A lot of people get confused and don't really understand the purpose of meditating or praying.
Matthieu Ricard, in his book 'Why Meditate?: Working with Thoughts and Emotions', says what he thinks meditation is not.
"......meditation is not an attempt to create a blank mind by blocking out thoughts---which is impossible anyway. Nor is it engaging the mind in endless cogitation in an attempt to analyze the past or anticipate the future....."
Also he says what he thinks meditation/prayer could be :
"There is indeed an element of relaxation in meditation, but it is connected with the relief that comes from letting go of hopes and fears, of attachments and the whims of the ego that never stop feeding our inner conflicts."
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