A Scientific, Psychological, Spiritual, and Secular Analysis of The Lord’s Prayer

This article is for all of you. I truly believe that prayer may benefit everyone, including those who are not religious. Spirituality is not religion. Saying prayers, along with meditation, is part of my daily spiritual practice in order to promote emotional, psychological, and physical well-being, as well as harmony and balance in my life. Prayer promotes growth, expanded consciousness, awakening, and provides access to limitless awareness and infinite possibility. Prayer is transformative to he who prays. Prayer is how to link your Soul to its Source. Each time you connect with your Higher Power, you are heard, touched, and changed for the best. Prayer is essential to Self-realisation and Enlightenment.

Socrates, the great philosopher, said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Prayer and meditation are the most superior tools available for authentic self-examination. Prayer has been lauded by the great philosophers, scientists, and significant figures throughout history including Hippocrates, Martin Luther, Abraham Lincoln, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Soren Kierkegaard, Thich Nhat Hahn, Ramana Maharshi, Viktor E. Frankl, and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as the greatest authors such as William Blake, Franz Kafka, Victor Hugo, and William Shakespeare. Aside from their 'day jobs' all of these figures were spiritual Masters. And there are many, many more. If prayer is good enough for them, it's good enough for me.

The Lord's Prayer is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: A longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and a shorter form in the Gospel of Luke. The Bible is essentially a series of metaphors that describe wisdom. Jesus was a human BEing, a Super Coach and one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived. In addition, he came from a place of pure love.

What would a scientific, psychological, spiritual, and secular analysis of the Lord’s Prayer look like? After an extensive internet search using combinations of keywords from the title of this article, not one single article turned up. Yet the Lord’s prayer is full of psychological and spiritual wisdom that even total atheists (yes, you can be an atheist and believe in the power of the unseen forces that govern the Universe, including a quantum physics approach) would benefit hugely from. I have included my 'Spiritual version of the Lord’s Prayer' at the end of this article in the conclusion section. Don’t worry, I am not about to ram God down your throat. Far from it: I am spiritual, not religious. As a scientist and doctor, I wanted to explore the Enlightening (and by that I mean the scientific revolution and the spiritual use of the word) message behind the Lord’s Prayer.

This prayer, given to us by Jesus, contains some of the most beautiful, inspiring, and helpful ideas that we could possibly need to guide us throughout the day. The prayer reminds us of some great Truths about ourselves and our relationship with the divine. It reminds us of the tremendous, unlimited potential that is within us that we have not as yet come to recognise, realise, or manifest. Contemplating these ideas will help us to grow in our spiritual awareness of them so that the Universe can do more through us.

If you want more compassion in your life, pray. If you want more gratitude in your life, pray. If you want more forgiveness in your life, pray. If you want more inspired intuition in your life, pray. If you want more expanded consciousness in your life, pray. If you want more unconditional love in your life, pray. If you want more abundance in your life, pray. Prayer is the 'Golden Key' to infinite possibility.

So, hang up your scientific scepticism, your reticence, your hesitancies, your doubt, and your vacillations about diving into this topic, and read on: Let’s do it, together...

The Lord's Prayer and the Universe

Introduction

The poet William Blake wrote:

"To see a world in a grain of sand,

And Heaven in a wild flower,

Hold the infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour."

William Blake was talking about the infinite aspect of the Universe or Nature. These are other words for what has traditionally been called 'God.'

For the four prayers that I say every morning and evening click here.

"Do scientists pray?" That's the question that occupied the thoughts of a sixth-grade Sunday school class at The Riverside Church, and who better to pose it to than one of the best scientific minds of our time, who was a spiritual Master, Albert Einstein. A young girl named Phyllis penned a polite and inquisitive note to the great physicist in 1936, and she was probably surprised to receive a considerate reply. He replied a mere five days later, sharing with her his thoughts on Faith and science. He said "Dear Phyllis, I will attempt to reply to your question as simply as I can. Here is my answer: Scientists believe that every occurrence, including the affairs of human BEings, is due to the Laws of Nature. Therefore a scientist cannot be inclined to believe that the course of events can be influenced by prayer, that is, by a supernaturally manifested wish. However, we must concede that our actual knowledge of these forces is imperfect, so that in the end the belief in the existence of a final, ultimate spirit rests on a kind of Faith. Such belief remains widespread even with the current achievements in science. But also, everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the Laws of the Universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is surely quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive. With cordial greetings, yours, Albert Einstein." While the letter doesn't reveal much about Einstein's own personal views on religion, he brilliantly manages to capture the the sublime sense of wonder that science can evoke in a way that it's possible to describe as 'spiritual.' I think it’s a moving exchange between two people who couldn’t be further apart in their understanding of the world, but who just may have found some small common ground in considering each other’s positions for a moment. Muhammad Iqbal said that "The scientific observer of Nature is a kind of mystic seeker in the act of prayer." Albert Einstein said: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” I know which I choose. If it's good enough for Einstein, it's good enough for me.

William Shakespeare, the greatest writer who ever lived, who was also a spiritual Master, said about prayer that "There is nothing in the world so much like prayer as music is." Music can carry us to places that few things can, aside from prayer and subsequent meditation. He also wrote "Thou canst not speak of what thou dost not feel." This is true of music and also prayer, which is why religious people have to speak in metaphor - to describe the feeling that accompanies Truth. Shakespeare said that "Have not Saints lips, and holy palmers too Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer." We must all use prayer, and that can make Saints and 'humble Gods' out of us. Shakespeare also said, in reference to the peace that passes all understanding when we pray "Now I am past all comforts here, but prayer."

Carl Gustav Jung, the psychiatrist and father of analytical psychology, who was also a spiritual Master, said about the benefit and importance of prayer to psychological wellbeing that “Prayer is not only of great importance but has also a great effect upon human psychology. If this psychological method had been inefficient, it would have been extinguished long ago, but nobody with a certain amount of human experience could deny its efficacy.”

Jung seems to be able to convey the deep seriousness of the 'encounter with God' (your Higher Power) in prayer and the necessary relationship between ‘I and Thou’. The power of 'God' (the Universe) is tempered by the mutual need for relationship and for wholeness.

Jung discusses the hero myth and the worship of such figures through prayer. We all undertake a hero’s journey, perhaps even many times, but we don’t all know it. He states that “The universal hero myth always refers to a powerful man or god-man who vanquishes evil in the form of dragons, serpents, monsters, demons, and so on, and who liberates his people from destruction and death. The narration or ritual repetition of sacred texts and ceremonies, and the worship of such a figure with dances, music, hymns, prayers, and sacrifices, grip the audience with numinous (having a strong spiritual quality; indicating or suggesting the presence of a divinity) emotions and exalt the individual to an identification with the hero.“ Prayer, Jung tells us, makes us enter into a relationship and provides a dynamic tension with the unconscious. This is very important, but it is necessary to explain it. Jung considers that the unconscious is the source of instincts, images and even not only individual but also collective purposes, it is “The spiritual treasure of humanity”, a great ocean in which the whole history of humanity and possibly the cosmos is recorded. A fund that also seems to have an intention or purpose, which is to unify the psyche, integrate the opposites (the component parts), make the human being complete, something that is equivalent to what in the Christian tradition is called theosis – the divinisation of man – and in the Hinduism is the realisation of the Atman (the unchanging, eternal, innermost radiant Self (note the capitalisation as it refers to the True Self, your Soul) that is unaffected by personality, unaffected by ego (note the small 's' to denote the false self); Atman is that which is ever-free, never-bound, the realised purpose, meaning, and liberation in life. Jung, however, does not affirm that man becomes a God through the manifestation of his unconscious, but that the unconscious in his becoming conscious produces images similar to those that have been generated in the great religions and that this process is accompanied by a numinous effect, or of a sensation of finding meaning in life. Throughout his, work Jung argues that the unconscious is something like a divine monster, wonderful and terrible, that responds to our attention and interest. Praying, Jung suggests, is a way of paying attention to this fund of mysterious energy and intelligence that is part of us – the biggest part of who we are; “The majority partner”. The same can happen, for example, when we really make an effort to remember our dreams: Something is shaken in the deep and begins to symbolise (the unconscious communicates through symbols or images that communicate something ineffable and transcendent). To pray is in a certain way to pray to ourselves, but in ourselves, there is an unknown and autonomous force, which can impose itself on our will and give meaning to our life: A force at once chthonic (inhabiting the underworld), celestial, titanic, and demonic. The human BEing only finds true meaning when he feels part of something bigger than his ego. The ego is like a 'King baby.'

In a letter to a patient, Jung wrote: “I have thought a lot about prayer – it is very necessary, since it makes the transcendent in what we think and conjecture become an immediate reality and places us in the duality of the ego and the dark Other “ (the shadow - see my article 'Superachievers and Our Shadow: Unleashing the Source of Our Superpowers'). The unconscious is, at least while it has not become conscious, the transcendent, a transcendent aspect of existence, at once intimate and elusive. This dialogue opens us to the possibility of experiencing that we are not merely an ego: There is something else, an Other. In the dialogue with the unconscious (our Higher Power which must be awakened to consciousness), which is the dialogue with the transcendent, says Jung, the door is opened to “A whole sphere of knowledge and experience through which all the functions, all the ideas, manage to enter to the side of our ordinary conscience.” Prayer is how to open the vault of the treasures of the world of archetypes. Thus, praying can be a way of practising what Jung called the "Active imagination" or the transcendent function, which is a way to open the way to the content that springs from the unconscious and its deep source of archetypes. In a certain way, prayer is to the awakening life what dreams are to the psychic life, a space in which the inner life can be revealed, what lies hidden in our psyche and that can produce a numinous experience, a meeting with the radical otherness that Rudolf Otto talks about.

How fascinating is the amalgamation of thought processes across different timelines and cultures. The basic concept remains the same “Aham Brahmasmi”, the unity of Self with Universal consciousness.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr. said "Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: Love, prayer, and forgiveness." It is no surprise, then, that these feature in the Lord's Prayer.

James E. Faust said that "A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, Faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being."

Iyania Vanzant wrote that "In my deepest, darkest moments, what really got me through was a prayer. Sometimes my prayer was 'Help me.' Sometimes a prayer was 'Thank you.' What I've discovered is that intimate connection and communication with my creator will always get me through because I know my support, my help, is just a prayer away." Meister Eckhart wrote simply that "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough."

Saint Teresa of Avila wrote "For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God." You might find it more palatable to replace the word 'God' with the 'Universe.'

Without prayer you will never claim what you need. John Wesley wrote that "God does nothing except in response to believing prayer." Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the Soul; man cannot live in health without them. W. Clement Stone wrote that "Prayer is man's greatest power!"

Charles Spurgeon said that "True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that - it is spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth." In other words, the Universe.

The great philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote that "Prayer does not change God (the Universe), but it changes him who prays."

As part of my spiritual practice, I pray twice a day: Upon awakening and it's the last thing I do at night. Mahatma Gandhi wrote that "Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening." George Herbert said "Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night."

Jesus said in Matthew 28:30 “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your Souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Which meant that he was completely at peace as he completely accepted reality. He had no preferences. Therefore he did not suffer. Even when he was crucified. He had pain but no suffering

Jesus taught us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, heal the sick, and visit the imprisoned. In the Gospel of Luke 17:21, Jesus says that "The Kingdom of God is Within You". In other words, we have the power to live the Kingdom here on Earth and in the Lord’s Prayer we are praying that such a thing can happen.

I am not a religious scholar or expert in theology. But simply pray what Jesus taught us to pray: The prayer that is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer. More on Jesus below. Many of us have prayed the Lord’s Prayer, usually in a church service, out loud and in unison with other worshipers. But how many times have we really thought about what that prayer says? Let’s look at and dissect the Lord’s Prayer, line by line.

The Lord's prayer is a guide on how to live if we want peace, love, and joy (an inner imperturbable happiness) as our natural state. It is the programme for living that few of us seem to have.

“Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Your name.” (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2) The New Testament books of Matthew (6:9–13) and Luke (11:2–4) both record the Lord’s Prayer. Some people pray it word for word, and others use it as a model or example for proper structure. To be sure, either is acceptable to the Universe, though Jesus primarily intends it to be an outline of sorts.

But what really matters is Jesus’ message. We can better understand His teaching by examining His words and intent by looking at His famous prayer line by line.

For context, Matthew records Jesus teaching the prayer as part of His Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5–7). Luke does not. He records the Lord’s Prayer as occurring sometime later (see Luke 6:20–49). Luke only records that one of His disciples saw Jesus praying and then asked Him how he too should pray. The discrepancy is because Jesus repeated His teaching (the Prayer) at two different times and locations. We can compare it to telling a story to one friend, then encountering a second friend several days later and repeating the story.

Staying in the book of Matthew, we see that Jesus had just finished teaching the crowd how to pray (6:5–7) and be generous to others (acts of charity, v1–4). He then followed with a similar message about fasting (v16–18). In each point Jesus makes — giving, praying, fasting — he is teaching us how to live daily and the importance of humility in direct opposition to the “hypocrites (Pharisees).”

On the heels of such instruction, Jesus illustrates how we should pray to the ‘Father’. Notice that both Matthew and Luke’s accounts of the Lord’s Prayer begin the same way, but the rest is slightly different.

Notice the Lord’s Prayer is plural in nature (us, we, ours, etc.), not singular (I, me, my, etc., which relate to the ego (the personal fake self) in any way. The purpose of the Prayer is to honour 'God' first, followed by loving people. It is community-focused on the body of Christ (the church) and not solely on us. We can pray for our personal needs, of course. But Jesus teaches that we should put the needs of other believers before our own.

Here is the full version of the Lord’s Prayer, which this article will dissect in full, line by line:

Our Father,

Who art in Heaven,

Hallowed be thy name;

Thy Kingdom come;

Thy will be done;

On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the Kingdom;

And the power and the glory;

Forever and ever;

Amen

Our Father

The words “Our Father” represent the creative capacity of the divine, the Universe, that is within every individual. These words remind us of the close, intimate relationship that is possible with Nature, a relationship in which we depend upon Nature totally for all that we need. The Universe is our Creator, is infinitely creative, and is our source of joy, mental and physical health, well-being, security, love, peace, abundance, or whatever is needed. Many times we turn to the outer world seeking someone or some-thing to fulfil some need in our lives: This is called 'emotional insobriety.' When we are 'emotionally sober' we cease to have our happiness being conditional on external things: Things that we simply cannot control. There is nothing in this outer world that can make us truly happy: Any transient happiness never lasts, which makes happiness as a goal totally insatiable - we always need more and in greater and greater amounts. This is how I distinguish joy from happiness: Joy is not dependent on people, place, circumstances, or things. Joy is eternal: We simply have to choose it. No person can make us happy and no set of circumstances can make us happy or successful in any lasting way, if at all. You would do well to heed this. Billionaires are often lonely, miserable, have wrecked family lives, and are in the greatest need of spirituality in their lives. A study was done in the 1930s looking at the top ten richest men in America and all of them had miserable personal lives. When we make the inner contact with our True Selves, which is possible through choice in any moment, we will find outer fulfilment and we may think the outer is the cause but it is the inner relationship with the divine in us that is the real cause. The Universe in us is the Source of all the energy and creative capacity that we will ever express. Our present human awareness may be limited, but this inner Source is never limited. When we affirm “Our Father” we are acknowledging our oneness with this creative Source and this is something that we must do constantly, every day, and in meeting every experience in life.

'Father' is used as the name for 'God' by Jesus, but it can equally apply to Nature or the Universe: The unseen forces that created us. The Laws of Nature aren't bound by time and space, being both Universal and responsible for the space-time continuum of our Universe, in the same way those who use the word God believe him to be all powerful. In the media, Quantum Physics describes the Higgs boson as the ‘God particle’ after the 1993 book 'The God Particle', by Nobel Laureate Leon Lederman, owing to frustration over how difficult it was to detect (like God). The name has been criticised by some physicists, including Peter Higgs himself who discovered it! Whereas there remains a gap between science and religion, science and spirituality are converging, as scientists discover that in fact all matter is created out of pure energy: When we look close in enough we see that the Universe is a void, consisting of energy, not matter. That is hard science. Yet the Yogis were able to detect and merge with this energy and the void hundreds of years ago: This energy is otherwise also know as love. Albert Einstein and Carl Jung were scientists and spiritual Masters, and Einstein's famous equation E=MC(2), likely to be the most famous scientific equation ever formulated, effectively states that matter (M) and energy (E) are the same thing. Einstein had one advantage over all the other scientists - that he would reflect sitting in a chair, not necessarily doing experiments. Einstein rejected a conflict between science and spirituality and suggested that spirituality was even necessary for science in order to explain the ever-lessening gap between them. Einstein himself stated "I'm not an atheist, and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist ... I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists (the Laws of Nature and the Universe), not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human BEings".

Baruch Spinoza offered a way forward for people with spiritual inclinations who couldn’t get on with official religions, including those in our own secular age who long for meaning. Spinoza loathed groupthink and thought most organised religion, not least of the Judeo-Christian kind, fuelled delusion and sectarianism. At the heart of his critique was his view that the religious authorities had radically misconceived what God actually is, distorting Truth and corrupting the minds of their followers. They had fallen for the illusion of an anthropocentric God: An external being acting on the world of human affairs, intervening according to His whims. God’s role resembled that of a king, Spinoza lamented, dispensing rewards for devotion and punishments for transgression. For Spinoza, though, this picture could not have been further from the Truth. God was not “Like man, consisting of a body and a mind, and subject to passions,” he wrote. That view was 'superstitious,' contrary to true Faith. What’s more, believers in that kind of deity were motivated more by fear than virtue. The terror of divine wrath was not a healthy edifice upon which to build your religion; the framework of salvation and damnation led to emotional instability that was incompatible with the virtuous life. In a letter to a young man named Albert Burgh, a recent convert to Catholicism (and later mayor of Amsterdam), Spinoza wrote: “Having become a slave of [the Roman] church, you have been guided not so much by the love of God as by fear of Hell.” There were few orders more adept, he added, at “Deceiving ordinary people and controlling men’s minds.” The kind of God he said did exist was seen to open the philosophical door to spirituality, not religion. Spinoza argued that whatever exists is in 'God', in other words, what we now call the Universe. The divine being is not some distant force, but all around us. Nothing in Nature is separate from the Universe. Spinoza’s philosophy does not trivialise God in the slightest. It is true that in his conception God is intimately bound up with Nature. For Spinoza, everything we are, and indeed the continued existence of all things, is a manifestation of the Universe's power. Carlisle uses the term “Being-in-God” to describe this aspect of Spinoza’s thought: The way we are created by—and conceived through—the Universe. Anyone open to the idea of religious belief but uncomfortable with orthodox teachings should read Spinoza. He serves as a model for those who want to explore these questions in their own way, guided by what they think is right rather than what they have been told. In other words, spirituality. Anyone open to the idea of religious belief but uncomfortable with orthodox teachings should read Spinoza. And finally, that each person ought to love his neighbour and obey the commands of the supreme power. Spinoza took 'God' seriously, and here we should take the philosopher literally. Spinoza believed that God is "The sum of the natural and physical laws of the Universe and certainly not an individual entity or creator".

Jesus said in John 10:30 that the “I and the Father are one.” Jesus was a human BEing, who was also one of the greatest philosophers in the history of mankind. In the Bible in John 14:10 Jesus said "Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work." Jesus was humble. And yes he was the most influential, significant, wisest, and powerful human BEing that ever lived. We all have the potential of the Christ in us. Everyone has heard of Jesus. Will we remember Donald Trump in 2000 years?

Who art in Heaven

These words remind many or at least stimulate them to think of 'Heaven' as a place up in the sky. Many are looking forward to going to some place that they believe to be somewhere in this Universe where things will be peaceful and blissful. But Heaven is not a place; it is a state of consciousness, a condition of the Soul. When we are in tune with God and are in harmony with Universal laws we are in Heaven, we are in a peaceful state of consciousness, a powerful and masterful state of consciousness and experience. This has deep psychological implications. When we are out of tune, when we violate spiritual principles, then we experience what has been termed 'Hell.' We experience guilt feelings, frustration, and other negative emotions and feelings. We should remember that the Universe is omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time). As for our contact with the Universe, we have this contact inside of us as we are one with it, and we might therefore think of the Universe dwelling in the Heaven within us. Only our degree of separation from the Universe (the strength of our ego) brings us misery.

As described in my article ‘Heaven and Hell’, Heaven is not a place in the sky, but is a reflection and description of the joy that we feel when we follow the spiritual path. Hell is the description of how we feel when we don’t.

'Heaven' and 'Hell' are ways of describing our experience of this world, not the 'Next'. There is no Hell. Our experience comes from our perceptions from who we are choosing to BE. What do I mean by this?

Heaven is our experience of life when we make the decision to come from a place of love, where all our choices are made from love, when we are love. Hell is our experience of this world when we decide to come from a place of fear, when we make all our choices out of fear: Our lives then become 'Hell'.

Our experience has nothing to do with the world outside of us, of people, places, events or things. This is why we can go to bed full of joy (Heaven) and wake up in fear (Hell): Nothing has changed in the world around us. We simply woke up in a place of fear and didn't realise that we could make the choice to come from love before getting out of bed. As Paulo Coelho wrote “Life moves very fast. It rushes from Heaven to Hell in a matter of seconds.” The great lie, propagated by our own brash ego (our terrified 7-year old self that runs our lives until we become conscious of it and decide to change the way we make choices) is that we don't have a choice as to who we are BEing every day. The ego lies in order to survive. It screams "Don't go that way (the way of love) as you will certainly die!" It is a choice. Your mind (ego) is screwing up your life and your mind is running your life. It is telling you what you want and distracting you with it. It is bringing you out of your higher state of consciousness (your Higher Power). 

Miracles, which are a reality, are simply a shift in perception from fear to love. This Truth has been extolled by artists, scientists, philosophers and psychologists. William Blake, the poet and painter, wrote in his book 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell' that “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” This sentence seeped into my consciousness, like wine through water (to use Emily Brontë’s fine metaphor), slowly transforming how I see reality, and therefore my own experience of the world. "Awake! Awake! O sleeper of the land of shadows, wake! Expand!” (Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion).

A quote that has stayed with me is that "Religion is for people who don't want to go to Hell: Spirituality is for people who have already been there." Religion is man-made and full of judgement. Spirituality is quite simply the journey inwards from the mind to the heart, the location of the Soul, and in my experience taking this journey is the only solution to finding joy in the chaos. Darkness and light are the Yin and Yang of living. The world is in chaos. The world will always be in chaos. The nature of the human ego is that it seeks conflict: The ego seeks Hell and to destroy its sole source of significance. The ego wants you dead.

The Existentialist Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre wrote "Hell is other people." Oscar Wilde wrote "We are each our own devil, and we make this world our Hell." However, it needn't be this way. We can create an inner world of serenity, peace, love and joy: Heaven, or the 'Seat of your Soul.' It's like being seated in a beautiful restaurant with our loved ones. The outer world is the noisy street that you can see through the restaurant window. It's dark outside and it's pouring with rain. It's chaos outside. It's Hell. Everyone in the street is fighting. It's your choice whether to remain seated, from a place of love (Heaven), or go outside and join the fight (Hell). Blaise Pascal wrote "All human evil comes from a single cause, man's inability to sit still in a room." Most people get up and go outside to join the mêlée. They go to Hell. They seek conflict, chaos, and pain: They react with their mind and fists, rather than respond from their heart. They get up from the seat of their soul. They leave Heaven. They become a suspect rather than remaining an observer.

John Milton wrote “The mind is a Universe and can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” We are trained to do this by our parents and by our supposedly civilised society. Lois McMaster Bujold wrote "The principle difference between Heaven and Hell is the company you keep there." There is a group of us who don't seek conflict, and we are increasing in number by the second. You don't see us because you feel that you are drowning. You are in despair, but it's all of your own making: In the brilliant book 'When Nietzsche Wept' Irvin Yalom wrote “There is no medicine for despair: No doctor for the Soul… To cure despair is in itself beyond the reach of medical science… I hope that a time will come where men and women are not tyrannised by each other’s frailties.“ That time has come: If only you could wake up and realise that it's your choice as to who you are BEing. Aldous Huxley, the English philosopher and writer, wrote the book 'The Doors of Perception' and this was followed by his essay entitled 'Heaven and Hell'. He wrote "The Self is coming from a state of pure awareness from the state of BEing." The author elucidates that Schizophrenia can be Heaven and Hell because those who suffer this pathology don't distinguish the inner world (Heaven) from the outer world (Hell). I believe that most people suffer the same inability to distinguish Heaven and Hell as in this pathology.

It's all in your mind: Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote "To different minds, the same world is a Hell, or a Heaven." Byron Katie wrote "The only difference between Heaven and Hell is believing a thought." It's all about how we perceive the world and who we choose to be as a result. George Bernard Shaw wrote "Oh, the frontier of Hell and Heaven is only the difference between two ways of looking at things."

Aldous Huxley wrote "Most men and women lead lives at the worst so painful, at the best so monotonous, poor and limited that the urge to escape, the longing to transcend themselves if only for a few moments, is and has always been one of the principal appetites of the Soul." He continued "Literary or scientific, liberal or specialist, all our education is predominantly verbal and therefore fails to accomplish what it is supposed to do. Instead of transforming children into fully developed adults, it turns out students of the natural sciences who are completely unaware of Nature as the primary fact of experience, it inflicts upon the world students of the humanities who know nothing of humanity, their own or anyone else’s." Having been a doctor for 25 years in London, having a Master's degree in Philosophy from Trinity College, Cambridge, and a PhD in the Natural Sciences from University College, London, I would wholeheartedly agree with Aldous Huxley: During my training as a doctor I didn't receive a single lecture on wisdom. Huxley wrote "Heaven is merely a vantage point from which the divine Ground can be more clearly seen than on the level of ordinary individualised existence." This is the importance of meditation as it allows for expanded consciousness and to see Truth as it really is.

Mahatma Gandhi wrote "Both Heaven and Hell are within us." Osho echoed "Heaven and Hell are not geographical. If you go in search of them you will never find them anywhere. They are within you, they are psychological... Both gates are within you... When you are behaving unconsciously there is the gate of Hell; when you become alert and conscious, there is the gate of Heaven... The fully integrated mind is Heaven, the ego mind is Hell, and the mind has the capacity to become either. But people go on thinking that everything is somewhere outside. We always go on looking for everything outside because to be looking inwards is very difficult. If somebody says there is a God, we look at the sky. Somewhere, sitting there, will be the divine person... Once you have started seeing the beauty of life, ugliness starts disappearing. If you start looking at life with joy, sadness starts disappearing. You cannot have Heaven and Hell together, you can have only one."

I choose love: The Universal golden key that unlocks the door to presence: Shams Tabrizi wrote "Don't search for Heaven and Hell in the future. Both are now present. Whenever we manage to love without expectations, calculations, negotiations, we are indeed in Heaven. Whenever we fight, hate, we are in Hell."

Who you are BEing, Heaven (love) or Hell (fear) leads to your choices, actions and consequences. Hell and hate are a boomerang: They always come back to you. George Harrison wrote "Heaven and Hell is right now, right at this moment. You make it Heaven or you make it Hell by your actions."

We humans have an evolved consciousness that allows us to not only experience the Universe, but to conceptually understand its workings - which includes giving names to entities of matter within our experience and formulating mathematical equations that reflect many of Nature's Laws.

Marianne Williamson wrote "Love has a way of showing you to your Self, whether through satisfaction or humiliation. It hovers over you like a magnifying glass you cannot escape, intensifying the slightest feelings of either delight or shame. No other experience makes so obvious the realities of both Heaven and Hell." She also wrote "Love in your mind produces love in your life. This is the meaning of Heaven. Fear in your mind produces fear in your life. This is the meaning of Hell... Children are happy because they don't yet have a file in their minds called 'All the Things That Could Go Wrong.' They don't have a mind-set that puts "Things to fear" before "Things to love." According to Jesus, unless we can be like little children, we can't enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; unless we can be like little children, we can't be happy. Children are happy because they don't have all the 'facts' yet." Your Soul will show you the way to Heaven on Earth.

Wouldn't it be better if we celebrated the good news? Maya Angelou wrote "When a person is going through Hell, and she encounters someone who went through hellish Hell and survived, then she can say, 'Mine is not so bad as all that. She came through, and so can I.'" Be the light that allows others to be. Voltaire wrote "Paradise was made for tender hearts; Hell, for loveless hearts." William Blake wrote "Love seeketh not itself to please, nor for itself hath any care, but for another gives its ease, and builds a Heaven in Hell's despair." Let your Soul be your North Star.

Father Richard Rohr wrote that "Your heart has to be prepared ahead of time through Faith and prayer, and Grace and mercy and love and forgiveness so you can keep your heart open in Hell, when Hell happens."

Hallowed be thy name

‘Hallowed’ means to be revered and honoured. The name Lord could be replaced by Nature, the Universe, or love: As such, the name Lord or God is a metaphor for the force of Nature which creates and directs everything in the Universe – it is simply too difficult a concept for the human mind to grasp, being beyond understanding, and this is the last gap between science and religion. Science stops at energy. Spirituality goes further and names the Source of that energy as a Higher Power that is accessible to us through prayer and meditation. In reality, there is virtually no gap between science and spirituality – it’s simply that we can’t ever prove it, so we must have Faith in it – Faith is simply to believe in what you cannot see. Saint Augustine wrote “Faith is to believe what you do not see; The reward of this is to see what you believe.” We need two things for success and peace in life - Faith; and to follow the intuitive voice of the Universe as it speaks to us to follow that Faith.

In this line of the Lord's prayer we acknowledge the existence of a Universal force and declare it to be holy by using the phrase "Hallowed be thy name”. Heaven is a state of BEing rather an actual place. But in any case, that is where our Higher Power is and to choose to be our Higher Power in every moment is to be in Heaven.

This means to consciously acknowledge, accept, and believe that the Universe is all-powerful. There are times when we are confronted with problems and challenges and it seems that even the Universe is powerless to do anything about them. But this is not the case. The Universe is all-powerful (omnipotent) as it determines everything. The Universe needs more of us to believe this so that it can express its greater good through us. We may not always be in tune to the degree necessary for a greater expression of Universal power but we can stand firm in our Faith and know that the Universe is all-powerful and that one day when we are properly prepared in consciousness we will see and experience the manifestation of this power. 

We are always in the process of growing spiritually, transforming, and developing, and we may need to practice and prepare ourselves. The miracle comes when our consciousness is developed. It will take willingness on our part to practice daily the art of true prayer. So we affirm “All-powerful is Thy nature” in the face of the most trying circumstances and we learn to stand firm and face what needs to be faced instead of running from it. ‘God’ is even more present in the most frightening cave and the darkest of places on our hero’s journey that is life. We take action and this takes us out of limbo.

Thy Kingdom come

Of course it comes: It is already here. The cosmos is unimaginably vast, but more and more of it is being comprehended through the advances of science.

What is the ‘Kingdom of God’ and what exactly are we wishing for when we ask that his Kingdom come? I believe the "Kingdom of God" is very simply the state of the world if it was functioning the way our Higher Power and spiritual blueprint intended. How would that manifest itself? I think we can see that from the teachings of Jesus.

"Thy Kingdom come" is is not referring to an afterlife or time in the future, but that we can feel mental well-being, spiritual evolution, peace, love, and joy in this very lifetime on Earth; in this Universe. As Carl Jung put it ‘God’ is a psychological fact, that we may find inside of us: Carl Jung said that he ‘knew’ God. Carl Jung wrote in his 'Seminar on Nietzsche's Zarathsutra' “But in reality God is not an opinion. God is a psychological fact that happens to people.” Jung believed that God is not only a theological or philosophical concept but also a psychological reality (even if a century later this has only been adopted by psychiatrists who have wisdom) that plays a significant role in shaping human experience and behaviour. In other words, Jung reminds us that our beliefs about God (or anything else) can have a powerful influence on how we experience reality, how we behave, on our mental health, and how we heal). By deeming the divine as a psychological fact, Jung is pointing to the power our subconscious mind has over our life - reminding us that the experience of the Universe, while subjective, is a real experience that happens to people in their minds. This quote asks us to consider how our spiritual beliefs and practices might directly impact our mental health, perceptions, and overall well-being - while encouraging us to view our spirituality as a complimentary part of our overall psychological and emotional development. Jesus said in Luke 17:21 that “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.”

At the time of Jesus many believed that 'God' would soon come and set up a Kingdom on Earth by eliminating all the evil people and evil nations. Many Christians still expect that this may happen sometime soon. They have not realised that the Kingdom that is to come is not an outer Kingdom: It is a metaphorical and inner one. Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” The coming of the Kingdom is the dawning in consciousness of the inner presence of something divine. When the perfect realisation comes it is usually very staggering, sublime, and brings a peace beyond all understanding. In Philippians 4:7 it states "And the peace of 'God', which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." It is more than an intellectual experience. Some of the Old Testament prophets tried to get this inner message across to the people but they interpreted their words literally and missed the spiritual metaphorical message.

For example, read and think on these words of Haggai 2:6, “Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: Yet once a little while and I will shake the Heavens and the Earth, the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations.” This is the great shake up of (the psychological concept of) human consciousness that takes place within the individual who has a true, genuine spiritual realisation of the inner presence of their connection with the Universe. When the Truth is realised it shakes up the personal ego and begins the breaking up of negative states of consciousness associated with our false self. Malachi describes the coming of the realisation of 'God’s' (the Universe's) presence in this way. “The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple.” There is no temple in Jerusalem today. There is a mosque on the site where the Jewish temple once sat. What is the temple that the Lord is coming to? The truth is the Lord is already in His temple. You are His temple and I am His temple. Everyone is the temple and the the Universe dwells in its temple. The realisation of this great Truth may come suddenly. You will feel peace and spiritual bliss, eventually without any pause: This is Enlightenment You will recall that Jesus said we should watch and pray, for we would not know at which moment the Lord would come. It is a joyous occasion when we have this experience but it is also a sad occasion for the personal ego as it dissolves.

Malachi further describes this challenging part of the experience saying, “But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire” (Malachi 3:2). Some are not ready for the experience. They could not stand it, for it would be too shattering for them both intellectually and emotionally. The bliss is overwhelming as we are not used to it. But the day will come when they will be prepared. When the occasion happens it will be like a refiner’s fire, a purifying process that will take place in the Soul; a rising of the phoenix within you, making 'a humble God' out of you. Old beliefs will have to be released. We can no longer think the many negative things that we have been thinking about ourselves. We will have to begin to think the Truth that we are sons of the Universe with unlimited potential and possibility. We will have to let go of old traditions that may be limiting. The same applies to habits that are restricting and hampering our spiritual growth. We will have to be purified in consciousness.

Isaiah says that when this happens the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Those reading and hearing his words were not blind or deaf physically. Again, the Bible is speaking in metaphors, as with all the quotes in the Bible. He was speaking of the inner blindness. The inner eyes will be opened to the great Truths about the Universe and about life. You and I will see and hear and understand and experience a new relationship with our 'indwelling Lord', our inner Universal force; our Real Personal Power. We will learn to listen to the still small voice within us (our Higher Power) - you know the one which speaks in hushed tones that we have so far ignored in favour of the loud brash voice of our ego - instead of paying too much attention to the many voices of the outer world. Isaiah further tells us of the great blessings that will begin to happen in our lives. He says, “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight and the rough places plain” (Isaiah 40:4). Every condition of lack and limitation will be filled; every problem that looks like a mountain will be made level, meaning it will be overcome with ease, as if we were giants leaping over mountains. Our lives will be straightened out in Truth. He also says, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:5). When the real Kingdom in consciousness is revealed it will be a glorious and powerful experience. Our human minds right now are incapable of realising how glorious it will be. All human bondage and captivity will be ended. There will be no spiritual sickness (which, in my experience, can also lead to physical and mental illness, as stated in the 12 steps), or any other negative experiences for the one who has this experience.

Thy will be done

The ‘will’ in this line of the prayer is the expression of the Laws of Nature, which govern the most minute subatomic earthly goings-on as well as the course of the hundreds of billions of galaxies in the Universe. So far as is known, nothing in the cosmos fails to fall under the sway of those Universal Laws.

We should never be reluctant to affirm this portion of the prayer for the Universe's will for us is good, only good, and nothing but the good. This doesn’t mean that we try to make sense out of tragedies that we may bring into our lives due to lack of understanding or ignorance or even wilfulness. The Universe does not cause tragedies: Our collective consciousness does - As a 'collective ego'. If we are to experience the good will of the Universe we must be willing to put aside our personal will, ambitions, goals, or whatever, and let ourselves be totally open and receptive to the Universe’s guidance. We need to ‘empty our cup’ so that it may be refilled.

The Universe speaks to us all the time: We just need to tune in through prayer and meditation, increasing our conscious contact with it, and look for synchronicities, as described by Carl Jung. The Universe speaks to us. Synchronicities are events that are connected by meaning, rather than having a causal relationship. Synchronicity is an attempt to come up with an explanation for the occurrence of highly improbable coincidences between events where there is no causal link. It's based on the premise that existing physics and mathematics cannot yet, and may never, explain such things. Personal goals are always limited and we should be willing to give them up for the Universe’s spiritual goals for our lives. We create from our expanded consciousness. Neville Goddard wrote that “Each person is born with an infinite power, against which no Earthly force is of the slightest significance.” He also said “Man's chief delusion is his conviction that there are causes other than his own state of consciousness.” So if you want a ten out of ten result, you need to cease contracting your consciousness. Why act so big, when you are not so small? When we say, as Jesus said, “Not my will, but thine be done,” we will have unlimited goals and opportunities to express in life, goals and opportunities that we could never dream up with the human use of the imagination. The Universe will always help us grow beyond our human limitations through accessing Universal consciousness.

On Earth as it is in Heaven

See my comments above in the section 'Who art in Heaven' above. This line means that we want all outer manifestations to be in harmony with principle, with the Universe’s good will. We only want to meet all problems and challenges in principle. The ego often wants to meet them in a personal way through hate, aggressive anger, resentment, or by fighting and conflict. But we must learn to let love through as forgiveness and overcoming evil with good as Jesus suggested.

Give us this day our daily bread

This line in the prayer reminds us that our very nature is abundance, and that our ‘daily bread’, whether it be financial or spiritual, will come to us if we only get out of our own way.

We are praying for the Universe’s ’s help in acquiring the basic needs of our life. We typically think of this in terms of food or maybe the money to live through the day. But it can also mean spiritual bread, nourishment, and sustenance. Why seek breadcrumbs on the floor when we have a sumptuous banquet all around us?

What this line in the prayer is not however, is a plea for amassing great wealth that we don't need and will certainly be the cause of our downfall in terms of spirituality and ruined relationships. Jesus was pretty clear that he wasn’t impressed with riches when he said that if we own two coats then we should wear one and give the other to the poor.

In this line from the Lord's Prayer, 'Give us this day our daily bread,' I don’t believe Jesus was referring simply to food and other physical needs. According to Jesus the Universe is more willing to give than we are prepared to receive. So in truth there is no need to even ask. Certainly there is no need to beg and plead. Jesus said, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Be who you truly are because the Universe loves who you truly are (so do other people- no one likes inauthenticity and masks). Jesus also told the stories about how 'God' made the flowers of the field more beautiful than Solomon and how he provides for the needs of even the sparrow. He then reminded us that we were of more value than these. Our daily bread is the daily spiritual inspiration we receive in our time of meditation. Our daily bread is spiritual ideas, guidance, and wisdom that we receive directly from 'Him' who dwells within us. If we give expression to the inner guidance, the outer provisions will always be there when they are needed. This portion of the prayer is encouraging us to move from the supplication, begging, and pleading consciousness to the consciousness of Faith and expectation. Make your prayers ones of gratitude as though you already have it, and they will be answered. Begging is futile as it tells the Universe that you are in a state of lack and that is what it will give you - lack.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us

This may be the most profound line from the Lord’s Prayer. Yet, how many of us really think about its meaning as we pray? With this line we are asking our Higher Power (the otherwise asleep part of our consciousness) to awaken and to forgive our sins as, or to the same extent, that we forgive others who have sinned against us.

Formally, the Lord’s Prayer ends in Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4, but Matthew records that Jesus had one more bit of instruction to finish things off.“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will the Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14–15).

Verses 14 and 15 put a kind of bow on what Jesus is teaching in verses 12 and 13 (as well as Luke 11:4). These verses go together with one overarching theme: Forgiveness. We should pray for forgiveness of sin, for God to keep us from temptation, and to remember that God will forgive us as we forgive others.

Forgiveness is the number one discipline everyone should practice until it becomes automatic. More than prayer, giving, or any other principle, forgiveness is consistently Jesus’ central theme, alongside love. Forgiveness is so important that Jesus repeats it several times in the Lord’s Prayer to emphasise it.

Prayer and meditation are like a daily morning shower - they wash away the 'dirt' from the day before and have an immediate benefit on your well-being.

Think about the implications of this prayer. There are people who have done things to each of us that are hard to forgive. Some things were so bad that we don’t even want to forgive.

But Jesus teaches us to ask for our own forgiveness only to the same extent that we are willing to forgive those that we are angry with and hold grudges against. 

Spiritually and psychologically, you cannot heal and find peace, love, and joy if you do not forgive others and drop your resentments against them: Or even against your Self for that matter.

Everyone makes mistakes. Forgive your Self.

Life is not for-getting: Life is for-giving. 

There is no such thing as human omniscience (the state of knowing everything), so human life is a continual effort to find the best way forward while avoiding danger spots as much as possible. Of course, the worst 'trespass' is failing to preserve the natural environment that makes our planet so suitable for us Homo sapiens to prosper here.

Nobody is perfect, since there is no transcendent God or any other divinity able to rise above human frailties. So it makes sense to be tolerant of imperfection, since this is the way of the world.

Once you have let go of your ego, forgiveness and Self-forgiveness are the next phase of your healing journey: They set you free. We are all only guilty of one thing: BEing human BEings. The only real 'sin' is not becoming who you were meant to be.

Alexander Pope, the poet of the scientific Enlightenment era, wrote “To err is human, to forgive, divine.” There is such beauty in forgiveness. Mark Twain, the writer and entrepreneur, wrote “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Sydney Banks wrote "To hold a grudge against anyone is like carrying the devil on your shoulders.” He added “It is forgiveness that allows you to see today as a new experience.” Live for the present moment, starting today.

I hope today is the kind of day where you see the light in everything including your Self.

Emmet Fox, the spiritual leader who authored the book 'The Sermon on the Mount' wrote that “Indignation, resentment, the desire to punish other people or to see them punished, the desire to 'get even,' the feeling 'it serves him right' - all these things form a quite impenetrable barrier to spiritual power or progress.”

Forgive your Self. As Dr Chris Nielsen said in the film 'What Dreams May Come,' "Good people end up in Hell because they can't forgive themselves." We are so hard on ourselves. We really are. That lack of Self-compassion also prevents us from forgiving others. Forgive your Self. You were unconscious until now: Your ego ran your life. Your ego is your petrified 7-year-old self. Can a 7-year-old sin? I think not. Can you not forgive your 7-year-old self for screwing up and running your life when you have not stepped forward until now? Find a photo of your self at that age and look at your eyes. Can you say to them?: ”I love you. I forgive you. I am sorry that I have only now appeared in your life. I will not leave you again. What do you need? I love you.” This is ‘inner child’ work. The inner child is the creative ball of energy that resides within you. It has a nuclear reactor of energy and playfulness that can be used constructively to bring joy and energy to everything that you do. Let your 7-year-old play and always watch them: Like being a parent in a playground. Self-forgiveness is how we begin to love ourselves. Once you love your Self you are free from judgement from others. Every time you judge someone you are revealing an unhealed part of your Self. As Osho said “If you love your Self, you love others. If you hate your self, you hate others. In relationships with others, it is only you, mirrored.”

Forgiveness transmutes fear to love. Forgiveness is the only path that leads us out of our pain. We heal when we decide to forgive. We are not bad, we are wounded, yet we are whole and unbroken. This is the human condition. Euripides, the Athenian tragedian, wrote “Forgive, son; men are men; they needs must err.” No-one else can fix you. No-one else can validate you. Our wounds are simply opportunities to heal and find peace and joy. We can only heal ourselves. But we need a guide. I have realised that compassion, understanding, not judging, and love are all the same thing. Compassion for another gives them the opportunity to unlock Self-compassion.

Gather all your pieces and bring them together. The mosaic will be beautiful. Hold hands with your younger self. Welcome you home.

Your reality is not what it appears to be. You are not who you think you are. Your divine Self, which is the same as your Soul, is untouched by your human suffering. You will transcend it. Bring clarity and wisdom without fear. Situations are miraculously transformed. We are shown Grace and forgiveness. Conspire with love to outwit your self-hatred. Your consciousness is illuminated. Miracles become routine: You have the power to invoke miracles. Go on co-creating with love.

C.S. Lewis wrote “I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him”: There is none.

Roberto Assagliogli said “Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.” Oprah said that “True forgiveness is when you can say, 'Thank you for that experience.'" Drop all your resentments. Nelson Mandela wrote “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” Compassion for another gives them the opportunity to unlock Self-compassion. That is how we may give love. We are in effect giving someone the opportunity to love themselves. That is also the only way that we may seek love that brings joy. To forgive others you must drop all your resentments against them and realise that all your resentments have an element that is driven by your deepest fears: Of being unloved, unlovable, unworthy, of being abandoned and of not surviving. Maya Angelou wrote “It's one of the greatest gifts you can give your Self, to forgive. Forgive everybody.” Father Richard Rohr wrote “God created us for love, for union, for forgiveness and compassion and, yet, that has not been our storyline. That has not been our history.” It's time to write a new history for the world, starting with you. T.D. Jakes wrote “I think the first step is to understand that forgiveness does not exonerate the perpetrator. Forgiveness liberates the victim. It's a gift you give your Self.”

Mahatma Gandhi said “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Just because you have dropped your resentments against someone and forgiven them, you don’t need to welcome them back into your life: They may be very triggering, toxic people. Let them go with loving detachment. Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace. As Anais Nin wrote “What I cannot love, I overlook.”

For our own sake we have to give those we thought we hated the compassionate understanding we needed in order to experience forgiveness ourselves. We could not make our forgiveness of others conditional on their having redeemed themselves or righted their wrongs. We must forgive them, because, like us, even though they don’t know it, they are spiritually sick and afflicted. Abraham Lincoln wrote “I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” 

Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote “Let us not listen to those who think we ought to be angry with our enemies, and who believe this to be great and manly. Nothing is so praiseworthy, nothing so clearly shows a great and noble Soul, as clemency and readiness to forgive.” Forgiveness changes the curse that that person has tried to cast on you and transmutes it into a blessing. It means realising that the past could not have been any different. To constantly choose love and forgiveness in a world which continually tries to make you close and harden up, to remain the solution and not feed into the problem, is a massive step in your journey of transformation. It is in forgiveness that you get peace. Kahlil Gibran wrote “An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind.” Can you not see this?

Be pure compassion and forgiveness. To condemn another is to condemn ourselves. We escape judgement by not judging. If you don’t hold the sword, you won’t get hurt.

Forgiveness is an act of Self-love. You may still be angry with people even though you have dropped your resentments against them, and that’s ok. Forgive them anyway. Remember that forgiveness doesn’t mean that you will tolerate, accept, or engage with dysfunctional behaviour or people or misaligned energy from another’s ego. You are free to choose what serves you, guided by your intuition (where you feel love, joy and peace). Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Gary Zukav wrote about the spiritual journey that “The characteristics of an authentically empowered personality are humbleness, clarity, forgiveness, and love.” When you look back at a painful experience with someone and say “Thank you”, you’ll know forgiveness. And just because we can see and appreciate how that experience supported our growth and evolution, and we can understand why they acted in a certain way with harmful behaviour, it doesn’t mean that we have to include them in our lives or hearts or subject ourselves to repeated hurtful behaviour from them again. Compassion and forgiveness heal and lead to a peaceful heart, which is the ultimate key to success.

Oscar Wilde said “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” He was pretty cheeky but he has a point! William Shakespeare wrote “Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge.” Louise Hay, the famous spiritual guide, wrote “Forgiveness is for your Self because it frees you. It lets you out of that prison you put your Self in.”

Forgiveness is a way of BEing. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude… We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

Beyond forgiving others, as Marianne Williamson wrote. “The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world… Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.” The Buddha wrote “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.” It's time to give love a chance. François de la Rochefoucauld wrote “One forgives to the degree that one loves.” Hillary Clinton wrote “Forgiveness is a way of opening up the doors again and moving forward, whether it's a personal life or a national life.”

The Dalai Lama wrote “All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion, and forgiveness - the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.” It's a choice in every moment to choose love over fear, always. Frederick William Robertson wrote “We win by tenderness. We conquer by forgiveness.”

Nelson Mandela wrote “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.” Amen. So, to anyone who has ever done their best to try to hurt me. I forgive you.

Jesus taught us to love others as ourselves. He taught us to forgive others as often as necessary. And while some people believe Jesus taught us not to judge, what Jesus actually taught was to judge only with the same compassion and mercy that we wish to be judged by.

And lead us not into temptation

Our only sin is to not become the person who we were meant to be: Our 'spiritual blueprint' if you like. You were born with a spiritual blueprint, like divine DNA, that embodied your sacred purpose here on Earth. You have simply forgotten the magnificence of who you truly are. Where you are right now is the result of a lifetime of decisions based on fear. Take a step out of limbo to the other side of fear.

In the Christian Faith there is the concept of the Holy Trinity. The Trinity is made up of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Maybe what we are asking for in this part of the Lord’s Prayer is to have the Holy Spirit (I see this as the smart phone which can contact the Universe directly during meditation) in our lives to give us a nudge here and a nudge there and point out which road leads us to temptation and which road delivers us from evil. This is otherwise known as intuition.

'And lead us not into temptation': The Greek word translated as temptation could also be translated as trial, test, or persecution. It was believed by many at the time of Jesus that before the Kingdom of God came on Earth there would be a great trial and it was known as the temptation. Many who were not strong in their Faith would give in to the so-called evil one (the ego). This is no doubt more of an expression of some human personality than it is of Jesus. The Universe would not lead us into temptation and does not send trials or tests to us. The Universe knows us: It made us through its infinite creativity! It knows when we are in consciousness and what experiences we need to grow. The Universe only leads us further into the light.

When your Higher Power is your new director, everything is possible.

But deliver us from evil

The 12 step ‘Step Three Prayer’ goes as follows:

God,

I offer myself to Thee — to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt.

Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will.

Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.

May I do Thy will always!

Amen

“Take away my difficulties” means to free one from 'evil' occurrences. 'Evil' includes falsehood, superstition, resentment, toxicity in individuals, projection, and failing to recognise and accept reality as it is, not how we want it to or how we want it not to be. Religion that does not follow spiritual principles is one of the most common guises these 'evils' come in, so we need to do our best to be delivered from it.

Matthew and Luke both use the same words in 6:13a and 11:4, respectively. Here, ‘The evil one’ is specified to clarify that it is Satan (an imaginary metaphor who cannot exist and is not part of the Universe as the Universe is either all or it is nothing). The Universe does not tempt us (James 1:13), but It allows us to experience trials and obstacles in order to encourage spiritual growth. Jesus even says we should expect trials and tribulations (John 16:33).

Sometimes, deliverance is immediate. At other times, it is through endurance so that God will refine our Faith like gold (1 Peter 1:7). The truth is the Universe may not always answer our prayers the way we want. Regardless, Jesus instructs us to pray for deliverance from persecution and temptation to sin. Such a petition acknowledges our spiritual reliance on the Universe's provision and protection.

If the Universe is the only presence and power, and it is benevolent, there can be no evil power. There can only be human wilfulness and malevolence in using or expressing the Universe's power in negative ways. We do want to be delivered in consciousness from the misuse of the 'God' power that we are. We want to be delivered from doubt and ignorance. We are asking therefore for God’s help in realising that there is an answer to every problem we are faced with and that we should never doubt that, even if we do not have an immediate realisation or answer. If we will stand firm in the face of any challenge, we will get the answer. If we give up, there will be no answer for the time being. So take intuitively inspired action, let go of the outcome of that action, and turn it over to the Universe, as it says in 'The Bhagavad Gita', which is in my 'Suggested Reading' list. These are the three steps to success in all areas of your life.

For thine is the Kingdom

This portion of the prayer adds a beautiful conclusion. It is the supreme acknowledgment of the Universe’s power. When the individual is ready, the Kingdom will come personally. It will be a glorious experience. Many have known this glory. All their problems may not have been instantly or fully worked out but they know they are moving in the right direction. That right direction is the inner direction, moving to a closer relationship with the infinite Universe, until you become one with it, like the Yogis throughout history.

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we do five things. We recognise God’s/the Universe's holiness. We ask that our life here on Earth be a model of our Lord's 'Kingdom" (which Jung said that is inside of us). We ask for help in meeting our daily needs. We ask for forgiveness while recognising that we need to be forgiving too. And finally, we ask for help in resisting temptation and making the right decisions in life.

“For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:13b)

Though this final praise was not in the original biblical manuscripts, the message is the same. Just as we should begin our prayers with praise, we should always end them with praise for the same reason.

And the power and the glory 

Emmet Fox recommended using ‘The Golden Key’ to communicate with the Universe in order to overcome any problem in your life. Nature/ the Universe are all powerful and cannot be controlled: We are powerless over them (which is step one of the 12 step ‘Big Book’ “We admitted we were powerless—that our lives had become unmanageable.") This is your key to Real Personal Power - it means to drop your ego and choose your Higher Self.

Forever and ever

Your Soul is eternal. Your Soul is another name for the real you, the higher part of your psyche - your Higher Power, described by Carl Jung.

This last line serves as a benediction and is not included in all versions of the Lord’s Prayer. Whether we use it or not doesn’t really change the meaning of the prayer or the things we pray for when we recite it .

Conclusions

I do not desire to be judgemental of others, or that makes me despise my fellow man. May the knowledge you give me of your Self open my heart. I have infinite compassion and unconditional love for you.

Mahatma Gandhi said that "Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the Soul. It is a daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

Scholars and theologians from various countries and faiths have investigated various aspects of prayer. At its core, prayer can be viewed as communicating with or connecting with a Higher Power or heavenly force.

John Wooden wrote that "There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is Faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer."

Marian Anderson wrote that "Prayer begins where human capacity ends." Spirituality is to be able to do things that you could not do before.

The story of Christian reformation, revival, and renaissance underscores that the darkest hour is often just before the dawn, so we should always be people of hope and prayer, not gloom and defeatism. God the Holy Spirit can turn any situation around in five minutes.

Prayer usually entails expressing gratitude and praise, and it can take many forms, including recitation, meditation, or ritualised practises. Prayer means different things to different individuals depending on their beliefs and culture, but it remains an essential aspect of many spiritual traditions. As a result, prayer is commonly regarded as a means of communicating with a spiritual force. Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.

Prayer is frequently done to seek guidance, consolation, or healing. Philip James Bailey said that "Prayer is the spirit speaking Truth to Truth." Jonathan Edwards wrote that "Prayer is as natural an expression of Faith as breathing is of life." Do you have Faith in the Universe? Thich Nhat Hanh wrote that "You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer."

Prayer is a tried-and-true method of contemplating our lives and the world. It gives people a strong sense of belonging, regardless of their Faith or spiritual approach. We open ourselves to a reality beyond what we can see by thinking about ourselves (introspection) and practising meditation. The interchange of social experiences gives meaning to our lives, no matter how great or small.

Prayer has been an integral aspect of human life since the beginning. This could be because humans are, by nature, incomplete. Even those who do not believe in God have turned to prayer for solace throughout history.

People who do not believe in religion may consider that the results of prayer are a psychological manifestation or a placebo effect. Prayer, in its entirety, is a multifaceted spiritual act that can be understood and used in various ways, depending on the individual and society in which it is performed. When circumstances are difficult, many say that praying makes them feel calm, clear-headed, wise, compassionate, and able to understand.

The act of seeking meaning in our lives is critical to comprehending the complexities of our environment. It provides us with a sense of purpose and direction in our lives and the courage to face obstacles with bravery and resilience, all backed by a force greater than ourselves. It is also a type of meditation demonstrated to help relieve stress and anxiety symptoms. Consistent prayer can be a tremendous motivator when faced with demanding jobs or decisions.

Atheists and agnostics pray! It may be challenging to comprehend why people pray if you do not believe in a particular religion. However, it is crucial to recognise that prayer can take various forms and be used for various purposes outside of religious settings. As a result, people continue to pray for many reasons, such as to express gratitude, discover inner peace, or connect with a higher force or Universal energy.

Atheistic prayer is a style of prayer that does not address a 'God' or anything other than humanity or the cosmos. Alternatively, the process could include things like reflecting on one's Self, being aware of one’s surroundings, or becoming lost in the beauty of Nature. In contrast, an agnostic prayer may be unsure or sceptical about the existence of a supreme being, yet it may still seek guidance or comfort from a 'heavenly' being. Spiritual prayer is typically described as a deep connection with a sacred being or an experience that transcends the ordinary. Still, it does not have to be religious. Religious prayer is usually associated with a particular religious tradition. It is the act of communicating with a God or a higher force, usually through routines or practises that have been established. Prayer can also help people deal with stress and reduce physical pain. Big-picture psychological elements such as beliefs about what will happen, the desire to be free of pain, and the existence of fear may all impact the effectiveness of prayer. Empirically, prayer has been found to offer numerous psychological and emotional advantages, including stress reduction, improved mood, and the development of a sense of community and connection with others.

People have discovered that praying can help them feel emotionally better. We offer ourselves the freedom to analyse and assess our sentiments when we think and reflect, even amid our hectic lives. Introspection is a very beneficial activity because it lets us let go of old habits and beliefs that no longer serve us. As a result, we can go forwards with greater clarity and purpose.

At its foundation, prayer establishes a connection with something we can’t see or touch but that can hear our petitions without passing judgement. We have a natural desire as aware creatures to connect with other people and feel like we belong in our social surroundings. When we pray, we experience a profound sense of serenity and contentment as we seek answers inside and outside the physical world in which we live. One of the main reasons individuals pray is to feel connected to something larger than themselves.

Prayer, whether directed towards a God, the natural world, the Universe, or one’s reflective faculties, is a technique to transcend the mundane and achieve higher awareness. It literally expands your consciousness, unlike your ego, which contracts it. People can achieve a higher state of BEing by expanding their perception of reality and connecting with something more extensive and powerful.

Prayer is a means to find solace under challenging circumstances by connecting with a Higher Power, which could be God, Nature, or our inner wisdom. It sends a strong message that no matter what hurdles or issues we face, we can overcome them by trusting in something higher than ourselves. Prayer also provides a brief respite from the stresses of daily life, allowing us to reflect on ourselves. This self-reflection, in turn, promotes mental well-being, healing, and optimum physical health.

It is critical to recognise that prayer has the incredible power to bring together and connecting a significant number of individuals on a profound level, regardless of religion or beliefs. This line is a powerful reminder of how interconnected we are as individuals, demonstrating that we are all significant elements of a larger whole. As a result, we all share a universal human experience comprised of universal goals, hopes, fears, desires, and sensations. We can find consolation in knowing that we are not alone in our troubles, whether joyful or unhappy. Instead, we are all linked by a shared humanity.

When we pray, we unite as one body to achieve the same goal: To be free of pain and have excellent knowledge of our lives on Earth. When we pray, we are powerfully reminded that our lives are more than meets the eye and extend beyond the physical world. The human experience is a powerful reflection of the Universe’s endless potential. We can push beyond our bounds and achieve the seemingly unattainable by allowing ourselves to grow mentally and emotionally and reminding ourselves that, no matter what issues we experience in life, a strong Faith in a Higher Power (no matter what or who it is) may provide us with hope and optimism.

Here is my spiritual version of the Lord’s Prayer:

Dear Universe,

You are omnipresent.

I revere and honour you.

I will not try to control you or resist you: I will not resist reality or try to bend your will to suit my preferences. I let go and trust in your will for me.

You are infinitely creative and you are the creator of everything. Thy Kingdom is the expanding Universe.

All I need is to be sufficient for myself and abundant for my family. If I can feed myself and my family I will feel exceptional gratitude. Let me see the banquet all around me instead of chasing breadcrumbs.

I know I am flawed and I want to offer patience to the flaws of others, and let me practice forgiveness, understanding, and compassion.

Deliver me from obstacles.

You are all powerful and made of pure energy.

You are glorious.

Thank you for my eternal soul.

Thank you.

Meditation gives us the answer to our prayers, informing our next steps. Asking “What would love do now?” is the same as asking “What would the Universe do now?”

In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Jesus' point is that He delights in answering our prayers. It does not mean He will answer as we might like or hope, but He will answer them according to His will if we persist. Sometimes we just need patience.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience." Praying and meditating are ways we take care of our spirit.

Prayer and meditation are disciplines suggested by the Eleventh Step of 12 step recovery programs: Al-Anon (for the families and friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength and hope in order to solve their common problems), Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA - which is a fellowship of people whose common purpose is to develop healthy relationships), Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA), and many others.

Prayer and meditation are not necessarily connected to organised religion. Prayer and meditation are ways to improve our personal relationship with a Higher Power to benefit ourselves, our lives, our growth, and our transformation. Praying is how we connect with the Universe. We don't pray because we have to; we pray because we want to. It is how we link our Soul to our Source.

We're learning to take care of our emotions, our minds, and our physical needs. We're learning to change our behaviours. But we're also learning to take care of our spirit, our Soul, because that is where all true change begins.

Each time we talk to the Universe we are transformed. Each time we connect with our Higher Power, we are heard, touched, and changed for the better.

Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Prayer and meditation are the most superior tools available for authentic self-examination.

So, prayer is an essential part of your daily spiritual practice. Prayer is when you speak to your Higher Power. Make your prayers of gratitude, not supplication. After you have prayed, meditate: This is when 'God' or your Higher Power speaks back to you. This is how you connect with your Higher Power and Universal consciousness and gain intuitive thought as to what choice to make in any situation.

The Universe is another word for love. Love is the only reality. Jesus taught in John 15:13 “Love one another as I have loved you.“

Your Higher Power is always with you. You would do well to speak to them and get to know them!

To finish, Gary Busey wrote "Amen is not the end of a prayer, it just gets us ready to go to the next level." Who wouldn't want expanded consciousness and awareness? Amen to that.

Namaste.

Sending you love, light, and blessings brothers.

Olly

Dr Olly Alexander Branford MD, MBBS, MA(Cantab), PhD.

Fully qualified and certified coach

https://www.transformativelifecoach.co.uk/post/faith

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I am delighted and enchanted to meet you. I coach men with 'Deep Coaching', 'Supercoaching', and Transformative Life Coaching (TLC). Thank you for reading this far. I very much look forward to connecting with the highest version of you, to seeing your highest possibility, and to our conversations. Please do contact me via my email for a free connection call and a free experience of coaching on Zoom or in person. 

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