FAST 2007: Statements from many faith traditions

The 2007 FAST reminds everyone of the many religious and spiritual traditions that proclaim a similar message.

BAHAI’
Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be fair in they judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be a lamp to those who walk in darkness, and a home to the stranger. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light to the feet of the erring. Be a breath of life to the body of humankind, a dew to the soil of the human heart, and a fruit upon the tree of humility.

BUDDHIST
May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses. May those frightened cease to be afraid, and may those bound be free. May the powerless find power, and may people think of befriending one another. May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wilderness – the children, the aged, the unprotected – be guarded by beneficent celestials, and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood.

CHRISTIAN
After fasting for forty days in the desert, Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been reared. Entering the synagogue on the Sabbath as he was in the habit of doing, he unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore, he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release of prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord.”…Today, he said, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.

HINDU
Of God, lead us from the unreal to the Real. Oh God, lead us from darkness to light. Oh God, lead us from death to immortality. Shanti, Shanti, Shanti unto all. Oh Lord God, may there be peace in celestial regions. May there be peace on earth. May all beneficent beings bring peace to us. May the Vedic Law propagate peace all through the world. May all things be a source of peace to us. And may peace itself bestow peace on all, and may that peace come to me also.

JAINIST
Peace and Universal Love is the essence of the Gospel. The Lord has preached that equanimity is the Dharma. Forgive do I creatures all, and let all creatures forgive me. Unto all have I amity, and unto none enmity. Know that violence is the root cause of all miseries in the world. Violence, in fact, is the knot of bondage. “Do not injure any living being.” This is the eternal, perennial and unalterable way of spiritual life. A weapon, howsoever powerful, its ways be superceded by a superior one; but no weapon can be superior to non-violence and love.

JEWISH
Come let us go up the mountains of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High. And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not life up sword against nation – neither shall they learn war any more. And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.

MUSLIM
In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. Praise be to the Lord of the Universe who has created us and made us into tribes and nations, that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other. If the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace, and trust in God, for the Lord is the one that hears and knows all things.

And the servants of God, Most Gracious are those who walk on the Earth in humility, and when we address them, we say “PEACE.”

NATIVE AMERICAN
O Great Spirit of our Ancestors, I raise my pipe to your messengers the Four Winds, and to Mother Earth who provides for your children. Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect, and to be kind to each other so that they may grow with peace in mind. Let us learn to share all the good things that you provide for us on this earth.

SIKH
God judges us according to our deeds, not the coat that we wear. Truth is above everything, but higher still is truthful living. Know that we attain God when we love, and only that victory endures in consequence of which no one is defeated.

ZOROASTRIAN
We pray to God to eradicate all the misery in the world: that understanding triumph over ignorance, that generosity triumph over indifference, that trust triumph over contempt, and that truth triumph over falsehood.