In September walkers set out from London, Bristol and Hereford on a pilgrimage to the COP26 in Glasgow. The Camino to Cop has been organised by members of XRs Faith Bridge, including members of XR Buddhists. Find out more here: caminotocop.com. As the walk passed Malvern Kaspa joined them for a day and a half, and offered this blessing:
Prayer for Camino
When we call to Amida Buddha, we are calling to the Buddha of infinite light. And what is the light? It is the light of love, and the light of wisdom that sees things as they truly are.
This light surrounds us and encompasses us and the whole universe is shot through with it. And when we look deep inside our hearts we discover the same light there.
Sometimes when we call to the Buddhas we call from a place of fear and delusion, relying on the light outside to illuminate us. Sometimes when we call on the Buddhas we call from a place of gratitude and are sending our own light into the world.
As we look at the Buddha and see their infinite capacity for love, the Buddhas look at us and see the potential for the same.
We call on Amida, the Buddha of infinite light that loves and accepts us just as we are.
We call on Shakyamuni, who set the dharma wheel turning in this age.
We call on Kwan Yin whose compassion is the compassion we find in the world, and who inspires us to compassionate acts.
We call upon Tai Shih Chih whose name means arrival of great strength.
We call upon Manjushri whose sword cuts through ignorance and shows us the way things are
We call upon Samantabhadra who goes with us into the most difficult places and helps us to make offerings there
We call upon all of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and upon all of the great beings and ancestors.
And as the Buddha did, we call upon the Earth as witness.
We invite the blessings of these holy beings that our hearts may be big enough to hold the suffering of the world, and that we may have the energy to play our part in responding to this suffering. That we may remember that there is a time for speaking, and a time for silence, and a time for moving and a time for stillness.
That we may remember our deep connection to the Earth and that we are human-animals.
We invite the blessings of these holy beings so that all may awaken to urgency of the climate crisis, and the ecological emergency. And we pray that we might remember that, as Shinran says, once we entrust ourselves to the infinite light we are grasped, never to be abandoned.
Kaspa is a Buddhist teacher at Bright Earth Buddhist Temple, and currently one of the co-coordinators for XR Buddhists.