Dear Friends,
Today is the last of our week of reflections for Interfaith Harmony Week. This week of reflections is dedicated in remembrance of the love and wisdom shared with us by Rev. Andrea J. Goodman, Co-founder and President of The Interfaith Peace Project.
World Interfaith Harmony Week is an annual event observed during the first week of February. The General Assembly of the United Nations designated this week to point out that mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace. The General Assembly established World Interfaith Harmony Week as a way to promote harmony between all people regardless of their faith.
REV. ANDREA J. GOODMAN
August 30, 1950 – December 31, 2021
Cofounder and President of
The Interfaith Peace Project
May her memory be for a blessing!
THE BUDDHIST TRADITION
Interfaith Harmony Week
February 3, 2022
Let us be at peace with our bodies and our minds. Let us return to ourselves and become wholly ourselves. Let us be aware of the source of being, common to us all and to all living things. Evoking the Presence of the Great Compassion, let us fill our hearts with our own compassion—towards ourselves and towards all living beings. Let us pray that we ourselves cease to be the cause of suffering to each other. With humility, with awareness of the existence of life, and of the suffering that are going on around us, let us practice the establishment of peace in our hearts and on earth.
Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhist Monk
RESPONSE
Andrea heard the invitation to be compassionate of heart.
Today I will dedicate myself anew to the practice of compassion in all the affairs of my life. I will honor those traditions which recognize the animal spirits which serve as our guides along pathways of life. I will consume goods and foods as I seek to be compassionate to the life of all sentient beings. I will bless the creatures great and small.
I will be kind to the world of plants, honoring the trees, respecting the grass under my feet, and the flowers which delight me. I will care for the world of vegetation by which I breathe and eat, and I will enjoy that beauty which touches my heart.
REFLECTION
Today I will pray:
May “all beings” be happy, healthy, and whole.
May they have love, warmth, and affection.
May they be protected from harm, and free from fear.
May they be alive, engaged and joyful.
May “all beings” enjoy inner peace and ease
May that peace expand into their world and
throughout the entire universe.
Metta Prayer
Buddhist Tradition
Off