zavk wrote:Hi friends,
I'm curious about the kinds of non-Buddhist writing you've come across that remind you of some aspect or another of the dhamma.
They can be words from a poem, a novel, a song, a philosophical text, a scientific text, another religious tradition.... whatever..... even graffiti in public toilets!
I thought it'd be interesting to create a thread where people can post these quotes, as and when they come across something interesting.
Best wishes,
zavk
A friend of mine who is spiritually eclectic is reading a book by a self-help guru that focuses on this prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
The first part reminds me of Dh. 17.3, which in one translation goes like this:
Where there is anger, apply lovingkindness.
Where there is evil, offer good.
Where there is stinginess, be generous.
Where there are lies, be truthful.
The second part of the prayer reminds me of a passage in Being Nobody, Going Nowhere: Meditations on the Buddhist Path (Revised, 3rd edition, 2001) by Ayya Khema. I don't have the passage handy.
I told my friend that the prayer is very Buddhist, apart from the references to a Creator and the last line. Then I thought, "If that prayer could be translated into Buddhist terms, it might make a beautiful set of aspirations." The task has proved to be more difficult than I thought. This is my tentative, first attempt:
May I be an instrument of peace.
Where there is hatred may I apply lovingkindness.
Where I am wronged may I forgive.
Where there is doubt may I restore confidence in the Path.
Where there is despair may I offer hope.
Where there is darkness may I shine the light of the Dhamma.
Where there is sadness may I bring joy.
May I seek to console,
to understand,
to love,
to give.
May I follow in the footsteps of my Teacher,
who arose "for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world."