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A Vow of Nonviolence
Recognizing the violence in my own heart, yet trusting in the goodness and mercy of God,
I vow to practice the nonviolence of Jesus who taught us in the Sermon on the Mount:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God...You have learned how it was said, "You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy"; but I say to you, "Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you. In this way, you will be sons and daughters of your God in heaven."
Before God the Creator and the Sanctifying Spirit, I vow to carry out in my life the love and example of Jesus
* by striving for peace within myself and seeking to be a peacemaker in my daily life;
* by accepting suffering in the struggle for justice rather than inflicting it;
* by refusing to retaliate in the face of provocation and violence;
* by persevering in nonviolence of tongue and heart;
* by living conscientiously and simply so that I do not deprive others of the means to live;
* by actively resisting evil and working nonviolently to abolish war and the causes of war from my own heart and from the face of the earth. God, I trust in your sustaining love and believe that just as you gave me the grace and desire to offer this, so you will also bestow abundant grace to fulfill it.
(From Pax Christi USA and John Dear's Disarming the Heart)
The Buddha's Discourse on Good Will
May all beings be filled with joy and peace.
May all beings everywhere,
The strong and the weak,
The great and the small,
The mean and the powerful,
The short and the long,
the subtle and the gross:
May all beings everywhere,
Seen and unseen,
Dwelling far off or nearby,
Being or waiting to become:
May all be filled with lasting joy.
Let no one deceive another,
Let no one anywhere despise another,
Let no one out of anger or resentment
Wish suffering on anyone at all.
Just as a mother with her own life
Protects her child, her only child, from harm,
So within yourself let grow
A boundless love for all creatures.
Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
3 comments:
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Good stuff. I really like The Buddha's Discourse on Good Will.
ReplyDeleteMost of the best stuff on this blog is written by someone else. :o)
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm working on a blog post now and in the opening paragraph I say "I've been promising a post for a while now. I get ideas for posts and then, after thinking through them, usually end up not posting them. So much of what I want to say is said in other places, in better ways."
ReplyDeleteI can relate. :-)