Yesterday on the last day of 2017, I sat in meditation with my spiritual friend, Buddhist monk Tashi Nyima. He concluded our two hour time together by asking us to recite, with him, a Buddhist 'aspiration' for 2018. Although a Buddhist aspiration sounds much like a Western prayer, it is more like a mission statement articulating a purpose. Here is a brief excerpt from the Buddhist aspiration we offered for 2018:
May out leaders always care compassionately for the sick,
the unprotected, the victims of disasters, the stricken,
those suffering pollution and for beings in conquered areas.
May they cause the blind, the sick, the humble,
the protectorless, the destitute, and
the handicapped equally to obtain
food and drink without interruption.
May they protect the poor from the pain of wanting.
May they set up no new tolls and reduce those that are heavy.
May they free people from other lands from the afflictions
that come from waiting at our borders.
May they seek the counsel of good persons,
old in experience, of good qualities,
knowing good policy, who shrink from ill deeds,
are agreeable, and know what should be done.
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