I pray on my knees... a simple question

[Jacara]

Well, I can only speak from my own experience really, but I'd say that as for the basic position, the only difference is that in your own mind, they have different meanings (e.g., kneeling w/ your face to the ground will make you take it more seriously than, say, laying down w/ your hands behind your back).
The only position that seems to have a different objective "feel" to it when I pray, is to have my hands flat together & pointed up (the traditional, Mother Theresa-type way).  I used to pray with hands folded, but I tried this once and felt, "whoa", so I stayed with it.

[Bhikku]

Personally I pray kneeling with forehead to the ground, and hands in "prayer position" perviously described pointing upwards over my head. I feel that putting your head to the ground really connects you with the earth, whereas the prayers themselves always find there way upwards. I guess this must look kinda strange to anyone watching me, but I'm not concerned with that.

"Look within, thou art the Budda"

[Mobius]

G,day all, since I dont pray or kneel(bad knees)I can only state my
medical opinion(not that I,m a doctor)dont you guys get sore knees?
I see old carpet layers/tilers/pavers & concretors who make their
livings working on their knees or squatting & most have "bad knees".
So surely it would have some sort of impact on your knees wouldn,t
it?I dont know,anyone from a muslim background that prays 5 times a day in this forum?How are their older peoples knees?I,m interested.

Another possibility is that by having your hands in certain
positions while thinking certain things activates,energy,s in your
body?

Man who run behind car get exhausted

Good journeys

Mobius

[Bhikku]

Morbius- My knees are personally OK, I've never had problems. I do use a small folded blanket though, unless I'm outside on grass. I think that most people don't get bad knees by kneeling, I think it's more about exerted force, i.e. jumping, lifting, climbing stairs, etc. Plus the good old heredity plays a roll too I'm sure.

"Look within, thou art the Budda"

[Mobius]

G,day Bhikku! I gather you practice Buddhism,what form of religion
is it?I am genuinely interested in what you are doing & feel
honoured to talk with you & I understand if you dont want to go into detail,but what you can will do.
I am fairly tall & have long legs that were very sore to kneel on as
a kid & only got worse as I got older & my fathers knees are not the
best either,so it could be hereditary but also multifactorial.

A day without sunshine is well,......night!

Journeys?Good!

Mobius

[Bhikku]

G'day Mobius! <--- Look at me picking up the Aussie lingo!
I'd be happy to answer whatever questions you have. I have been reading into Buddism for several years and have been practicing meditation for longer as well. Within the past few months I have been getting into AP/metaphysics upon realizing that I had been seeing with asrtal/etheric site while attempting to sleep. I had been doing this my whole life but never realized what it was, I just put it off as my imagination. Anyway, I do practice Zen Buddism, but don't really like to call myself a Buddist- I feel more like a mixed bag of spirtual development, and dont' really like to be set under one specific title. Since my realization of AP and it's potential, I have been focusing very much on my development in this area.

"Look within, thou art the Budda"

[Mobius]

Hi Bhikku,I'll throw in a couple more Aussie terms for ya,so if your
over here or run into an Aussie you will have some translations.
Blokes= Guys
Vegemite= A black tar like substance,that only Aussies seem to like &
every other country thinks tastes like toe jam.
Pass us me durries = Pass me my ciggarettes
No worries= thats ok, or no problem
Fair Dinkum= Genuine,true story,or used as a eu'phemism to someone
who has erred against you
Dead set= Is that right?

I worked with an American for 2 years & found myself having to give
translations to what I thought was English & those were some common
ones too!We seem to have a lot of slang in our Aussie lingo,pretty
funny when you get a room full of different nationalities.

Bhikku my Mother practises Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism & seems to like it,but I,m not going down that road again.
Do they have "The Ten worlds" the "Ten factors" "Realms of Existence"
or "Five components of each person"? in Zen Buddhism.Does Zen spell
Buddhism without the H do they?
Do they have chants?

Thanks Bhikku

Man who live in glass house should change clothes in basement!

Mobius

[Bhikku]

Mobius- those are great! I love "Pass us me durries"- I'll have to start using that, but here in the states I'm sure I'll get strange looks. I've also had the unfortunate pleasure of trying vegimite once-I'd love to take a holiday down there to Austrailia sometime, I bet it's wonderful.

Zen Buddism is great, but as with any religion, it has it's share of dogma. I try to look past that for the real meditation techniques/theroies and it's higher spiritual path. If you want to find out more, check out this site: http://www.zenguide.com/

"'I see' said the blind carpenter, as he picked up his hammer, and saw. "  


"Look within, thou art the Budda"

[Mobius]

Hi Bhikku,the name durries is probably no longer used by younger
smokers anymore,more like "lung darts" or "coffin nails" now.
But I still remember my moment of realization about 8 years ago
when my American workmate said "What do you mean? pass us me hammer/
watch/can of coke/whatever?!"
I said well what the hell does "Allright,allready" & "Shoot" mean in
American then? Our swapping American & Australian slang went on for
months,twas very funny how we all speak English but our coutries
have all added their own little treats.

Thanks for the site & heres a variation of your joke,not sure if
this one is used over there as well.

I see, said the blind man to the deaf dog.

Good journeys

Mobius

[Bhikku]

Ahhhh- "lung darts" and "coffin nails" are used here as well, along with "cancer stick". I really liked "durries", no one over here would know that is a out-dated Aussie word.

It seems that something like "pass us me..." is almost back-ward. Who are you reffering to by saying "us", besides yourself? "Us" is plural. We'd say "Pass me my cigs". Don't think that I'm trying to get down on you bro- I just love the variation of the English language. We should suggest an "Off-Topic" catagory on this website, so we can have posts titled "The Aussie-American variation of the English Language", and so forth.

Here's another; "I see" said the blind man tinkling into the wind, "It's all coming back to me now..."

"Look within, thou art the Budda"

[Mobius]

Exactly! Thats what my American workmate said!lol
"we would say,pass me my cigs,who is us? there is only one of you &
why me instead of my?"
I knew exactly what I was saying or what my brain interpreted for me,
it's just he didn't!!I realized that I had picked up a lot of slang
off the street or school as all my family don't express themselves
that way.
I don't know how it started off with "Pass us me durries" but I
suspect we borrowed a lot from the English & Irish.
There is no "Us" so I wouldn't have a clue how it seeped into our
language,probably someone suffering from Dislexia (spelling?)a few
hundred years ago.

I only had one "Blind man" joke up my sleeve so it looks like
checkmate on that one,the last one you posted topped it nicely!

Pardon my driving, I,m reloading!

Good journeys

Mobius

[PeacefulWarrior]

What do you know, good or bad, about praying on your knees (kneeling with upper body or arms resting on bed, etc.)??