Beyond the Beliefs

I was cleaning out stuff and I found the following crammed into a back pocket of a pair of blue jeans. I can’t for the life of me recall which friend handed it to me when. I do recall being told by the friend that she (or maybe it was he) thought Tarthang Tulku was Thai. Shows my friend isn’t into Buddhist niceties, Tarthang Tulku being a Tibetan lama. Meant as words for a chalice lighting, I thought it an appropriate invocation of the new day, any new day…

Beyond the beliefs of any religion,

there is the truth of the human spirit.

Beyond the power of nations,

there is the power of the human heart.

Beyond the ordinary mind,

the power of wisdom, love, and

healing energy is at work in the universe.

When we can find peace within our hearts,

We contact these universal powers.

This is our only hope.

(Tarthang Tulku)

Chalice Lighting (unison)

Darkness cannot drive out darkness

Only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate

Only love can do that.

(Martin Luther King, Jr)