Five Religion Harmony

Puran and Susanna (back to camera) at the Dalai Lama's visit to Tucson.

Puran led an interfaith gathering featuring the Dalai Lama, Rev. David Wilkinson of the Tucson Methodist church, the Catholic Bishop of Tucson, a Rabbi of Tucson and the Imam of Arizona, in a series of chants he's been using for 25 years. He introduced the chants by saying, "If you can find God anywhere, it's in the human heart. And the only place that can be found for all religions to meet is in the heart."

Thanks to Peggy Hitchcock of the "Arizona Friends of Tibet" for making it possible to share this song of religious harmony with His Holiness. Peggy demonstrates a vital aspect of the spiritual work of today: to create occasions where the names of God in different traditions are invoked together.

Traditional melodies of the religion's most sacred chants are used throughout, in a way that allows them to complement one another, forming one song:

Hindu	Om Nama Shivaya (8 beats)	Invocation of Shiva, Lord of Yoga
Buddhist	Om Mani Padme Hum (8 beats)	The words of Buddha
Jewish	Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad (16 beats)	"The Lord our God, The Lord is One."
Christian	Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison (16 beats)	"Lord have mercy; Christ have mercy."
Islam	La illaha illa 'llah (8 beats)	"There is nothing but God."
All	Toward the One, United with All (8 beats)	(Draw us toward the One Being, the One Reality, united with all the Illuminated Souls and all sentient beings.)