Читать книгу Prayers for Calm - Becca Anderson - Страница 16

— 1 —

The Optimist’s Creed

To be so strong that nothing

can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity

to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel

that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything

and make your optimism come true.

To think only the best, to work only for the best,

and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others

as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past

and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times

and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself

that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,

and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,

not in loud words but great deeds.

To live in faith that the whole world is on your side

so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

—Christian D. Larson, 1912

— 2 —

Happiness Is Worth Striving For

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

—Max Ehrmann, 1927

— 3 —

With Deep Prayer Comes Deep Peace

Pray for what you cannot see.

Pray clearly

for what you can only faintly grasp.

Pray silently

from the core of your being.

Pray for healing.

Pray for humanity.

Pray lovingly

Pray deeply—

pray so deeply that

the prayer and the praying

become one.

—Charlie Elkind

— 4 —

Know That You Are Not Alone

All you who sleep tonight

Far from the ones you love,

No hand to left or right,

And emptiness above—

Know that you aren’t alone.

The whole world shares your tears,

Some for two nights or one,

And some for all their years.

—Vikram Seth

— 5 —

You Won’t Feel This Way Forever

That’s how you stay alive.

When it hurts so much you can’t breathe,

that’s how you survive.

By remembering that,

one day, somehow, impossibly,

you won’t feel this way.

It won’t hurt this much.

—Grey’s Anatomy

— 6 —

Eternal Love for All in the World

For as long as space endures

And for as long as living beings remain

Until then may I too abide

To dispel the misery of the world.

—Shantideva

— 7 —

Let That Word Be: Thanks

Better

than if there were thousands

of meaningless words is

one

meaningful

word

that on hearing

brings peace.

Better

than if there were thousands

of meaningless verses is

one

meaningful

verse

that on hearing

brings peace.

And better than chanting hundreds

of meaningless verses is

one

Dhamma-saying

that on hearing

brings peace.

—Dhammapada, VIIIii, attributed to Buddha

— 8 —

All Things Must Pass

Let nothing disturb you.

Let nothing frighten you.

All things are passing away;

God never changes.

Patience obtains all things.

Whoever has God lacks nothing;

God alone suffices.

—Saint Teresa of Avila

— 9 —

Toward Heaven

Refuse to fall down.

If you cannot refuse to fall down,

refuse to stay down.

If you cannot refuse to stay down,

lift your heart toward heaven

and like a hungry beggar,

ask that it be filled,

and it will be filled.

You may be pushed down.

You may be kept from rising.

But no one can keep you

from lifting your heart

toward heaven—

only you.

It is in the midst of misery

that so much becomes clear.

The one who says nothing good

came of this,

is not yet listening.

—Clarissa Pinkola Estes

— 10 —

The Greatest Truth of Love

don’t be afraid

of what you do not understand

and cannot yet grasp

if you are lost

in the dark night of the soul

nothing has ever happened

that was not meant

even if your thoughts

tell you this is not so

we share the same intertwined heaven

we are carried and held in the same light

we are loved in the same light

light will not elude you

let every breath

fill your mind with peace

let your soul unfold courageously

in divine wisdom

and open itself for the beautiful things

that want to enter your life from the future

the greatest truth of love

the only thing that matters

is that you are alive.

—Swedish Chant

— 11 —

A Guide for Those Who Have Lost Their Way

May I become at all times, both now and forever

A protector for those without protection

A guide for those who have lost their way

A ship for those with oceans to cross

A bridge for those with rivers to cross

A sanctuary for those in danger

A lamp for those without light

A place of refuge for those who lack shelter

And a servant to all in need.

—Buddhist Prayer of Peace

— 12 —

Only Connect

A thousand fibers connect us

with our fellow men;

and among those fibers,

as sympathetic threads,

our actions run as causes,

and they come back to us as effects.

—Herman Melville

— 13 —

We Are on the Same Path

Religions are different roads

converging upon the same point.

What does it matter

that we take different roads

so long as we reach the same goal.

—Mahatma Gandhi

— 14 —

For Every Care, a Promise

May God give you

For every storm, a rainbow

For each tear, a smile

For every care, a promise

And a blessing in each trial.

A faithful friend to share,

For every sigh, a sweet song,

And an answer for each prayer.

May the blessing of God’s soft rain be on you.

—From Irish Oral Tradition

— 15 —

The Buddha’s Guide to Gratitude

Give thanks

For what has been given to you,

However little.

Be pure, never falter.

—Buddha

— 16 —

Seek and Ye Shall Find

Ask, and it shall be given you;

Seek, and you shall find;

Knock, and it shall be opened to you.

For whoever asks, receives;

And he who seeks, finds;

And to him who knocks, the door is opened.

—Matthew 7:7

— 17 —

All Life Is Bound Together

Humankind has not woven the web of life.

We are but one thread within it.

Whatever we do to the web,

we do to ourselves.

All things are bound together.

All things connect.

—Chief Seattle

— 18 —

You Will Never Be Forsaken

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid or terrified,

for the LORD your God goes with you;

he will never leave you nor forsake you.

—Deuteronomy 31:6

— 19 —

The Tao of Now

The Tao that can be told

is not the eternal Tao.

The name that can be named

is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.

Naming is the origin

of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.

Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations

arise from the same source.

This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.

The gateway to all understanding.

—Lao Tse

— 20 —

What God Sows in the Heart

Give over thine own willing;

give over thine own running;

give over thine own desiring

to know or to be anything;

and let that grow in thee,

and be in thee,

and breathe in thee,

and act in thee,

and thou shalt find by sweet experience

that the Lord knows that,

and loves and owns that,

and will lead it to

the inheritance of life,

which is its portion.

—Isaac Pennington, 1661

— 21 —

How to Be Happy in the Here and Now

There is no way to happiness,

happiness is the way.

You should be happy right in the here and now.

There is no way to enlightenment.

Enlightenment should be right here and right now.

The moment when you come back to yourself, mind and body together,

fully present, fully alive, that is already enlightenment.

You are no longer a sleepwalker.

You are no longer in a dream.

You are fully alive.

You are awake.

Enlightenment is there.

And if you continue each moment like that,

enlightenment becomes deeper.

More powerful.

There is no way to enlightenment,

enlightenment is the way.

—Thích Nhất Hạnh

— 22 —

Reach Out

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

—Aesop

— 23 —

Make Use of Each Precious Day

This life, you must know

as the tiny splash of a raindrop:

A thing of beauty that disappears as it comes into being.

Therefore, set your goal.

Make use of every day and every night.

—Tsongkhapa

— 24 —

Don’t Wait. Be Here Now.

There is only one time

when it is essential to awaken.

That time is now.

—Jack Kornfield

— 25 —

Learn to Look at Yourself

Love means to learn to look at yourself

The way one looks at distant things

For you are only one thing among many.

And whoever sees that way heals his heart,

Without knowing it, from various ills

—Czeslaw Milosz