May the Whole World be Happy

Last night I found Lao-Tzu sitting quietly in his little corner of the garden with his eyes closed. I thought he might be sick but he suddenly opened his eyes and greeted me. I asked whether he was alright and he said he had been saying his bedtime prayer! This came as a big surprise to me – rats praying? Quite unheard of!


“It’s good to pray for everyone,” said Lao-Tzu, his eyes twinkling. “You can pray for their good health, peace of mind, whatever. You will be surprised at the power of prayer. Why don’t you try it too. Let me teach you a simple universal prayer – “Samasta Lokha Sukhino Bhavantu”. It’s in Sanskrit and it means “May the whole world be happy. " I usually end off my prayers with it.”


I must say the old rat is full of surprises. He knows so much! I repeated the line several times after him until he was satisfied. “Now when you go back, say a little prayer for everyone and end with that mantra.”


When I returned to the temple, I thought over what Lao-Tzu had said. Me pray? I wondered what the nuns would think – they would probably die laughing. None of the cats I knew pray. But all the same I decided to give it a try. I went to a quiet corner of the kitchen so that no one could see me. But how should I start? Since I was living in a Buddhist temple, I thought it would be appropriate to address the prayer to Lord Buddha. Maybe something like this …


Dear Lord Buddha, please bless Head Nun for being so kind to me and please don’t let her forget my favourite biscuits every morning;


Please also bless the other nuns though sometimes I wish they would not tease me or laugh at me;


Please bless Bao, my friend; let him be happy every day;


Please bless Ning and the other stray cats; may they never be hungry.


Please bless my mum and dad and don’t let them miss me too much;


Please bless Lao-Tzu for teaching me how to pray and may he never run out of stories;


Finally please forgive me for what I have done or have not done and I hope to see you in Nirvana one day.


Samasta Lokha Sukhino Bhavantu
Samasta Lokha Sukhino Bhavantu
Samasta Lokha Sukhino Bhavantu


I thought that was not too bad for a start.


After praying seven nights in a row, I began to feel tired. It was pretty boring repeating the same lines every night, and what was worse, I sometimes fell asleep in between lines.


One night, Head Nun said to me, “Vege Cat, have you finished praying? If so, I’ll switch off the lights.” I was startled. How did she know I had been praying? She knew what I was thinking and smiled gently, “Keep it up and may the Lord Buddha bless you.”


That night I slept very soundly and dreamt that the Lord Buddha and I were floating on a lake filled with pink and white lotus flowers – and he indeed looked very pleased with me.