A bodily sensation becomes an experience once conveyed verbally, i.e. if it has been described and conceptualized. The process of translating sensations into words is spontaneous contemplation, which is hardwired in humans and may come easy or be challenging for different people.
The request for a change—be it a personal situation or global circumstances—has to be shaped verbally as well, following prerequisite reflexing on the underlying motives.
If you are looking for changes, it is indicative of a certain need unmet or your discontent with yourself or your current life. Dissatisfaction, for example, is essentially a sensation and it needs to be realized and spelled out. Here is a mundane example. Say, I am unhappy in my relationship. Possible causes could be as follows: I am provided with a less-than-desired amount of what I need (sex, attention, care, love, money); I am expected to provide for my partner’s needs at a degree higher than I feel comfortable about (sex, attention, money, etc.); I am being nagged to do things that I don’t feel like doing (go to the parties, hang out with boring people, play sports, etc); I am not in love anymore, and our relationship has gone stale; visions which we both have on our life together, as well as on life in general—to which we never gave much thought previously—turned out to be ill-matched. Some people can confront the cause of their discontent directly; others are balked at the idea of going beyond the pale or questioning the image of their idealized self. If you fall into the latter category, you may end up with your problem vaguely stated or even not stated at all, thus leaving your request for a change in your situation to hang in the air. It is no surprise then that nice and right people are so good at pressuring their romantic partners into taking the first step in ending the relationship: Indeed, nice and right people are okay pretty much with anything, well, except maybe a few minor things that are not even worth mentioning, really…
It is highly important for a seeker to put together a request on the Path effectively; however, if a true cause of discontent has not entered one’s awareness yet, the construct comes out poorly defined or inaccurate. This readily brings us to the aspect of distinguishing between need and discontent: We acknowledge that a need can be high-level and, so to speak, long-term, whereas causes of discontent can change on the weekly basis. Of course, discontent with yourself or others can be lingering as well—in this sense, long-lasting disappointments are not that uncommon. Still, when it comes to shaping a request, a seeker, who operates in everyday reality, is bound to address his currently present dissatisfactions that are manifested as instantaneous predominant leitmotivs.
Obviously, the most straightforward way to request a change is through prayer. This is an apt situation to ask for being liberated from your current dissatisfactions. Thus, if you lack self-confidence, one of the options is to ask for it, and then your liberation will come through the attainment of a quality previously missing. If not made explicit, a prayer never exists, and neither does a request which is preserved deep inside you as if God is expected to take an initiative to decipher and fulfill it for your benefit and comfort. Taking such a standpoint is complete nonsense; however, I have met individuals who adopted this view despite regarding themselves as exceptionally spiritual. A non-verbalized request is just another dissatisfaction of yours of which you prefer to not become conscious and put on hold instead, with the hope that it will dissipate on its own. And rest assured, that God will not engage in resolving your request if you are not willing to move one finger to change your own situation.
Prayer is a means for interaction with God on a regular basis; its intended use is to help a seeker with resolving immediate issues and tasks at hand. There is another kind of request which is different from prayer and is more crucial from the Path perspective: it defines how your Path should look like and what is to be anticipated. I am bringing up this subject only because this second type of request is the one that ensures the continuous progress of a seeker on the Path. Requests can vary: It can be a call for inner stability, security, and safety, for your progress to occur in a smooth and balanced manner… Specifically, they place clear limits on the gamut of opportunities that will become available and shape your progress style. God’s Grace for everyone is always there and its rules apply to all equally, seekers included; and the closer you get to God the more powerful the effect.
In other words, an inner request for personal progress frames out not only WHERE you’re going but also HOW you get there. It is paired then with one’s readiness or non-readiness—each seeker defines these terms in their own individual way—as well as with one’s ultimate desire, i.e. the goal of the whole pursuit. But the subject appears to be so broad that I better come back to it sometime later, in one of my next posts, and just breathe out and take a short break for now—as pausing for too long is not an option due to my perfectly articulated request for constant fast pace changes.