My Himalayan Prayer for Nepal
I had the privilege of visiting Nepal last year at this time. I was with Rotary as a peace scholar and my work was to teach cultures of peace to teachers and clown in schools and on the streets. I love the Nepali people and found them to be an incredibly strong people. In the mountains I saw their power. I send them my prayer tonight.
HIMALAYAN PRAYER FOR NEPAL
The Himalayas,
Reach for the heavens,
As the ridge windes its way as the backbone
and the roof of the world,
A clash of continents pushes with great force,
Forming mountains and continental shelves,
Upheaving the land mass like sand castles,
As the masses feel the earth move under their feet,
Waves pulsate under soil and crops,
No longer a steady state to rely on,
As hope crumbles beneath houses of cards,
Nepal is experiencing its ground zero.
The people scream and run for cover,
As debris fall like projectiles without fear or favour,
The avalanche recalls and reclaims the land,
As the rumble yields to seismic earth changes.
Famous temples fold under burial mounds,
Familiar streets scapes become chaotic landscapes unrecognisable and disfigured,
Whole villages disappear as the mountains release pay loads,
Yet there is no pay to remove loads for money is in short supply,
There is no income, food or water to sustain hapless lives,
As people feel the grinding pain of poverty and realise
the agony of separation and death.
Unpicking the social fabric of ancient carpets,
History buried alive in mass graves,
The homelessness blessed to simply survive,
As tent cities replace buildings offering a thin covering,
As a veil descends between the dream and the emerging nightmare,
As the monsoons prepare to offer another after shock,
Washing away the scene of the crime,
Without adequate protection or shelter,
As nature moves mountains in the blink of an eye,
The rain falls as tears as if in sorrow for the growing load,
Nepal cries at its misfortune as progress falters,
Yet awakens to revived community spirit and foreign aid,
For they are not alone in their hour of greatest need,
Even when selfish greed cannot resist temptation to take the money and run,
There is an avalanche of support washing away corruption,
In favour of a renewable resurrection.
From the ashes the phoenix does arise,
From tragedy communities lend a helping hand in parity,
For Lumbini is the symbol and birth place of Buddha,
As the lotus of compassion opens around the world,
Emerging from the oyster of hardship,
The pearl shines within these brave people,
Cultivated by eons of hard work and song,
Polished by community, family and a culture so strong,
They dance together to unite the one song of Nepal,
Remembering the Ghurkas had a reputation for great courage and gall,
The Sherpas climbed regularly Everest for a pittance of pay,
Villagers cultivate crops from dawn to dusk each day,
They carried huge loads without pain,
As they were born to be strong no matter the strain,
To remember leopards never change their spots.
And Nepali folk cultivate their lives from carrying infants
to the firey pyres publicly displayed as graves,
For they have a higher altitude to pray,
A noble attitude to death,
Every home houses the 4 noble truths,
The truth of suffering,
The truth of the cause of suffering,
The truth of the end of suffering,
The truth of the path leading to the end of suffering,
As this is the real home coming.
Praying for blessings and loved ones paving a new road to open up,
Shrines and temples of remembrance and offerings of hope,
Tibetan prayer flags blowing in the winds of change,
Sai Baba ushering the promise of miracles,
Hindu gods of war and peace beaconing oneness with God,
Buddhist icons of compassion and truth in flowering kindness,
Flowers permeating perfumed scents of spiritual upliftment,
Incense burning as spiral smoke signals of peace and love,
Colourful tika powder honouring the blessed be,
Chanting Shri Gorakhnath Chalisa 12 times for the blessed Nepali,
As each seek peace in the silence of devotion,
For every life is holy and precious,
Life a ritualised prayer ceremony,
Placing their trust in a higher light,
Particularly in this hour of shock and disbelief,
Let’s get together and give them relief!!
For this is my Himalayan prayer,
On the full moon tonight,
To chant – we can climb Everest in a day and night!