In this short Life that only lasts an hour
How much - how little - is within our power
-- Emily Dickinson
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Through your blessing, grace, and guidance, through the power of
the light that streams from you:
May all my negative karma, destructive emotions, obscurations,
and blockages be purified and removed,
May I know myself forgiven for all the harm I may have thought
and done,
May I accomplish this profound practice of phowa, and die a good
and peaceful death,
And through the triumph of my death, may I be able to benefit all
other beings, living or dead.
-- Tibetan Book of the Dead
Read MoreWhen great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.
When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.
And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.
-- Maya Angelou
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My daily practice is to wake and
immediately bring my attention to this thought:
“I am one day closer to my death. So how will I live
this day? How will I greet those I meet?
How will I bring soul to each moment?
I do not want to waste this day.”
-- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
Read MoreEternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury
of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and
increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we
might not despair nor become despondent, but with
great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will,
which is Love and Mercy itself.
We trust that beyond absence there is a presence.
That beyond the pain there can be healing.
That beyond the brokenness there can be wholeness.
That beyond the anger there may be peace.
That beyond the hurting there may be forgiveness.
That beyond the silence there may be the word.
That beyond the word there may be understanding.
That through understanding there is love.
-- Unknown
Read MoreThere is sacredness in tears.
They are not the mark of weakness, but of power.
They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues.
-- Washington Irving
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The rays of light filtered through
The sentinels of trees this morning.
I sat in the garden and contemplated.
The serenity and beauty
Of my feelings and surroundings
Completely captivated me.
I thought of you.
I discovered you tucked away
In the shadows of the trees.
Then, rediscovered you
In the smiles of the flowers
As the sun penetrated their petals
In the rhythm of the leaves
Falling in the garden
In the freedom of the birds
As they fly searching as you do.
I’m very happy to have found you,
Now you will never leave me
For I will always find you in the beauty of life.
-- Walter Rinder
Read MoreI shall live beyond death, and I shall sing in your ears
Even after the vast sea-wave carries me back
To the vast sea-depth.
I shall sit at your board though without a body,
And I shall go with you to your fields, a spirit invisible.
I shall come to you at your fireside, a guest unseen.
Death changes nothing but the masks that cover our faces.
The woodsman shall be still a woodsman,
The ploughman, a ploughman,
And he who sang his song to the wind shall sing it also to
the moving spheres.
-- Kahlil Gibran, from The Garden of The Prophet
Read MoreThere is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
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I carry your heart with me (I carry it in
My heart) I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
By only me is your doing, my darling
I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want
No world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
And it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
And whatever a sun will always sing is you
Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
And the sky of a tree called life; which grows
Higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
And this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)
-- ee cummings
Read MoreMay perpetual light shine upon
The face of he who rests here.
May the remembering earth
Mind every memory he brought.
May the rains from the heavens
Fall gently upon him.
May the wildflowers and grasses
Whisper their wishes into the light.
May we reverence the village of presence
In the stillness of this silent field.
-- Adapted from a poem by John Donohue
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Her early leaf’s a flower
But only so an hour
Then leaf subsides to leaf
So Eden sank to grief
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.
-- Robert Frost
Read MoreOur friend ______ has left her body, has left it here for us to tend to and send on its final journey from this place.
This is a difficult moment.
Even though she has died and we know this must be done, still…
We don’t want to begin the work of releasing.
And we will, but first, let’s thank this home/hospital/care center that has
sheltered her in her last days, through the work of dying.
Thank you for holding _______ and bringing us here to be with her.
Thank you for your sheltering roof.
Thank you for the care she has been given.
Goodbye. Godspeed _______.
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Almighty God, thank Thee for the job of this day.
May we find gladness in all its toil and difficulty,
its pleasure and success,
and even in its failure and sorrow.
We would look always away from ourselves,
and behold the glory and the need of the world
that we may have the will and the strength to bring
the gift of gladness to others;
that with them we stand to bear
the burden and heat of the day
and offer Thee the praise of work well done.
Amen.
-- Bishop Charles Lewis Slattery
Read MoreThose who are worn out and crushed by this mourning,
let your hearts consider this: This is the path that has existed from the time
of creation and will exist forever.
Many have drunk from it and many will yet drink.
As was the first meal, so shall be the last.
May the master of comfort comfort you.
Blessed are those who comfort the mourners.
-- Jewish blessing
Read MoreI give thanks to those that I am about to invite!
I ask that this room, this home or building and the grounds become a sacred space.
I invite the Divine to be present.
I invite Great Spirit, Mother Father God to be present.
I invite Great Mystery to be present.
I invite the Compassionate and loving Ancestors to be present and I give thanks to them, because with out them we couldn't be here.
I invite the Great Teachers and Masters to be present, especially those that we have connections to and affiliations with.
I invite the Angels, the great beings of light, especially the Archangels, the guardian angels angels of love and the angels of healing.
I invite the Power Animals, the Totems, and I give thanks to them for loaning their power, their qualities, their protection and for relationship.
I invite the Healing Spirits of all the realms and give thanks for the healing that I know is going to happen.
I invite the Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Sacred Space...and I ask for a balancing and harmonizing of the Elements.
I invite the Compassionate Spirits and Devas.
I Invite the Earth, the Sun and the Moon.
I give thanks to the Stars and the Compassionate Star People.
I invite the Directions and the Guardians of the Directions
I invite the Four Great Winds.
I give thanks to the Great Spirits of the Land and I ask to be in harmony with you and to prosper here.
I give thanks to the Spirits of this place for allowing this work and this prayer to happen here in a good way.
And as always, I give thanks in advance for the blessings that I know will happen here.
-- Betsy Bergstrom
Read MoreI am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys.
As a lily among the thistles, so is my beloved among girls.
As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my love among young men. In his delightful shade I sit, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
He has taken me to his cellar, and his banner over me is love.
Feed me with raisin cakes, restore me with apples, for I am sick with love.
His left arm is under my head, his right embraces me.
I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, by all gazelles and wild does, do not rouse, do not wake my beloved before she pleases.
BELOVED: I hear my love. See how he comes leaping on the mountains, bounding over the hills.
My love is like a gazelle, like a young stag. See where he stands behind our wall. He looks in at the window, he peers through the opening.
My love lifts up his voice, he says to me, 'Come then, my beloved, my lovely one, come.
For see, winter is past, the rains are over and gone.
'Flowers are appearing on the earth. The season of glad songs has come, the cooing of the turtledove is heard in our land.
The fig tree is forming its first figs and the blossoming vines give out their fragrance. Come then, my beloved, my lovely one, come.
'My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock, in the coverts of the cliff, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.'
Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that make havoc of the vineyards, for our vineyards are in fruit.
My love is mine and I am his. He pastures his flock among the lilies.
Before the day-breeze rises, before the shadows flee, return! Be, my love, like a gazelle, like a young stag, on the mountains of Bether.
Read MoreI lay my head to rest
and in doing so
lay at your feet
the faces I have seen
the voices I have heard
the words I have spoken
the hands I have shaken
the service I have given
the joys I have shared
the sorrows revealed.
I lay them at your feet
and in doing so
lay my head to rest
-- A Cornish blessing
Read MoreGreat Spirit, Divine One, Creator
Who is heaven earth rock wind insect tree fox
Human of every size shape color
Holy are your infinite names chanted sung whispered
We will midwife the rebirth of Gaia
As best we can
Restoring the Great Law of Peace.
Guide our hands to the soil and seed
Honoring the alchemy of food.
Let us remember your abundance
And share the bread of life with any who hunger.
We are for giving
And giving and giving.
We trust in the give-away.
We give and receive.
Let us be humble before the darkness and the light
Walking in harmony amidst them.
Give us courage to know them intimately
Both within and without.
For you have breathed it all---
The behind, the above, the below, the beyond.
Your awesome power courses in our veins
And animates our hearts.
You are the Great Drum.
We thank you.
-- Caudia L'amoreaux from "King James to Gaian"
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