Find 2 Click

Don't confuse the tools for the task.
If you have been a member of a church or spiritual group you will notice the diversity of people and opinions within the organisation.  Many people have very strong opinions of what is a spiritual or religious person.  I would frequently hear I pray every day for an hour or I meditate on my higher self every day.  This would be presented as a badge of honour to show how much better that they were doing than anyone else.  But why were they doing it?

The problem is that meditation and prayer are tools, a method to achieve a result.  To simply pray or meditate daily without making changes in your life or yourself is the equivalent of a carpenter sharpening and oiling his chisel every day but never using it to create anything.  The chisel is a tool designed to create something - if never used for it's purpose it might as well be allowed to rust and go blunt as it is taking away precious time maintaining that could be used for something else.

We pray for guidance, help, grace, forgiveness, etc.  Meditation is to bring us to a higher consciousness so we can access what we need to live a better life.  An example is meditation used to quieten the mind so we can remove unwanted thoughts and access the processes we want and need.

It is what we do with the results of the meditation and prayer that count. If you pray or meditate to be a better person but don't try in the physical world then you might as well not practice. The proof is in the pudding - are you a better person. Too many people I meet who meditate or pray or both believe it is their spiritual practices that are the important thing in life.  They tell me how spiritual they are, how they don't swear, how they tithe to their church and how they go to spiritual functions.  Many think they are elevated beings and let you know.

The sad thing is they are rude to their fellow man, their neighbours, and those they have dealings with.  They act unethically in business dealings.  They abuse friendships.  Worst of all their ambitions to be in a higher position in their church or spiritual organisation cause them to behave badly towards others for their own personal gain.  They don't understand that loving your neighbour, dealing both ethically and morally and always behaving in the best manner possible are the goals.  Meditation and prayer are merely the tools to achieve them (although very powerful tools indeed). 

It is better to behave and never pray or meditate than to pray or meditate and never put the results into practice.  I have met so many people doing wonderful work in the world who have never prayed or meditated - they just know what has to be done because they are filled with spirit.  These people have true spirituality and we could learn a lot from their efforts.