A Universal offering of Well-Being
May everyone enjoy a sense of fulfillment.
May those we elect to provide leadership do so wisely.
May we always ensure the welfare of the animals who nourish our bodies
and the wise who nourish our minds and hearts.
May everyone be content.
May the rains grace the Earth when her thirst needs to be quenched.
May the Earth yield abundantly and well of her produce.
May the planet’s inhabitants be free from famine.
May the contemplative among us have no reason to fear us.
May everyone be happy.
May everyone be free of illness.
May everyone enjoy prosperity.
May none suffer needlessly.
This Invocation for Universal Well-Being (Svasti prajabhyah)
concludes with the well-known Sanskrit prayer that so clearly juxtaposes
the conflict of duality in which we live with the fullness of Oneness
that is our essential nature and points the way to a better understanding of reality:
~ ~ ~
May we distinguish the false from the real.
May the darkness of ignorance give way to the light of wisdom in us.
May we rid ourselves of the self-imposed limitations that prevent us from
realizing our ever-expanding potential as vehicles through which
the mortality of the many is understood as the immortality of the One.
The three Shantis chanted at the end of a Sanskrit invocation
are usually translated simply as “Peace. Peace. Peace.”
However,
they are traditionally directed to the three sources from which obstacles are known to come.
The first,
chanted loudly, is directed to the cosmos at large,
with its more violent distractions such as earthquakes, volcanoes, lightning, and thunder.
The second,
chanted in a normal voice, is meant for our immediate surroundings—
telephones, doorbells, people wanting something, and the like.
The third Shanti,
perhaps the most important one of all, is chanted to oneself
and addresses our own busy mind:
May we not be distracted from our course by calamities brought on by the cosmic forces,
nor by the disruptions that occur around us,
nor by the confusion and chaos of our own minds.
May everyone on this vast and beautiful planet know
the Well-Being, Peace, and Love that is our birthright.
~ ~ ~
“Peace. Peace. Peace.”