Prayer is an important way that individuals approach and communicate with the sacred, divine power, or sacred objects, and is universal in all religious traditions. In Chinese religious traditions, prayer is offering sacrifices to deities and any behavior that entreats: Daoists express prayer through rituals that pray for blessings and alleviate misfortune; Jewish, Christians, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Muslims consider prayer as the means by which people communicate and interact with God. Hindus, through prayer, express a longing to merge with the sacred; Buddhists, through methods such as recitation of scripture or chanting prayers, respond to the guidance of the Buddha, seeking release from suffering and realization of perfect wisdom (i.e. enlightenment). Prayer is not only the principal manner by which the relationship between the sacred and human beings is maintained, it is also an important mode of religious cultivation; individuals often obtain transformation through their cultivation experiences in prayer. This essay, through an analytical approach concerning cultivation psychology, explores the prayer cultivation experiences of Buddhists and Christians in Taiwan, all the various facets that these experiences involve, as well as the individual transformations brought about through them.
