Either the gods have power or they don’t. If they don’t, why pray? If they do, then why not pray for something else instead of for things to happen or not to happen? Pray not to feel fear. Or desire, or grief. If the gods can do anything, they can surely do that for us.—But those are things the gods left up to me.
Then isn’t it better to do what’s up to you—like a free man—than to be passively controlled by what isn’t, like a slave or beggar? And what makes you think the gods don’t care about what’s up to us?
Start praying like this and you’ll see. Not “some way to sleep with her”—but a way to stop wanting to. Not “some way to get rid of him”—but a way to stop trying. Not “some way to save my child”—but a way to lose your fear. Redirect your prayers like that, and watch what happens.

A basic prayer form with variations in detail arises from its function. At the beginning, underlined by the request 'Hear!', comes the name of the deity. Great importance is attached to finding the right name, especially appropriate epithets; as much as possible, epithets are heaped one upon another - a feature which probably also derives from Indo-European tradition - and the god is also offered the choice: 'With whatever name it pleases you to be called'. An attempt is also made to define the sphere of the god spatially by naming his favored dwelling place or several possible places from which he is to come. This is followed by a justification for calling on the god, in which earlier proofs of friendship are invoked by way of precedent: if ever the god has come to the aid of the suppliant, or if the suppliant has performed works pleasing to the god, has burned sacrifices and built temples, then this should now hold good. Often the assurance 'for you are able' is slipped in. Once contact has been established, the entreaty is made succinctly and clearly and is usually accompanied by the promise for the future, the vow; piety is supposed to guarantee constancy. Philosophically refined religious sensibility later took exception to the self-interested directness of the euchai; one should, it was recommended, pray simply for the Good and leave the decision to the god.

Walter Burkert, Greek Religion, II.3

"It is impossible to properly understand an entity consisting of infinite properties without the method of modal denoscription consisting of all viewpoints, since it will otherwise lead to a situation of seizing mere sprouts (i.e., a superficial, inadequate cognition), on the maxim of the blind (men) and the elephant."

- Syadavada Manjari of Acharya Mallisena (Jain text)

"The wise look upon a brahmana who is learned and humble, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a chandala equally. For those who see me in everything and see everything in me, I am never lost, nor are they ever lost to me."

Krishna

"And now I am eager to die into the deathless.
Into the audience hall by the fathomless abyss
where swells up the music of toneless strings
I shall take this harp of my life.
I shall tune it to the notes of forever,
and when it has sobbed out its last utterance,
lay down my silent harp at the feet of the silent."

―Rabindranath Tagore

– O corpo, Nāgasena, é querido por vocês, reclusos?
– Não, grande rei.
– Então, por que vocês o nutrem e esbanjam atenção sobre ele?
– Nós o nutrimos e cuidamos dele como você cuidaria de uma ferida, não porque a ferida é querida por você, mas simplesmente para que a carne possa crescer novamente. Por isso, disse o Afortunado:
Esse corpo imundo fede completamente
Como excremento, como latrina;
Esse corpo que os homens que têm entendimento analítico
Condenam, é objeto de deleite para o tolo.

Um tumor onde habitam nove buracos
Enrolado em um casaco de pele pegajosa
E escorrendo sujeira por todos os lados,
Poluindo o ar com fedor em toda parte.
Se por acaso acontecesse
Que o que está por dentro saísse
Com certeza o homem precisaria de um chicote
Para colocar os cachorros e corvos para correr

The Vedanta recognises no sin, it only recognises error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta, is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that. Every time you think in that way, you, as it were, rivet one more link in the chain that binds you down, you add one more layer of hypnotism on to your own soul. Therefore, whosoever thinks he is weak is wrong, whosoever thinks he is impure is wrong, and is throwing a bad thought into the world. This we must always bear in mind that in the Vedanta there is no attempt at reconciling the present life — the hypnotised life, this false life which we have assumed — with the ideal; but this false life must go, and the real life which is always existing must manifest itself, must shine out. No man becomes purer and purer, it is a matter of greater manifestation. The veil drops away, and the native purity of the soul begins to manifest itself. Everything is ours already — infinite purity, freedom, love, and power.


Swami Vivekananda

"Unlike the concept of God in some theistic religions, the Dharma-Body is not an all-powerful, interventionist deity remote from its creation; neither does it will the world into existence... The universe is simply a spontaneous disclosure of the boundless that the constitutes the eternal Dharma-Body."

John Paraskevopoulos, "Call of the Infinite"

In ancient Hellenic religion, it was understood that the Gods reside in an eternal state of happiness. This eternal bliss is one of the many unique features distinguishing the Gods from mortal-kind. Thus, happiness should be seen as an integral part of humanity’s service to the divine as the most appropriate attitude one should have when providing the Gods with worship. In this essay, I will argue that, similar to Judaism, happiness is key to receiving the presence of divinity in Hellenic religion, being a vital component of Roman concept of the Pax Deorum. Not only is a happy state of mind seen as something mortals need to maintain a healthy relationship with the Gods, but in line with the reciprocal nature of Hellenic religion often denoted as do ut des, it is something, in turn, gifted to humanity by the divine. I will argue this by addressing two primary points: first, the nature of divine happiness in ancient Graeco-Roman religion. Second, the consequences of how divine happiness influenced spectacle in the Roman world. I will conclude by discussing its implications for contemporary Hellenic religion, and how happiness is an essential value in how we approach the divine in worship.

https://hellenicfaith.com/2021/08/09/the-divine-are-happy-appropriate-attitudes-to-worshipping-divinity/