Readings for a ceremony of representatives of different faiths and traditions pouring water into a common bowl as a symbol of reconciliation and renewal

1. Water of Life
Interfaith Ceremony
Readings may be read by representatives of
various faiths and traditions as they pour water
into a common bowl.
Universal Peace Federation

2. Invocation
Let the water wash away the ancient grudges,
the bitter hatreds nurtured over generations.
May it melt the memory of our own pain.
Let our hearts,
nourished by
the water of life,
blossom in beauty.
Our world awaits the water
that each of us can bring.

3. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Buddhist Reading
The falling drops of water
will in time
fill a water-jar.
Even so the wise man
becomes full of good,
although he gather it
little by little.
- Dhammapada 121 & 122

4. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Christian Readings
Everyone who drinks this water
will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks the water
I give him will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give him
will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life.
- John 4:14
To the thirsty I will give from the
fountain of the water of life.
- Revelation 1:6

5. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Confucian Reading
When things are investigated,
then true knowledge is achieved.
When true knowledge is achieved,
then the will becomes sincere.
When the will is sincere,
then the heart is set right.
When the heart is set right,
then the personal life is cultivated.
when the personal life is cultivated,
then the family life is regulated.
When the family life is regulated,
then the national life is orderly.
And when the national life is orderly, then
there is peace in the world.

6. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Hindu Prayer
May there be peace on earth.
May the waters be appeasing.
May herbs be wholesome,
and may trees and plants
bring peace to all.
May all beneficent beings
bring peace to us.
May thy Vedic Law propagate peace
all through the world.
May all things be a source of peace to us.
And may thy peace itself,
bestow peace on all,
and may that peace come to me also.

7. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Jewish Readings
Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all they do, they prosper.
- Psalm 1:1-3
Let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!
- Amos 5:4

8. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Muslim Reading
Allah has created from water
every living creature:
so of them is that which
walks upon its belly,
and of them is that which
walks upon two feet,
and of them is that which
walks upon four;
Allah creates what He pleases;
surely Allah has power
over all things.
- Qur'an 24.45

9. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Sikh Reading
The sea, the dry land, and the lakes
are filled with the Water of the Lord's Name;
no place is left empty.
The Creator has showered His Kindness;
He cherishes and nurtures
all beings and creatures.
He is Merciful, Kind and Compassionate.
All are satisfied and fulfilled through Him.
The woods, the meadows and the three worlds
(water, land and air)
have been filled with life.
- Guru Granth Sahib Ji 103

10. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Dalai Lama
The problems we face today,
violent conflicts, destruction of
nature, poverty, hunger and so on,
are human-created problems
which can be resolved
through human effort, understanding
and the development of
a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood.
We need to cultivate a universal
Geneva, Switzerland
responsibility for one another
and the planet we share.
We have a responsibility
to look after our planet.
It is our only home.

11. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
London, England
Martin Luther King, Jr.
We have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish,
but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.
.

12. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Rumi
Water said to the defiled,
"Hurry come to me."
The defiled replied,
"But I feel ashamed
before the water."
Water said,
"But without me
how will you wash
your shame?
Bergamo, Italy
How will your filth
be removed?"

13. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Bangkok, Thailand
Lao Tsu
Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water.
Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong,
none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it.
So the flexible overcome the adamant,
the yielding overcome the forceful.

14. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Leonardo da Vinci
When you put your hand
in a flowing stream,
you touch the last that
has gone before
And the first of what is
still to come.
-
Rome, Italy

15. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Mahatma Gandhi:
We may not be God,
but we are of God,
even as a little drop of water
is of the ocean.
Washington, DC, USA

16. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
New Delhi, India
Mother Teresa
I alone cannot change the world,
but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.

17. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Nelson Mandela
Let there be work, bread, water, and
salt for all
New York City, USA

18. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Zen Buddhist saying
Before enlightenment:
chop wood,
carry water.
After enlightenment:
chop wood,
carry water.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

19. Water of Life Interfaith Ceremony
Antoine de Saint-
Exupery
True love is
inexhaustible;
the more you give,
the more you have.
And if you go to draw at
the true
fountainhead, the more
water you draw, the
more abundant is its
Budapest, Hungary flow.

20. When you drink the water, remember the spring.
Universal Peace Federation
www.upf.org