Socrates practiced QiGong!

[Faux Newbie]

The "reward" you speak of is given freely not earned "so that no man may boast". The moment we do something to get a reward, the intent has forever tainted the act.


No, not really.
Remember that prayer is OTHER centered not self centered and when one is in communion with Christ ( actual oneness) there is no ego because one isn't "like we are now".





The gift of God's grace is an unmerited gift, nothing we do makes us merit it.
There is no ego when you realize that you can't do anything to merit His grace and that He has done EVERYTHING for you already.
Heaven isn't what is at stake, that is just an end destination, it is return to Man perfect state of relationship with God that is at stake BUT the price for that has already been paid, by the Son of God.
Because any action we would do would be with the intent to "get something" then those actions will never be good enough, the intent is tainted, it is full of EGO.

But isn't what you are arguing, in effect, correct Christian prayer vs. incorrect Buddhist/Taoist/Confucian contemplation and enaction? None of those traditions claim you can do anything on your own without outside help.

Again, Confucius and Mencius specifically call seeing the merit of others one of the greatest teachings.

Buddhist meditation almost immediately seeks to focus on practices that erode the sense of an isolated self.

Taoism is entirely based on observing the world, not merely the self.

The starting point in all three traditions is quieting the mind so that one can see what is beyond yourself. In all three, it is assumed that one can hardly give an accurate representation of the self without seeing its place in the world, and, once one sees that, there is no need to define it, as defining it gives it a false existence as a discrete entity.

I do not know of any Buddhist scholars who would refer to Buddhism as self based.