|
A
Prayer for Peace in
the Middle East
by
The Venerable Ani Karma Chötso
Today we, the people of this world, are faced with the
rather daunting task of trying to effect peace outside of
ourselves when very few of us have any true peace in our own
hearts. So we turn to prayer.
My
prayer begins with questions. I pray to the Buddha and all
enlightened ones for the answers.
How can one human being look upon another human being and
miss the fact that they are one and the same?
How
is it possible that we persist in focusing on our differences
to the point that we cannot live side by side without fighting?
The
Buddha has said that this life is suffering. And we know that.
We know that every one of us has suffered in the past. And
even if some of us are not in a state of suffering now, not
one of us will escape experiencing some form of suffering
in the future. That should be all any one of us needs to know
in order to look upon one another with compassion rather than
anger, with humility instead of pride, with joy rather than
jealousy.
Race,
religion, gender, political persuasion --- ultimately none
of those differences matter. What matters is that we share
this finite earth with infinite love.
To
that end, let us now have a moment of silent prayer, giving
the earth beneath our feet, the people around us and the heavens
above us, one minute of pure peace.
|
