Thread: Prayer Power
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Old 08-15-2007, 01:14 AM   #3
tarik
 
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Dojo: Iwae Dojo
Location: Boulder Creek, CA
Join Date: Jun 2000
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Re: Prayer Power

Quote:
David Orange wrote: View Post
Since everyone likes to speculate about what kinds of things O-Sensei did and how he did them; and since so many people want to incorporate the things he did in their practice; I'm wondering how many people spend much time in prayer?

More than any other aspect of his life, I think O-Sensei put the number 1 emphasis on his prayer life.

Ideas?
No time at all, in the classic sense. Although I was taught several different forms of prayer by family members of different religions and belief systems, I do not seek to commune or communicate with any deity or spirit.

Now in a certain sense of living my spirituality and living my philosophy (perhaps Jen's "living prayer" idea, perhaps not) of self-questioning analysis and constantly searching for more knowledge and an understanding of existence, I do spend a lot of time in study, contemplation, meditation, purposeful thought, and living my current beliefs, but none of it is strictly prayer in the sense of a theistic or spiritualistic attempt to commune with the Deity.

While certain fundamental aspects of me are unchanged, I am an extremely different person today than I was 5 years ago. Actually, I believe those few who know me well might agree with me when I say the last 2 years have wrought immense change in who I am or perhaps more accurately how I actualize that. I cannot imagine who I will be in another 5 (or even 2) years, but I am looking forward to the experience.

Regards,

Tarik Ghbeish
Jiyūshin-ryū AikiBudō - Iwae Dojo

MASAKATSU AGATSU -- "The true victory of self-mastery."
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