To continue with the power of prayer (or wishing): as mentioned, there is God's intention (or, if you prefer, the laws of the cosmos), against which a prayer could be counter-productive - as it often is - or simply juvenile. As I believe, the cosmic intention is Self Realization, all else being toy stuff. However, life in the here and now, as we understand it, is NOT toy stuff and must be taken seriously - or why this "experiment" in the first place? In such a situation, prayer would and should be taken just as seriously. Still, the fabric of the whole must be maintained. A wish to win the lottery would deprive another of it, whose life may need such an alternation. Or football. I have often heard the snide comment that the player thanking God at the end of a touchdown is in battle with the guy on the OTHER team thanking God for his touchdown. Such things must be considered when we pray and feel unanswered.
Yet there is an entire field of inquiry that is now insisting that the world - that is, reality - is made up of information, and this information stream is alterable by intention. Most know, for instance, that a wave will become, or behave, like a particle under observation. Whether or not this is indicative of the extreme power of intention is beyond my knowledge, but we might look at it this way: while the universe is moving in a certain direction, there can be perturbations made in the stream, like rocks in a river. This would incorporate free will, the power of intention, AND the overall integrity of the universe. Or we might look at it from this perspective: we ARE the rocks in the stream, meant to make the perturbations, although the exact nature of the anomalies would be unknown (free will). In the end (in infinite time), however, all becomes one with the the aim of the river, the infinite sea.
All the above, I know, is only speculation. However, it is clear from the spiritual texts that an individual's intent is paramount, whether it affects his material well-being or his spiritual. And it is on that latter element where intent is proven most efficacious. Here, it would not matter whether God was on the side of one football team or another, but rather that the player who makes the touchdown seriously was giving thanks to God - not for power over the game, but for the intent of worship. In the moral realm, the intent, then, of one's actions might be seen as more important than the results - except if the results detract from the power of sacred worship. In other words, giving the destitute stranger a helping hand because he is a fellow human is part of the sacred intent. Continuing to do so, so that the stranger becomes more interested in the material help than the sacred intent, would do harm (or, if a touchdown made one more aware of God, then it would be good; if it simply made one more aware of his own fantastic ability as a football player, then not).
As for prayer, than, it would be the intent with which it is given: does it increase the spiritual nature of the actor and/or his environment? Or does it degrade it towards a more physically dependent one? Unfortunately for those praying to win the lottery - or for anything else merely for excess physical comfort - their prayers most likely would end as whims - unless the answer to the prayer would make the hardship or condition, known or otherwise, that might lead to spiritual advancement. FK
Yet there is an entire field of inquiry that is now insisting that the world - that is, reality - is made up of information, and this information stream is alterable by intention. Most know, for instance, that a wave will become, or behave, like a particle under observation. Whether or not this is indicative of the extreme power of intention is beyond my knowledge, but we might look at it this way: while the universe is moving in a certain direction, there can be perturbations made in the stream, like rocks in a river. This would incorporate free will, the power of intention, AND the overall integrity of the universe. Or we might look at it from this perspective: we ARE the rocks in the stream, meant to make the perturbations, although the exact nature of the anomalies would be unknown (free will). In the end (in infinite time), however, all becomes one with the the aim of the river, the infinite sea.
All the above, I know, is only speculation. However, it is clear from the spiritual texts that an individual's intent is paramount, whether it affects his material well-being or his spiritual. And it is on that latter element where intent is proven most efficacious. Here, it would not matter whether God was on the side of one football team or another, but rather that the player who makes the touchdown seriously was giving thanks to God - not for power over the game, but for the intent of worship. In the moral realm, the intent, then, of one's actions might be seen as more important than the results - except if the results detract from the power of sacred worship. In other words, giving the destitute stranger a helping hand because he is a fellow human is part of the sacred intent. Continuing to do so, so that the stranger becomes more interested in the material help than the sacred intent, would do harm (or, if a touchdown made one more aware of God, then it would be good; if it simply made one more aware of his own fantastic ability as a football player, then not).
As for prayer, than, it would be the intent with which it is given: does it increase the spiritual nature of the actor and/or his environment? Or does it degrade it towards a more physically dependent one? Unfortunately for those praying to win the lottery - or for anything else merely for excess physical comfort - their prayers most likely would end as whims - unless the answer to the prayer would make the hardship or condition, known or otherwise, that might lead to spiritual advancement. FK
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