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May Peace Prevail On Earth.
Peace Within, Peace Without.
Peace Now, Peace For All Beings.
Created by Sor. Ashera, O.O.L.S.
Imbolc, 2003
gfaulk@mindspring.com
How to Pray Your Peace Beads
First, make yourself comfortable and upright, spend a few minutes
following your breathing and letting the mind settle.
Within your personal spiritual practice, invite in the Divine
Peace-makers; natural helping spirits, saints, angels, gods and
goddesses. Ask them to assist in the work of peace today. When you are
ready recite or read the following dedication;
May all beings have happiness
and the causes of happiness;
May all beings be free from suffering
and the causes of suffering;
May all beings never be separated
from the joy beyond all sorrow;
May all beings abide in equanimity,
free of prejudice, attachment and anger.
Holding your beads, think of what peace means. It may be different
from one person to another. For whom do you set this intention of
peace – for yourself or your family? For your country? For a
particular place or event in the world? Be specific; what does this
peace look like, feel like? In your mind, build a picture of peace,
imagine it as concretely as possible. Hold this visualization while
you chant the mantra. This becomes easier to do with repetition.
Beginning at the bottom of the loop, recite the mantra below on each
bead. At the ˝ way point (the peace charm/bead), pause for a moment
and renew your visualization, then continue with the mantra.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
If your mala has 54 beads, go around once more. Chant as many ‘rounds’
of the mala as you wish, but always try to complete at least one full
set of 108 repetitions of the Om Shanti mantra. At the end of the loop
where the beads join, read or recite the prayer to Our Lady of Peace.
Feel free to name a particular goddess or add in other blessings for
your own circumstances.
Dona Nobis Pacem
Lady of Peace who hears the cries of the world
Extend your power through me and with me;
Bless those in harms way.
Bless those who are suffering.
Bless those who are dying.
Bless the lost unknowing dead.
Bless those who love.
Bless those who are helping.
Bless those who are scared.
Bless those who can do nothing but wait.
Bless those who are falsely suspected.
Bless those of limited understanding.
Bless those upholding civil liberties.
Bless those who, though well intentioned, do wrong.
Bless the Ancestors
who love and hold us dear;
may we feel their comfort, too.
Bless those who work and pray for peace
throughout the good, green Mother Earth.
Bless us all, hold us safe within your embrace.
So Be It!
Sit for a few moments, surrounded by the loving peace of the Mother.
Extend this peace to the world. Blessed be.
About the Prayers
The prayer of dedication (May all beings...)
expresses the Four Immeasurables from Buddhism. Love, compassion,
sympathetic joy and equanimity are called “immeasurable” because they
extend to all beings, who are immeasurable, and because we create
immeasurable positive energy and purify immeasurable negative energy
through developing them. Loving kindness overcomes anger and has the
capacity to bring happiness to others. Compassion overcomes cruelty
and has the capacity to remove the suffering of others. Sympathetic
joy overcomes hatred and arises when one rejoices over the happiness
of others and wishes others well-being and success. Non-attachment or
equanimity overcomes prejudice. It is the way of looking at all things
openly and equally, where every being is as equal.
Om Shanti
Om is considered to be the primeval sound, the sound
of the universe, the sound from which all others are formed. A
Sanskrit-English dictionary says: “A word of solemn affirmation and
respectful assent, sometimes translated as ‘yes, verily, so be it’ and
in this sense compared with Amen; it is placed as a sacred exclamation
at the start of most Hindu works and prayers; it is also an auspicious
salutation [Hail!]; the highest spiritual efficacy being attributed to
the whole word and also to the three sounds A, U, M, of which it
consists.”
Shanti simply means “peace.” It is traditional to repeat it three
times. You could interpret this as meaning peace in body, speech, and
mind (i.e. one’s entire being), or as a wish for peace individually,
collectively, and universally. Together, Om Shanti is the sacred,
affirmative creation of peace.
The Lady of Peace
This blessing was adapted from a peace prayer by
Carolyn McDade. We are powerful to create change and we work in
relationship to the sacred. A mother watches over and responds to her
children. She desires the best for them, accepts and nurtures them.
There is no reason to believe less of our Divine Mother, from whom all
life comes and to whom it returns in ever joyful union.
Humanity has many names and faces for the Lady of Peace. Some of them
are Aphrodite Columba, Eirene, Pax, Kuan Yin, Brighid and Mary. Among
her symbols are the gentle dove, the olive branch, the sheathed sword
and the abundance of the earth. She is the one who mourns for the
dead, who resolves conflicts, who heals. We ask her to pour out her
blessings upon the world.
Dona nobis pacem; grant us peace.
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