Approaches to Nondual Prayer
For many people, particularly within the Christian tradition, prayer is understood to be a fundamental act of communication, a dialogue between the human self and a distinct, personal God. This perspective is rooted in a clear subject-object relationship: the individual subject addresses the divine object,* a being often perceived as both transcendent, dwelling beyond the cosmos, and immanent, present within it. Prayer in this context involves a range of expressions from praise to thanksgiving, from heartfelt petitions and earnest confessions to active listening for divine guidance. It is, at its core, a relational act.
The nondual perspective emphasizes the immanence of the divine not just in creation, but as the very ground of reality. If ultimate being, the divine source, is not fundamentally separate from us but rather our essential nature, then the traditional model of communicating with a separate other becomes conceptually problematic. So prayer becomes less about sending messages from here to there and more about realizing the absence of distance between the two. Trying to bridge the gap between a perceived self and God is the activity of a mind operating under the assumption of a fundamental split within the nature of consciousness. But there cannot be two realities.
How to pray, then?
By Shifting from Communication to Realization
The primary aim is no longer to talk to God, but to realize the divine nature that is already inherent as our true self. It is a movement from seeking connection with an external deity to recognizing our essential identity with the immanent absolute.
By Resting in Being
Here, the practice becomes less about speaking or actively petitioning and more about simply resting in the awareness of this nondual reality. This often finds expression in contemplative practices like silent meditation, where attention is turned away from the activity of the mind, which constructs and reinforces the sense of a separate self. With the understanding that awareness is our essence, not the ever-changing states of mind, we can relax into a simple abidance as aware presence, the silent witness to the activities of the mind.
Through Self-Inquiry
Another form of prayer is self-inquiry, often framed as the question, “Who or what is it that knows my experience?” This is not an intellectual exercise to arrive at a conceptual answer, but a direct pointing of awareness towards the subject, the “I” that perceives. By investigating the nature of this perceiver, one may realize that the individual ego is not the ultimate reality, but a temporary emanation within the divine source. In this sense, prayer becomes the realization of one's true nature.
Through Surrender
While the concept of talking to a separate entity loosens, there can still be a sense of aligning the seemingly individual flow of life with the greater flow or nature of reality. This is often experienced as surrender, not giving up to an external power, but releasing the ego's grip on separate intention and control. It is to allow the deeper truth of reality to operate through one's life.
Through Natural Outpourings of Gratitude and Awe
Even without an external recipient, gratitude can arise spontaneously from the recognition of the sheer wonder, fullness, and unity of being. Similarly, awe becomes a natural response to the mysterious beauty and intelligence of this unified reality manifesting as the world of form. These prayers are not directed towards God but are experienced within, directly.
Through Life Itself
As the realization of nonduality deepens, the artificial distinction between sacred time, like prayer, and secular time, like work, dissolves. Every action performed with aware presence, every moment of simply being present, can become a recognition and expression of the divine reality. When there is a ceaseless affirmation of the nondual truth, life itself becomes the prayer.
Prayer, then, is not something we do to connect with the divine; it is an activity of the divine itself, both in its diversity of forms and in its formless essence. It is being recognizing itself and consciously living itself as itself. ⬚