Why?
Because you might be able to calm yourself through your prayers or your meditations enough to actually survive this century mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually and that would be a good thing.
If all you do is watch the news and fret and you don't pray and meditate you will find many people who don't have a way to calm themselves dying for one reason or another.
Even if you don't believe in God meditate to calm yourself to go on one more day.
One of the most interesting things for me in my life was going to India and Nepal and Thailand where Buddhism first started in this part of the world in 2500 BC.
I was around Tibetan Buddhist (about 500,000 of them there for the Kalachakra Tantric initiation by the Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya, India where Buddha became enlightened in December of 1985. It was a 4 day initiation and I was one of the 10,000 westerners there for this event.
I realized during this time that even though I believe in God that many or even maybe most Tibetan Buddhists might not believe in God and yet, They were compassionate and kind and helpful in a really beautiful and kind and helpful way to me and my children.
This taught me that people can be beautiful and kind and helpful even if they don't believe in God which was at the time a revelation to me on many different levels.
And if you study Buddha's teaching it wasn't that he didn't believe in God he just felt that arguing whether God was real or not was a completely waste of time. So, he emphasized Compassion and kindness and Right mindfulness instead. So, his point of view is: "Help each other survive first while you become a Buddha yourselves like a King."
This I found very helpful in my search for enlightenment because I found a way to be spiritual without being racist too. I have found church goers in the U.S. are often well meaning but almost always racist in various ways which I find personally offensive even though most people might be unaware of how unconsicous their actual racism is against anyone different than themselves.
I too, grew up in a church with only about 30,000 or more members worldwide and was told that "Everyone who wasn't in our church was going to Hell". This was one of the many things that turned me away from my childhood church because I found this point of view ultimately racist against most life on earth and exclusive in a way that I found not useful.
So, from my point of view presently, praying is useful whether you believe in God or not simply because it's the kind thing to do for you and your children and Grandchildren to teach them how to pray and to center themselves so they don't feel they have to end their lives suddenly.
I find I am at peace almost every day unless I'm dealing with a health issue. I find I am in bliss most days as long as I am praying or thinking about how I can help my family or my friends and the people of earth survive this century somehow.
Right mindfulness is the key to human survival.
Compassion for yourselves and all life on earth is the key to human survival.
IF animals and birds can't survive what makes you think that we will survive anyway?
So, helping life forms on earth whether they are animals or birds or fish or plants or trees survive also helps humans survive better too.
Otherwise, we are all gone from earth.
This is reality and facing it gives me hope.
Running away from this reality only ends all life on earth.
So, prepare for Global Climate changes and save all the life you can in the process.
It's the only practical way forward right now.
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