heartsteps

For as long as space endures
And for as long as living beings remain,
Until then may I too abide
To dispel the misery of the world.

Dalai Lama

In the name of daybreak
and the eyelids of the morning
and the wayfaring moon
and the night when it departs,

I swear I will not dishonour
my soul with hatred,
but offer myself humbly
as a guardian of nature,
as a healer of misery,
as a messenger of wonder,
as an architect of peace.

In the name of the sun and its mirrors
and the day that embraces it
and the cloud veils drawn over it
and the utmost night
and the male and the female
and the plants bursting with seed
and the crowning seasons
of the firefly and the apple,

I will honour all life -
wherever and in whatever form
it may dwell – on Earth my home,
and in the mansions of the stars.

Diane Ackerman