Prayer

 

 

 

I remember being afraid of thunder storms as a child. I remember waking up in the middle of the night during one such barrage of noise and light that so frightened me I walked down the hallway to my mother's bedroom and stood by watching her sleep. Perhaps I thought I could think her awake. But she slept sound so I tapped her gently on the arm with my finger. I can still see her face look up at me with a start. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm afraid of the thunder." I replied with little drama, as I have always been somewhat protective of my emotions and often give the impression of this uncanny calm person in the storm. This dry display on the outside has often lead therapists and doctors who are not intuitive to diagnose me as being perfectly fine when on the inside I might be raging. So, of course, my mother said to me, "Go back to bed and say a prayer and you will be fine."

And I did and I was.

I have another memory of being afraid of the dark and my mother coming in to sit with me by my bed. She said all I had to do was pray and I would not be afraid. She taught me a prayer about guardian angels who would watch over me. To this day, I still think of that moment during fearful times and find comfort in its reasoning and probability.

I don't know if the simple act of a child’s prayer has significance in my memory bank of being something that would always be successful, as it worked perfectly well those two nights, and probably many other nights of now forgotten childhood trauma and fear.   I came to understand that God was listening to me and I would be fine if I prayed.

The Catholics seem to have prayer categorized the most with petition prayers, prayers of absolution, tons of prayers for all kinds of occasions;  so many I won’t go into them.  I was raised Catholic and can still remember learning my prayers, especially the ones I needed to know when I went into that tall wooden box with the velvet curtain to tell the priest I had chewed gum at mass and lied to a nun.  “Say 5 Hail Mary’s, my child!”

Over the years I have studied various methods of prayer.  Centering prayer, Ignatius prayer, Lectio Divina, Walking Prayer, Chanting, Imaging, using art, music, and even sweat lodge prayers.  But I must say the most simple and efficient prayer for me consists of stopping what I’m doing and taking time to be with God.  Someone once said that all God wants from us at times is simply our presence.  We don’t have to pray or talk or even think.  I do believe that is probably the most perfect way of prayer.

And so I thank my mother for teaching me that simple act—that all I have to do is say a prayer and go back to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Things Bright and Beautiful

“We Christians have no monopoly on the Holy Spirit:  All those who are led by the Spirit of God are [daughters and] sons of God. (Romans 8:14)  No wonder, then, that a Buddhist who is not afraid of the pain it brings to be truly alive—birth pain, growing pain—should recognize the Holy Spirit as the ultimate source of all aliveness.  The Spirit blows where she wills. (John 3:8)  And no wonder that alive Christians recognize their sisters and brothers in the Holy Spirit anywhere.”

These are the words written by Brother David Steindl-Rast, OSB, in the forward of the book called “Living Buddha, Living Christ,” written by Thich Nhat Hanh.

There is a Buddhist nun I met about 20 years ago named Jun-san Yasuda, who lives near the Grafton Peace Pagoda near Albany, NY.  She is from the Nipponzan Myohoji order whose life mission is to walk and pray for peace and social justice.  She has lead several walks for peace throughout the United States, and especially through New York State.

In 2010 Jun-san was preparing to walk for the Proliferation of Nuclear Arms and was especially interested in calling attention to Native American reservations being used to store arms.  She needed to get to Buffalo, NY to talk with the native chief and other Indian leaders.  She remembered I helped her when she did a similar peace walk to commemorate the anniversary of the Underground Railroad.  This time, she not only needed a ride but a place to stay the night before.  I said yes, come, Jun-san!  It’s what everyone generally says to this remarkable woman… yes!

One late afternoon in March this 62 year old Buddhist nun stood at my doorstep in her yellow and white robe and blessed my house with her prayer drum and chanted:   

Na-mu-myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo: "One Earth, one sky, entirely at peace."

I welcomed her into my home.  That evening we got to talk about her life and her dedication to peace and a nuclear free world.  I also asked her about her family, did she have brothers and sisters; what did her parents think of her vocation?  It was good to get to know this saint of a figure as another woman, like me, same age, same generation, same desires for peace and compassion in the world.

That night before she went to sleep she alerted me that she would be up very early to do some personal meditation and prayers and that I could join her when I got up.  She said she would burn incense and not to worry if it smelled like something was burning in the house.

Sometime after 5:00 a.m. I did smell a pungent smoke rise up the stairway and greet me in this unusual way.  I wanted to drift back to sleep.  The bed was warm.  The room was cold.  I closed my eyes and then heard the gentle tapping of the prayer drum.  I heard the chanting of her low voice, sweet and mysterious.  When I made my way down to the first floor of the house Jun-san was seated on her mat on the dining room floor facing the large window that looks out at the back gardens.  Incense was burning on the table.  She had a chair waiting for me.  She perhaps knew it was not easy for me to get up and down off the floor.  So I sat quietly beside her and listened and prayed at that very early hour… something I don’t usually do until later in the morning.

When Jun-san stopped, she turned to me and gave me her prayer drum and said, “Marie-san… you pray now.”

I was taken aback, though I kept my cool.  I could do this.  I’ve been working in the faith community over 25 years and have assisted in plenty of worship services. But honestly, I didn’t have a clue as to what to say.  I took the wooden prayer drum from her hands and held it in mine, tapping a similar rhythm .  I looked out the window at the sun starting to lighten the sky and thought how very spiritual this moment was.  I began to sing a Christian hymn I’ve known for many years; “All things bright and beautiful; all creatures great and small.  All things wise and wonderful; the Lord God made them all.” 

“We Christians have no monopoly on the Holy Spirit:  All those who are led by the Spirit of God are [daughters and] sons of God. The Spirit blows where she wills

(Hang it… drape it… wear it… let it flow in the wind…

Offering a white scarf--called a khata--is an ancient Tibetan tradition. The color symbolizes purity of intention and aspiration. It is an ancient custom to bring an offering when visiting a temple, shrine, guru, or teacher.

An ancient Tibetan adage says that giving and receiving go hand in hand, like breathing in and breathing out--it is an a universal karmic principle that the more you give, the more you receive, which should not necessarily be understood in material terms only. The khata is given at the start of any enterprise or relationship and indicates the good intentions of the person’s offering it.


The 8 symbols etched in the cloth are:


1. The conch -- sound of the Dharma teachings, and given to disciples; it awakens them and urges them to accomplish their own and others' welfare.
2. The umbrella-- protection from illness & harmful forces, and from obstacles of sufferings
3. The victory banner-- the victory of the Buddhist Doctrine over all harmful and pernicious forces.
4. The golden fish-- the auspiciousness of all living beings in a state of fearlessness, without danger of drowning in the ocean of sufferings, and migrating from place to place freely and spontaneously, just as fish swim freely without fear through water.
5. The golden wheel-- the turning of the precious wheel of Buddha's doctrine, both in its teachings and realizations, in all realms and at all times, enabling beings to experience the joy of wholesome deeds and liberation.
6. The auspicious drawing-- the mutual dependence of religious doctrine and secular affairs; the union of wisdom and method, the inseparability of emptiness and dependence arising at the time of enlightenment, the complete union of wisdom and great compassion.
7. The lotus flower-- the complete purification of the defilements of the body, speech and mind, and the full blossoming of wholesome deeds in blissful liberation.
8. The treasure vase-- an endless reign of long life, wealth and prosperity and all the benefits of this world and liberation.

I have begun the tradition of offering a white khata to my personal spirit-teachers, though most likely none of them would consider themselves teachers. And yet all we do in life, we do in the form of either teaching, or learning… pupil.

This is the cycle of our relationships with one another.