Aloha,
I'm Reverend Cindy Palus and I thought I'd read some peace prayers that are from a lot of different religions.
There is such,
To me,
Comfort in finding that all practices and all religions have prayers for peace.
And I'm going to read some of them here so we can just focus and meditate on the power of these different prayers for peace.
The first is the Buddhist prayer for peace.
May all beings everywhere,
Plagued with sufferings of body and mind,
Quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid.
May those bound be free.
May the powerless find power.
And may people think of befriending one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless,
Fearful wilderness,
The children,
The aged,
The unprotected,
Be guarded by beneficent celestials.
And may they swiftly attain Buddha head.
And here's the Muslim prayer for peace.
In the name of Allah,
The beneficent,
The merciful,
Praise be to the Lord of the universe who has created us and made us into tribes and nations,
That we may know each other,
Not that we may despise each other.
If the enemy inclined towards peace,
Do thou also incline towards peace.
And trust God,
For the Lord is the one that heareth and knoweth all things.
And the servants of God,
Most gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility.
And when we address them,
We say,
Peace.
Here's the Baha'i prayer for peace.
Be generous in prosperity and thankful in adversity.
Be fair in judgment and guarded in Thy speech.
Be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness and a home to the stranger.
Be eyes to the blind and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring.
Be a breath of life to the body of humankind,
A dew to the soil of the human heart and a fruit upon the tree of humility.
Here's the Jewish prayer for peace.
Come,
Let us go up to the mountains of the Lord,
That we may walk the paths of the Most High.
And we shall beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation.
Neither shall they learn war anymore,
And none shall be afraid,
For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
Here's the Christian prayer for peace.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be known as the children of God.
And I say to you that here,
Love your enemies.
Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.
Pray for those who abuse you.
To those who strike you on the cheek,
Offer the other also.
And from those who take away your cloak,
Do not withhold your coat as well.
Give to everyone who begs from you.
And of those who take away your goods,
Do not ask them again.
And as you wish that others would do to you,
So do to them.
Here's the Shinto prayer for peace.
Although the people living across the ocean surrounding us,
I believe are all our brothers and sisters,
Why are there constant troubles in this world?
Why do winds and waves rise in the ocean surrounding us?
I only earnestly wish that the wind will soon puff away all the clouds which are hanging over the mountain tops.
And the Janus prayer for peace.
Peace and universal love is the essence of the gospel preached by all enlightened ones.
The Lord has preached that equanimity is the dharma.
Forgive do I creatures all and let all creatures forgive me.
Unto all I have amnity and unto none enmity.
Know that violence is the root cause of all miseries of the world.
Violence in fact is the knot of bondage.
Do not injure any living being.
This is the eternal,
Perennial,
And unalterable way of spiritual life.
A weapon however so powerful it may be can always be superseded by a superior one.
But no weapon can however be superior to nonviolence and love.
And finally the native African prayer to peace.
Almighty God the great.
Thumb we cannot evade to tie any knot.
The roaring thunder that splits mighty trees.
The all-seeing Lord up on high who sees even the footprints of an antelope on a rock mass here on earth.
You are the one who does not hesitate to respond to our call.
You are the cornerstone of peace.
Peace be with you always.
May you walk in peace.
May you hold that peace and may you share that peace with all.
Blessings to all of all faiths,
All religions,
And all beliefs.
