Day 11: Prayers

I like to organize things, and my prayers are no different. Every piece of my prayer session has a purpose:

1. I start out by singing the Gayatri mantra, because it relaxes the mind and brings me to a state of peace and happiness.
     
2. Next, I express gratefulness and humbleness, and reduce my own self judgement as such: "I thank for the new day, all the goodness, my family and their heath, food, friends, the time, my own body and my health, the wisdom and enlightenment. I ask forgiveness for anything I may cause today by impure action, words and thoughts. I ask for strength to follow my path to enlightenment, spreading love to the world, to everything and everyone around me, in the region, this planet, this galaxy and the entire universe."
     
3. Then I define the path by vowing the five precepts for lay Buddhists. Albeit I have rewritten them in terms of positive focus, hence my vow is as such: "I preserve all life. I respect other's properties, intimacy, integrity and authenticity. I speak only truth. I am sober enough to insure that all my actions, words and thoughts are always directed towards goodness (Sattva). I seek refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha."
     
4. I used to have four prayer lists with a different emphasis of the prayer on each list. I changed this to one long list, giving the most powerful prayer to all, because that is the right thing to do. I begin this prayer by declaring the process of Ho'oponopono on everyone on my list. As I read each name, I visualize and feel the process of mutual regret, forgiveness, gratitude and love.
   
   I reinforce the Ho'oponopono at the end of the list as such: "For these and all souls on Earth, on behalf of everything and everyone, I ask forgiveness for all the suffering that has occured, so that we may return to a normalized condition of peace and love between all. Thank you. Svaha."
     
5. At this point I chant:
   1 mala of today's specific mantra (from a calendar)
   1 mala of Aum Shreem Brzee Svaha or Aum Kleem Shreem Brzee
   The chanting has three purposes: 1) To improve the brain's ability to focus, 2) To focus the mind and emotions specifically towards these specific thoughts, 3) To improve will power.
     
6. I now sing the Gayatri mantra once more. 

At this point, I evaluate the person at the top of the list. I don't want the list to grow too long, so pruning is a necessity. I reach out to the person the day they are at the top of the list - if possible. By the end of the day, I should have made up my mind whether I should rotate them to the bottom of the list, or if my work for them is done.

If I have time, I will find a lecture on YouTube, typically by one of:

• Nithyananda TV (previousl Life Bliss Foundation)
• Manly P Hall
• Ajahn Brahm
• Teal Swan, the Spiritual Catalyst

In the beginning, I also started to look around online or otherwise for someone new to reach out to. It didn't take long, however, for the right people to just show up at the right place and time.