The Isaiah Effect: Decoding the Lost Science of Prayer and Prophecy by Gregg Braden

Author:Gregg Braden
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony
Published: 2009-02-04T08:00:00+00:00

Secret of the Prayer

Following twenty similar blessings, the abbot sat back quietly on his pads, closed his eyes, and focused on our meeting. This was the time that we had waited for. I had asked for an audience with this holy man specifically for the purpose of tapping into his ancient lineage of wisdom. If the Essenes had, in fact, migrated into Tibet after the time of Christ, elements of Essene traditions should be recognizable in the Tibetan rituals of today. Under Xjinla's skilled guidance, I posed the questions that I had journeyed halfway around the world to ask.

“Xjinla,” I began, “please ask the abbot about the prayers that we have witnessed during our time in the monasteries. Will he describe for us what is involved during a prayer, and how each prayer is accomplished?” Xjinla looked at me, as if waiting for the rest of the question.

“Is there more?” he asked. “Perhaps I am not understanding the question that you have asked.”

There are many words in the Tibetan language that do not translate directly to a single word in English. To communicate concepts, it is often necessary to create a phrase or short sentence in our language to describe the Tibetan equivalent. I sensed that this was one of those moments. Gathering my thoughts, I restated the question in the simplest English that I could muster without changing the intent of my question: “Specifically, when we see the chants, tones, mudras, and mantras on the outside,” I asked, “what is happening with the person praying, on the inside?”

Xjinla turned to the abbot, who was patiently awaiting my question, and the process began. Sometimes the abbot would close his eyes and discourse for many minutes at a time in response to a single sentence from Xjinla. At other times he would mutter a short phrase accompanied by a gesture or a sigh. Xjinla did his best to convert the abbot's explanation of a subtle experience into the English equivalent before sharing the translation. Hearing our revised question, the abbot looked at me with the hint of a grin on his face. There are some sounds that need no translation.

“Aaaahhhh…,” he said in a thoughtful tone.

I knew from the tone of his voice that our question had cut directly to the very crux of what was practiced in his monastery and others that we had seen throughout our journey. His grin became a smile as he pursed his lips and made a different sound.

“Mmmmmm …” I watched as his eyes rolled toward the ceiling, which was blackened from the soot of uncounted butter lamps, over hundreds of years. He fixed his gaze on an invisible place above. Using the spot on the ceiling as a point of focus, the abbot searched for the words to acknowledge the essence of my question. I remember thinking that what I had asked was the equivalent of asking someone to describe the meaning of life in twenty-five words or less. This man, who had no

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