a Jewish Prayer ~ based on the Dalai Lama’s Morning Prayer
I read online today a short posting about the Dalai Lama's morning prayer ~ you can see it here: .../his-holiness-the-dalai-lamas-morning-prayer/
The Dalai Lama's prayer combines well, I think, with the traditional Jewish prayer on awakening: the Modeh Ani (which, of course, is based on belief in God. You can read about that traditional prayer here ~ .../modeh-ani...).
I like the way that Dr Herbert Levine begins his non-theistic version of the Modeh Ani. In his prayerbook Blessed Are You, Wondrous Universe, Dr Levine suggests this new version of the traditional prayer:
אודה לך עולם חי וקיים
which he translates this way: I give thanks to you, living and enduring universe
With gratitude to two teachers (the Dalai Lama and Dr Herbert Levine), here is a newly traditional morning blessing for beginning the new day:
אודה לך עולם חי וקיים. בכל יום המחשבה הזו: היום אני יורש החיים; יש לי חיים אנושיים יקרים, והזדמנויות לפתח את עצמי, להרחיב את ליבי לאחרים. יש לי היום אפשרויות להועיל לאחרים ככל שאוכל.
I give thanks to you, living and continuing world. With every day this thought: Today I am an inheritor of life; I have a precious human life, and opportunities to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others. I have possibilities today to benefit others as much as I can.
