Commencement invocation

June 3, 2005

Swami Tyagananda, MIT's Hindu chaplain, gave the following invocation at the Institute's Commencement exercises on June 3, 2005.

Swami Vivekananda once said: "Education is the manifestation of the perfection already within us." Our challenge is to transform knowledge into wisdom, and this is best achieved in an environment that promotes both unity and harmony. I will recite now--first in Sanskrit and then its English translation--an ancient prayer that invokes this harmony:

[The following paragraph was first read in Sanskrit.]

"May we come together for a common purpose. May our minds be of one accord. Let us join our thoughts for integrated wisdom. Common be our prayer, common our goal. Common be our purpose, common our desires. Unified be our hearts. United be our intentions. Perfect be the unity amongst us all."

Let me leave you now with this prayer:

May the one and the same Divine Reality who is
The Father in Heaven of the Christians,
Holy One of the Jewish faith, Allah of the Muslims,
Buddha of the Buddhists,
Dao of the Chinese faith,
Ahura Mazda of the Zoroastrians,
The Great Spirit of the Native Americans
and Brahman of the Hindus,
Lead us from ignorance to Knowledge
from darkness to Light,
from death to Immortality.
May we be granted clear understanding and
the courage to pursue the goals
of social justice, nonviolence, harmony and peace
with single-minded attention.

[The following line was first read in Sanskrit.]

Peace. Peace. Peace be unto all.

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