Philosopher Alan Watts once suggested that prayer is essentially “telling God how to run the universe”. Just as small children have little control over the way their lives unfold, the above model of prayer is premised on the belief that the individual has minimal agency over the greater environment in which he or she dwells. Accordingly, the ancient notions of a god as a mighty, mythical creature or a wise, all-powerful man, sitting somewhere in another realm (the “Heavens”).ĭespite several millennia of spiritual thought and practice, an analogy still commonly used for prayer is that of children, entreating a parental figure to alter reality, grant requests and wishes - and sometimes work miracles - in order to effect some desirable change to physical existence - on any scale from personal to global. a human with the strength of an elephant or the ability to fly like a bird), there is a need and tendency to anthropomorphize whatever power is being petitioned. Since it is difficult for the human mind to conceive of anything that has not been part of direct experience - or can be extrapolated from the same (e.g. Yet, how to conceive of and visualize such a power? Prayer is generally thought of as some sort of request, petition, entreaty – or an expression of praise or gratitude – by someone in dependency or of lesser power, to an entity or agency with greater power - one capable of granting or actualizing such requests. Most of the latter philosophies involve particular sets of beliefs and practices that provide mortal adherents with some ability to conceive of and engage with the “higher” realms and entities. For the latter however, we could only approximate through religions and other spiritual/metaphysical philosophies. The former could be approached in a practical way through the sciences. On the other, a mysterious, subtle, transcendental realm, guided by powers we cannot easily fathom. On the one hand, a mortal, mundane realm of daily experience. Because of this, perhaps it was natural for a dualistic view of the cosmos to emerge.
Life-events divide roughly into two categories - those subject to our own analysis, planning, and control versus those that do not. If this were the case, one would likely want and seek a beneficial relationship with such a power. And this implies some sort of conscious, intentional actor at the controls - perhaps a deity. Because we gain understanding largely through experience, and most of daily activity involves some sort of purposeful behavior – planning, hunting, gathering, tending, and the like – it was natural to assume that the larger events which are out of our control might also be occurring according to some purpose or design.
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