Praying with the Religions of the World

Yuka Saionji then introduced the SOPP’s first core program, Praying with the Religions of the World. This program brings together prayer leaders from different faiths and spiritual traditions to lead participants in prayers for peace from their own traditions, in a powerful show of interfaith harmony and unity.

For the online format, each prayer leader recorded their prayer in advance, in their place of worship or at home. Each prayer leader began with a message for SOPP participants, and then offered a prayer on their own, followed by an additional short prayer for everyone to pray together. Participants were invited to join in the prayers using the subtitles provided on screen.

This year, prayer leaders from six world religions offered prayers, followed by a prayer from Byakko Chairperson Masami Saionji.

Sr. Elizabeth Greim (Christianity—Catholicism)

Daughter of Charity

Message

I would like to begin in the tradition of the Catholic faith: We do all things in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Every day in the morning liturgy of the hours and during the Mass—the Liturgy of the Eucharist—the church gathers to pray as one and speak with one voice words of Peace.

We pray these words found in the Gospel of St. Luke, when Zechariah speaks to John, his newborn son: “In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

At every Mass the celebrant will say to the congregation, “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” The congregation responds, “and with your spirit.” We are then invited to offer one another a sign of peace: a handshake, a smile, a hug, or a kiss. We are at peace with one another and with our brothers and sisters throughout the world.

 

Prayed by Sr. Greim in English

At times of fear and isolation Jesus comforts his followers with these words: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you.

Peace generously given to us by the Prince of Peace… we are compelled to share it with others. Peace given to us dispels the darkness… we are free of anxiety, distress, fear and confusion. When Peace fills our hearts there is no room for hatred, fear or anger.

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost.” Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.

Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us, and you call us to live as brothers and sisters.

Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea from those suffering in war or violence who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarrelling into forgiveness.

Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and our way of life always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam, AMEN.

(Prayer for World Peace offered by Pope Francis, January 1, 2022)

Prayed by all participants in English

Guide our steps in the way of Peace (repeated three times)

 

 

Rabbi Dr. Ariel Burger (Judaism)

Author, teacher, and artist; Founding Director and Senior Scholar of The Witness Institute

Message

The Hebrew word for compassion is rachamim, which comes from the word for ‘womb.’ It is a mother’s deepest love and caring for the child who began as a part of her, and is now an individual, unique person. The world is a baby in our arms, and the baby has a fever. Take a moment to visualize holding a sick child in your arms: What do you feel? When I do this exercise, I feel fierce concern and protectiveness, and also a tenderness as if my heart is melting. These two feelings together are compassion, the kind of compassion for every human being, and for the world as a whole, that we urgently need, and that we have the strength to offer.

 

Prayed by Dr. Burger in English

May it be Your will, Adonai, our God, and God of our ancestors,
That You annul war and bloodshed from the world,
And that You extend a vast and wondrous peace to the world.
And nation shall no longer take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war.
Rather, may all the Earth’s inhabitants recognize and know the essential truth:
That we’ve not come into this world for strife and divisiveness,
Nor for hatred, provocation, or bloodshed.
We have come to this world only to recognize and know You, Holy Blessed One, forever,
That through us may be manifested what is written:
“I shall grant peace in the land,
And you shall rest without fear,
And I will remove cruel beasts from the land,
And no sword will pass through your land.”
And let us say, Amen.

(Reb Noson Sternhartz (1780-1844), Likkutei Tefilot, II, 53, Ukraine)

 

Prayed by all participants

Amen, Amen, Amen

 

 

Imam Muhammed Rasit Alas (Islam)

Imam at Tokyo Camii (Mosque) and Turkish Cultural Center

Message

Humanity is responsible for this world of nature in which we live. In Islam, it is a serious fault to simply regard the things around us as objects of consumption. Every creature in this world was created to share in each other’s blessings; each individual existence has an irreplaceable value, and a meaning behind its birth in this world.

In Islam, human beings bear responsibility for the earth. The Prophet Muhammad preached that we must revive the rough land and sow seeds, so that plants and animals may be blessed once again. “If you have land, sow seeds there. If you cannot do that, encourage your brethren to sow.”

 

Prayed by Imam Alas in Arabic (following the Call to Prayer)

And remember when Job called to his Lord, “I have been touched with adversity, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.” The One who created me and guides me. The One who feeds me and waters me. And when I get sick, He heals me. The One who makes me die, and then revives me. The One who, I hope, will forgive my sins on the Day of the Reckoning. My Lord! Grant me wisdom and include me with the righteous. And give me a reputation of truth among the others. And make me of the inheritors of the Garden of Bliss.

 

Prayed by all participants in Japanese

I pray that all the world’s people may live in peace and good health. Amen.

 

 

Mr. Yuko Chiba (Shintoism)

Chief Priest at Rokkoshi Shrine

Message

It is none other than God’s good grace that we are born into this exceptionally precious blue planet, embraced in the universe where humans live together with a vast diversity of animals and plants, and are allowed to coexist with all wonders of nature on this planet in awe.

The same can be true of the human world. Even though we humans differ in the colors of our skin, in languages, cultures and religions, we are still able to coexist by respecting everyone’s uniqueness. However there seems to be no end of those fellows turning up believing, “I am the greatest one,” whilst their barbarous acts have caused wars since the dawn of history. This fact in itself can be said to be the most idiotic fault of the human race. People killing one another due to the differences in their religious beliefs and ideology which are meant to guide them into well-being should never be tolerated.

“God resides within all existing things!” Tuning ourselves into this teaching of God’s path, we must not refuse the teachings of other religions but recognize and value the true intention and the purpose of every faith one another. When every one of us gains a feeling of happiness through offering prayer not for our own sake but for the sake of others, whereupon will prevail peace on humanity of the earth. The time has now come where the power of the true “prayer” of every one of us merges into one harmony and serves as one huge vibration force capable of changing the world.

 

Prayed by Mr. Chiba in Japanese

(Same text as message above)

 

Prayed by all participants in Japanese

Gods of all the world
Please eradicate war from this world
And bestow on us a world at peace

 

 

Mr. Zengi Tanaka (Buddhism)

Chief Priest of Shiunzan Gokurakuji Temple

Message

My name is Zengi Tanaka, Chief Priest of Shiunzan Gokurakuji Temple. I am very honored to have the opportunity to speak to you on this very special occasion.

Although I am speaking to you through a screen, I would like to express my gratitude to each and every one of you for this opportunity to meet you. This year’s theme is ‘bringing out our inner compassion,’ and I believe that as this idea grows, it will lead to a healing of the earth.

Gokurakuji Daibutsuden, the Great Buddha of Hiroshima, has been charged with the momentous task of conveying the importance of peace to the world. This is never an easy undertaking.

The Daibutsu (Great Buddha), a symbol of peace that was at the center of Japan’s postwar recovery, has come to our temple after following a mysterious fate for half a century.

From the hypocenter of Hiroshima, the Daibutsu watched over the efforts of many thousands of people who believed that there was still a little bit of light; they believed in peace and worked to rebuild the city.

After disappearing for some fifty years, the Daibutsu returned and was enshrined in our temple, and from there we can pick up its history again. Having gone missing for half a century, the Daibutsu reveals the history of reconstruction and the energy of peace.

I believe that bringing out our inner compassion—the theme of this year’s SOPP—means living our lives to the fullest as human beings. We make this effort in the name of all the children, loved ones and families that passed away.

This altruistic thought is, I believe, the purest, most honest, and most beautiful thing. All people like beautiful things. This beauty is passed on to others and spreads with increasing speed. This is the reconstructed city of Hiroshima, and the current state of Japan. That reconstruction began with one person, and its ‘beauty’ has spread from person to person and is now moving from Japan to the rest of the world. It is our hope that we will inherit the beautiful hard work of peace and pass it on to the world and the planet Earth.

Let us take the baton of this relay and carry it together to our goal of healing the earth. Let us never forget that we are all born beautiful and pure.

 

Prayed by Mr. Tanaka in Sanskrit

Amida Nyorai Konpon Darani

Humbly I embrace the Three Treasures; Buddha, Dharma, and Buddhist monk.
Humbly I follow Buddha with infinite light and truth.
In other words; Om, the immortal; Amitabha Buddha with infinite life.
Thou were born from eternal ‘Kanro’; manna,
Immortal Kanro is thy source.
Thou hold immortal Kanro within.
Thou perfect immortal Kanro.
Thou are immortal with infinite majesty.
Thou hold infinite divine miracles.
And thou perform infinite divine miracles.
Eternal upper world admires thee.
Thou preach everlasting universality.
Thou fulfill all thy hopes.
Thou eliminate all karma and lust.
Let there be peace and fulfillment.

 

Prayed by all participants in Sanskrit

May our faith in Buddha Amida bring infinite warm light to our future. (repeated)

 

 

His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Vrajapati Swami (Hinduism)

President, Bhaktivedanta Institute
Former Global Council Trustee, United Religions Initiative

Message

Dear fellow brothers and sisters on this planet,

Namaste. The recent global events of the virus and war have shown us that we are all deeply connected, geographically, economically, and biologically. Events in one part of the world which we seemingly have nothing to do with, have a great impact on our lives and local surroundings.

Therefore, a global collective response is inevitable for an effective solution. However, if we only respond because we will be affected, then we are not acting to the full human potential of compassion and concern. Both science and religion point to a common ancestor to us. While scientific ancestry was biological, religious ancestry was both biological and spiritual. Similar to other religious traditions, in the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna declares that He is the spiritual Father and we are all His spiritual children.

Therefore, there is a natural love amongst us which is the breeding ground of compassion and unconditional giving for all beings. These virtues themselves are a great source of happiness and joy. Let there be compassion and unconditional giving because we are human beings and that is what being human is. The happiness of human beings should be somewhat different from that of other beings. Human happiness is seeing others happy. Then, there will be real peace and harmony.

 

Prayed by Bhaktisvarupa Vrajapati Swami in Sanskrit and English

In the revealed scriptures, the ultimate object of knowledge is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. The purpose of performing sacrifice is to please Him. Yoga is for realizing Him. All fruitive activities are ultimately rewarded by Him only. He is supreme knowledge, and all severe austerities are performed to know Him. Religion [dharma] is rendering loving service unto Him. He is the supreme goal of life.

(Reference: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  1.2.28-29)

 

Prayed by all participants in Sanskrit

Om śāntiḥ (peace) (repeated three times)

 

Lastly, Masami Saionji offered her own message, then read an original poem titled “Creation of the Universe” and led participants in the prayer May peace prevail on Earth.

The theme of this year’s Symphony of Peace Prayers is ‘Compassion—drawing out the love in our hearts to heal the earth.’

From day to day, all sorts of happenings are erupting on planet Earth—environmental destruction, conflicts, and a variety of other phenomena, and each human being is living in different circumstances.

However, even though our situations and standpoints are different, we all have one thing in common. Without exception, divine sanctity always resides in each human heart. No matter who it is, divine sanctity always resonates in each of our hearts.

What each of us human beings needs to do now is to reconnect with the divine sanctity that exists in our own heart. When each of us draws forth our divine sanctity, we reconnect with the earth and healing begins. And so, with an awareness of the divine sanctity that is within us, let us pray together for the peace and happiness of humankind.

 

Prayed by Mrs. Saionji in Japanese

Creation of the Universe

When we quiet our mind and pray, we feel the prayerful life of all living things.
Our prayers become the energy of love and healing, embracing the Earth, humanity, and all living things, and bringing all back to life.
The creation of a new planet Earth begins.
Even when human beings forget to pray, the earth, the seas, the mountains, and all living things go on praying
For the time when humanity will awaken.
When we quiet our mind and pray, we feel the prayerful life of all living things.
Our prayers become light, illuminating the divinity in each and every human being.
At that time, the Earth, humanity, all life and all living things become one,
And a new symphony of life resonates with the Universe.

 

Prayed by all participants in Japanese

May peace prevail on Earth (repeated three times)

Following Mrs. Saionji’s prayer, a message appeared on screen inviting participants to “take a moment and let the energy of these prayers resonate out to the world,” by closing their eyes and focusing their thoughts on sending out this prayer energy.

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