A Prayer in the Jain Tradition

Highly auspicious are the adorable ones

And so are the emancipated;

The saints too are the auspicious ones

And so is the speech divine.

Best in the world are the adorable ones

And so are the emancipated;

The saints too are the best in the world,

And so is the speech divine.

Refuge do I take in the adorable ones.

And also in the emanicpated;

Saints are also the place of my refuge.

And so is the speech divine.

Thus do I pay homage and veneration

Unto the great Arihants every day

In devotion deep with the purity in mind,

In speech and in deed indeed.

Speak … or, Hold Your Peace

“Speak what you think today in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than open one’s mouth and remove all doubts.” – Mark Twain

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” – Ernest Hemmingway

“I write as straight as I can, just as I walk as straight as I can, because that is the best way to get there.” – H. G. Wells

 “One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart you can’t utter.” – James Earl Jones

“Keep your mouth shut and your mind open.” - Unknown

“Unless your heart, your soul, and your whole being are behind every decision you make, the words from your mouth will be empty, and each action will be meaningless. Truth and confidence are the roots of happiness.” - Unknown

Silence

Buddhism:

Health, contentment and trust

Are your greatest possessions,

And freedom your greatest joy.

Look within.

Be still.

-          the Buddha

Christianity:

Be still, and know that I am God.

-          Psalm 46:10

Hinduism:

I am Silence among all secrets.

 -          the Bhagavad Gita

Native American:

Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind and spirit. The man who preserves his selfhood is ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence…What are the fruits of silence? They are self-control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity and reverence. Silence is the cornerstone of character.

 -          Ohiyesa, Santee Sioux

Sikhism:

Where words will not succeed, it is better to be silent.

 -          Guru 1, Majh Rag

Sufism:

Silence is the language of god, all else is poor translation.

 -          Rumi

Taoism:

Silence is a source of great strength.

 -          Lao Tzu

The Speechless Mind

What is Mounam (silence)? Not merely keeping the mouth shut! It means getting beyond the influence of all the senses and being always established in the consciousness of one's own Reality. When the mind withdraws from the outer world, the tongue too becomes silent. All other senses follow suit. That is genuine Mounam.

- Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Meaning of Life

Life is a challenge, meet it!

Life is a dream, realize it!

Life is a game, play it!

Life is Love, live it!

- Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, Who art in heaven,

Hallow’d be Thy Name

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil,

For Thine is the kingdom

And the power, and the glory, forever.

Amen.

Fathers

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” – Mark Twain

“I love my father as the stars – he’s a bright shining example and a happy twinkling in my heart.” – Terry Guillemets

“The greatest gift I ever had

Came from God – I call him Dad!” – Author Unknown

“A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.” – Author Unkown

“My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” – Clarence Budington Kelland

“When I was a kid, I said to my father one afternoon, ‘Daddy, will you take me to the zoo?’ He answered, ‘If the zoo wants you, let them come and get you.’” – Jerry Lewis

“A man’s children and his garden both reflect the amount of weeding done during the growing season.” – Unknown

“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” – Charles Wadsworth

Kiss of Life

Buddhism:

Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Christianity:

The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

Job 33:4

Hinduism:

When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady. But when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life. Therefore, one should learn to control the breath.”

Svatmarama, Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Native American

The Great Spirit is in all things, he is in the air we breathe.”

Big Thunder Wabanaki Algonquin

Sikhism

The breath is drawn in through the left nostril; it is held in the central channel of the Sushumna, and exhaled through the right nostril, repeating the Lord’s Name sixteen times.

Guru Granth Sahib

Sufism:

I belong to the beloved, have seen the two

worlds as one and that one call to and know

first, last, outer, inner, only that

breath breathing human being.

Jalaluddin Rumi, ‘Only Breath’

Taoism:

The men of old breathed clear down to their heels.

Chuang Tzu

Beyond Birth and Death

When God assumes human form and is behind you, before you and beside you, speaking to you and moving with you, and allowing you to cultivate attachment of various kinds with Him, you do not recognise Him. We should not be misled into the belief that He is just human and nothing more. We generally forget the Truth. The Divine proclaims, "I am not a mass of flesh and blood; I am not a bundle of desires which the mind is; I am not the heap of delusion which the imagination is; I am the Paramaathma (Supreme Soul), the Origin and the End. I am the urge within you, the knowledge that you seek as a result of the urge, of your own self.”

-       Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Non-Violence

Buddhism

All fear violence. All are afraid of death. Seeing the similarity to oneself, one should not use violence or have it used.

-          the Buddha

Christianity

Do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

-          Matthew 5:39

Hinduism

Non-injury to others (physical and mental) is prescribed as virtue in personal conduct.

-         Bhagavad Gita 13:7

Jainism

Non-violence is the highest religion.

-          Lord Mahavir

Sikhism

If thou seekest thy God, break not the heart of another.

-          Farid

Devi Suktam (from the Devi Mahatmya)

‘Devi’ is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘Goddess’. The Devi Mahatmya is a Hindu text that literally translates as the ‘Glory of the Goddess’. It is the celebration of feminine aspect of Divinity as the all-pervasive force that manifests through forms tangible and subtle, the Creator inseparable from Creation.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as the Power of Lord Vishnu. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as the Eternal Consciousness. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Intelligence. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who causes Sleep in all beings. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who causes Hunger in all beings. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as their Shadow. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who manifests as Energy in all beings. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who causes Thirst in all beings. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Forgiveness. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Genus. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Modesty. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Peace. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Faith. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Beauty. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Wealth. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Activity. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Memory. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Compassion. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Contentment. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as the Mother. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Delusion. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, the Ruler of all the elements and all the senses. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who pervades the whole Universe, and abides in all beings as the animating Consciousness. Salutations to her, again and again.

Mothers

“When you are a mother you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” - Sophia Loren

 “A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” - Tenneva Jordan

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” - Osho

“God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” - Jewish Proverb

“A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.” - Irish Proverb

“Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.” - Oprah Winfrey 

“It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn’t.” - Barbara Kingslover

“On Mother’s Day I’ve written a poem for you. In the interest of poetic economy and truth, I have succeeded in concentrating my deepest feelings and beliefs into two perfectly crafted lines: You’re my mother, I would have no other!” - Forest Houtenschil

International Academy of Kindness

The province of Cebu in the Philippines received an unusual gift – a bronze monument called ‘Dandelion’. The art piece was donated by a well-known Russian artist, Gregory Pototsky. He is also the head of the International Academy of Kindness that has installed over 60 monuments in various countries. The monument ‘symbolizes the fragility of friendship, love and kindness’. He had also given an earlier gift to Philippines in gratitude for President Elpidio Quirino’s aid to 6,000 Russian refugees in 1951.

The artist says that the academy was founded when he and some friends reached the conclusion that the only solution to many of life’s problems is simple kindness. He cites himself as living proof, recalling his days in Stalin’s GULAG, where people survived merely on the benevolence of one another. The mission of the IAK is to both promote solving conflict with compassion, and to support individuals and organizations that follow humanistic principles, because “only kindness and gratitude can save the world and make it a better place.”

The Dhammapada [Translation by Gil Fronsdal]

‘The Dhammapada’ is the principal spiritual scripture of the Theravada tradition. It’s an anthology of 423 verses that were originally written in Pali. These verses were compiled by the early disciples of the Buddha, who transcribed from memory the essence of their Master’s message – the path to liberation. Liberation in two senses - freedom from rebirth upon dying, as well as living in wisdom in the present life.

Gil Fronsdale has divided his translation of the Dhammapada into twenty-six chapters. Some excerpts:

“Irrigators guide water;

Fletchers shape arrows;

Carpenters fashion wood;

Sages tame themselves.”

(from ‘The Sage’)

“Through many births

I have wandered on and on,

Searching for, but never finding,

The builder of [this] house.

To be born again and again is suffering.

House-builder, you are seen!

You will not build a house again!

All the rafters are broken,

The ridgepole is destroyed;

The mind, gone to the Unconstructed.

Has reached the end of craving!”

(from ‘Old Age’)

Gil Fronsdale’s elegant translation of the Buddha’s doctrine evinces his training in the Zen tradition, as well his academic credentials. He is both a practitioner and teacher of Vipassana, who received his Ph.D in Buddhist Studies from Stanford University.

This Earth, Our Home

Buddhism:

Think of life on this planet in terms of systems and not detached elements. Broaden your field of vision and assimilate the knowledge you have. See that the environment does not belong to any single country to exploit and then disregard.

Za Rinpoche

Christianity:

As for you, my flock…Is it not enough for you to feed on good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?

Ezekiel 34: 17-18

Hinduism:

Waste not food, waste not water, waste not fire.

Taittiriya Upanishad

Islam:

Adore your Guardian – Lord, Who Created you and those who came before you…Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith fruits for your sustenance.

The Koran; Surah: 21-22

Judaism:

For in respect of the fate of man and the fate of beast, they have one and the same fate: as the one dies, so does the other; all share the same breath of life.

Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 3:19

Native American

Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors; we borrow it from our Children.

Ancient Indian Proverb

No Laughing Matter

“The Universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.”

-          Carl Sagan

“Economic advance is not the same thing as human progress.”

-          John Clapham

“A virgin forest is where the hand of man has never set foot.”

-          Anonymous

“Opie, you haven’t finished your milk. We can’t put it back in the cow, you know.”

-          Aunt Bee Taylor, “The Andy Griffith Show”

“Civilization…wrecks the planet from seafloor to stratosphere.”

-          Richard Bach

“Every day is Earth Day.”

-          Author Unknown

“There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.”

-          Mohandas K. Gandhi

“Modern technology

Owes ecology

An aplogy.”

-          Alan M. Eddison