Paris, the Dalai Lama and Prayer

Last updated on: November 23, 2015 at 12:55 pm by Jason M. Brown

Paris, the Dalai Lama and Prayer 2015-11-23T12:55:58-08:00 Jason M. Brown

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After the Paris attacks, predictably the hastag #PrayforParis surfaced. In an interview the Dalai Lama responded by saying that “we cannot solve this problem only through prayers” suggesting that prayer was simply asking a Divine being for help, or solace. As a Buddhist, the Dalai Lama believes in prayer, but his point is that if we want to defeat terrorism and hate we must do the work ourselves. This trope plays on an increasingly common caricature of monotheistic religion wherein prayer is seen narrowly as a petition from a believer to a Transcendent Deity, whose will we seek to influence. While petitionary prayer is certainly valid in many instances for people of faith, it is not the only way to pray. It is certainly not the case that prayer is treating God like some kind of blessings-vending machine, in which we pump in quarters and hope to get a prize. Prayer is listening to what arises from the depths of the soul and talking back with our lives. It is about listening to why I feel so devastated when those who look like me are killed, and why when it happens to other people in other places, I shrug my shoulders to the inevitable. It is challenging the fears that arise when I am faced with the stranger and the refugee.

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