Prayers for Ukraine

Sanctuary of the Heart

Few years ago, a traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe, Hokule'a, completed the first-ever round-the-world trip. Its crew navigated without any modern instruments or technology, using only the stars, wind and ocean swells as guides. On cloudy days with no visibility, the Wayfinder of the boat would convene the crew for prayer. That crew included not just the dozen people on the boat, but "ground crew" who were thousands of miles away and yet very much right there.

To join the ground crew here, simply RSVP here and you'll be emailed the details. Our 2-hour interfaith video call will be anchored in prayers, songs, stories, and poems that evoke the sacred -- with friends from Poland and Romania sharing their first-hand experiences; speakers reflecting on resilience; and ample everyday (he)artists offering creative expressions of interfaith prayer, from bowing to silence to whirling to  drawing mandalas.  After the event, we hope to build on the ripples by encouraging distributed circles around different practices that emerge on the call.

Background: Last week, as a part of our transformative Mystical Music Pod, we held an informal concert with Carrie Newcomer. It also happened to be the day that the war in Ukraine started, and Charles Gibbs poignantly opened with Martin Luther King Jr's words: "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny." The evening profoundly strengthened our resiliency, and has inspired us to host this gathering of songs, poems and prayers.

Among the many luminous spirits on our call, we feel blessed to include: 

  • Jin Wei is a Buddhist monk, originally from Poland, practicing acts of kindness, even with PG&E workers in a Forest.
  • Myron Eshowsky is a shamanic healer, with paternal roots in Ukraine and maternal roots in Russia. He actively serves refugee communities to help unravel trans-generational trauma.
  • Lila Vasilescu is an educator and a prolific community organizer in Romania. "I have witnessed incredible stories of kindness and compassion in these awful last 10 days."
     
  • Carrie Newcomer is a practicing Quaker, grammy-winning musician who has produced 19 albums. Her latest is a co-creation with the entire pod: Never All That Far 
  • Rev. Heng Sure is one of the senior-most Western Buddhist monks in the world. Many know him for his 800-mile 3-steps-1-bow pilgrimage, but his go-to instrument of peace is his guitar
  • Radhika Sood Nayak, is a vocalist who left her highly successful corporate career to sing songs to the divine. She is known for her soul-stirring Sufi songs and Kabir poems.
  • Nimo is a bi-lingual rapper who serves underprivileged communities in India by teaching them songs like We Shall Overcome
  • Melanie DeMore is a vocal activist who teaches music in schools, prisons, and youth groups and radiates a glorious smile while "sending you light."
     
  • Yuka Saionji Matsuura has been praying "May Peace Prevail on Earth" since she was a toddler. Whether on a train at 3AM or addressing the UN, her bright spirit is impossible to miss.
  • Paulette Pipe is meditation teacher, who often serves as "keeper of the flame" in community groups. She recently led a meditation at the Parliament of World Religions.
  • James O'dea is an author who formerly led Amnesty International and Institute of Noetic Sciences. He has spent decades working at the intersection of conscious activism and active consciousness.
     
  • And many more ... including every single one of us, arm in arm, regenerating and mirroring the vibration of love back into the larger field of life.

Thank you, all, for helping co-create this sacred intention. This call is collectively hosted by various teams of ServiceSpace, like Awakin Talks and Pod Crew, and friends in the community. Simply witnessing more than 50 speakers, singers and volunteers frictionlessly convene over the last two days mirrors what is possible when love is at the center. 

May Peace Prevail on Earth.

To join, please RSVP, and you'll be emailed more details (and will also be shown the live-stream link on the screen).