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Assalaamu aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu (May the Peace, Blessings and Mercy of Almighty God be upon you) In this post I will go over and compare the muslim ritual prayer with yoga, qigong and meditation. I will explain some of the "hidden gems" I myself have discovered with this practice. The prayer has two parts: 1) Ritual Purification (wudhu) 2) The actual prayer itself. 1) Ritual Purification (wudhu) You wash your hands, mouth, nose, face, arms, head, ears and feet. You say mantras when starting, and you say a prayer when finishing. This hold some similarities to practices in yoga and qigong as well. Yoga: 1) washing your nose is similar to the neti of the shatkarmas (six cleansing actions) 2) how you say mantras on different parts of your body is similar to kavach and nyasas (where you install protective energies in your field) 3) the idea of purification before practice is completely the same for hindu rituals and meditation Qigong: 1) Using your body while employing mantras is also done in qigong, 2) Purification is also very important in qigong, 3) Massaging your ears is a mainstay of daoist longevity practices, this is also done daily for the muslim prayer 2) The Prayer Itself (as-salah / namaz) The prayer is completely similar to yoga and qigong in the sense that you employ your body, breath (mantras) and mind together. During the prayer you switch between different positions: 1) Standing (takbir & qiyam) 2) Bent over (ruku) 3) Prostrating (sujood) 4) Kneeling (jalsah) There is stretching as well as strengthening going on when going between the movements (just like yoga & qigong exercises). There are mantras uttered at different points during the prayer (just like yoga & qigong exercises). That's how the physical body as well as the breath is employed (the postures and mantras mentioned above). However, what do to with the mind? In yoga you visualise the deities (images, idols or yantras) and/or masters during your meditation to connect with their energy. In qigong you visualise stars, planets, things from nature, animals, masters, colors, the organs, talismans etc to connect with their energy. Here are my own personal top 4 visualisations for the muslim prayer: 1) Visualise you're in Mekka and praying before the Ka'aba All muslims across planet Earth pray facing the Ka'aba each day. It's already a special energy point of planet earth's meridians. Just like human beings have meridians with energy points along them, so too does the planet have special energy lines with special points along them. The well of Zamzam is only 20m east of the Ka'aba, springing from an underground source. The whole area is an energy point, that's why they placed the Ka'aba there. When all muslims pray towards this point, this point stores their energy. It's already a high energy point to begin with. When everyone prays towards it, the shared energy container is redistributed among the faithful. So, by visualising the Ka'aba, you're connecting to a bigger, powerful storage point of energy, which will over time increase your own energy. The word "Ka'aba" is actually in the feminine form in arabic. Feminine simply means receptive, it receives energy from the universe, from the ground, as well as the faithful. I chose the above picture of the Ka'aba because there are two veiled women there as well. The veil over the women and the Ka'aba symbolizes the special protection the feminine enjoys, provided by the masculine (masculine meaning active). When we're well protected, we feel safe, we feel peaceful, and we feel intimate with whoever we're with. It's the same feeling you get in a tent in the desert, or a yurt in the grasslands. You feel intimate with whoever you're with. This energy of peace, protection and intimacy will come over you again and again, until your own soul produces the same type of energy. Then you will feel peaceful, protected and intimately connected to the Divine all throughout your daily life. 2) Visualise you're in Medina and praying close to the Masjid an-Nabawi This masjid was built by the Prophet himself, it was the site of A'isha's house, and now it holds the tomb of the Prophet himself. By visualising this green dome, you will be able to connect directly to the energy of the Prophet. You will be blessed with his tender love, compassion and humanity. Your heart will be softened and opened. You'll feel tender love for all of creation. 3) visualise you're standing before the throne of Almighty God, ranked by thousands of powerful angels Imagine God is watching you. Then perform your prayers. 4) Imagine it's your last prayer, the angel of death is behind you, it's your last opportunity to get right with God before your judgement Conclusion: As you can see, the muslim ritual prayer has many things in common with yoga, qigong and meditation. It uses the body, breath and mind to cultivate energy and connect with the Divine.

So lately I have been changing it up and practicing, using the Buddhist Pocket Shrine app. I can't afford a physical shrine yet but until then this seems to work and I learn how it works. Are there any objections or ideas towards Dharma practices on this topic? Any staunch traditionalists here?

Devotion and Worship may be something you secretly dispise or are attracted to. It can be for some a sign of giving up on autonomy and or willful self journeying and isolation from mass hysteria and lazy followership. But it has nothing to do with these things - though all elements of human frailty may be found as is true everywhere. In abiding wakefulness grace is ever present - gratitude pours forth to nothing - it is not in devotion - it is the light But Devotion simply dawns - it dawns as one sheds the ebbing rude coarseness that stood solid on so many willful grounds of insanity and ignorance. In the beautiful stillness - the boundless Presence - the magnificence and majesty - Devotion is camaraderie with the highest light. It is attending a dance with Angels. IN NOTHING great transcendence radiates within - one cannot but be in devotion. It is not a choice or a falling or failing - it is the twilight of all holding - the touch of one finger to the hand of Divine Essence in Living Light. Love unbounded - unbinding

This might look a bit too new agey for some but I like the spirit and generosity and think there's some worthwhile prayers and meditations (supported by evocative background music): http://www.theangelsofatlantis.com/angels/

There is the idea of a Personal Legend. This thing we know as children. Then we forget, or a "mysterious force" convinces us that it is impossible. We grow up, listening to our families, friends, society. We stuff our dreams deep down inside, as they are impractical. Instead we go to college, or get a job, or marry and start a family. We grow old and we die, our dreams unfulfilled, our Personal Legend abandoned. I was envious of people who had this thing called a dream. I felt as if I was somehow missing something, incomplete because I did not have one, as far as I could recall. At my age the time for going after a dream, pursuing a Personal Legend, seemed to be coming to a close. I started reading the graphic novel adaptation of, "The Alchemist", and tonight I sat back and reflected. Seriously thought about my childhood, what I must have known as a child. I came to the conclusion there are three things that have stuck in my mind. I don't know how else to describe them: 1. To design and build structures or places, emphasis on building. 2. To play the guitar. 3. To go to the Big Sur area in California. As a child I played with legos. I think I mostly made buildings, but I do not remember clearly. This just feels right. It fits with my later building of structures around the place we used to live. Then, as a young man, I pursued various level editors, learning 3DS Max, and building things for video games. But these were counterfeits. I think the true legend is architecture. and the Taliesin Institute (the Frank Lloyd Wright school of architecture) specifically, as my starting point, unless an opportunity comes to just start building and designing things. I tried to learn the guitar. It was either not the right time or not the right teachers. I was teaching myself through DVDs and internet lessons. I think I need personal instruction, and a guitar. I sold the one I had. I don't know why the Big Sur area. It has stuck in my mind ever since reading about it in, "Spiritual Places." I have no specific place to go in mind (although there are numerous spiritual centers in the area I may visit.) Only a vision that may be connected, of an old man living in an old trailer near some red cliff faces not far from the ocean. That I have to see this person. Just the Big Sur area itself sticks in my mind, not this vision, but the two may be related. I am asking for help. Specifically I need the resources to go to the Big Sur, I think I am to start there, then I need the resources to go to the Taliesin Institute. Finally I need a guitar, something like I had before with more space between the frets than normal (a longer neck) as well as a teacher who is willing to teach me how to play it. Prayers, sending of energy, Treatments, mailing me items or donating money as you are compelled, these are what I am asking for. Funds can be sent via Amazon Payments to: dreamblissflows[at]gmail[dot]com. Replace the [at] and [dot] with the proper symbols. You may also contact me there for my mailing address. I also need someone who can either live here full time or be on call full time as a back up driver for my family and a helper for my grandmother. My dad would like to pursue his dream of hiking the PCT this year or the next, and if he leaves they will need another person here to take his place while he is gone. Normally that would be me, but I may also be gone. So prayer for the truest person for this position is also needed. I am leaving either this year or the next. I have made no plans yet. I have asked the Source for guidance and direction. I will not force things. I will flow, that is, I will be using grace, in my pursuit of what I believe to be my Personal Legend. Even if it is not, it should, by the very act of moving, that energy of going after it, draw me to it, or it to me. Only one thing I know for certain... Staying here is to stagnate and die inside. I choose to live life, in the present moment, to its fullest, not live the appearance of life, like a zombie, going from work to home, doing what society tells me I should be doing. It is time to follow my heart, not my head, or the voices of others. Thank you for your prayers and support!

The words that follow are an ongrowing process in me. Understanding comes, I see a little more, more understanding comes, the process continues. What I have learned may be the secret of the universe. But I will make no such claims. I will call this, "The Keys to the Kingdom" and leave it at that. Before we begin there is something you need to accept about yourself. It is a very esoteric, intangible concept that you hear in all the major religions. It is simply this... You create your reality. The world as it is to you at this moment in your life is exactly the way you made it, or where you have not actively been involved in its making you allowed it to change to the way it is or continue the way it was. You either chose to change it to what it is, or you chose not to change it, leaving it as it was. The world will be some combination of these two, mirrored back to you. A personal example, something I just realized tonight, is in order. I was struggling with something on my dad's laptop. This is the computer I use, although it is technically. I got so frustrated I put my head in my hands, signed, and said my life sucks. I felt, in that moment, every other moment I have ever felt frustrated and unhappy in my life. I felt low. While I do not get depressed as I used to, I got pretty close to as low as I can get now. Then I realized something, some more pieces came to me tonight as I was watching Gregg Braden's, "The Silence of Miracles." I highly recommend this video. In any case I realized, felt even, what he had been saying about what he calls, "The 5th modality of prayer." I created, in that moment, the sucky life I have, until now, always felt I had. I basically reinforced a life where I am miserable, where I struggle through things - an unsatisfying life of constant frustration! Now I realize, in order to break this pattern I have to feel as I felt on good days, for me the most recent was during a very long bike ride when I crossed paths with a beautiful girl who gave me the most dazzling smile I have ever in my life received. I felt that smile inside me, it stuck with me, even thinking about it now just makes everything lighter! When I started my whole spiritual journey, away from my faith and towards something, other, well I learned initially about creating mental movies in Maxwell Maltz's, "Psycho-Cybernetics." Then I learned about affirmations in Jack Canfield's work. Then I discovered the root of the power of change as being intention. Intention, guided by mindset, driven by belief, is where it all starts folks. You will read this also in Wayne Dyer and many other books. As I am learning about the path of Magick I am certain I will find that it is the driving force behind that sort of work. In fact I think rituals and all the dressings we apply are not necessary in the end. It ultimately comes down to simple intention. Ritual helps to focus the mind, center on belief, probably more than I intend to look into at this moment. I choose instead to get down to brass tacks and K.I.S.S. = Keep It Simple Stupid. So today what may be the last, but it certainly the next, piece, clicked into place. It's about feeling as if it has already happened. I wrote this, may put it in my signature. I have titled it, "Truth": "If you say you don't want it, Then you will receive it. If you ask for it or demand it, You will never get it. If you choose it, It will come slowly. But if you feel it, As if it already exists, As if it is real and true, Then it will manifest." I was at the stage where I had learned not to state what I don't want, but instead state what I do want. I had moved slightly past this to simply stating what I choose. But I believe this is the next, final and highest level. It goes beyond asking, demanding and even choosing. Now we involve feeling. I'm pretty sure if this is combined with a mental movie, so that you are feeling what you want to accomplish and seeing it accomplished in your mind's eye at the same time, you can do pretty much anything. Of course you have to believe in yourself and the process. I can, in a sense, give you a set of wings here. But you can't use them to fly anywhere unless you believe you can fly. My goal in sharing this is to open up this subject to development, discussion, and experimentation. To fine tune this method, to sharpen it's edge, until it is a surgical and precise instrument of desired change. You may be surprised to know that whatever your faith, you can use this method. For example, for Christians this method is called prayer. This is the true definition and practice of prayer. This may be called magick for a magician. I'm not sure what a Buddhist or Yogi would call it. I don't need a label for it myself, it is simply a tool, built from a variety of sources, which is proving to be more and more valuable, to me, every day. So, the process, simply explained, using, once again, a personal example. This example I am about to share is what I plan to do for myself. I may adjust it and change it, but the goal is the same. I want to gain control of my dreams and astral project. I will probably focus on just one of these. What I am going to do is to write a script for a mental movie, for say astral projection, where I see myself leave the body, go away somewhere, and return. During these stages I will feel, everything I have read others feel, everything I think I would feel, I will inundate this script, coat it, with positive feelings. The driving force behind this script is my desire and intention to astral project. I have had trouble remembering leaving my body and being away in the past. I have, actually, only one memory away from the body, and that was of talking to a man on a park bench. Or that is what I thought I remembered. Most of the time I would just do what Bruce Moen refers to as a "click out." I would usually feel myself slamming into my body (very strange sensation) so I knew I was away, but I would retain no other memory of my experiences. So for me if I went into this thinking about what I want, I would emphasize that I don't, at this moment, have it. This is what Mr. Bradon points out. It's another trap, the first for most being in stating what you don't want, which puts a lot of energy, in this case negative energy, into whatever it is you don't want, causing that to manifest. This is the other side of the coin then. You put all this energy into what you do what, but you are, in the processes, emphasizing your lack of it, which at the very least will delay what you want from happening but may mostly just undermine it. So instead you have to think only positively about what it is you wish to accomplish, feeling as if you already have it, and this leaves no negative energy in the equation to screw things up. Now if you're like me you're probably saying, "but that's lying!" Think about this a moment (I did.) If you create your reality, if you are ultimately responsible for your experience of the world, then how could you be lying? If you chose to create your current experience, then you can choose to create another experience, and in the process of creating an experience you make it true. This is hard to explain, I will try to clarify it later. Essentially it is not about you lying, it is about you creating. You created the current truth, so you can create another. If you are really struggling with this then use a memory of a time when something happened, or do as I intend to do and create a possible future memory when what you want has happened. Make sure whatever you do, that you are not thinking of terms of, "I don't want this" or "I do want that" but instead are simply experiencing the joys of whatever it is you are seeking to manifest. And, to make this harder, do so without attachment to any outcome. Remember there may be other determining forces in what I call the "Mechanisms of the Universe" that, however well you set your intention and pray, decide that whatever it is you are trying to manifest should not be granted to you at this time. That's OK. You can pray as much as you like. The wheels move slowly, but they do move. Understand that you will receive whatever it is you wish to manifest, at the right moment in your life for you to have it. Other forces, some call him God, are in control of that, seeing everything in the big picture. So you have to remember to start by changing your mindset, how you view your life and the world around you. You have to work on yourself inside. There is a lifetime of inner work for us all to do in ourselves. Eventually you will be unattached to the world, its outcomes. When bad things happen you realize that they don't really affect you at all. You are able to forgive, to let go, to free yourself. Then, when you pray, whether or not you get what you prayed for, you will not be discouraged if whatever it is you prayed about does not happen. You will continue to pray, finding a happiness within yourself that does not depend on exterior circumstances. Well there is a lot more to inner work part of this. As I am in that process even now I don't know enough to say more about it. Hopefully I have clearly shown you the bare-bones process of true prayer. How to create something you want in your life or the lives of others. Understand that prayers unselfishly directed towards others probably have more power than prayers directed towards yourself, unless you are praying for needed inner changes to improve yourself. This information is very important. If Bradon is correct, we may have had it twice in the past and lost it. So save this thread. Better yet, if you are more experienced in these matters than I, post here and improve it. Namaste! - DreamBliss