Editing Prayer (section)

===Buddhism===
{{main|Pūjā (Buddhism)}}
[[File:Incense-LE.jpg|thumb|Buddhists praying with incense at [[Wat Phra Kaew]], Thailand]]
In the earliest Buddhist tradition, the [[Theravada]], and in the later [[Mahayana]] tradition of [[Zen]] (or [[Chán]]), prayer plays only an ancillary role. It is largely a ritual expression of wishes for success in the practice and in helping all beings.<ref>{{cite book| last=Collins|first=Steven|title=Selfless Persons| url=https://archive.org/details/selflesspersonsi0000coll| url-access=registration|publisher=Cambridge University Press| year=1982|location=Cambridge|page=[https://archive.org/details/selflesspersonsi0000coll/page/6 6]|isbn=978-0-521-39726-1}}</ref>

The [[Upāya|skillful means]] (Sanskrit: ''upāya'') of the transfer of merit (Sanskrit: ''[[pariṇāmanā]]'') is an [[evocation]] and prayer. Moreover, indeterminate buddhas are available for intercession as they reside in awoken-fields ([[Pure Land]]s, Sanskrit: ''buddha-kshetra'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fussman |first=Gérard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEnQzgEACAAJ |title=Upaya-kausalya |date=1994 |language=it}}</ref>

The ''[[Trikaya|nirmānakāya]]'' of an awoken-field is what is generally known and understood as a [[mandala]]. The opening and closing of the ring (Sanskrit: ''maṇḍala'') is an active prayer. An active prayer is a mindful activity, an activity in which [[Mindfulness (Buddhism)|mindfulness]] is not just cultivated but ''is''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sangharakshita|first=Bhikshu|title=A Survey of Buddhism|publisher=Windhorse Publications|year=1993|location=Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom|pages=449–60|isbn=978-0-904766-65-3}}</ref> 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 [[Karma in Buddhism|karmic creditors]], all to activate the [[Bodhi]] mind, and all to be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sutrasmantras.info/prayers.html|title=Buddhist Prayers|website=www.sutrasmantras.info|access-date=2025-02-24|archive-date=2025-03-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250313164451/https://www.sutrasmantras.info/prayers.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 (Buddhism)|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 ''[[śūnyatā]]''. The views of the more esoteric ''yana'' are impenetrable for those without direct experience and empowerment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Powers |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cy980CH84mEC |title=Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism |date=2007-12-25 |publisher=Shambhala Publications, Incorporated |isbn=978-1-55939-835-0 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Pure Land Buddhism]] emphasizes the recitation by devotees of prayer-like [[mantra]]s, a practice often called ''[[Nembutsu]]''.<ref name=smithnovak03>"The Flowering of Faith: Buddhism's Pure Land Tradition" (pp. 185–98) in {{cite book
 |title=Buddhism: A concise introduction
 |last=Smith |first=Huston |author-link=Huston Smith |author2=Philip Novak|author2-link=Philip Novak |year=2003
 |publisher=HarperSanFrancisco |location=San Francisco
 |isbn= 978-0-06-050696-4 |url=https://www.google.com/search?q=Smith+novak+isbn%3A0060506962+&btnG=Search+Books }}</ref>{{rp|190}} On one level it is said that reciting these mantras can ensure rebirth into a ''[[Sambhogakāya]]'' land (Sanskrit: ''buddha-kshetra'') after bodily dissolution, a sheer ball spontaneously co-emergent to a Buddha's [[Bodhicitta|enlightened intention]]. According to [[Shinran]], the founder of the [[Pure Land Buddhism]] tradition that is most prevalent in the US,<ref name=smithnovak03/>{{rp|193}}<ref>Smith and Novak (2003) state that "Pure Land Buddhism has entered America almost exclusively from Japan, and the church Shinran founded is the largest Pure Land presence on this continent" (p. 193).</ref> "for the long haul nothing is as efficacious as the Nembutsu."<ref name=smithnovak03/>{{rp|197}}<ref>This quotation is Smith and Novak's paraphrase of Shinran's teaching.</ref> On another, the practice is a form of meditation aimed at achieving realization.<ref>Caldwell, Xenia (2016). "All About Importance of Prayers in Religion". {{ISBN|978-1-283-49986-6}}</ref>