical world. The act of meditation does not just exist for the sake of it; spiritual meditation gives humans a chance to contact their spiritual world of origin in a focused manner, free from worldly distractions. Through meditation, humans are more enlightened by supernatural beings, spirits, gods, or God and, therefore, more energized to face daily life on earth. The act also increases the wisdom of men such that they can devise better mechanisms for solving problems emerging daily. The next part of this essay examines the psychological perspective of prayer and meditation on religious development.
A comprehensive analysis of prayer shows that it is more complex than most people consider. As part of daily practice, prayer is not a plea but a well-thought resolution that may take diverse forms. Irrespective of the form prayer takes, the psychology behind it reveals two different perspectives under which it is undertaken. In one perspective, God, spirit, deity, or the object of prayer, depending on one’s religion, is represented as an external being; that is, it is "out there." From another perspective, the object of prayer is demonstrated as an internal archetype: somebody or something within. All the diverse religious and spiritual practices, whether minor or significant, new and active or dormant, fall into one of the two perspectives. The type of elemental psychological framework a religion adopts significantly influences and dictates how prayer and meditation are carried out within that particular religion.
The major Western religious practices, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, use the “out there” perspective; thus, God, the Supreme Being, is prayed to. The major religious forms of the Eastern world, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism, mainly use the within perspective; the nature of prayer in this aspect is more reflective and, therefore, most likely to be meditation. Despite the psychological inclination of all the religions, one form of prayer that is common throughout all these religions is the prayer of blessings. Psychologically, the prayer of blessings occurs when one moves away from praying for oneself (egocentric) and prays for another (ethnocentric) or prays for all others (geocentric). The importance of the prayer of blessings and its omnipresence in almost all religious practices led to the development of one of the highly acceptable and utilized terminologies, "goodbye," which, in essence, means "God be with ye.”
Prayer and meditation influence the mind, eventually influencing the body's general state. If adequately undertaken by the believer, then they impact positively on the life of an individual, such as elevating a depressed mood, reducing levels of anxiety, lowering blood pressure, making the patterns of sleep more stable, and increasing the efficacy of autonomic functions of the body, such as breathing and digestion. Prayer and meditation efficiently affect the manner of thinking, cause a paradigm shift concerning the habits of the mind, and eventually modulate an individual’s behavior. When such changes occur rapidly and repeatedly, they induce physical changes within the brain, eventually influencing how one reason and perceives the world and how one should live in it. Such positive development motivates one to pray, meditate even more, and become more spiritual, enhancing spiritual growth.
The most significant benefit of prayer and meditation is the experience one enjoys with the creator, the trustworthy source of love, joy, well-being, light, and peace. The acts allow one to discover who they are. It allows one to forget the past, stop worrying, be hopeful of the future, and address the present issues relaxedly. In many religions, the primary source of mental, spiritual, physical, or emotional suffering is the false notion that one is separated from their spiritual being, God, or the object of worship. Such thoughts create a sense of guilt in a believer's mind and remain within that believer's unconscious mind. This guilt is projected unconsciously into the world, resulting in suffering and pain.
Through faith, the believer believes to have been relieved of the guilt and been reconciled with his/her God, spiritual world, or the Supreme Being. Prayer and meditation provide an excellent opportunity for the believer to re-examine him/herself, identify the guilt, and present it purposefully to the Supreme Being or the object of worship. A feeling of forgiveness eventually changes the thinking ability of the believer, such that the believer is more positive and productive during daily undertakings. Spiritually, the believer becomes at peace with the Supreme Being. Thus, his/her spiritual well-being is nourished. The believer becomes more grounded in the religion, fostering spiritual development.
Psychology is vital in elevating pain, suffering, and guilt to attain the desired religious development. The first step in achieving this is realizing one's false and unconscious belief that one is separated from the spiritual world or God. When this happens, the inherent desire to establish the truth of one’s being is awakened. This awakened desire drives one toward the spiritual world, God, the Supreme Being, or any other object of worship to get this truth and be enlightened. As a result, the psychological barrier separating one from God or the creator is lifted, and one is reconciled with God or their spiritual being. Removal of this barrier sets in qualities of joy, light, wisdom, peace, and well-being, among other attributes throughout a believer's physical life.
Deep and prayerful meditation leads to spiritual development; even the physical body is deeply nurtured and reenergized through this act. Typically, the nervous system and the body relax and free themselves from stress as emotions and thoughts settle—regular meditation significantly improves emotional, physical, and mental health. A deep understanding of daily earthly problems is achieved and addressed comprehensively. An individual's physical and religious aspects eventually grow and develop through this act.
Stages of Religious Development
Prayer and meditation have a significant impact on spiritual growth. Prayer provides a means of submitting one’s request or will to the object of worship; it allows the believer to align their desires with the spiritual or God’s purpose. It also cements the truth of the spiritual world to the believer's heart. An evaluation of how diverse groups of believers pray and meditate reveals five distinct stages through which they attain religious growth. These include images, conversation, purification, illumination, and union.
Image, also referred to as potentiality or personhood, is the natural state through which we agree to and cherish the characters of true self; that is, the unique gift of the humanity of reasoning, free will, spontaneity, creativity, spirituality, discernment, and love. These inherent qualities are developed at birth and persist within the mind of a human being throughout life. Worldly chaos and values, pains, and sufferings tend to go against these inherent qualities established within the mind of human beings. As a result, the affected human takes a break from human care and reflects on himself (meditates). One naturally urges to seek reconciliation upon discovering one’s fallen state against the will of the Highest or the spiritual world.
Discovering our fallen personality leads to conversion, also known as metanoia. This process entails making one’s supplications, commitments, wishes, desires, or expectations known to the spiritual world or God. It also provides an opportunity to explain the diversity of competing attractions between the physical and spiritual world to the Supreme Being. Humans claim their position or compass amid the world's struggles through conversion. The commitment experienced in this state is recognized as the existing relationship between oneself, God or a Spiritual being, and others. Through this commitment, a believer is positioned to determine his/her destiny.
Conversion is then followed by purification, also referred to as transformation. This is the step through which a believer undergoes a spiritual exercise to let go of the attachments of the physical world that had distracted him/her from realizing the true self and caused pain, suffering, and separation from the God Almighty. The believer then recognizes the lost inherent qualities of humanity, followed by an acknowledgment that living in accord with the beliefs and principles of the spirits of God results in living a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
Transformation is followed by illumination, an act of enlightenment that is attained through faith. Believers who are illuminated reflect the true transformation in them. They gain a deeper understanding of worldly problems and become wiser to quickly formulate effective mechanisms to resolve them. Through illumination, the mind, body, and soul get enlightened such that a believer becomes reenergized and rejuvenated to serve the purpose they are called for. The quality of life one life following enlightenment is improved, and spiritual enlightenment improves the spiritual stats of the believer.
The ultimate goal and final step of religious growth is union, also called theosis. This refers to unification, communion, intermingling, and participation with one's creator, spiritual being, or the Almighty God. Union is not an end-state process but a continuous and progressive process of daily spiritual growth, continuously improving from "glory to glory." Engagement with the spiritual world or God is not static, but it entails a developmental process that is highly dynamic. Experiencing these steps by way of prayer and meditation on a daily or regular basis improves the state of one's well-being. It nourishes the spiritual lifestyle of a believer, resulting in spiritual development.
Believers find more fulfillment in sanctification, which is only achieved through prayer and meditation. They feel better when they live in true self and communion with themselves, God, and others. One communicates with the spiritual world through prayer and meditation through wise acts of silence and contemplation, an engagement that finally clarifies human identity. Living a life of fulfillment encourages one to be more spiritual and attracts friends, neighbors, and other humans toward spirituality. Regular prayer and meditation will lead to more fulfillment, draw more to the religion, and further develop religion. More people become religious, and religion is promoted within that particular setting.
Prayer, Meditation, and the Religious Experience
One primary objective of prayer and meditation is to initiate a religious experience within a believer's mind, enter into a state where one feels to be in union with God, experience paradise, and get a feeling that is not earth-like. Such feelings provide a sense of completeness and unity, together with comprehension and positive emotions such as peace, joy, and love. Prayer can be explained to be live moments of creating spiritual/religious awareness. The joyous and appeasing awareness about God is initiated and maintained through prayer and meditation. From a psychodynamic point of view, an individual design a style of praying to enhance the imagery form of thoughts, which results in a religious experience. The association between prayer, meditation, and religious experience demonstrates the actual purpose of the two practices. Though a particular form of experience characterizes all human activities, the experience obtained through daily activities is far from the experience a religionist gets through prayer and meditation. A religionist feels uplifted, illuminated, enlightened, and brought into one accord with their creator. They experience the whole meaning of the true self and the spiritual humanity thriving within the physical body.
Positive Effects of Prayer and Meditation and Their Impact on Religious Development
Believers will pray for different reasons and under varying circumstances. If, for any reason, a believer thinks that their prayer is not answered or addressed by the Supreme Being, then chances are high that the affected individual will cease praying or, most likely, pray less often. However, prayer and meditation are done correctly and with clear intentions. In that case, they are associated with numerous benefits that eventually add value to spirituality and religious development. Prayer and meditation give the believer moderate optimism and a significant healthy dose of hope. The believers are optimistic with the thought that there are more good tidings to come than what is being experienced today, particularly in the spiritual world. It also provides hope to the believer that though things in this world or in that particular circumstance are not happening as they should, God or the Supreme Being is in control and will provide the best solution at the appropriate time.
Prayer and meditation initiate and promote a feeling of gratitude within the mind of a believer. These acts give the believer ample opportunity to reflect on the positivity of life and appreciate the value they add to one’s life. It also changes the believer's perception, who now understands that every situation has more positives than negatives and that, sometimes, things that appear adverse and detrimental may be positive in one way or another. The believer must only establish positivity through prayer, meditation, and total submission to the Supreme Being. Prayer and meditation can effectively reduce anxiety in an individual and control or prevent the individual from undertaking reckless and harmful actions. Meditation will allow the individual to calm the mind and reflect on the act and action to be undertaken, whether the act is likely harmful or not. If the action appears harmful, it can be stopped, and an alternative method is adopted.
Prayer and, mainly, meditation allow a believer to view things from a broader perspective. This can help the individual avoid limited thinking, acts of obsession, and compulsive thoughts. Such an improved way of thinking will eventually foster positive behavior and positive, improved, healthy living. Prayer and meditation are vital tools in appreciating the beauty found in diversity and identifying the commonality within this diversity. Through collective unconscious, people eventually realize that they share the exact needs, experiences, problems, and desires and can effectively solve them through unity. The act of meditation allows a believer to focus and concentrate on the issue at hand. The mind can be trained to focus on a particular issue at any given time when the need arises because meditation requires taking a break from daily chores and taking a solemn moment of thought and reflection.
One main barrier to spiritual growth and development is revenge over mistakes committed against an individual. Prayer and meditation is a powerful tool that enables believers to forgive quickly, let go of the past, and move forward into the future with a free mind. The acts of prayer and meditation give an individual a feeling of security and comfort that they are in unity with the inner depth of life. It promotes comfort, living without worries, irrational fears, and anxiety. A time for prayer and meditation can also be used as an opportunity to cultivate and promote rational thinking. It allows people to devise new and better problem-solving mechanisms.
Prayer and meditation free people from the bondage of pain and suffering and a sense of guilt when one goes against the wishes of God or the Supreme Being. This period can be used to learn better ways of relating to others, promoting social maturity. Lastly, prayer and meditation allow one to reflect critically on one's spiritual condition, identify spiritual flaws, and seek solutions from God. Believers can devise mechanisms to contribute to their religious growth and development by reconciling with God. Achieving these benefits is primarily attributed to the psychological changes during prayer and meditation. One retrains the brain to be more focused and determined, be positive in all undertakings, and let go of all irrational thoughts by continuously engaging in positive, thankful, and meaningful thoughts.
Indicators of Religious Development
The process of religious development may appear simple from the explanation provided above. One can imagine that to develop in religion requires one to pray and meditate. However, this is not the case, as the development process is highly demanding. The process demands that a believer seeks and agrees to the word of God or the spirits without question. It also calls for one to believe the word and practices as dictated by the religion, besides living as the requirements of that particular religion. Therefore, a significant virtue that cannot be avoided by all believers, which is central to the achievement of religious development through prayer and meditation, is faith. Without faith, prayer and meditation are meaningless and unfruitful.
There is no growth without faith.
A believer who is highly troubled and pained by worldly chores must have faith that these problems will be overturned when he seeks the intervention of the Supreme Being before engaging in prayer and meditation.
Faith in the Supreme Being will bring comfort to the believer's mind, who will now be expectant of positivity. Faith also means that the believer trusts fully that God or the object of worship the believer is praying to will provide the needs being prayed for. Without such faith, there will be no basis for the believer to approach such supernatural powers. Faith requires focus. Thus, the believer should remain focused on the particular need being prayed for or meditated upon. Faith will fill the believer with hope for the things to come and assure the believer that there is an end to the worldly troubles being experienced and a reward when one endures the end. Such faith elevates the believer's spirit while consciously or unconsciously experiencing religious development.
Throughout the life of a believer, religious growth can only be evaluated or revealed through one’s religious attitudes and behavior. In essence, this implies that every believer needs to practice what they preach, and one’s actions should not contradict the beliefs or practices associated with that particular religion. One who undertakes prayer and meditation is expected to undergo a psychological change, think differently, and become wiser and more enlightened. This means that one’s actions will be dictated by the acquired wisdom and the broader perspective of viewing things. Such thoughts will, therefore, translate into positive behavior, more harmony, and positive living. Any believer possessing such behaviors will be considered to have undergone spiritual development.
Conclusion
Understanding the psychological aspect of prayer and meditation is vital in adequately understanding religious development. Due to the diversity of religions and the difference in practices and beliefs embraced in these religions, it is prudent that one understands the psychological changes that are associated with the acts of prayer and meditation. Despite the diversity of the religions, prayer and meditation have been identified to be an integral part of every religion. These acts allow believers to reflect and rediscover their true selves, present their concerns to the Supreme Being, and have their problems attended to. One is illuminated and more enlightened to live positively through faithful prayer and meditation. Moreover, one’s spirit, spirituality, and religion are elevated to a higher level through faith.