Prayers for the People
Do you ever have a crisis or experience the death of a loved one and feel absolutely helpless? Do you ever have a joyful special event in your life and want to do something extra to celebrate?
Prayers for the People
Asian Classics Institute brings you weekly (English only) and monthly (five languages) sessions of Prayers for the People, a service designed to help us all with the pains and pleasures of everyday life. When someone you know and love is in crisis; when someone you know and love has passed away; or when someone you know and love has something special to celebrate, Prayers for the People will help you navigate the transition and add the power of Buddhist prayer and meditation to your loved one's experience.
Here's how it works: You will find a form to fill out to request prayers, with as much or as little detail as you’d like to share. ACI then will send your request to a confidential, dedicated group of practitioners from around the world, who will do tonglen for your loved one, or coffee meditate to celebrate with you, or conduct special prayers and meditations to help them through their transition from this life. It will also help us all everywhere to live better lives and create a better world.
When you fill out the request form, you will have three choices: prayers for those in crisis, such as illness; prayers for those who have died; or prayers for those with something special to celebrate. We will ask for names and photos to help our prayer team focus on the loved one in need, but it may remain anonymous too. In some cases, when someone has died, we may request more information as well to help if you’d like to provide it.
We invite you to share one or more good things the person we're praying for has done, so we can rejoice together.
We offer regular weekly sessions (English only) with our volunteer prayer team, and monthly sessions in five languages led by an ACI teacher or advanced practitioner.
Monthly session
On Tuesday, November 19, at 7:30 a.m. Arizona time, our monthly Prayers for the People prayer session will be led by Silvia Engelhardt, a certified ACI teacher. You are invited to attend and add your thoughts and prayers to help people who need you around the world.
Silvia is a certified senior Asian Classics Institute teacher, and co-founder and director of the Meditation Studies Initiative, an international Worldview organization. She founded and directed the German publishing house Edition Blumenau which publishes Geshe Michael's works. Silvia has worked as graphic designer, art director, project manager, and department leader for major German publications. She lives in a small Bavarian village and loves to roam local nature reserves.
And please don't forget:
·You can attend our weekly prayer sessions and/or our monthly ones
You can submit prayer requests for friends and loved ones
·You can volunteer to help with various tasks
You can donate to support Prayers for the People any time you're inspired to do so.
Together, let’s bring comfort, hope, and healing to those who need it most.
Help us spread hope and healing—sign up to join the team today!
This program offers a beautiful way to help create a better world. Besides requesting prayers, you can participate in one or both of the following ways:
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We warmly invite you to join our weekly prayer sessions, where together we can help ease suffering, rejoice successes, and contribute to creating a more compassionate world.
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We would be truly grateful if you could support this program as a volunteer by:
• Leading prayer sessions
• Translating prayer requests or materials
• Supporting us with other tasks to serve the community
📍 Weekly Online Prayer Sessions
🗓️ Every Wednesday | 5:00–5:30 AM Arizona Time
🌏 Note: The weekly prayer sessions are currently held in English only. We'd love your help to hold sessions in your language.
Want to support this program?
The offering is free, but ACI is always very happy to accept donations, if you should feel so inclined. It's completely up to you.