Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Gayatri Mantra

I love this song. It's so happy, sweet, and beautiful at the same time.... (To listen to the song, please scroll down....)

Usually content to feel inspiration from the pure sound of a mantra, I stop myself at looking up a translation. But of course words have more power when you know their meaning. My husband was so inspired by this song he looked up its meaning, and then added the song to his telephone. Here's a translation of the Gayatri Mantra I found:

Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life,
Remover of pain and sorrow,
The Bestower of happiness,
Oh! Creator of the Universe,
May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light,
May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.

When I was eighteen I started to teach myself Sanskrit out of a book, but life in all of its permutations led me off my true path. Now, twenty years later, I am beginning once again to discover my Buddha nature, which I believe is my true nature. It's taking me back to the pure stream of thought I experience as a child.

A prayer for myself, and for everyone in the world who has diverged from her/his true path in life: May we all realize our true natures, and not stray again. Let the radiance that results from the compassion gained by our quest be an inspiration to others.

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