 to the index SACRED
READINGS ARCHIVE
UNIVERSAL WORSHIP Theme: Nature Toward the One,... (after lighting taper) To the glory of the Omnipresent God, we kindle the light symbolically representing the...Hindu Religion, Buddhist Religion, Zoroastrian Religion, Native American Religion, Divine Feminine, Jewish Religion, Christian Religion, Religion of Islam (lighting each candle with the word kindle.) To the glory of the Omnipresent God, we kindle the light
symbolically
representing all those who whether known or unknown to the world, have
held
aloft the light of Truth through the
darkness of human ignorance. (lighting the Spirit of Guidance
candle) Let us pray. Saum Praise be to thee...(while facing the God candle) We will read from the World Scriptures We read in the Hindu Scriptures Consecration, Austerity, Prayer, and Ritual--these uphold the Earth. May she, Queen of what has been and will be, make a wide world for us. Earth, which has many heights and slopes and the unconfined plain that bind men together, Earth that bears plants of various healing powers, may she spread wide for us and thrive. Earth, in which lie the sea, the river, and other waters, in which food and cornfields have come to be, in which live all that breathes and that moves, may she confer on us the finest of her yield.... Set me, O Earth, amidst what is thy center and thy navel, and vitalizing forces that emanate from thy body. Purify us from all sides. Earth is my Mother; her son am I; and Heaven my Father: may he fill us with plenty.... There lies the fire within the Earth, and in plants, and waters carry it; the fire is in stone. There is a fire deep within men, a fire in the kine, and a fire in horses: The same fire that burns in the heavens; the mid-air belongs to this divine Fire. Men kindle this fire that bears the oblation and loves the melted butter. May Earth, clad in her fiery mantle, dark-kneed, make me aflame; may she sharpen me bright.... Whatever I dig from thee, Earth, may that have quick growth again. O purifier, may we not in As a horse scatters dust, so did Earth, since she was born, scatter the people who dwelt on the land, and she supporter of forest trees and plants. What I [Earth] speak, I speak with sweetness; what I look at endears itself to me; and I am fiery and impetuous: others who fly at me with wrath I smite down. Peaceful, sweet-smelling, gracious, filled with milk, and bearing nectar in her breast, may Earth give with the milk her blessings to me. the fulfiller of wishes, far-extending. Whatever is wanting in thee is filled by Pra May those born of thee, O Earth, be, for our welfare, free from sickness and waste. Wakeful through a long life, we shall become bearers of tribute for thee. Earth, my Mother! set me securely with bliss in full accord with Heaven. Wise One, uphold me in grace and splendor. 18.
Hinduism. Atharva Veda 12.1 We offer to the Omniscient God, our reverence, our homage,
and our
gratitude for the Light of the Divine Wisdom. We will read in the Buddhist Scriptures On the
eastern side of this Himalaya, the king of mountains, are green-flowing
streams, having their source in slight and gentle mountain slopes;
blue, white,
and the hundred-leafed, the white lily and the tree of paradise, in a
region
overrun and beautified with all manner of trees and flowing shrubs and
creepers, resounding with the cries of swans, ducks, and geese,
inhabited by
troops of monks and ascetics.... 16.
Buddhism. Jataka We offer to the Omniscient God, our reverence, our homage,
and our
gratitude for the Light of the Divine Compassion We will read in the Zoroastrian Scriptures Up! Rise up and roll along! Thou immortal, shining, Swift-steeded Sun! Above the Mountains! Produce Light for the World! From the From the never-failing Springs We worship the Holy Breath Which is placed higher Than all the other things created Golden-hued plants grow up from the Earth during the Spring And impart their gifts of Food unto Men. This wide Earth do I praise, Expanded far with paths, The productive, the full-bearing, Thy Mother, Holy Plant! For the vigor of Healthy, Health of the Body, Wise, bright and clear-eyed, with swiftness of foot, Quick hearing of the ears, strength of the arms And eye-sight of the eagle The Holy Preserver! The Maintainer! It is She Who will restore the World! Which will thenceforth never grow old and never die! Ever living and ever increasing When Creation will grow deathless We follow the paths of the Stars, The Moon, the Sun and the endless Light, Moving around in their revolving circle Forever. And Truthfulness in Thought, Word and Deed Will place the Soul of faithful man In the endless light of Eternal Life. I will invoke Peace, whose breath is friendly, Who is more powerful than all other creatures. In the reign of Peace, there is neither hunger nor thirst, Neither cold wind nor hot wind, Neither old age nor death. The Zend Avesta of Zarathustra We offer to the Omniscient God, our reverence, our homage,
and our
gratitude for the Light of the Divine Purity We will read in the Scriptures of Indigenous People Our earth mother Will wrap herself in a fourfold robe of white meal, Full of frost flowers; A floor of ice will spread over the world, The forests because of the cold will lean to one side, Their arms will break beneath the weight of snow. When the days are thus, The flesh of our earth mother will crack with cold. Then in the spring when she is replete with living waters, Our mothers, All different kinds of corn, In their earth mother we shall lay to rest. With their earth mother's living waters They will be made into new beings; Into their sun father's daylight They will come out standing; Yonder to all directions They will stretch out their hands calling for rain. Then with their fresh waters The rain makers will pass us on our roads. Clasping their young ones [the ears of corn] in their arms, They will rear their children. Gathering them into our houses, Following these toward whom our thoughts bend, With our thoughts following them, Thus we shall always live. 17.
Native American Religions. Zuni Song We offer to the Omniscient God, our reverence, our homage,
and our
gratitude for the Light of the Divine Nature We will read in the Scriptures from the tradition of the
Great Goddess
and the re-emergence of the feminine in our time. The
earth was once a human being: Old One made her out of a woman. "You
will
be the Mother of all people," he said. Earth
is alive yet, but she has changed. The soil is her flesh, the rocks are
her
bones, the wind is her breath, trees and grass her hair. She lives
spread out,
and we live on her. When she moves we have an earthquake. After
taking the woman and changing her to earth, Old One gathered some of
her flesh
and rolled it into balls, as people do with mud or clay. He made the
first
group of these balls into the ancients, the beings of the early world.
The
ancients were people, yet also animals. In form some looked human while
others
walked on all fours like animals. Some could fly like birds; others
could swim
like fishes. All had the gift of speech, as well as greater powers and
cunning
than either animals or people. Besides
the ancients, real people and real animals lived on the earth at that
time. Old
One made the people out of the last balls of mud he took from the
earth. He
rolled them over and over, shaped them like Indians, and blew on them
to bring
them alive. They were so ignorant that they were the most helpless of
all the
creatures Old One had made. Old One made people and animals into males
and females
so that they might breed and multiply. Thus
all living beings came from the earth. When we look around, we see part
of our
Mother everywhere. 19.
Native American Religions. We offer to the Omniscient God, our reverence, our homage,
and our gratitude for the Light of the
Divine Love We will read in the Jewish Scriptures The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the world and those
who dwell therein. 1. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Psalm 24.1 We offer to the Omniscient God, our reverence, our homage,
and our
gratitude for the Light of the Divine Law We will read in the Christian Scriptures Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for
your life,
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what
ye shall
put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit
unto his
stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider
the lilies of
the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And
yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one
of these.
Wherefore,
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow
is cast
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we
eat? or,
What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For
after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father
knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for
the morrow
shall take thought for the things of itself. Matthew
6: 25-34 We offer to the Omniscient God, our reverence, our homage, and our gratitude for the Light of the Divine Self-Sacrifice We will read in the Scriptures of Islam Do you yourselves sow it, or are We the Sowers? Did We will, We would make it broken orts, and you will remain bitterly "We are debt-loaded; nay, we have been robbed." Have you considered the water you drink? Did you send it down from the clouds, or did We send it? Did We will, We would make it bitter; so why are you not thankful? Have you considered the fire you kindle? Did you make its timber to grow, or did We make it? We Ourselves made it for a reminder, and a boon to the desert-dwellers. 5.
Islam. Qur'an 56.63-73 We offer to the Omniscient God, our reverence, our homage,
and our
gratitude for the Light of the Divine
Unity We will now have a few minutes of silence (three minutes) Let us pray Salat Most gracious Lord, Master Messiah,...(facing the God candle) ( There
is One Holy book, the Sacred manuscript of nature, the only
scripture which can enlighten the reader. Most
people consider as sacred scriptures only certain books or scrolls
written by the hand of man, and carefully preserved as holy, to be
handed down
to posterity as divine revelation….The Sufi has in all ages respected
all such
books, and has traced in…[them] the same truth which [s]he reads in the
incorruptible manuscript of nature, the only Holy Book, the perfect and
living
model that teaches the inner law of life; all such scriptures before
nature’s
manuscript are as little pools o water before the ocean. We offer to the Omniscient God, our reverence, our homage,
and our
gratitude for the Light of the Divine Truth Sermon Drawn on Mursid’s Introduction to the Nature Meditations Let us pray Khatum O Thou, Who art the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty... (facing the God candle) Benediction (facing the congregation) May the Blessing of God rest upon you; may God's Peace abide with you; may God's presence illuminate your hearts now and for evermore. Amen |