Abstract
The search for a connection between the visible and invisible world, between inwardness and otherworldly transcendence, which is expressed in the form of prayer and meditation, has a long tradition in human history. Believers of different religions address personal or ritual prayers to God, but in a broader sense, meditation and contemplation can also be understood as a prayer process. What all types of prayer and meditation have in common is the strengthening connection between the person praying or meditating and God or the principle that is perceived as meaningful in each case. Similar to meditation, prayer also creates the opportunity for spiritual and mental renewal. While prayer tends to seek the divine in the transcendent opposite, meditation emphasizes inwardness and harmony with the infinite absolute.
The functions of prayer or meditation can vary: Prayers can spring from existential human sensitivities. In them, people express the experiences of their everyday life and their whole life (joy, sadness, gratitude or anger) and reflect on their relationship to transcendence. Prayers can fulfill therapeutic or identity-forming tasks by striving for topics as diverse as merging with the absolute, appeasement or letting go. But also the fulfillment of prayer as a duty for the believer, the request for forgiveness and protection or the expression of grief and pain in lamentation can give security and reassurance.
Competences/Learning Outcomes
- The students know central prayers and meditations and are familiar with their practice.
- They can interpret different physical forms of expression and put into words the attitudes associated with them in the praying/meditating person.
- They can assign appropriate spaces to different forms of prayer/meditation and can deal appropriately with the respective (liturgical) situation.
- They can distinguish between different occasions and times of prayer.
- They can interpret ritualized elements of prayer/meditation and understand them as aids to engaging in the life-enhancing character of prayer/meditation.
