The purpose of this page is simply to publish prayers and other pieces that inspire us and elevate our minds, passages that speak to the heart and need no other explanation or justification. Further down this page can also be found the various prayers and chants used by the Dhyana Centre in its occasional devotional services.                            

DOWNLOAD: the complete 9 page prayer & bhajan guide used in the Centre’s devotional services can be either viewed or downloaded in PDF format by clicking here.             

The Clear Light Prayer

[A beautiful testimony by a modern seer of the Mohican (Native American) tradition]

Now I am experiencing the Clear Light of Perfected Reality.
Nothing is happening, nothing ever has happened
or ever will happen.
My present sense of self, the Voyager,
is in reality the Void itself,
having no qualities or characteristics.
I remember myself as the Voyager,
whose deepest nature is the Clear Light itself.
I am one, there is no other.
I am the voidness of the Void, the eternal unborn,
the uncreated, neither real nor unreal.
All that I have been conscious of is my own play of consciousness,
a dance of light, swirling patterns of light in infinite extension, endless endlessness,
the Absolute beyond change, existence, reality.
I, the Voyager, am inseparable from the Clear Light.
I cannot be born, die, exist, or change.
I know now that this is my True Nature.

The Paradox of Our Time

(an amazing letter written by an American high school girl following the Columbine massacre)

The paradox of our time in history
is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;
wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints;
we spend more, but have less;
we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families;
more conveniences, but less time;
we have more degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgment;
more experts, but less solutions;
more medicine, but less wellness.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values;
we talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too;
we’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life;
we’ve added years to life, not life to years;
we’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble
crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.

We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space;
we’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul;
we’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice;
we have higher incomes, but lower morals;
we’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of tall men and short character;
steep profits and shallow relationships.
These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare;
more leisure, but less fun;
more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce;
of fancier houses, but broken homes.
It is a time when there is much in the shop window and nothing in
the storehouse;
a time when technology can bring this letter to you,
and a time when you can choose either to forward this message,
make somebody think, and make a difference……
or just hit Delete.

Hymn to Saraswati

(SARASVATISTOTRA from the TANTRASARA: translated by Sir John Woodroffe and published in “Hymns to the Goddess and Hymn to Kali”, Ganesh and Company, Chennai, 1913)

HRIM, HRIM is Thy most pleasing bija,
O Thou whose moon-like beauty is heightened
By the lotuses which surround Thee.
O auspicious and favourable Devi!
Forest fire of the forest of evil thoughts,
Whose lotus feet are worshipped by the universe.
O lotus seated upon a lotus,
Joy dost Thou cause to those who salute Thee,
Destroyer of ignorance,
Spouse of Hari,
Substance of the world.

AIM, AIM is Thy favourite mantra,
Thou who art both form and formlessness,
Who art the wealth of the lotus face of the lotus-born,
Embodiment of all gunas, yet devoid of attributes,
Changeless, and neither gross nor subtle.
None know Thy nature, nor is Thy inner reality known.
Thou art the whole universe;
And Thou it is who existeth within it.
Thou art saluted by the foremost of Devas.
Without part Thou existeth in Thy fulness everywhere.
Ever pure art Thou.

Greatly art Thou pleased with the recitation of the mantra HRIM.
Thy crown is as white as snow.
Thy hands play with the vina.
O Mother! Mother! Salutation to Thee.
Burn, burn my sloth and grant me great intelligence.
Thou art knowledge itself.
The Vedanta ever sings of Thee.
Shruti speaks of Thee.
O giver of liberation! O way to liberation!
Whose power is beyond all understanding.
O giver of happiness, adorned with a white necklace,
Grant to me Thy favours.

Thou art intelligence, intelligence, intelligence,
Thy names are memory, resolution, mind and hymn of praise.
Eternal and fleeting,
Great cause, saluted by Munis,
New and old; sacred current of virtue,
Saluted by Hari and Hara.
Ever pure, beauteous of colour,
The subtlest element of things –
Yea, even the very half thereof.
Thou art the giver of intelligence, intelligence, intelligence.
Who art the giver of joy to Madhava.

In the form of HRIM, KSIM, DHIM, HRIM,
Thou holdest a book,
Thou art joyful, of smiling face and of good fortune.
Innocence, current of charm,
With all powers of arrest.
Burn, burn my sin,
And dispel the darkness of my evil thoughts.
O praiseworthy of all!
Thou art Gih, Gauh, Vak and Bharati.
It is Thou who grantest success to the greatest of poets,
As also in the attainment of all forms of knowledge.

I pray to Thee, I pray to Thee, I bow to Thee,
Come to my tongue and never leave me.
May my intelligence never go astray,
May my sins be taken away,
May I be free from sorrow.
In time of peril may I never be bewildered.
May my mind work freely without impediment
in Shastra, disputation and verse.

Listen, O dearly beloved (Ibn ‘Arabi)

[What follows is part of a chapter from the Kitab al-Tajalliyat by Ibn ‘Arabi, translated in the form of a poem by Henry Corbin in “Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi”.]

Listen, O dearly beloved!
I am the reality of the world,
the centre of the circumference,
I am the parts and the whole.

I am the will established between Heaven and Earth,
I have created perception in you
only in order to be the object of my perception.
If then you perceive Me, you perceive yourself.
But you cannot perceive Me through yourself,
It is through my eyes that you see Me and see yourself,
Through your eyes you cannot see Me.

Dearly beloved!
I have called you so often and you have not heard Me
I have shown myself to you so often and you have not seen Me.
I have made myself fragrance so often,
and you have not smelled Me.

Savorous food, and you have not tasted Me.
Why can you not reach Me through the object you touch
Or breathe Me through sweet perfumes?
Why do you not see Me?
Why do you not hear Me?

For you My delights surpass all other delights
And the pleasure, I Procure you surpasses all other pleasures.
For you I am preferable to all other good things.

I am Beauty!
I Am Grace!
Love Me.
Love Me alone!

Love yourself in Me,
in Me alone.
Attach yourself to Me,
No One is more inward than I.

Others love you for their own sakes.
I love you for yourself.
And you, you flee from Me.

Dearly beloved!
You cannot treat Me fairly,
for if you approach Me,
it is because I have approached you.
I am nearer to you than yourself.
Than your soul, than your breath.

Who among creatures would treat you as I do?
I am jealous of you over you.
I want you to belong to no other, not even to yourself.
Be mine, be for Me, as you are in Me,
though you are not even aware of it.

Dearly beloved!
Let us go toward Union.
And if we find the road that leads to separation.
we will destroy separation.

Let us go hand in hand.
Let us enter the presence of Truth.
Let it be our judge,
and imprint its seal upon our Union for ever.

Sai Prayer  (Sathya Sai Baba)

O Lord, take my love and let it flow in fulness of devotion to Thee
O Lord, take my hands and let them work incessantly for Thee
O Lord, take my soul and let it be merged in one with Thee
O Lord, take my mind and thoughts and let them be in tune with Thee
O Lord, take my everything. Let me be an instrument of Thee.

Saraswati Mantra    (click here to play or download)

OM Ayim Srim Hrim, Saraswati Devyai Namaha

Vedic Blessing

Lokaa samasthaa sukhino bhavantu (x3) OM shanti, shanti, shantihi

[May all the people in the world be happy. OM peace, peace, peace]

MULTI-FAITH PRAYERS AND CHANTS

(as used in the Dhyana Centre’s devotional services)

 Buddhist chants

(each line to be repeated after chant leader)

(Adoration)
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa

(Triple Refuge)
Buddham Saranam Gacchami
Dhammam Saranam Gacchami
Sangham Saranam Gacchami

Dutiyam Pi Buddham Saranam Gacchami
Dutiyam Pi Dhammam Saranam Gacchami
Dutiyam Pi Sangham Saranam Gacchami

Tatiyam Pi Buddham Saranam Gacchami
Tatiyam Pi Dhammam Saranam Gacchami
Tatiyam Pi Sangham Saranam Gacchami

(Five Precepts – Pansil)
Panatipata Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Adinnadana Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Kamesu Micchachara Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Musavada Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Sura-Meraya-Majja-Pamadatthana Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami

 Hindu chants

Om Shiva, Om Shiva, Om Namah Shiva

(Tryambakam)                          (repeat 3 times in unison)
Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanaat
Mrityor Muksheeya Maamritat
Om Shivaya Namaha

(Gayatri Mantra)                      (repeat 3 times in unison)
Om Bhur Bhuvah Swaha
Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi
Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayat

Om Tat Sat Hari Om

(Universal Vedic Prayer)         (repeat once in unison)
Asato Maa Sadgamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotirgamaya
Mrithyor Maa Amritham Gamaya
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shantihi

 Christian prayers

(recite once in unison)

(Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father, Who Art In Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name,
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven,
Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread And Forgive Us Our Trespasses
As We Forgive Those That Trespass Against Us
And Lead Us Not Into Temptation But Deliver Us From Evil
For Thine Is The Kingdom, The Power And The Glory,
For Ever And Ever, Amen.

(Hail Mary)
Hail Mary, Full Of Grace, The Lord Is With Thee.
Blessed Art Thou Amongst Women And
Blessed Is The Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother Of God, Pray For Us Sinners Now
And At The Hour Of Our Death, Amen.

(Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi)
Lord, Make Me An Instrument Of Thy 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.

(Glory Be)
Glory Be To The Father And To The Son And To The Holy Spirit,
As It Was In The Beginning, Is Now And Ever Shall Be,
World Without End, Amen.

 Multi-faith beatitudes

(each line to be repeated after chant leader)

OM Blessed Be God
OM Blessed Be Your Many Holy Names
OM Blessed Be Your Manifestation In All Of Creation
OM Blessed Be Your Presence In All Of Life
OM Blessed Be Your Presence Within Our Consciousness
OM Blessed Be Your Presence Installed In Our Hearts
OM Blessed Be Your Presence Here In (This Room)
OM Blessed is God

 108 Names of Divine Mother, Mahalakshmi

[with acknowledgement to the Community of the Many Names of God, Skanda Vale]