ABSTRACT
Like many Americans who have embraced Buddhism, I was interested in Buddhist philosophy and psychology; 1 I was impressed by the Buddha's lack of dogmatism. He did not demand faith in what he had discovered, but exhorted others to find the truth for themselves. 2 As a well-educated, successful middle-aged American, I was not interested in devotion, ritual or prayer. After all, a famous Zen saying is, "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." 3 I wanted to find the meaning of life for myself and spent many years sitting on the cushion (meditation practice) and ignored various devotional practices. During my first unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) my refrain was, "We don't have prayer!" and if as Dossey found, prayer is narrowly defined by many Americans as ". . . talking aloud or to yourself to a white, male, cosmic parent figure who prefers to be addressed in English," then Buddhists don't pray.
