A BAHA'I TEACHING

When love is realized and the ideal spiritual bonds unite the hearts of men, the whole human race will be uplifted, the world will continually grow more spiritual and radiant, and the happiness and tranquility of mankind be immeasurably increased.
Warfare and strife will be uprooted, disagreement and dissension pass away, and Universal Peace unite the nations and peoples of the world.
All mankind will dwell together as one family, blend as the waves of one sea, shine as stars of one firmament, and appear as fruits of the same tree.
This is the happiness and felicity of humankind.
This is the illumination of man, the glory eternal and life everlasting; this is the divine bestowal.

 `ABDU'L-BAHA, *The Promulgation of Universal Peace*

A BUDDHIST REFLECTION

Now under the loving kindness and care of the Buddha, each believer of  religion in the world transcends the differences of religion, race and nationality, discards small differences and unites in oneness to discuss sincerely how to annihilate strife
from the earth, how to reconstruct  a world without arms, and how to build welfare and peace of mankind, so that never-ending light and happiness can be obtained for the world  of the future.
May the Lord Buddha give His loving kindness and blessing  to us for the realization of our prayers.

From Buddhist Prayers in ‘Religion for Peace’, 1973, WCRP

A CHRISTIAN PROMISE

In the tender compassion of our God,
the dawn from heaven will break upon us,
to shine on those who live in darkness,
under the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

From "Song of Zechariah" in Luke 1: 78-79, the Bible

A NATIVE AMERICAN PRAYER

Let us know peace.
For as long as the moon shall rise,
For as long as the rivers shall flow,
For as long as the sun will shine,
For as long as the grass shall grow,
Let us know peace.

                     From the Cheyenne

A HINDU PRAYER

May the winds, the oceans, the herbs, the nights and days, the mother earth, the father heaven, all vegetation, the sun, be all sweet to us.
Let us follow the path of goodness for all times,
like the sun and the moon moving eternally in the sky.
Let us be charitable to one another.
Let us not kill or be violent with one another.
Let us know and appreciate the points of view of others.
And let us unite. May the God who is friendly, benevolent, all-encompassing, measurer of everything, the sovereign, the lord of speech,
may He shower His blessings on us. . .
Oh Lord, remove my indiscretion and arrogance; control my mind.
Put an end to the snare of endless desires.
Broaden the sphere of compassion and help me to cross the ocean of existence.

From Hindu Prayers in ‘Religion for Peace’, 1973, WCRP

AN ISLAMIC PRAYER

Oh God, You are Peace.
From You comes Peace,
To You Returns Peace.
Revive us with a salutation of Peace,
and lead us to your abode of Peace.

a saying from The Prophet, used in daily prayer by Muslims

A JAIN (UNIVERSAL)  PRAYER FOR PEACE

Lead me from Death to Life,
from Falsehood to Truth.
Lead me from Despair to Hope,
From Fear to Trust.
Lead me from Hate to Love,
from War to Peace.
Let Peace fill our Heart, our World,
Our Universe.

Satish Kumar

A JEWISH TEACHING

In that hour when the Egyptians died in the Red Sea, the
ministers wished to sing the song of praise before the Holy One,
but He rebuked them saying:
        "My handiwork is drowning in the sea;
        would you utter a song before me in honor of that?"

                                                     From The Sanhedrin
 

A SHINTO PRAYER

O Most High, help to bring thy Light into the darkened
conditions of the world!
Be gracious to us thy humble servants and bless us with
illumination as to that which is Divinely relevant to the
fulfilment of thy will!
O Most High, inspire thy servants throughout the world to
further efforts towards leading back thy children who are led astray to the right way, and to live and act on the faith of what has been taught by the great founders of the religions!
Bless all spiritual leaders with thy power and enable them to
give help, joy, comfort and reassurance to those suffering, to whom they minister!

From Shinto Prayers in ‘Religions for Peace’, 1973, WCRP

A SIKH PRAYER

May the kingdom of justice prevail!
May the believers be united in love!
May the hearts of the believers be humble, high their wisdom,
and may they be guided in their wisdom by the Lord.
O Khalsa, say "Wahiguru, Glory be to God!" . . .
Entrust unto the Lord what thou wishest to be accomplished.
The Lord will bring all matters to fulfilment:
     Know this as truth evidenced by Himself.

From Sikh Prayers in *Religion for Peace*, 1973, WCRP

 A TAOIST TEACHING

I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize.
The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is
humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others.
Be gentle, and you can be bold; be frugal, and you can be
liberal; avoid putting yourself before others, and you can become a leader of men.
Gentleness brings victory to him who attacks, and safety to him who defends.
Those whom Heaven would save, it fences round with gentleness.
The greatest conquerors are those who overcome their enemies without strife.

Lao Tse

A ZOROASTRIAN PRAYER

With bended knees, with hands outstretched,
do I yearn for the effective expression of the holy spirit
working within me:
     For this love and understanding, truth and justice;
     for wisdom to know the apparent from the real
     that I might alleviate the sufferings of men on earth. . . .
God is love, understanding, wisdom and virtue.
Let us love one another, let us practice mercy and forgiveness,
let us have peace, born of fellow-feeling. . . .
Let my joy be of altruistic living, of doing good to others.
Happiness is unto him from who happiness proceeds to any other human being.
          RESPONSE:
        We will practice what we profess.

From the Avesta prayer in Zoroastrian Prayers, in
Religion for Peace, 1973, WCRP