a simple thing
A short prayer for compassion for all beings changes things.
Somewhere along the line of my vegan/spiritual journey, I came across a short, affirmative prayer for compassion:
Compassion encircles the earth for all beings everywhere.
The prayer is uttered every day by people like me who have discovered it through the Circle of Compassion website here, or the World Peace Diet website here, or perhaps by meeting someone from whom they learned it. The idea is that every day at noon, we take a moment to stop and mindfully repeat this prayer.
Compassion encircles the earth for all beings everywhere.
Turns out, I find myself saying it almost every time I am out on a walk or a run. Invariably, I will see a squirrel or a bird or deer tracks or a butterfly or a dog, and the prayer comes to my lips. Sometimes, it is a person crossing my path that brings the prayer up in my heart. I usually say it four or five times in English, and then I say it as many times again in French.
Compassion encircles the earth for all beings everywhere.
It changes things. It changes me. In the years that I have been saying this simple prayer, and visualizing compassion encircling the earth, it has helped me to rediscover and feel the depths of my own compassion. It has helped me to feel my own connection with other beings. And those feelings change how I travel through life.
Such a simple thing.
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Originally published at http://verulomar.wordpress.com on June 26, 2021.
