Expert: Bodhicitta - 4/13/2006

Question
Greetings,
   I am from California. I was a Catholic nun for a long time and, since leaving, have studied various philosophies in the search for my truth. I am physically challenegd by many illnesses and so cannot read as much as I would like, nor can I attend retreats, etc.. I have been reading books by Pema Chodrun and Sakyong Rimpoche.  I meditate often.

  I have a question about prayer in the Buddhist phlosophy. I was told once, by a Buddhist nun, that there was no creator. So, to whom do Buddhists pray?  Do you pray to the Source, to Bodhisatvas, or do you project your chi to affect the people for whom you are praying - or all of the above? I'm a little confused about this.
  Thank you,
   Adele  

Answer
Greetings Adele,
Thank you for your heart felt and well formed question from California. I am replying to you from Britain on a slightly cloudy British Easter Good Friday.

You are well informed. Buddhists do not advocate a creator God.
It is  a non-theistic religion or philosophical approach.

Prayer is an integral part of Buddhist  life however, which as you
say raises many questions. Actually, as you probably are aware
prayer in any religion is a very
mysterious act.

One of the problems for Westerners trying to understand
Buddhism is a problem of translation. The word Prayer is
obviously a western word understood culturally in theistic terms.
The closest that Buddhists have to the meaning of the word prayer is the sanskrit Pranidhana. We could translate the word Pranidhana literally as "heart wish" which may give a better sense of it.

Commonly in Buddhism there are two stages to practice. Firstly
there is the path of the Hinayana or lesser vehicle which is largely
about development of ones own situation through meditation and discipline. It is a preparatory step. Teachers say - learn first not
to be a nuisance to the world. Or  clean your windows before
looking out at your neighbours. The second step is the Mahayana
vehicle - this is known as the great vehicle. Having firstly prepared ones own situation using the Hinayana path, then and only then one moves on to work
with others. The Mahayana is the vehicle of the Bodhisattvas - through great compassion the Bodhisattvas work to help beings
throughout the universe. Pranidhana is one of the tools
of the Bodhisattvas.

According to Mahayana Buddhism every being has a heart of awakening. Every being is fundamentally a Buddha or Bodhisattva. However we are all confused and have forgotten what our hearts contain. When we practice either the Hinayana or Mahayana vehicles we are moving back to who we really are.,

When we make pranidhanas for the good of others then we are
linking into our awakened heart. Sometimes the confusion clears
for a moment and we make powerful prayers that help others.
Sometimes all we are doing is just training how to do it. A  heart felt pranidhana is always good.

As being evolve and become Bodhisattvas with some real
realisation of Buddha nature their Pranidhanas become more and more powerful. It is said that Buddhas can create worlds to help
others in specific ways.

There is no creator God in Buddhism. But the hearts of beings create the worlds we live in. The worlds are more or less confused depending on the realisation of the beings who live in them.
If we look around the world and see suffering it reflects the suffering of the hearts of beings. If beings made strong pranidhanas or prayers they would literally change the world
and the lives of the beings in the world.

I pray that you and all beings who suffer will have happeness and the causes of happiness
Adele.
Bodhicitta