Prayer for People Who Think Too Much (Book)

[tinythinker]

I saw this at the local library over the weekend and the title of the book alone made checking it out worthwhile. I haven't gotten too far in it yet, but it does offer a perpsective that at time approaches a tone resembling other books on religion and spirituality I have found worthwhile. It has thus far done a good job in diagnosis, and it has hinted at some useful prescription, but I hope it goes into a bit more detail on this account. The best example so far involves a literary character taken from a Russian novel who is a seeker of sorts. Following some advice he has been given, he repeats a short prayer frequently when not engaged in activities that would distract him from it, and keeps doing so as suggested. Eventually, he gets profoundly bored with it, but he keeps repeating the prayer anyway. After a long dry spell of boredom and disinterest, an unanctipated change occurs and the prayer moves from his head to his heart. He no longer needs to say the prayer with his lips or in his mind, even though he still does at times, because it has become almost a living thing.

Interestingly enough, from what I have observed and read over the last few years, getting over an initial phase of interest or anticipation and then passing through a tedious period of seemingly endless and fruitless desert of monotony and a virtual loss of total interest seems to be a common theme/requirement of the basic prayerful and meditative practices of (most/all?) major religions. It's a test I haven't passed yet. I get bored, distracted, busy, or frustrated, and working along it is hard to maintain a serious commitment. I would agree with the author's assessment (shared by many others I have read or spoken with) that is made worse by our culture's focus on individualism and consumerism and the desire for relative quick gratification. With so many options, why commit to one path and one practice? (Which is another point of common interest/observation cited by other practioner-authors I have encountered and a point made in the book being discussed - even if you believe all paths lead to one truth you still need to pick a path to get somewhere, and then once you are well on your way you can fully benefit from sharing and learning with those on other paths).

Another interesting observation I found was that the author equates having a single-pointed focus as something that comes from your heart rather than your head. I have read and heard quite a bit about different methods for cultivating such focus, particularly in Buddhism but also from some Christian circles, and I have yet to have come across this explicit connection. I wonder if that is why so many people have trouble with working on this focus? Well, as I said, so far, it's been worth reading, so we'll see how the rest of it goes.