How should I pray for my mother who is ill in bed?
Whom are you going to pray to, God or Buddha? What is God? What is Buddha? Why do you pray to him? Do you pray to him because he is an almighty being and love or compassion itself? Then, you don’t have to bother to pray to him since he is always not only supposed to know your mum’s situation because there is nothing that he doesn’t know, but also supposed to help her regardless of your prayer, since he is not so biased or narrow minded that he helps only those who please him and neglects those who don’t.
If you really want to pray, don’t pray for your mother but pray to her. Pray to her by serving and pleasing her in the same way that you try to please God or Buddha. Take what she does and says as the answer to your prayer and try to understand it. That is true prayer and true practice at the same time.
©Boo Ahm
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