AL-ISLAM / SUFI (Arabic)
AS-SALAAM ALEIKUM; WALEIKUM AS-SALAAM – (Greeting/response): “Peace be with you; and also with you.”
BISMILLAH AR-RAHMAN IR-RAHIM – “We begin in the Name (or, the Presence) of Allah (or, The One) Who is Mercy and Compassion.”
LA ILLAHA ILLA’LLAH – Most sacred phrase for Sufis: “Nothing exists other than The One” (in al-Islam, often: “There is no God, but God“ or, “There is no reality, but Allah”).
HU – The Ineffable, non-manifest; for Sufis, the Sound of the Absolute (sometimes equated with “OM“).
ISHQ ALLAH MAHBOUD LILLAH – “God is Love, Lover and Beloved,” or, “God is all aspects of Love.”
ALHAMDULILLAH – “All praises to God!” or, “Glory to God!”
ALLAHU AKBAR – “God is All-Powerful, Mighty,” or, as Murshid SAM translates, “Peace is Power.”
ESTAFERALLAH – Phrase used by Dervishes: “We take refuge in the Purifying Presence of Allah.”
AMIN – Ending for prayer: (roughly) “So be it” or, “We affirm that it is so.”
ZIKR / DHIKR – Repetition of Names and Qualities of Allah, the Divine: “Zikr is the perfection of remembrance and the remembrance of perfection.” ~ M. Moineddin Jablonski
CHRISTIAN (Aramaic or Latin)
ALLAHA – (Aramaic) “God” or, “The One.”
ABWOON D’BASH SHEMAYA – (Aramaic) First words of The Lord’s Prayer: “O, Birther of the Cosmos, focus Your Light within us.” (Translation: Neil Douglas-Klotz)
AVE MARIA, GRATIA PLENA – (Latin) “Hail Mary, Full of Grace.”
SOLI DEO GLORIA, ADORAMUS TE – (Latin) “To God alone the Glory; We adore Thee.”
KYRIE ELEISON, CHRISTE ELEISON – (Greek) “Lord is (often: have) Mercy, Christ is (often: have) Mercy.
AMEN (AMEYN in Aramaic) – Ending for prayer: (roughly) “So be it” or, “We affirm that it is so.”
JEWISH (Hebrew)
SHALOM ALEICHEM – “Peace be with you.”
SHABBAT SHALOM – (greeting) “Peaceful Sabbath.”
SHEMA YISRAEL, ADONAI ELOHEYNU, ADONAI EHAD – Most sacred Jewish phrase: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.”
LAI LAI LAI… / DAI DEE DAI… / HAIDA HAIDA… / ETC. – “Niggun,” or vocables whose meaning is known only to those who sing, and to God, to Whom they are sung.
AMEN – Ending for prayer: (roughly) “So be it” or, “We affirm that it is so.”
BUDDHIST (Sanskrit)
BUDDHA YA, DHARMA YA, SANGHA YA (the “triple gem”) – the truth, the teachings, the sacred community
OM MANI PADME HUM / OM MANI PEME HUNG – (Sanskrit and Tibetan Sanskrit, respectively) (roughly) “Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus.”
GATE GATE, PARA GATE, PARA SANGATE, BODHI SVAHA – Mantra of the Great Wisdom Heart Sutra: (roughly) “Gone gone (Go, go), Gone (Go) beyond, All beings gone (go) together, (to) Enlightenment, May it be (it is) so!”
OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA – Mantra of Bodhisattva Tara: “All that exists, Great Mother, Remover of all fear, Bestower of good fortune, So be it.”
KWAN ZEON BOSAI – (or Kwan Zeum Bosal) Korean name of Quan Yin, as “the One who hears the needs of all“; Bosai (or Bosal)is Korean for Bodhisattva.
OM NAMO AMITABHAYA; BUDDHAYA, DHARMAYA, SANGHAYA – “OM…Salutations to the Buddha of Infinite Light; to the Buddha, to the Dharma, to the Sangha (community of practitioners).”
SVAHA / SOHA – Ending for prayer: (Sanskrit/Tibetan Sanskrit, respectively) (roughly) “So be it” or, “We affirm that it is so.”
HINDU (Saanata Dharma) (Sanskrit)
OM GAN GANAPATAYE NAMO NAMAH – “OM…Salutations again and again to Ganesha, Lord of the Ganas, Lord of All Manifest Beings.”
OM SRI RAM JAY RAM JAY JAY RAM – “OM…God Who at once is Truth and Power, impersonal and personal, immanent and transcendent; victory to Thee! Victory, victory to Thee!”
OM NAMAH SHIVAYA – “Salutations to (God in the name of) Shiva.”
DURGE JAY JAY MA – “Victory, victory to the Mother of the Universe, Shakti, Who is All-Victorious!”
HARE KRISHNA / HARE RAMA – “Hail Krishna, God of Love and Bliss; Hail Rama, God of Truth and Power!”
GOPALA, GOPALA, DEVAKI NANDANA, GOPALA – “Young, happy and playful Krishna, the Divine Cowherd; the Joy of Mother Devaki.”
RADHE RADHE RADHE GOVINDA BOLO, RADHE BOL – “Say (chant, repeat) the Name of Radha’s Beloved Krishna, the Divine Cowherd; (Say) Radha’s Name!”
SVAHA – Ending for prayer/mantra: (roughly) “So be it” or, “We affirm that it is so.”
HARI(HI) OM – Ending for prayer/chanting: (roughly) “So be it” or, “We affirm that it is so.”
OM SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTIHI – (Closing) “OM…Peace, peace, peace to all beings.
SIKH (Punjabi)
EK ONGKAR SAT NAM SIRI WAHE GURU / WAHE GURUJI KA KHALSA, WAHE GURUJI KI FATEH – “There is One God, Truth is Its Name, Great Its Indescribable Wisdom; Victory to the Wonderful Teacher of the Pure!”
SAT NARAYAN WAHE GURU, HARE NARAYAN SAT NAM – “Truth, Vishnu, True Sustainer, Infinite Wisdom; in the name of Krishna and Vishnu, creative sustenance; True Identity”
ZOROASTRIAN (Persian or Farsi)
AHURA MAZDA – “Supreme God” or, “Lord of Wisdom.”
ARMAITI, ANAHITA, ATAR, VAYU – The Four Elements: earth, water, fire, air.
ASHEM VOHU – Identifying that Light of Truth found in the human Heart (Asha) with the Ultimate Principle, the Source of that Light (Vohu).
USHTAA TE! – “May happiness be unto you!”
SOME OPENING INVOCATIONS:
Toward the One, the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty, the Only Being, United with all the Illuminated Souls who Form the Embodiment of the Master, the Spirit of Guidance. –Hazrat Inayat Khan
Let the soul now sing, that it be utterly triumphant! Let the soul now sing, that it become totally free, that murmurs and forebodings be dispersed, and the Universal Light become known to all! —Murshid Samuel Lewis, from The Jerusalem Trilogy
Come blow the horn of unity and let us gather together and join as one.
Let us forget our differences if only for a moment.
When we are carried away beyond ourselves, we become the color of water. We are all branches of the same tree, all fellow travelers. —Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi
The circle has healing power. In the Circle we are all equal. When in the Circle, no one is in front of you. No one is behind you. No one is above you. No one is below you. The Sacred Circle is designed to create unity…—Dave Chief, Oglala Lakota, Grandson of Red Dog/Crazy Horse’s Band, 365 Days of Walking the Red Road
SOME CLOSING PRAYERS:
May all beings be well, may all beings be happy, peace, peace, peace.
May all beings be happy, may all beings be free. Svaha.
Lokaaha samastaaha sukhino bhavantu – (Sanskrit)
“May all beings everywhere be happy.”
May you be at peace. May your heart remain open. May you awaken to the light of your own true nature. May you be healed, May you be a source of healing for all beings. —Tibetan Buddhist Prayer
For more information about the Dances of Universal Peace, please visit:
dancesofuniversalpeace.org and DancesOfUniversalPeaceNA.org