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