Prayer

Vijay Prozak

Jim Morrison used to have a routine where he would take as many substances as his body could handle, then get up in front of an audience and throw himself as close to a shamanistic state as he could achieve, and he would begin ranting, using as his anchor rhythm the line, "You cannot petition the Lord through prayer." His goal was not to be areligious, because of all people in rock, Morrison was one of the mostreligious, but his point was this: divinity is not something that comes down to answer human pleas. Divinity is something that you access, as a state of mind within yourself, and then use to formulate long term plans and ideas.

I have no shame in admitting that I pray almost daily. There is no getting down on one's needs, and there is no single God to whom I appeal. It is not in sadness that I do this, or in fear, but in joy. I don't go to a church. I walk to the nearest patch of trees and I exhalt their spirit, I feel their strength, and as much as I can achieve, I share the feeling of life with them. It is both meditation, and prayer, and it does not involve humility on my part, nor theirs. They do not even have to be aware of my presence, nor would I want them to do so. However, it is the form of aesthetic contemplation that Schopenhauer found as being a manifestation of pure Will itself; it is understanding the order of the cosmos, realizing that I am an agent of it, and vowing on my grave and forefathers to act it out in the only meaningful sense of honor: to do what is right in the universe so that all growth is ascendant, or moving toward enhanced states of harmonious order.

Oddly, one should be sober for such prayer, as it will take your entire soul and indeed, transform it, but as that soul came from the same cosmos thus life-force that produced the trees, it will not change anything, but rather develop it and give it reason to see its own strength, and to make its own value choices. While some petition gods they hope will help them, or pray for a new cow or a better parking space, the way those who are not superstitious pray is to find comradeship among the gods and among the task gods and men share. After all, if the cosmos is one thing - which by all appearances and the continuity of structure among it, it is - humans and gods and trees alike are its agents, being formed of its structure and design and conducting its activity. The far-east philosophies see this activity as a source of frustration, because cleaning the dishes and finding a way to feed yourself and other tasks of life are ultimately tedious, but to look at the whole of the cosmos is to look at the long-term, and from this, to peer directly into the meaning behind such activity in a way that one transcends the boredom and stupefactive repetition of maintaining life. Christianity, as a bridge between these extremes, views life as terrible and immoral and thus suggests that the only salvation comes through making an order of God on Earth, but this order is distinct from an existing order, being based entirely in the concept of the equality of human souls. To my mind, whatever divinity inhabits the earth does not care for individuals as much as individualexperience, and thus openly endorses the evolutionary practice of letting the weaker die out so the survivors, in the future, are stronger and thus have better lives.

Accordingly, it makes little sense to think one would petition the Lord in prayer, as everything any Lord could grant is already here, and dependent upon the action of the individual in adaptation to nature itself. We are in the driver's seat, and we are in control here; if we act in harmony with the methods of nature, we will achieve results that are well-adapted to our world, and thus a long-term success, even if we incur total personal loss as a result. That personal loss is inconsequential compared with achieving the goal. Thus why would one pray?

I can only answer in personal metaphor: I go to the trees because of all things on earth, they are the most focused on their goal, which is the sun. They grow and thrive regardless of suffering, hardship, personal death or despair, and for that reason are more eternal in countenance than human beings. Their action asserts personal growth in the context of the whole, and they are content to live by the laws of nature, in which some trees will die so that the forest is healthy. Their focus is on the sun, on growing, and on getting stronger with every generation. This kind of spirituality is eternal. By all means, pray - but never confuse cosmic prayer with getting down on your knees and begging.