Awakening to the Sacred : Creating a Personal Spiritual Life
 

(Lama) Surya Das is like a Buddhist Johnny Appleseed, galavanting across the countryside, planting seeds of spirituality in bare patches of ground. He believes that we are all fertile soil for cultivating the sacred in everyday life. "We all have spiritual DNA," he says. In Awakening to the Sacred, Surya Das heightens his efforts to increase the planet's spirituality quotient by teaching people how to take advantage of their own spiritual resources. Whether Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, or atheist, we can all enhance our spiritual side. Certainly meditating is a good way, and there's no one better to teach us than this limpid lama. But even more familiar activities can help, like praying, creating a spiritual notebook, or reading spiritual books--even gardening and walking count. Surya Das excels at demystifying the mystical and urges the reader to capitalize on resources closest at hand. No need to look too far when we can draw inspiration and practices from our own traditions. So take that apple seed, thumb through Awakening to the Sacred, and nourish those precious roots of spirituality. (Amazon.com Editorial Review)


A Vedic Prayer for Peace (Pg 306)

May there be peace in the higher regions;
may there be peace in the firmament;
may there be peace on Earth.

May the waters flow peacefully;
may the herbs and plants grow peacefully;
may all the divine powers bring us peace.

The supreme Lord is peace.
May we all be in peace, peace, and only peace;
and may that peace come into each of us.
Shanti, shanti, shanti!

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi (Pg 306)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
 

Blessings of Peace (Pg 307)

Go in peace.
Pax.
Peace be with you.
May your feet be guided in the path of peace.
Shalom.

Healing Prayer (Pg 309)

We, who need help, pray for the healing of our
  physical, emotional and spiritual pains and difficulties.
Source of all blessings and powers,
  heal us - empower us, and bless us.
We realize that we can’t do it alone, and we ask for blessings
  from all those who have the power to help, elevate and heal.
We ask for the help from the sacred that is above us.
We ask for the support of those around us,
  our friends, families, and communities.
We pray for the wisdom to find ways to help ourselves.
We ask for guidance to help us ease our way
  and heal our hearts.
May we open ourselves to do the mystery that is beyond us,
  the source from which we are never apart.
May we be happy and whole.
May energy pour through us for the benefit of one and all.
May we dance and lift up our hands and our hearts
  in praise and rejoicing.
 
An Agnostic's Prayer (Pg 312)

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm has bound the restless wave,
Who bid the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea.

[Full version, alt]

An All-Purpose Prayer for
Divine Guidance
(Pg 314)

Divine Presence, be in my head
  and in my understanding.
Divine Presence, be in my eyes
  and in my looking.
Divine Presence, be in my mouth
  and in my speaking.
Divine Presence, be in my heart
  and in my thinking.
Divine Presence, be at my end
  and my departing.

Padma Sambhava's Healing Prayer (Pg 316)
(From the Choling Treasure)

The illusory bodies of all sentient beings
  suffer from fear, harm, and illness.
Through an indescribable ocean of misery
  we pray to the power of
The Healing Buddha
The Physician Buddha
The Spiritual Doctor
who heals all ills and afflictions
through his form as the
Lotus-Born Buddha.

May our longevity and vitality be unhindered
  by illness, accidents, and suffering.
Please bestow the blessing to fulfill all
  our sterling wishes and aspirations
 
Obstacle-Removing Prayer (Pg 317)

Precious Guru, Lotus-Born Buddha, Guru Rinpoche

One with all Awakened Ones throughout time and space,
Blissful presence and source of all spiritual accomplishments.
Fierce destroyer of illusion who dispels every obstruction.
We pray to you for blessings and inspiration:

Please remove all outer, inner, hidden and unknown
obstacles and spontaneously fulfill our sterling aspirations.

To you, and you alone. We pray.
 

Lama Surya Das's Longevity
Prayers
(Pg 320)

By the power and blessings of oceans
  of holy beings of boundless life;
Lord and protector Buddha Amitayus,
  guardian of boundless life,
  our guide the Lotus Buddha
Padma Sambhava and all others.
May he who bears the name '____'
  live long in this world, that his spiritual
  activity may continue and vastly flourish.

A Sakyapa Prayer for Swift Progress
on the Spiritual Path
(Pg 321)

By the blessing of the Triple Gem,
May the minds and hearts of all beings
Be attuned to the sublime Dharma,
Bless us to move forward on the path of
  true understanding;
May the way be cleared of all impediments.
Bless us that the illusive vision may appear
  in the clear light of the transcendent wisdom of Buddha,
May unwholesome thoughts and unskillful
  actions cease to arise.
Bless us with the awakening of true love
  and compassion.
May all beings together realize perfect enlightenment.
 

Prayer to Tara (Pg 324)

Tara Kye Kyenno

Condensed version of the Tara prayer:

Oh Tara, holy liberator, swift-acting mother,
  we pray and invoke your blessings;
Please watch over us, protect us,
  and hold us in your loving embrace

Albert Schweitzer's Prayer for the Animals (Pg 325)

Hear our humble prayer,
O God, for our friends the animals,
  especially for animals who are suffering;
  for any that are hunted or lost or deserted
    or frightened or hungry;
  for all that will be put to death.
We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity,
  and for those who deal with them we ask
     a heart of compassion and gentle
     hands and kindly words.
Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals
  and so to share the blessings of the merciful.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Praise (Pg 326)

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

E.E. Cummings

[Full version, alt]
 

Prayer of Blessings - Old Irish Blessings (Pg 327)

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Prayer of Blessings - Celtic (Pg 328)

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

The Metta Sutra (Pg 346)

This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied,
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skilful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born –
May all beings be at ease.

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world:
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense-desires,
Is not born again into this world.

Om Ahh Hum (Pg 354)

Explanation

Chenresig Practice: Cultivating
the Heart of Love
(Pg 362)

Om Mani Padme Hung
Think: May all beings have happiness and the cause
of happiness, which is virtue.

Om Mani Padme Hung
Pray: May all beings remain free from suffering and
the causes of suffering, which are nonvirtue and delusion.

Om Mani Padme Hung
Wish: May all beings remain unseparated from the sacred
joy and happiness that is totally free from sorrow.

Om Mani Padme Hung
Pray: May all beings come to rest in the boundless,
all-inclusive equanimity beyond attachment and aversion.

Om Mani Padme Hung
Affirm: May all beings be happy, content, and fulfilled.

Om Mani Padme Hung
May all be peaceful in harmony and at ease.

Om Mani Padme Hung
May all be protected from harm, fear, and danger.

Om Mani Padme Hung
May all have whatever they want, need, and aspire to.

Om Mani Padme Hung
May all be healed and whole again.

Om Mani Padme Hung
May this planet be healed and whole again.

Om Mani Padme Hung
May all beings awaken from their sleep of illusions and
be liberated, enlightened and free.

Om Mani Padme Hung
May all realize their true spiritual nature and thus awaken
the Buddha within.

Om Mani Padme Hung
May all equally enjoy, actualize, and embody the innate
great perfection.

Om Mani Padme Hung
Om Mani Padme Hung
Om Mani Padme Hung

Created on March 26 2005. Last Revised on June 24, 2009
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