Thursday, July 31, 2014

The Essence of Prayer

The Essence of Prayer
By Masahisa Goi

Living with Prayer

This earthly world will never improve if people adhere only to the religious activities of their own creeds and sects.  We are entering an age when people gathering from all nations and ethnic groups and with the true understanding of the divine will are to rescue the earth.  Therefore, the groups that focus only on expanding their own organization and boast of their membership of three million or five million will deviate from truth.  God will not exercise its power unless people who are truly filled with humanitarian love and cherish their fellow human beings work at the top.  The earth is doomed to collapse unless this condition comes true.

The way we live is to pray for the peace of the world, first and foremost.  This is expressed in my following poem:

As we pray for peace of the world in the morning and at night
We also fling our wishes for our own happiness into the prayer words

In our world peace prayers we place all our personal wishes such as happiness of our households, cure of diseases and our prosperity, and we are naturally purified through the great light vibration possessed by the prayer.  Thus, our circumstances will naturally improve by as much as we are purified. 

For the first two or three years, it is permissible that you offer this prayer only for the sake of the cure of your disease or improvement of your financial condition.  However, if you have come to truly understand the meaning of the prayer for peace, you ought to merge all your thoughts – the desire to have your illness cured, the wish to become affluent, and the desire to have status – into the aspiration for peace.  If it is convenient that you become rich, you will be made rich.   If it is preferable that you are perfectly cured and refreshed, you will be completely freed from your disease.  If it is better that you have a high status, you will be promoted to a high status.  All these things lie in the divine will – the mind of your Guardian Deity.

It happens oftentimes that one’s soul improves through the agony of a disease.   Therefore, it is not necessarily bad that you become ill.  You may experience illnesses as the process your karmic causes in previous lifetimes fade away, or due to the influence of someone’s thought.  Whatever the cause of the disease,  it will turn out good eventually.  What is important is that you awaken to something and your soul is polished through the experience. 

In addition to illness and poverty, you may have to go through various other difficulties – you may be thought negatively by your friends or acquaintances, or you may not be liked by people to whom you gave kindness and good will.  All of these sufferings are attributed to your past karmic causes – they are manifested in the process of fading away.  And what is crucial is the time you experience these manifestations.

Prayer is irrelevant to what is manifested

There will be no problem of only good things are manifested in our lives.  However, inconvenient and unwelcoming things do come about from time to time.  You may think at such a time, “What’s the good of my belief?  It’s worthless praying!”  However, it is mistaken that you relate the negative manifestation with your belief.  Your belief and prayer are irrelevant to the what manifests – poverty and disharmony.  The latter is fading away, and has nothing to do with the prayer you have offered. 

When you are praying, your thought is immersed in the divine heart; while praying “May peace prevail on earth,” you are keeping unity with God.  On the other hand, the illness and misfortune you are faced with have arisen from the  thoughts stored in – the innumerable recordings you have made from past lifetimes until now.  They are the manifestations of your past recordings and have nothing to do with the prayer you are offering now.

While you are practicing the unification meditation, various miscellaneous thoughts may cross your mind. Miscellaneous thoughts are the past accumulated thoughts that come up to the surface mind.  It is irrelevant to the prayer you are offering now.  Although your mind is perfectly immersed in God through the prayer for world peace and gratitude to God, miscellaneous thoughts may keep coming out one after another, making you feel that you are not in the state of unification with the divine.  The fact is, you are certainly united with the divine, while the miscellaneous thoughts are drawn forth by the light of the unification, and are quickly extinguished. 

Therefore, no matter how much you may be bothered by miscellaneous thoughts, it is irrelevant to the sitting unification meditation (Toitsu)  you are practicing now.  It is ideal that you understand this truth.  Whatever miscellaneous thoughts you may be having now or however bad destiny is manifested to you now, it is not ascribed to what you are doing now.  Through the prayer for world peace, you are now immersed in the divine mind, and achieving unity with God.  Whereas, past karmic causes are being manifested as evils, diseases, misfortunes, and disasters, and will then disappear.  That is to say, bad elements are decreased by as much as they are manifested.  Negative manifestations are the processes through which bad elements disappear.

If you borrow money from someone, you must return it.  You are obliged to return the debt by all means.  If you return the debt, your money at hand will decrease, but that doesn’t mean you suffered a loss, does it?  Since you returned the debt, you are now free to use the remaining amount.  Similar to this, through the inconvenient manifestation you are experiencing now, you are paying back the past debt; you are letting your past karmic cause disappear.  What remains after that will be yourself that is united with the divine or your radiantly shining self. 

Therefore, you ought to readily accept whatever manifestations.  After all, fading-away phenomena will keep disappearing one after another, and in the end, the brilliantly shining paradise will emerge after the final fraction of karma has disappeared.  It is to achieve this end that we have been engaged in the world peace movement through the prayer together with the teaching of fading-away. 

It is of no use worrying about various things and moving about in confusion thinking, “I must do this and that.”  We should have an undaunted belief that since God is love, we will surely be uplifted.  God sent to us our Guardian Deities and Spirits, as well as Lao Tzu, Confucius, Buddha, and Jesus with an intention of rescuing human beings. 

We should receive the vibrations of the teachings of these great saints, and add to them the modern teaching – the prayer for world peace – to jointly go on rescuing humanity.  Rescuing humanity is synonymous with rescuing ourselves.  So why don’t we go on accomplishing the simultaneous awakening of the individual and humanity – this is how we are meant to live.

Polishing our souls from moment to moment

People who are concerned about keeping their bodies clean take a bath every day, but it is more important to wash our souls than to wash our bodies.  It is not a big problem even if we do not take a bath for three or four days, but if we remain lazy and fail to polish our souls every day, our souls will get grimy rapidly.  If you spoil yourself thinking, “I don’t need to polish my soul because I am already enlightened,” your soul will quickly get tarnished.  Therefore, you need to polish yourself constantly, from moment to moment.  It is out of the question to have such thoughts as, “I saw a light once.  So, I no longer need to train myself,” or “I no longer need to polish myself because I once had a sensation of achieving the state of Emptiness.”  We all need to polish ourselves incessantly, from moment to moment. 

I often refer to this episode of Mr. Munetada Kurozumi – the founder of Kurozumi-kyoo.  Once, Mr. Kurozumi was on the way to a lecture, and crossed a stream walking on a bridge made of a log.  When he was about to finish crossing, the log shook giving him an alarming sensation.  After he managed to safely cross the river, he knelt down on the river bank and apologized to the Great Sun God.  He deeply begged apology from his inner divinity – the Great Sun God – for having upset and disturbed Him through the alarming sensation.  On top of that, he showed apology also to his followers who came to hear his lecture saying, “I am still imperfect in my faith,” despite the fact he was a wonderfully great person and was surprised only a little.  What a good story this is!  I feel inspired every time I remember it.

However high your status is, and however elevated your soul has become, you should constantly reflect on yourself.  However, you should not grip at your karma that is fading away.  You should think, “Ah, this is fading away.  How good!  After it fades away, I will shine more and more.”  You need to clearly acknowledge the evil without being hypocritical. 

Many of the religiously minded people tend to have an imperfect understanding of bright thinking, and mistakenly try to grip only good sides.  Actually, however, we have good mind and bad mind, and this world is comprised of both good sides and bad sides.  We cannot live without gripping the both sides.  So you can clearly grip the both; you can see the evil inside of you and others, and you can regard someone to be a bad person.  However, you should next think, “The bad thought I see in that person now is about to fade away.  That person’s Guardian Deity, please uplift him quickly.”  Likewise, you should also wish for your own improvement thinking, “May I be uplifted.”  Thus, by constantly wishing for our own improvement and by praying for world peace day and night, we ought to polish our souls from moment to moment.

By cleansing and polishing our souls in this way, we should live from day to day with a refreshed heart.  By polishing ourselves, we can contribute to the good of world and humanity.  The greater the number of people with such polished souls, the more expansively the great light vibration will permeate the earth and the universe through our physical entities.  In this circumstance, people’s evil intentions will end in vain, and their will to start a war will also disappear, improving the world little by little.
 Recently re-printed in:

(July, 2014 issue of Byakko magazine - Excerpt from Opening Up Our Inner Selves by Masahisa Goi)
Wednesday, June 11, 2014

SYMPHONY of PEACE PRAYERS (SOPP) 2014 in AUSTRALIA

SOPP REPORT 2014 – Geelong & other Australian ceremonies: culminating in a beautiful event on May 18th, joining others all over the world.
I have sent my ‘running sheet’ for the day and the program already (I assume you have these too David. In the end I’ve cut and pasted most of it into this). Facebook already has a few photos on it on my own page as well as the Geelong Interfaith Network page. I have uploaded photos from the Geelong event.
We all felt that this year, the energies for SOPP had changed markedly; it was the easiest we had ever known it and the most joyful, peaceful, inclusive in its energies of love, compassion and sharing. Over the celebration there were between 50-55 people, all intent on emanating love, with a whole lot of people attending we had never seen before. Many of our regulars couldn’t come this year for various reasons so we thought we would have a very small gathering…not so…people kept turning up, which was a delight.
 One of our highlights was the Bollywood dancers from Deakin University; PHD research students, Head of IT for one of the big departments, etc, plus their families and friends. The energy they generated was electric and the room was alive with smiles and laughter. Straight after this we held the Flag Ceremony, with them all joining, and it was totally joyous!
Our prayers took a few forms. One was the traditional guest prayer presenters, who were beautiful, but the main sharing of prayers was by writing them on patchwork squares of fabric. This worked so well and people seemed to find this a gentle, nurturing way of sharing individual prayers.
Mention what SOPP is about:





What happiness I feel to see so many of our Geelong Interfaith members sharing this peace inducing afternoon, along with a broad array of our general public.

Today is about LOVE; the essence of all that is real in life. When we trace back any positive feelings, we always come back to LOVE. The fact you are here is a testament to the love within your own hearts that felt the call to join others in sending our waves of positive thoughts around the world.

We are asking you all to keep love flowing within your hearts as you move in tranquillity to bring forth your prayers of kindness and compassion to all humanity today.

Put together, they symbolise the ONENESS of humanity in all its exquisite variety.
The elements of Earth, Air, Fire & Water combined with our shared prayers bring a beautiful reminder that we are part of our Earth.
Honour the ancestors and custodians of this land
1.35pm: Lighting of the Peace Flame
Using battery candle because lighted flames are not allowed in the hall.
The Peace Flame will burn continuously, surrounded by flags of each world nation, to represent the flame of love that burns in our hearts & the ONENESS of us all.

The World Peace Flame was created in 1999 when seven living flames lit by prominent peacemakers on five continents were flown across the oceans and united into one eternal Flame. It is a universal symbol representing humanity’s combined aspirations for peace.

Prayer for Humanity: Jinrui Soku Kami Nari (with sound) by Byakko prayer supporters – explain briefly.                                                                                                       “This was exquisite in the energy generated. We felt it was the most powerful IN we had ever done as a group!”

‘KINDLE KINDNESS Quilt’
Shared Prayers written on fabric to create a quilt of Oneness
‘Sanctuary’ by Peter Roberts will play as we individually offer our prayers from the love within our hearts and write them on fabric, which radiates out to join the love in the hearts of all people: four people will eventually write on one square.
I invite you to simply rest into the music and let it take you where you need to go.
At the heart of things, that which matters most is love.

Explain how the next part of the program will work; demonstrate
Prayers will be presented in silence, with everyone joining in offering prayers.
Each person will receive a square of fabric, sandpaper and a pen.
There will be a short reflective moment led by Jenny before each individual writes a one line prayer from the heart onto one of the FOUR squares marked on the fabric.
Upon completion of this, each person will pass their square to the person on their LEFT (clockwise).
A short moment will be taken to read that prayer, reflect and then write your new prayer, in keeping with what the previous person or persons have written. In this way, we share our prayers.
I have already put the quilt wall hanging together with all these prayer squares; it is filled with colour and light.

The culmination of this will be us sharing the United Prayer to Honour the Sacred of Many Names.

We invite you all to join in unison in saying the prayer on your program, composed of lines from some of the main world faiths.
In this moment, remember the LOVE you feel in your heart for your faith, then, for a short moment, step into that LOVE space that resides within all the other faith follower’s hearts.
This is a powerful movement towards saying to another;
‘I respect your belief, I acknowledge our sameness & our differences in ONENESS and I thank you for the sharing.’

Our United Prayer to Honour the Sacred of many names
We have been given ‘The Dreaming’ which lives in our spirit & our land - Indigenous
May there be peace on earth – Hindu
May we be at peace within ourselves and in our world – Buddhist
What you wish done to yourself, do to others – Confucianism
Oh source of peace, lead us to peace, a peace profound & true – Jewish
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace – Christian
Oh God, you are peace & from you comes peace – Islam
May we see each other as family & the earth as one home – Baha’i
God will not ask of what race is a man/women but what he or she has done – Sikh
Remember that the world is one great family – Shinto
We affirm & promote respect for this interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part – Unitarian
I, the soul, the being of light, whose nature is peace, share mind to mind feelings with my Father the Ocean of Peace, throughout the world – Brahma Kumaris
O my dear Krishna, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation – Hare Krishna
May Peace Prevail On Earth – Byakko Shinko Kai
“There are only two things you must do in this lifetime: Be of service to others as much as possible, and polish your inner being to its fullest radiance.”
Masami Saionji on behalf of all faiths not included here and yet to come.

Bishop Peter Dahaner: ‘Living our faith in everyday life’
Bishop Peter Danaher of the Anglican Church gave a heartfelt short talk; he even taught us a little song and his words to us were also interspersed with humour.
Masami Saionji’s speech read by Chrysanne Ferguson

Specific Prayer Presentations

Muslim - Sunni                                                          Dzejlana Haveric
Universal Peace Federation                                                 Randall Apps
Hindu                                                                         Puru Padhye (absent but prayer sent)
Christian Spiritualist                                                 Shirley Martyn-Julian
Christian                                                                    Monsignor James Murray: “Prayer of St Francis”
Hare Krishna                                                              Monica Puri  
Byakko Shinko Kai                                                     Elizabeth McPherson
Buddhist                                                                     Wendy Walker
We finished SOPP with a Global Peace Prayer Meditation with everyone in a circle. From this we progressed to and enjoyed afternoon tea, savouring delicious food from various traditions, kindly brought along with many guests.
Follow up for myself and the other SOPPs are now occurring.

NEWTOWN (Geelong), Private Home

SOPP was quiet and flowed gently from one thing to the next. In closing I blew out the candle & used my gifted eagle feather to send all prayers & energy gathered out to the world.
All was quiet but heartfelt. I did all the prayers we’d usually do at Sharing, plus the Flag Ceremony.
Robynne Mahoney one of our Shinjin, was ill, so she held her own SOPP at home *

Reflections on the Geelong event
Jenny, I would like to thank you from the core of my heart for organising such a wonderful event. I truly believe that it’s only because of people like you praying for a good cause somewhere on this earth that there is existence of mankind despite our endless cruelties on our mother Earth and Nature.
Thanks once again for giving us an opportunity to be a part of that special afternoon. I was totally overwhelmed.
I hope this is just the beginning of our relationship and we will stay in touch.
Have a wonderful Day!  Monica Puri – Hare Krishna presenter…Geelong
Thank you for inviting us to the "Symphony of Peace Prayers" today.
We found it very inspiring and uplifting to be able to participate in this most wonderful of days. Simone…Geelong (Hare Krishna)

It was a beautiful day on Sunday afternoon I enjoyed it very much and thank you for inviting me to be a part of that event.
Thank you also for the good work you are doing for the world community.
Shirley Martyn-Julian – Geelong Spiritualist…Geelong
Shirley Carroll: I did so enjoy the Symphony of Peace Prayers.
Being the ‘newbie’ I felt completely at home at SOPP.  I had the best time with you all at SOPP, on so many levels.  It was great to meet the other Byakko members and to be welcomed so warmly. Thank you to everyone. The preparation time flowed so smoothly and felt very coordinated. The main event was a joy to be part of, with a wonderful feeling of unity and participation. It is great to see an organization that lives by its principles. The whole day had a feeling of Peace, Love, Harmony and Oneness. There were no glitches that marred the day in any way! Much love and gratitude, Anda McMillan
A lovely occasion, and deserving of publicity around Geelong. Congratulations! It was especially great to have an Islamic representative there. If only we could engage more with them! Tim Gibson (Geelong Interfaith Network)

SYMPHONY OF PEACE PRAYERS Trevor Banks (Geelong Interfaith Network)
Byakko Shinko Kai is an ‘international grassroots organisation dedicated to world peace and the elevation of humanity’s consciousness through prayer and other religious practices’. Based in Japan it has members who belong to the Geelong Interfaith Network.   Byakko Shinko Kai initiated a Symphony of Peace Prayers at its Fuji Sanctuary in Japan in 2005.  It has become an annual event and has spread to every continent, including Australia.
The Symphony of Peace Prayers is designed as an inter-religious, inter-spiritual peace prayer event in which representatives from various world faiths and spiritual traditions lead participants in prayers for peace.  The event in Geelong is conducted by members of the Byakko Shinko Kai and supported by the Geelong Interfaith Network.  Held on May 18 this year the gathering commenced with  lighting of the ‘Peace Flame’.  During the ceremony prayers for peace were offered by members of various Faith Communities and in a short homily Bishop Peter Danaher (All Saints Anglican, Newtown) reminded participants of the necessity for us all to live out our faith in our daily lives.   The main activity of the gathering is The Flag Ceremony during which the flags of all the nations of the world are paraded while participants recite together, “May peace be in (say) Australia”.  The time together ended after we had meditated together. May Peace Prevail on Earth
Trevor wrote this report for the Geelong City Uniting Church to which he belongs.
Thank you to YOU!!!!!!! You do such a wonderful job, full of light, love, laughter, creativity, togetherness, everything!!! Love, Fatima…Geelong
It was our pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful event. It was so good to experience something like it. We loved performing as we always do and it was wonderful to watch the audiences beaming with a smile on their faces as we danced.  
The desk top peace poles are standing tall in my work space. Thanks for all the love. Neha Singh…Geelong Bollywood Dancers

In other parts of Australia, ceremonies were held too


At Unity of Melbourne
Victoria, AUSTRALIA


On Sunday, May 18, Unity of Melbourne hosted the ceremony, Symphony of Peace Prayers 2014, and re-dedicated their Peace Pole, which was gifted to them by one of its members, Rev Gloria Grace Wallace, in their SOPP 2010 ceremony.

The Peace Pole has now been planted in the Peace Garden on the grounds of Unity, which is a New Thought spiritual centre in Burwood, Victoria, Australia.

For many years Unity has been hosting interfaith events organised and supported by Rev Sylvia Eriksson, the Associate Minister, and Rev Bill Livingston, the Minister at Unity of Melbourne.

Rev Gloria Grace Wallace, and Geoff Nelson, members of Unity and co-directors of Heartlight, Centre for Conscious Living, facilitated the ceremony, offered musical songs for peace, as well as explaining the background of Byakko, the World Peace Prayer Society, and the Symphony of Peace Prayers.

Unity also hosted a pre-ceremony potluck luncheon to which participants were invited, giving everyone an opportunity to meet and greet one another.

There were 52 people who attended the Symphony of Peace Prayers 2014 at Unity of Melbourne, and 20 faiths/traditions/interfaith organisations were represented by prayers offered and ceremonial candles lighted on their behalf.

Richard Williams performed the
Welcome to Country at the start of our ceremony with the acknowledgement of the Traditional Landowners of the Land of Australia.  Everyone was embraced by the music of the didgeridoo played by Richard, who is from the Wiradjuri people of New South Wales.  We were privileged that Richard was able to join us again this year for the ceremony.

Besides the prayers, and the lighting of candles, and the message read aloud from Mrs. Saionji to all SOPP participants around the world, we also were addressed by two guest speakers.

Rev Sylvia spoke to us about the importance of the interfaith movement to world peace and of the commitment to the interfaith movement at Unity of Melbourne. She spoke with great conviction about how embracing the true essence of one another’s faiths and traditions is at the very heart of peaceful co-existence and a peaceful future for us all.

The second speaker, Venerable Bhikkhu Buddha Dhatu, explained the meaning of Wesak as a sacred time celebrated by Buddhists throughout the world, and of his world peace mission entitled, Heart for Peace. He has travelled throughout 45 countries the past 18 years barefoot on behalf of peace and the teachings of compassion.

Other special guests included the Baha’i Choir, Perfect Chord, newly formed last year under the direction of Lorraine Manifold. Their performance was wonderful and inspiring in its offering of musical messages for peace.

Rev Gloria Grace also led the Benediction Dance from the Dances of Universal Peace in which everyone was invited to learn both the song and the movements. This dance is based on the prayer by Hazrat Inayat Khan, who brought International Sufism, an Interfaith Movement, to the West in the early 1900’s.

The words of the prayer:
May the blessings of God rest upon you
May God’s peace abide with you
May God’s presence, illuminate your heart
Now and forever more.

At the conclusion of the dance, everyone was invited to stand and sing May Peace Prevail On Earth as they processed together out of the sanctuary and into the Peace Garden, creating a circle around the Peace Pole. 

Richard played the didgeridoo directly into each of our hearts as we bathed in the new rays of sunlight bursting through the cloudy sky. It was so majestic and moving for us all.

After processing back into the sanctuary in silence, there were expressions of gratitude for everyone’s support and participation, and final farewells with one another over cups of tea. The occasion was unifying, uplifting, and sacred.

May Peace Prevail On Earth,
Submitted by Rev Gloria Grace Wallace & Geoff Nelson
Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

Comments from participants received when invited to share their experiences of SOPP 2014 at Unity of Melbourne…
What a lovely picture and what wonderful Peace Vibes still resonating in us today.
Thanks so much, it was a most wonderful Ceremony and I am sure our visions of peace are added to those around the world to lift this Planet into a much more Peaceful Place.
All God’s Blessings,
Rev Sylvia  
(Associate Minister of Unity of Melbourne & Guest Speaker for SOPP 2014)
Many thanks to you, dear Rev Gloria Grace, Geoff, and Rev Bill and all the wonderful people involved in organising our local Symphony of Peace Prayers. It was a major task well planned and well conducted.
It was such an inspiring ceremony for me to pray for peace among people of all faiths and seeing that such is possible in today's world of petty differences and ugly fights among various religions as well as ideologies.
With love and light,
Hamid  (Zoroastrian Prayer Reader)
Dear Rev Gloria Grace,
Yes, last Sunday was a wonderful experience. I think what I took from it was a strong feeling of meaning - something our part of the world can be short on. Also, the opportunity to do this for the planet, and what a unifying experience that was.
I truly think it is time for us all to embrace the earth as our mother, to see ourselves not just as citizens of a city or a country, but of the planet.
And although I have heard the didgeridoo played on many occasions, this felt very special.
On a personal level, about half way through the ceremony, my neck clicked properly into place for the first time in 2 years, so healing was taking place.
Love and blessings to you,
Dianne Lennon  (Sikh Prayer Reader)
A beautiful good morning Rev Gloria Grace,
Congratulations simply do not express my immense feelings of gratitude, peace, joy and humbleness, which I felt being in attendance sharing one common destination with magnificent like-minded souls on Sunday.
It was truly an honour to participate and share in the diversity of faiths that came together to express their own beautiful individuality of PEACE.  The Unity of Melbourne venue resonated throughout the day in the highest vibrations of unconditional love and unconditional peace.
The orchestration of proceedings flowed through in the dance of life.  It was a truly exceptional experience in which to be present and witness.
Thank you, Thank you, for being the truth of yourself and following your heart.
May peace prevail on earth.
Daniel Wurf,  Peace Architect
(SOPP 2014 Ceremony Guest)
Dear Rev Gloria Grace and Geoff,
It was a very special celebration on Sunday and all your planning
and attention to detail certainly paid off !
First of all, I felt that the way the group was 'held' around the beautifully draped shrine was an  enfolding experience -- we were all together, side by side and the lighting of the 20 candles and reciting of the multi-faith prayers was a simple but beautiful ritual, honouring each faith without any need to compare or intellectualize beliefs.
The singing and the Benediction Dance strengthened the bonds of unity of spirit and there was an overwhelming feeling of Divine Love radiating from soul to soul.
It is always special to share over a cup of tea after such a ceremony and that also was a lovely time to be together and get to know each other a little more.
Weren't we privileged to host such a Ceremony of World Peace and I think I can sum it up in the words I read representing the Shinto tradition:
"Remember the world is part of one great family"
And so it was!
With much love to you both,
Jill xx  (Shinto Prayer Reader)

BINALONG BAY, TASMANIA


 Greeted by the sweet smelling spring freshness of Tatami mats in Ros' Dojo and the warmth of six friends, old and new, joining in prayer for Peace, we sat in heartfelt meditation offering up our prayers to the Universe for World Peace. Holding the little flag cards helped us to ground and be present and made us feel connected to the different countries. A soft rain fell outside cleansing the earth.
We shared lunch and laughter and took away a sense of connected purpose and harmony to spread Peace with all humanity. We send many blessings of gratitude to all around the universe who contributed to this beautiful ceremony. Lucy Lewandowski 
  A peace-filled and joy- filled 2 hours.  I think I had a smile on my face the whole time.  It was lovely to share with two beautiful young souls from Japan.  Ros Gregg

“The Village”, Triabunna, Tasmania, Australia.





As has become a custom for previous SOPP’s our ceremony really began on Saturday evening when 11 of us, including our guests Richard Littlefeather and partner Leannon, gathered around the outdoor fire at Wind Song. Here we acknowledge the traditional owners of the land, our Aboriginal people and those who have gone before them and we then invite the Spirit Ancestors to join us in celebrating the Symphony of Peace Prayers.
Richard, a Native American Indian, leads us in some drumming for some minutes, then silence interspersed by the crackle of the fire, the thump of a wallaby moving around and the calls of the Possums waking up and emerging from their trees.
It is a simple prelude to the next day where we will celebrate SOPP at The Village in Triabunna, a 20 minute car ride away.
After a busy morning market it was pleasing to see so many staying on to join us in celebrating SOPP. The weather was being a little unpredictable, somewhat cool, breezy and there were some drops of rain, then sunshine!
Richard Littlefeather opened our ceremony calling on all of us to offer our prayers for peace in all countries, in our communities and in ourselves. In his welcome Richard acknowledged the indigenous peoples of the world and honoured the four directions with Leannon and Barb Gardam drumming each direction.
We were pleased to welcome back to Triabunna members of Holy Tantra Jin-Gang Dhyana Buddhism from Hobart, whose Doctrinal Song, “Light of the Universe, Universal Great Harmony Ritual”, brings a great sense of peace and calm to all present allowing us to join the Global Peace Meditation with open hearts and minds.
As rain threatened, a slight change to the program brought on some loud drumming and the Holy Dharma Lion Dance, a ritual to bring peace and prosperity to our community. Part of this ritual is the ‘dotting’ of the eyes of the lions so they can “see and soar to greater heights”! Beth Bennett, a popular member of our community and strong supporter of our peace ceremonies, had the honour of performing this task which she did with great reverence.
During the ceremony people were asked to write their prayer or message of peace on paper, which would be placed in a capsule to be buried at the foot of the Peace Pole. Added to the capsule were messages from our friend in Japan, Tomako Ukai, who had sent gifts for our celebration.
Masami Saonji’s message was read by Jane and I thought it interesting that some people, who had never experienced SOPP or had heard of Byakko, asked me for copies.
The World Peace Prayer Ceremony gets everyone involved and, as there were several people who had participated before, all went very smoothly with a rhythmic, dancelike movement. We were using small flags which were arranged around the Peace Pole and as each group of 14 countries were completed, a resounding “May Peace Prevail on Earth” rang out.
It was great to have some young people present who really got involved, contributed their messages for peace and also added to the Community Mandala.
It is always a great privilege to convene SOPP in our local community, each year the ceremony changes in some way and achieves a momentum of its own. Each year our great task is accomplished, perfectly, and our vibrations continue in infinite harmony to all mankind.
Almost forgot; Triabunna has high speed broadband so I was able to live stream Fuji for the duration, putting it in The Barn for all to see who wandered by at the Market that morning. It proved to be a very popular point of interest and therefore ‘touched’ the lives of many who did not attend the actual SOPP ceremony during the afternoon.
Tom Teniswood   International Lecturer

  PERTH: What a wonderful day it had been in Japan and all over the world!!  Elaine , John and Maryanne organized a glorious event ; filled with peace , love , happiness , joy …..The vibrations were magnetic! I’m sure they will inform you very soon. Lots of love to you all Shining Lighthouses – Eva Szauter
In Perth, once again, a beautiful ceremony was held, without any BSK members, but in speaking to Elaine George, a main instigator since Eva handed it over to her and her husband, she said it all flowed with joy and harmony.

PERTH Report by John and Elaine



‘A wonderful interdenominational celebration for World Peace’, are the words of one of our guests to describe this year’s Western Australia Symphony of Peace Prayers. This, once again, was held at The Eagle Room, Point Walter Golf Club, Bicton.

The adjoining land is where the local Noongar Aboriginal women came together to conduct ‘women’s business’ and which holds a strong yet gentle feminine  energy. Perfect for spreading the vibration of peace and love to our world.

This year’s SOPP was special in the way many individuals came together to build a kaleidoscope of prayers for peace on earth. lt was a lovely day of creating, meditating, praying, rejoicing, singing and dancing.

The setting up of the venue was a beautiful event in its own right with members of the different faiths coming together to set up the sound system, key board, drum kit etc. and the table for the flags of the world.

While this was happening inside, outside children and parents took baskets and collected ‘honkey nuts’ from the adjacent bush to create the spiral for our flag ceremony

The Eagle Room was transformed into a backdrop for peace with posters lovingly prepared by members of the Universal Brotherhood Mission, multi coloured ribbons, the Earth Flag and doves of peace. 

Two tables were set up - one with two powerfully beautiful Persian calligraphy works of art; the other providing sacred space for our Peace pole, globe of the world, last year’s peace candle and this year’s candle kindly donated by two ambassadors for peace; our very dear friends Trisna and Armiti during a recent visit to the beautiful island of Bali, Indonesia

To witness this setting up process was a beautiful experience which was seen to give an expression of the founding initiatives for Symphony of Peace Prayers

The stage having now been set – the celebration began – and what a celebration of unity it was.

M.C. Maryanne welcomed our guest to country and to our program

The Peace candle was lit by two of our original and very strong supporters, Fazida from the Muslim faith and Sam from the Baha’i faith by taking a flame from the 2013 candle to the awaiting peace candle for 2014

Caroline, from Brahma Kumaris Australia led us into a beautiful Peace meditation gently accompanied by Arman playing the setar (a Persian stringed musical instrument)

For the Muslim community two delightful young ladies, Hana and Najat Kamsani sang their prayer for peace followed by Marjan who shared her insight into the power of calligraphy and the place in history of Persian calligraphy in particular (once again accompanied by Arman strumming on his setar).

Arman then sang two short songs and a spoke a poem accompanying himself by playing his Dotar (another stringed Persian instrument)

Manita from the Universal Great Brotherhood / Hovea Ashram then shared her wisdom and thoughts on peace and Buddhist nun Le Teresa played a cd of music and words composed by herself in Vietnamese, having first given an English translation of the words of her song.

Our own delightful Eva then gave a reading and an introduction to Byakko Shinko Kai and their Symphony of Peace Prayers initiative.

Although rain was forecast the weather remained fine and allowed us to go outside to carry out the flag ceremony and send prayers of peace to the countries of the world.

Once again the 194 flags were carried by more than 60 participants and paraded through the ‘honkey nut’ spiral accompanied by Maryanne playing her flute.

Many birds joined this ceremony by noticeably raising their voices in bird song while the words May Peace Prevail in ………… were prayed by Eva and John as the flags were placed in the waiting containers in the centre of the room.

One minute of silent reflection was followed by Lisa, from 11 Principles, adding the beautifully moving musical notes from her set of 5 crystal bowls.

The tea break was then announced during which Lisa continued to play her crystal bowls and was unexpectedly joined by a member of our audience. Another beautiful expression of spontaneous unity

Following the tasty and joyfully interactive tea break the program continued with ladies from the Universal Brotherhood Mission sharing a song about the breaking down of ‘The wall’ (of division) to allow harmony for all.  The sharing of a prayer and thoughts on peace were conveyed by the head of the Mission, Pummy Ji

Lisa then spoke about “The Medicine Way” based on North American Indian wisdom

Hillary from the Baha’i faith gave her thoughts and shared a prayer, Pastor Rodney, protestant Christian, gave his offering towards peace on Earth and our master of ceremony, Maryanne, played a composition in honour of a very dear departed friend and peace worker, Jean, which Maryanne composed on the day of Jean’s funeral while sitting in an area close to our venue which was very dear to Jean while she was still with us in body

Guests were then invited to share their own thoughts and prayers with a highlight being Esther singing a chant in Sanskrit

The ceremony then closed in a kaleidoscope of colour, music and dance with the male group from Universal Brotherhood Mission performing a Bangarra Dance with much athleticism, joy and enthusiasm.  This was followed by an encore with all present enthusiastically joining this talented dance troupe in joy and unity

Sincere appreciation goes to all who participated in making this such a wonderful day.


Infinite joy and peace…Jenny  (*0*)
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