Peace is the Necessity for Existence
In all the religious and spiritual traditions throughout the world, the aspiration for peace is expressed. In so many of the spiritual teachings and practices, prayers of peace as a necessity for living a life of truth and freedom is a constant theme.
People yearn for peace as a prerequisite for people to live with and “next door” to each other. For people to be able to pursue life and those aspects of life of that make life satisfying and worth living.
To be able to live life and pursue happiness free from fear is the heartfelt desire of every parent and everyone in every community who understands that it is through stable and lasting peace that humanity’s greatest achievements come into being.
In our own time, peace is the necessity for solving global warming, economic disparity, world hunger, political and social repression and the myriad of other problems that we face.
Let us all continue to hope for peace, to pray for peace and to practice peace in our every thought, word and deed.
All languages have their own words for peace…
Afrikaans: Vrede, Aragonese: Patz, Arabic: سلام (salām),
Haitian Creole (Kreyol): Lapè, Aymara: Hacaña,
Bulgarian: Мир (mir), Bengali: শান্তি (śānti), Tibetan: ཞི་བདེ (zhi-bde),
Catalan: Pau, Chamorro: Minaggen, Cherokee: ᏙᎯᏱ (dohiyi), Welsh: heddwch,
Danish: Fred, German: Friede, Greek: Ειρήνη (iríni), Esperanto: Paco,
Spanish: Paz, Basque: Baké, Persian/Farsi: صلح (solh), French: Paix,
Irish: Síocháin, Manx: Shee, Hebrew: שלום (shalom), Hindi: शांति (śānti),
Igbo: Udo, Icelandic: Friður, Japanese: 平和 (heiwa), Maori: Rangima’arie,
Nohopuku, Rongo, Dutch: Vrede, Polish: Pokój, Russian: Мир (mir)
Scots: Pace Thai: สันติภาพ (santipap) Turkish: Barış Italian: Pace
Here is a compilation of Prayers for Peace from different world traditions…
Prayer for Peace (Russia & Ukraine), Buddhist Prayer
Written by Rev. Daishin Senpai, M.A,
We pray for peace in the world.
May all beings everywhere, seen and unseen,
close and far away
Be free from harm and danger.
May those who are entangled in the Russo-Ukrainian war
Civilian or military,
Be free from harm and danger.
We pray for all those already injured in this war,
May they quickly heal their bodies and emotions.
We pray for all those who have lost their lives during this conflict,
May they find fulfillment in the next life or in the Pure Land.
We pray that wisdom and compassion will prevail.
We pray that the leaders of these two countries can find a swift agreement for peace,
For the equal benefit of both of their peoples.
We pray that the nations of the world can work in harmony for the lastly benefit of the human race, other species, and the environment.
We pray for peace. Namu Amida Butsu
A Prayer for World Peace, 1978
We pray for the power to be gentle;
the strength to be forgiving;
the patience to be understanding;
and the endurance to accept the consequences
of holding on to what we believe to be right.
May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil and the power of love to overcome hatred.
We pray for the vision to see and the faith to believe
in a world emancipated from violence,
a new world where fear shall no longer lead men or women to commit injustice,
nor selfishness make them bring suffering to others.
Help us to devote our whole life and thought and energy
to the task of making peace,
praying always for the inspiration and the power
to fulfill the destiny for which we and all men and women were created.
- Author Unknown,
Buddhist Prayer for Peace
May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid, and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power, and may people think of befriending one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless, fearfulwildernesses--the children, the aged, the unprotected--be guarded by beneficent celestials, and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood.
- Author Unknown
Baha'i Prayer for Peace
Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity.
Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech.
Be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness, and a home to the stranger.
Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring.
Be a breath of life to the body of humankind, a dew to the soil of the human heart, and a fruit upon the tree of humility.
- Baha’u’llah
Christian Prayer for Peace
Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be known as the Children of God.
But I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
To those who strike you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from those who take away your cloak, do not withhold your coat as well.
Give to everyone who begs from you, and of those who
take away your goods, do not ask for them again.
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
- Author Unknown
Jewish Prayer for Peace
Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
that we may walk the paths of the Most High.
And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares,
and our spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation-
neither shall they learn war any more.
And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.
- Author Unknown
Native American Prayer for Peace
O Great Spirit of our Ancestors, I raise my pipe to you.
To your messengers the four winds, and to Mother Earth who
provides for your children.
Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect, and to be kind to each other so that they may grow with peace in mind.
Let us learn to share all the good things you provide for us on this Earth.
- Author Unknown
