Why do so many people all around the world put their hands together when they pray? What does it mean, and why is it so common?
Well.. as a muslim I believe in something called fitrah which is the natural "position" of man, that is the natural state in which we are born. Thus everybody is born with this feeling of being aware of a Creator and also anti-pantheism(sp? hicky ^^) standpoint which is proved by the majority of the world by a natural feeling, raising their hands towards the sky. Its natural because were born with it, no matter nationality or social backround.
Some say it 'closes' the subtle energy circuts - it is part of turning inward, towards the inner spirit. It may also help to concentrate the mind away from ordinary, everyday things. Also, it is a gesture - a way of praying through the posture of the body - an attitude of reverence expressed through gesture.
cabdirazzaq, what are you talking about, "you're born with it"? I wasn't aware babies came out with their hands together in the prayer position. Or are you talking about something else? Also, what do you mean, anti-pantheism? Please explain yourself more fully. BBB, that's interesting, never thought about energy circuits.
A baby is born with an instinct of sucking for milk but also some kind of "instinct" by being conscious of God. Pantheism is "God is everything and everything is God ... the world is either identical with God or in some way a self-expression of his nature" now when people pray they raise their hands because they through their "instinct" know that God is above is creation rather than inside it.
i think that our hands are one of the most or the most important instruments of our will. it seems that ever culture has their own hand gestures with their own meanings. the thumbs-up sign, i've heard, comes from the symbol of an erect phallus, meaning prosperity and generally good things (lol), now signifying things "affirmative". the thumbs-down sign, then, is (well) a drooping phallus, coming to mean things "negative" nowadays. weird.. in western culture we pray with our palms together or, with our fingers intertwined into a fist.... the sign of blessing that priests use is having their thumb and 2 fingers up, which i think indicates the trinity? i think that all of these common habits can be traced back to very ancient superstitions, signs for protection and stuff like that.
I agree with the others. I say it's to not be desturbed by surroundings, since you keep all your attention to the diety, as well as your hand. Instead of being in the middle of prayer, and being desturbed by Bob and Channy back there playing poker, or your dog chewing your leg off.
For some people its a sort of ritual, when you pray you enter a certain state of mind where you forget about everything but the prayer in order to focus all of your will into it to help bring about the outcome or show your worship to your deity. When you use a certain hand gesture every time you pray, such as the clasping of hands or putting your palms together, you relate that to the state of mind you go into when praying and it helps you get there faster and easier.
The hands are our main organ of action. All our work is attributed to our hands ("I did it with my own two hands..."). When the hands are joined and the head is bowed before the lord, it is a surrender of all actions and results of those actiosn to the lord, knowing that supreme self to be the one power behind all our actions.
I don't know but from where I am sitting this gesture looks closely to what everyone does in India when they greet some one or go to a temple. It is called Namaste. Its symbolic in that you "surrender" to the God in the person you are greeting. When you bow in front of God this way, it shows your surrender to his will and ofcourse you are surrendered to his will whether you like it or not.
I am afraid I dont see it this way at all. Startiing with the fact that your definition of pantheism is not accurate at all. What you described is advaita, or non-duality. The term pantheism inherently implies duality and acceptance of that duality. My interpretation of man looking upward to pray is this: Whenever something is noble, more valuable, more important, etc., we tend to refer to it as being higher. Someone who is high-born, is born in a royal family, not on the summit of mount everest. Something is highbrow, meaning it is intellectually superior. Upper class, high school, etc... There are so many examples of this collective human tendency to associate lordship, superiority, nobility or greater value and virtue, with height. During prayer, we instinctively look up, because we are seekign something higher, nobler, purer, subtler, more beautiful and perfect, than our current imperfect state.
And its weird because some look down as a sign of respect...and some do both I know this thread is about hands in prayer...but as I was reading it I was thinking about how some think that you need to have your hands that way for it to be prayer.....but you kind of don't...anything and everything can be prayer as long as its sincere...not just kneeling at your bedside or in a church/temple/ect....just a though....not targeted at anyone....just musing
Pantheism means belief in/ worship of all gods. It is related to the word pantheon, which refers to an array of Gods, like in Greek mythology. To accept and worship the whole array of Gods is pantheism.
No, that's polytheism. Pantheism is the belief that there is no seperation between the spirit and the material, and that the universe is God, God is the universe. It comes from the word pan (all) and theos (god) = all is god.
You're right - it isn't absolutely neccesary to adopt any particular position of the hands or head to pray. But it may help. If it does, then all to the good. Same applies to praying with beads, rosaries, chaplets etc. In the end, it's what's in the heart that counts.
I disagree. A pantheist says everything is divine, so a human or a stone even is as divine as the gods. I don't even know that a true pantheist would accept the concept of gods.
