" I will be truthful.
I will suffer no injustice.
I will be free from fear.
I will not use force.
I will be of good will to all men."

Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948) India

from the compilation The Bridge of Stars, 365 Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations from Around the World
published by Duncan Baird Publishers

Applying these ideals to everyday life is difficult, but ordinary men and women, poets, saints, politicians, religious leaders from all cultures have come back to them time and time again. Words such as these give us comfort in times of trouble, guidance when we need to find our way out of darkness, courage when we falter in the fires of tremendous evil. It can seem so easy to abandon the difficult path of what is right and just and fair, so simple to give up on the hard way of proper diet and exercise, keeping the mind and body pure when the payoff seems so far away.

The benefits of keeping to the right path are not just a long life, but a vital and active one - look to those who did not age well to see what is ahead for those who smoke or drink or eat to excess. As for social concerns, look to how people treat each other in different societies to see what works better - rudeness or caring? violence or compassion? The old saying that you reap what you sow holds more true than you may think.

Captain Ian Fishback, in his letter to Senator John McCain which was published in the Washington Post on September 28, 2005, said very eloquently, "If we abandon our ideals in the face of adversity and aggression, then those ideals were never really in our possession." It's common to make mistakes, but it's important to learn from them, move on and not make those same mistakes again.

From the same compilation, The Bridge of Stars, James Thurber (1894 - 1961) USA

"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness."

A Prayer for the End of Suffering

For as long a space endures
and the world exists,
may my own existance bring about
the end of all suffering in the world.

Shantideva

Like the eight limbs of Yoga, Buddhism teaches how to achieve enlightenment through following a prescribed method. First, one must recognize that there is suffering in the world. There is an origin to that suffering. Most people cannot recognize that there is also an end to suffering - once this is realized, one can come to the recognition that there is a path to the end of suffering.

Even if one belongs to another religious faith, or no faith at all, the steps outlined in the Buddhist Sutras can be quite useful in finding that path to the end of suffering. The Dhammapada states in the very beginning that "hate is not conquered by hate: hate is conquered by love. This is law eternal."

An ancient Sanskrit prayer says, "May the evil man become good, may the good man have peace. May he who has peace become free, and may he who is free make others free."

Jesus of Nazareth said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." He also said to "love your enemies", a much more difficult task, but gave the example "That which you do to the least of these, my children, that you do also to Me." By trying to put yourself in someone else's shoes for a moment and feel what they feel, know what they suffer, perhaps you will understand that by reducing the suffering of others you are also reducing your own suffering as well.