Namo Buddhaya,
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PURPOSE OF PRAYER IN BUDDHISM
"It allows us to turn our hearts and minds to the beneficial, rousing our thoughts and actions towards Awakening."
---- Senpai Sensei
Buddhist prayer is a practice to awaken our inherent inner capacities of strength, compassion and wisdom rather than to petition external forces based on fear, idolizing, and worldly and/or heavenly gain. Buddhist prayer is a form of meditation; it is a practice of inner reconditioning. Buddhist prayer replaces the negative with the virtuous and points us to the blessings of Life.
Inspirational
For Buddhists, prayer expresses an aspiration to pull something into one's life, like some new energy or purifying influence and share it with all beings. Likewise, prayer inspires our hearts towards wisdom and compassion for others and ourselves. It allows us to turn our hearts and minds to the beneficial, rousing our thoughts and actions towards Awakening. If we believe in something enough, it will take hold of us. In other words, believing in it, we will become what we believe. Our ability to be touched like this is evidence of the working of Great Compassion within us.
What's more, it can a function as a form of self-talking or self-therapy in which one mentally talks through a problem, or talks through it aloud, in the hope that some new insight will come or a better decision can be made. Prayer therefore frequently has the function of being part of a decision-making process.
Everywhere and Anytime
The wonderful thing about prayer practice is that we can do it everywhere and anytime, transforming the ordinary and mundane into the Path of Awakening. Prayer enriches our lives with deep spiritual connection and makes every moment special, manifesting the Pure Land here and now.
http://buddhistfaith.tripod.com/buddhistprayer/id5.htmlThe 'skillful means' (Sanskrit: upaya) of the 'transfer of merit' (Sanskrit: parinamana) is an evocation and prayer. Moreover, an indeterminate number of buddhas are available for intercession as they reside in 'pure-fields' (Sanskrit: buddha-kshetra). The nirmanakaya of a 'pure-field' is what is generally known and understood as mandala. The opening and closing of the 'wheel' (Sanskrit: mandala) is an active prayer. An active prayer is a mindful activity, an activity in which mindfulness is not just cultivated but is.[49] A common prayer is "May the merit of my practice, adorn Buddhas' Pure Lands, requite the fourfold kindness from above, and relieve the suffering of the three life-journeys below. Universally wishing sentient beings, Friends, foes, and karmic creditors, all to activate the bodhi mind, and all to be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss." (願以此功德 莊嚴佛淨土 上報四重恩 下濟三途苦 普願諸眾生 冤親諸債主 悉發菩提心 同生極樂國)[50]
The Tibetan Buddhism tradition emphasizes an instructive and devotional relationship to a guru; this may involve devotional practices known as guru yoga which are congruent with prayer. It also appears that Tibetan Buddhism posits the existence of various deities, but the peak view of the tradition is that the deities or yidam are no more existent or real than the 'continuity' (Sanskrit: santana; refer mindstream) of the practitioner, environment and activity. But how practitioners engage 'yidam' or tutelary deities will depend upon the 'level' or more appropriately 'yana' at which they are practicing. At one level, one may pray to a deity for protection or assistance, taking a more subordinate role. At another level, one may invoke the deity, on a more equal footing. And at a higher level one may deliberately cultivate the idea that one has 'become' the deity, whilst remaining aware that its ultimate nature is shunyata. The views of the more esoteric yana are impenetrable for those without direct experience and empowerment. Pure Land Buddhism emphasizes the recitation of prayer-like mantras by devotees. On one level it is said that reciting these mantras can ensure rebirth into a sambhogakaya 'pure land' (Sanskrit: buddha-kshetra) after bodily dissolution, a pure sphere spontaneously co-emergent to a buddha's enlightened intention. On another, the practice is a form of meditation aimed at achieving realization.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PrayerThe Meaning and Purpose Behind Buddhist Prayer and Chanting
Buddhism is not just a religion; it is a pragmatic description of life that details our very existence and shows us methods for eliminating the dissatisfactory nature of much of our everyday experiences. The Buddha showed us the true nature of conditioned existence. And thus It can be said the teachings of the Buddha are a set of mind training instructions that lead anyone who diligently practices these trainings to a flourishing life. Not in the sense of the happiness found through good external conditions or physical stimuli but rather, from the inner conditions of functional states of mind.
The Purpose of Prayer in Buddhism
Buddhist Prayer and by extension chanting, as chanting is nothing more than rhythmic vocalization of prayer, are guided meditations used to remind us of the internal knowledge that prayer can render. They are also affirmations, by reciting them with heartfelt devotion the spiritual aspirant is reaffirming their commitment, not to some deity or another person, but to the development of ideal inherent in the prayer. For instance, the purpose of this prayer composed by Shantideva in his famous text Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds
For as long as space endures. For as long as living beings remain.
May I too remain to eliminate the suffering of the world – Shantideva 7th CE.
is the generation of compassion and the universal responsibility that is a prerequisite to the development of Bodhichitta. Matireya’s Ornament for Clear Realizations defines Bodhichitta as: Bodhichitta means for the sake of others, wishing to achieve complete, perfect enlightenment.
By reciting this prayer the spiritual aspirant is implicitly endorsing compassion and bodhichitta—the mind of enlightenment—and reaffirming their commitment to the development of these minds. All Buddhist art, literature and music has the same intention. Even the folds in a monks robes have symbolic meaning related to the Buddhist path to enlightenment.
So does this mean there is no benefit in praying to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas? No, there is benefit but, if the Buddha is omniscient and has infinite compassion, they, all Buddhas, are already helping us whether we ask for it or not. By praying to these beings for help and inspiration we are opening ourselves to their influence, even more than if we do not pray and, we are also implicitly saying, I think the qualities of the enlightened beings is useful. I would like to have these qualities myself. Therefore I will practice the methods that are the causes of these qualities.
http://clarkescott.org/the-meaning-and-purpose-behind-buddhist-prayer-and-chanting/Dan terakhir mewakili pandangan Theravada :http://www.thisismyanmar.com/nibbana/pdf/072127.pdf 
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