Like the Flowing River

Some Final Prayers

Dhammapada (attributed to Buddha)

It would be better if, instead of a thousand words,

There was only one, a word that brought Peace.

It would be better if, instead of a thousand poems,

There was only one, a poem that revealed true Beauty.

It would be better if, instead of a thousand songs,

There was only one, a song that spread Happiness.

Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi (thirteenth century)

Outside, beyond what is right and wrong, there exists a vast field.

We will find each other there.

The Prophet Mohammed (seventh century)

Oh, Allah, I turn to you because you know everything, even what is hidden.

If what I am doing is good for me and for my religion, for my life now and hereafter, then let that task be easy and blessed.

If what I am doing is bad for me and for my religion, for my life now and hereafter, remove me from that task.

Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 7: 7-8)

Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Jewish Prayer for Peace

Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord that we may walk in His paths. And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks.

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.

Lao Tsu, China (sixth century BC)

If there is to be peace in the world, the nations must live in peace.

If there is to be peace among nations, the cities must not rise up against each other.

If there is to be peace in the cities, neighbours must understand each other.

If there is to be peace among neighbours, there must be harmony in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home, we must each find our own heart.

More about Paulo Coelho

Author Biography: Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio in August 1947, the son of Pedro Queima Coelho de Souza, an engineer, and his wife Lygia, a homemaker. Early on, Coelho dreamed of an artistic career, something frowned upon in his middleclass household. In the austere surroundings of a strict Jesuit school, Coelho discovered his true vocation: to be a writer. Coelho's parents, however, had different plans for him. When their attempts to suppress his devotion to literature failed, they took it as a sign of mental illness. When Coelho was seventeen, his father twice had him committed to a mental institution, where he endured sessions of electroconvulsive 'therapy'. His parents brought him back to the institution once more, after he became involved with a theatre group and started to work as a journalist.