Why Pray? And Why Not Pray?

Q: I have been reading "That is That" and really like it! Especially the last section about who I am. My understanding is that we are all infinite beings coexisting. This has brought me some clarity and some confusion. Intellectually this is what I have believed for a long time, and you articulated it better than anyone I have read and better than I had been able to articulate it. And it really resonates with me. The part I have some confusion about is if I am an infinite being, why pray, and if I do or should, who/what am I praying to? If I am praying to myself, it seems like I am talking to myself in a mirror which seems rather useless. If I am praying to myself, and I am an infinite being, what is the point? If I am praying to GOD (defined as the source of ALL), again why bother - I am sure GOD already knows what I want (in this human consciousness as well as my infinite consciousness) and what is best for me. PS: How did my infinite consciousness appear to get stuck in a physical body?

A: Those are really deep and good questions about prayer and being infinite. I can see why it would feel confusing.

Life is full of paradoxes where two seemingly opposite things are both true. I would suggest that the opposite truths are complementary and not really contradictory. In the case of prayer, you are both praying to God and/or higher dimensional beings and also praying to yourself. If you can hold both of these perspectives at the same time, then the question of why should we pray is also canceled out by the question, "Why not pray?"

When you pray, it can affirm your embrace of this profound paradox where you are both the infinite one Being and also this human character, Michael. You do not need to deny or leave out any level or aspect of your existence.

And this also implies that you can embrace being "stuck" in this human body for as long as that is happening. After all no one's ever stuck for long, and being in a human body can be a rich and challenging and beautiful experience. Here is a blog post that explores this paradox of being one Being and a separate individual at the same time, and that includes a link to an audio of the fairy tale at the end of the book, That Is That:
https://endless-satsang.com/one-and-many

I hope this is helpful and so glad you are enjoying "That is That"! 🤗