We’re in the 21st century, and the vast majority of us still believe in an utterly and obviously fictional creator deity. Plenty of people, even in developed countries with decent educational systems, still believe in ghosts or magic (e.g. voodoo). And I–an atheist and a skeptic–am told I need to respect these patently false beliefs as cultural traditions.
Fuck that. They’re bad cultural traditions, undeserving of respect. Child-proofing society for these intellectually stunted people doesn’t help them; it is in fact a disservice to them to pretend it’s okay to go through life believing these things. We should demand that people contend with reality on a factual basis by the time they reach adulthood (even earlier, if I’m being completely honest). We shouldn’t be coddling people who profess beliefs that are demonstrably false, simply because their feelings might get hurt.
Find me the person who believes in the power of prayer who agrees with that statement.
And that is why meditation and prayer are not the same thing. Functionally, because prayer doesn’t work, all it can provide at best are similar benefits to meditation, but if you’ve ever prayed and meditated, you should know they are definitely not the same thing in terms of what you’re doing with your brain.
In christianity, there are recognized forms of prayer that are literally the same technique as focus-based meditation - only that the focus is not your breath, or a candle, but your inner connection to god as you experience it. This is called contemplation and has a centuries-long history in christian mysticism.
If you practice it, I confidently say you would gain quite the same benefits as you would with focus-based meditation.
Also I have tried both, and don’t feel much of a difference in terms of “what I’m doing with my brain”.
I’m sure you’re talking about people going " Please god, give me the new car I’ve wanted for so long" rather than prayer as a spiritual practice to gain connection to the the “first reality before any thought arises”, which is how modern christian mystics define god, so this likely isn’t relevant to you and your beliefs and also isn’t meant to be a rebuttal of your overall stance.
I just wanted to let you know that in this instance you are, indeed, factually wrong.
No one need to agree with it.
Feel free to prove your claim that prayer does not work. You can’t so there is no need for us to wait for you to do so.
Both prayer and meditation bring peace to the mind. The rest of it is nothing but belief in the specifics of the method.