Thursday, December 16, 2004

For Every Living Creature


May I be a protector to those without protection,
A leader for those who journey,
And a boat, a bridge, a passage
For those desiring the further shore.

May the pain of every living creature
Be completely cleared away.

May I be the doctor and the medicine
And may I be the nurse
For all sick beings in the world
Until everyone is healed.

Just like space
And the great elements such as earth,
May I always support the life
Of all the boundless creatures.

And until they pass away from pain
May I also be the source of life
For all the realms of varied beings
That reach unto the ends of space.


-- Author Unknown

1 comment:

John Michael Keba said...

Hi Fayrouz, thank you for asking of me. I am well, and concentrating on my book. My niece and brother-in-law are both ill, and I'm afraid my nephew is in your former homeland. Blogging has become a distraction, I guess. However, now that I'm here, I'm sorry I haven't checked in more often :-)

"For Every Living Creature" seems to be a Boddhisattva's Vow. The "Thomas a Kempis of Buddhism", the poet-saint Shantideva, wrote this:

"May I be a balm to the sick, their healer and servitor until sickness come never again;
May I quench with rains of food and drink the anguish of hunger and thirst;
May I be in the famine of the age's end their drink and meat;
May I become an unfailing store for the poor, and serve them with manifold things for their need.
My own being and my pleasures, all my righteousness in the past, present and future, I surrender indifferently, that all creatures may win through to their end."

Send me a direct mail if you wish. I'd love to talk with you about what's going on in Iraq. Again, thanks for asking about me.