The Buddhist teachings offer us numerous ways of praying, yet people often ask: in this non-theistic tradition, what does it mean to do this? Or, what is it that we are aspiring to, when we place our hands together and bow our heads in prayer? In this talk, we explore how we can use this powerful form of aspiration to not only direct and open our hearts, but heal our deepest source of pain – which is a sense of a separate self.