Re: Non-religion specific prayers
here's a thing. no other religion other than Buddhism had made social equality, generosity and morality a foundation of life and the whole path in general. and let's not forget to mention the development of 4 great immeasurable attitudes lovingkindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. that... happened without an actual belief in a supreme Creator still boggles my mind sometimes. you don't need to believe in a god to be good, or even next world to be good. see it this way. belief in an other world is meaningless, although the work of Ian Stevenson and Jim Tucker is very, very convincing in it's scope. if you're good to yourself and others, you enjoy a clear conscience here-and-now. if you observe how the world in the experience works, you see there are causes, and effects, there are multitudes of causes intersecting at a single point in time to produce an effect. so if there's an afterlife, or rebirth, or whatever that may be, you won't go to a bad place[whatever that may be]. if there isn't, you still enjoy a wonderful abiding here-and-now. this is highly practical and empirically verifiable. you *don't need a god* to be spiritual. you *don't need to be religious* to have realization. all religions are like chains, I'd say. although Buddhistic worldview resounds profoundly with me, because of it's rationalistic nature, I don't let it turn into a chain of sorts and still am able to implement the principals and perceive very deep changes in myself. the path is supposed to be come-and-see, not based on blind dogma, after all. to me, something which gives instant results is way better than, say, something which offers me salvation after death, especially when I don't even know what lies afterwards.
And this could actually be a wonderful exercise. The development of 4 sublime attitudes does not require any beliefs and is highly nonsectarian in nature. And the moment you implement any of those you actually feel a warmth and a subtle joy spreading and permeating your whole being.
So if you're looking for nonreligious prayers, you should consider trying to develop the 4 sublime attitudes for the whole world without exception. That actually takes immense courage to be done, especially when you get to the people who have harmed you in some way or the other.
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