Without great compassion, no real progress on the spiritual path can be made. -- Thuksey Rinpoche
The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. -- Yeshua of Nazareth
Sanctuary of the Heart
Prayers for Your Everyday Sacred
Invocation:
In the Name of the Beloved, Love, Lover, and Loving... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty... Om Peace Amen...
The Three Jewels of Refuge:
I take refuge in the Holy Mystery.
I take refuge in Love-without-limits.
I take refuge in Service for Justice and Peace -- and for this precious blue Planet.
"By Mary, with Mary, in Mary, for Mary."-- St. Louis Grignion de Montfort
Om Mani Padme Hum (Hail, Jewel of the Lotus) Mantra of Bodhisattva Kuan Yin
O Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee. (Miraculous Medal Prayer)
"Remember the Mother." Fr. Bede Griffiths
"Every saint who has penetrated to the core of Reality has testified that a divine universal plan exists and that it is beautiful and full of joy." -- Paramahansa Yogananda
"Love everybody and tell the truth." -- Neem Karoli Baba
Invocation to the Beautiful Spirit:
Gentle and Beautiful Spirit
rise up within us
and free us from our fears
that we might love
as you love,
serve as you serve,
and transform the ordinary
into the glory of your beauty,
bathe us with your radiance
like the morning sun...
The grace of the love of the skies be thine,
The grace of the love of the stars be thine,
The grace of the love of the moon be thine,
The grace of the love of the sun be thine. (From the Carmina Gaedelica)
Prayer to Holy Mother Mary
Remember, O most gracious Mother
Mary, that never has it been known
that anyone who has fled to your
protection and asked for your help
has been left unaided. Even while
acknowledging all of my failings,
I confidently come to you and ask
for your help. Do not turn away from
me but shower me with your mercy
and graciously listen to my heart
and my prayer...
Under your mercy we take refuge Mother of God; may our petitions not be abandoned into temptations, but from danger deliver us, only pure and blessed. (Prayer to Mary found in Egyptian papyrus fragments from the year 250 AD)
Prayer of Gratitude Upon Rising:
Holy One, Beloved Friend and Lover of Surprises, thank you for the gift of my breath and of this day. Enliven my heart with a great passion to love and to be loved. I dedicate my thoughts, words, and actions to the celebration of Your Love and to the transformation of this precious blue Planet in Kindness, Peace, Equality, and Justice. Divine Mother Mary, make me an instrument of Your Beauty. Om Peace Amen...
Alignment Message:
There is a Source, a Consciousness, a "Beloved Being" -- One Love -- who manifests all that is. I am from that very same Source. I was created by Love, for Love, to become Love. I exist within One Love, as One Love exists within me. I am perfect, beautiful, and holy now, as the Source is Perfect, Beautiful, and Holy. I have never been, nor will I ever be, separate from my true Self which is always Only One with the Source -- as it is for me, so this is also true for everyone. I am choosing to abandon forgetfulness and to remember this essential truth today. I will construct my life to be of service to Every Other with kindness, justice, and compassion.
Primary Intention:
I choose to cultivate positive thoughts, constructive actions, and a culture of well-being in me, around me, and through me. I will not identify with mental, emotional, or physical states and conditions which cause and sustain the illusion of separateness from the Source: The Holy One, the Only One, the One Love...
(Having chosen to construct our day upon the firm foundation of the "Alignment Message" and its corresponding "Primary Intention", we plan the new edifice of our lives with those things that we really want, such as an increase of peace, calmness, happiness, pleasant relationships, meaningful work, the satisfaction of legitimate desires, and the manifestation of peace, equality, kindness, and justice in the world, etc. So, we take up a chosen intention: "I desire peace in my life, therefore I will be peace for everyone I encounter today". The intention is declared and "sent out into the Universe" along with the corresponding commitment to personally manifest for others that which you want. There is a powerfully intense relationship between what we want and what others likewise need. By making this connection and building upon it every day, the blessing of the desire will unfold in one's life.
The next tool is that of affirmation. Affirmation is the grunt work of transformation. Every single time that you notice a negative thought having arisen in your mind, immediately counterbalance it with an affirmation of truth. For instance, the thought "I'm unworthy" or "I'm ugly" might come to mind. Immediately affirm "The Source, who is Beauty, has created within me a share in that Beauty. I affirm that Beauty is my nature. I am worthy of the very best!" Affirmations will begin to transform your habits of thinking as you consciously and deliberately work with them as power tools -- you will notice, as you work on changing your mind, that chosen intentions and affirmations will create "space" between your perceptions -- there in that seemingly empty space, is the Field of Grace, the Source of Miracles...)
So, how are you? Awake and Ready!
Open Hearts, Open Hands:
Prayer Before Beginning the Work of Your Day
Holy One,
Beloved Friend,
Manifesting as Divine Consciousness,
Mother,
Teacher,
Love and Compassion,
Inspire and uplift
My mind and heart
To the steady practice
Of Mindfulness and Service.
May I manifest
Kindness and generosity
In my every encounter today,
Especially to those
Most in need of my hands and heart...
May my thoughts, words, and actions
Become one thought, one word, and one action:
Your Holy Name,
As a River of Beauty,
Flowing towards and within the Garden of Souls
Here and everywhere...
Today, "By Mary, with Mary, in Mary, for Mary." -- St. Louis Grignion de Montfort
Om Mani Padme Hum (Hail, Jewel of the Lotus)
Ram Ram Ram -- Neem Karoli Baba
Prayer of Soul Orientation:
(As often as possible, with your incoming breath)
"I love You"
(As often as possible, with your outgoing breath)
"I thank You"
Prayer to Yeshua the Poet
Yeshua, Beloved Poet,
I give thanks for your gracious and mystic Being-Spirit-Heart
that fills the Universe in all its parts with a living benevolence.
I pray that I might be energized by the example of your compassion and mercy.
I pray, too, that your example
of loving service to the least and the last
might inspire all systems of oppression and exploitation
to a rapid change of heart --
that justice might finally prevail in
all places where life is marked by struggle and suffering.
I especially pray for the well-being of all women and children
and that your sense of equality and reverence
might invade the consciousness of every man
who wields power over others.
Yeshua, Beloved Poet,
infill every aspect of my being to overflowing
with a kind and loving spirit towards everyone --
and with a willingness to manifest
a loud, consistent, and strong voice
for everyone who waits in hopelessness --
for everyone who waits in the Dream of a New Life...
Yeshua, Beloved Poet,
grant unto me wonder, passion, poems,
songs, music, art, dance, and every means possible
for creating a Paradise of Beauty
upon this precious blue Planet!
Om Peace Amen
Prayer to Holy Mother Mary
O Holy Mother Mary,
Open wide the gateway to Paradise!
Open wide the doors of my perceptions!
My heart hungers for Divine communion!
My heart is obsessed with finding love and beauty in all things!
My heart yearns to approach Your Holy Mystery!
Guide my steps on the path of awakening, and
use my life and my hands as instruments of Your Holy Compassion!
Shine, shine, shine, Mother:
Upon my life, my family, and this precious blue Planet!
May peace be the root of every thought, word, and action
that is mine on this day!
May the peace of Your Holy Love pervade
the entire Universe!
And may I live and work with a passionate commitment
for a global transformation in deep reverence for all life!
Om Peace Amen.
A Servant-Activist's Prayer
Lord of Mountains and Rivers,
and of Lovers and Dreamers,
thank You for the gift of Love
alive in my heart! Whew! What a gift!
Thank You, too, for the gift of my hands
to swing a mop,
to shake a hand,
to scrub a toilet,
to make a sandwich,
and to be held in restraint by arresting-handcuffs!
Bless my heart
and bless my love-in-action
with Your glance and with Your loving touch...
Om Peace Amen.
Mother Mary of No Harm
Holy Mother Mary of No Harm,
I lift up my intention to love without limits
and place that intention into Your hands
as if it were an offering of red roses.
I will to reflect in my daily life Your play
and passion for Beauty and for Justice.
I will be Your voice, Your hands, and Your feet
upon this precious blue Planet.
Om Peace Amen
Mother Mary of Radiant Delight
Holy Mother Mary of Radiant Delight!
I surrender my breath into Your breath...
I adore the One behind and within the many...
I offer the sacred gift of my imagination that it might lead us all to Paradise...
I intend to live intimate in love with life and my companions...
I invoke Your remembrance in my heart and with every breath...
I will to activate my heart and life to compassion, service, justice, and harmlessness in thought, word, and deed...
In every moment, in all things, and with every breath I offer to You all the roses of my heart...
Om Peace Amen
Evening Consecration To The One:
Holy One, Beloved Friend, (here you may personalize the Holy One according to your inner devotion, Naming the Holy Mother Mary, Yeshua, Beautiful Kuan Yin, Radha-Krishna...)
As I prepare to sleep, I return to You the sacred fire of my life, and thank You for that precious little portion of Your Light that is aflame in me. May awareness of Your Love penetrate every aspect of my being and even increase this night as my consciousness is safely cradled within Your Heart. And may I rise in the morning renewed in mind, body, and spirit to continue my awakening and service as an instrument of Your Beauty. I love You, I love You, I love You... Om... Hu...
"By Mary, with Mary, in Mary, for Mary." -- St. Louis Grignion de Montfort
Om Mani Padme Hum (Hail, Jewel of the Lotus)
Ram Ram Ram -- Neem Karoli Baba
Prayer of Infinite Blessing, Infinite Bliss
O Mary, conceived without sin (just like us! but gee-whiz, we sure do forget!),
pray for us and pray with us, as we turn to you,
turning away from all violence,
and as we further turn to taste the divine nectar of God
in sacred action, in adoration, and in our yearning for One Humanity,
and One Love, in Beatitude and in the practice of Beauty... Om Peace Amen
Resources:
Dialogues with a Modern Mystic / Andrew Harvey
Return of the Mother / Andrew Harvey
Son of Man / Andrew Harvey
Prayers of the Cosmos / Neil Douglas-Klotz
Be Love Now / Ram Dass
Be Here Now / Ram Dass
Autobiography of a Yogi / Paramahansa Yogananda
Whispers From Eternity / Paramahansa Yogananda
Listening for the Heart of God / J. Philip Newell
Celtic Prayer / Northumbrian Community
Book of Common Prayer / Episcopal Church
Benedictine Daily Prayer / A Short Breviary / St. John's Abbey
The Marriage of East and West / Fr. Bede Griffiths
