Practices Search Results
We ask for your mercy, Lover of Humanity, for our complicity in making 2014 a year of "historic failure" of human rights. All too often we have been so wrapped up and consumed by our work and family life that we have turned away from the humanitarian and refugee crises around the world. Forgive us for this spiritual irresponsibility as global citizens and give us the moral and ethical strength and courage to change our ways.
REPORT: In its annual report Amnesty International characterized 2014 as a low in human rights. It was "devastating" for civilians caught in the cross-hairs of war, and governments "failed miserably" to protect those most in need. "Government leaders have justified horrific human rights violations by talking of the need to keep the country 'safe'," states the report. "In reality, the opposite is the case. Such violations are one important reason why we live in such a dangerous world today. There can be no security without human rights." Amnesty International cites such events as the ongoing crisis in Syria, Israel's war against Gaza, the rise of non-state aggressors such as the Islamic State and Boko Haram, the Ukrainian conflict, and disappearances in Mexico as the more significant conflicts of the year. It says millions of citizens were killed last year while the number of displaced people around the world exceeded 50 million for the first time since the end of World War II. (commondreams.org)
July 6, 1915. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is 80 today. He is the political and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and teacher of nonviolence, and a convener of multifaith dialogues on science, religions, the emotions, and the mind. We have profiled him in our Living Spiritual Teachers Project.
In times that strain our resources, our energy, and our resilience, we need refreshment of spirit more than ever. The following prayer by Christine Valters Paintner — an American poet and writer living in Galway, Ireland, who founded the Abbey of the Arts — helps refill our wells by recalling all for which we can be grateful during this pandemic and by blessing all who find themselves in need. Our thanks to Christine for her permission to share this work-in-progress with you.
Praise Song for the Pandemic
Praise be the nurses and doctors, every medical staff bent over flesh to offer care, for lives saved and lives lost, for showing up either way,
Holy God of Openness and Peace, our hearts are broken as we mourn the deaths of three Muslim university students who were shot to death in their home in North Carolina. Their faith led Deah Barakat (23), his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha (21), and her sister Razan Abu-Salha (19) to serve humanity from the inner cities of North Carolina to Syrian and Palestinian refugee camps. May their family, friends, and community know that we share their grief over the loss of these beautiful ones.
We also ask you to watch over the soul of their neighbor, Craig Stephen Hicks, the violent and angry man who is being held for the murders. There are conflicting reports as to his motivation for this crime, but whatever the investigation reveals, it reminds us of the too-often deadly consequences of religious hate and bigotry.
REPORT: Hate crimes against Muslims in the United States skyrocketed after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In the last few years, specifically anti-Muslim crimes have made up about 13 or 14 percent of hate crimes considered to be committed with a religious bias. That amounts to nearly 100 anti-Islam hate crimes each year from 2011 to 2013, according to FBI data. (Harrison McClary for Reuters)
O Lover of Diversity and Freedom, nurture within us a love and respect for all the world's religions and help us to be active and effective spokespersons for the freedom of religions everywhere.
Amen.
Our friends in the Groundswell Movement are inviting people to send prayers and messages of solidarity to the Muslim community to show that we reject the hateful actions of this shooter and stand with them.
In a pre-dawn televised address on February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine as Russian forces invaded the country from Russia and Belarus in the east and north and by landing on the southern coasts from the Black Sea and Azov Sea. Within hours, Ukraine's military sites had been bombed and Russian troops had taken over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and Hostomel airport near the capital of Kyiv. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to defend their country while leaders in Europe and the United States considered their options to respond.
On Monday, April 3, 2017, Lion's Roar: Buddhist Wisdom for Our Time posted "Stand Against Suffering: An Unprecedented Call to Action by Buddhist Teachers," a call for Buddhists and all people of faith to hear the cries of a suffering world and respond with wisdom and love. This powerful document was signed by 13 leading Buddhist teachers from a range of traditions joined by more than 100 additional signatories.
What we do in emergency situations speaks volumes about who we are, as 22-year-old Mamoudou Gassama's courage and quick reflexes show. Upon seeing a child dangling from a fifth-storey Paris apartment balcony last Saturday (May 26, 2018), he scaled the building Spiderman-style and deftly hoisted the four-year-old to safety. Gassama's strength and flexibility alone were astonishing, but it is his complete lack of hesitation to come to the child's aid that earned him a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. President Macron offered Gassama a gold medal for "courage and devotion," French citizenship, and a job as a firefighter.
“I ran. I crossed the street to save him,” Gassama, from Mali, told Macron. “When I started to climb, it gave me courage to keep climbing.” He says God helped him, and adds “Thank God I saved him.”
The shock of losing a loved one or a community member to a terrorist's bomb or gunfire is no small thing. And there are no safe places anymore – not movie theaters, dance clubs, churches, airports.
Article: On Tuesday, June 28, the Ataturk Istanbul airport in Turkey was attacked by three suicide bombers. They came from Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan and authorities believe they were part of the terrorist group ISIS. 45 people were killed and hundreds were wounded.
According to the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), as of this writing in 2019 there are 68.5 million people displaced by war and violent conflict. Our human minds and hearts are not equipped to comprehend suffering on this scale. We can, however, hear human voices one at a time, and we can empathize with images that tap into our personal comprehension of suffering.
March 3, 2020: The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that "we are in uncharted territory" with more than 90,000 cases (and counting ...) of Covid19 worldwide. As of this writing, 73 countries and territories have documented cases.
January 29, 2020. The Associated Press reports that there are more than 5,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 132 deaths in China. Other countries have begun evacuating their citizens from Wuhan, the center of the outbreak since it first appeared in December. The symptoms include cough, fever, and pneumonia. As of this writing, cases have been reported in the United States, Australia, Cambodia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. The outbreak has affected international sporting events and travel, including travel within China for the Chinese New Year.