Zen Prayers For Accepting Reality

I wanted to share a set of short prayers by Tai Sheridan. Zen Prayers addresses what is unsettled within and cultivates integrity and virtue. The set I have chosen are specifically around the circle of life. They have been hugely helpful as loved ones have become ill and look to the wintering of their lives.

Transcript

I wanted to share a short set of prayers by Ty Sheridan from his book,

The Buddha in Blue Jeans.

I hope that you find some comfort from these as much as I did when I first read them.

Prayer for Birth I open myself to the birth of everyone and everything,

As the mystery of living and being.

I am ready to live in daily gratitude from this precious human life.

This is as rare as an eclipse.

I am ready to honour the dignity of all forms of life as manifestations of the miracle of being.

I am ready to see that everything is born fresh and alive in each moment of present awareness.

I open myself to the birth of everyone and everything,

As the mystery of living and being.

Prayer for Living I open myself to living and dying as the essence of my life,

And am willing to learn to be a wise and kind person.

I am ready to give up all of my mental habits that keep me from living in the here and now.

I am ready to give up all of my emotional habits that keep me from living in total presence.

I am ready to give up all of my bodily habits that keep me from living in peace and harmony.

I open myself to living and dying as the essence of my life,

And am willing to learn to be a wise and kind person.

Prayer for Old Age I open myself to old age as a natural,

Precious,

Dignified stage of life for all of humankind.

I am ready to honour elders by seeing the essential goodness within them,

And by accepting them as they are.

I am ready to accept that I too will age and lose the capacity,

Vigour and appearance of my youth.

I am ready to live fully wherever I find myself in life so that old age becomes meaningful.

I open myself to old age as a natural,

Precious,

Dignified stage of life for all of humankind.

A Prayer for Illness I open myself to illness as a significant,

Natural aspect of my life that I can meet that I can meet with responsibility and grace.

I am ready to offer nourishment,

Comfort blessings to myself and others when illness of any kind takes root.

I am ready to maintain my awareness of the pain and discomfort I experience without fear.

I am ready to heal myself from within and without,

And to benefit gratefully from others' care.

I open myself to illness as a natural,

Significant aspect of life that I can meet with responsibility and grace.

A Prayer for Dying I open myself to the dying of loved ones,

Friends,

Humanity and all creatures,

For this is the way of life.

I am ready to accept my own death as a natural and welcomed thread in the fabric of the great mystery.

I am ready to release all of my fears and resistance to the end of my earthly days and nights.

I am ready to keep the awareness of death before me so that my heart opens to the depths of living.

I open myself to the dying of loved ones,

Friends,

Humanity and all creatures,

For this is the way of life.

Reviews

Wonderful shot zen prayer to start a day with loving kindness

🔆🍁🦋🦋

Wow! That is powerfull and beautiful! 🙏🏻

Divine truth

Beautiful ❤️

Thank you for sharing these prayers.
I intend to make them into a daily ritual.
🙏🏼

🙏 😌

Qonderdul❤🙏🌻

Beautiful contemplations!

Wonderful. Listening to this session May become a daily practice. I want to read the book from which these prayers were taken. Great volume level, voice tone and speaking speed. Thank you.

An ending bell would make this just perfect. Thank you.

Beautiful and deep words!

Wonderful just what looking for to support grace and acceptance 🦋

Thank you 🙏

Thank you for sharing those prayers. They can be listened to daily to remind us of our place in this universe and acceptance of the nature of reality. 🙏🏽

This was beautiful and profound. As someone in between kids and aging mother, and my own life, this was truly inspiring. Thank you!

Wonderful way to start my day

🕊️🙏🏻

Beautifully said.
Thank you. 🙏

Beautiful and profound. Just what I needed today. Thank you🙏