Requiem (Joseph G. Stephens)

1. Requiem aeternam
Requiem aeternam. Et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiem aeternam.

2. You having walked this earth
born pain of our pain
laughter of our laughter
having tasted wine and bread
and felt loss and fear as we do
You being Son and Lord Child
suckled and weaned as we
You walking on two legs as ours are legs

You have been killed and hung in pain we can not know
You have risen and will forever rise
from the fire of their hatred
Heir to all love to the kingdom of heaven once more
to rule as only one who has born our blood in his veins
and tasted our joys and anxieties can rule
Protecting us
defending us to the Father
You who understands, As he now understands
Two yet one in Glory, Power, and the eternal knowing
That we ...forgiven and loved ever more
can stoop and pray
for your forgiveness everyday
Glory from here
That we must fear the fury fires no more
We humbly thank The Father for the son
The Son for the sacrifice
And celebrate in song and life the extraordinary Glory
of all that has gone before
Looking with open hearts and wide eyes to all
that is yet to come
of your Glory
Amen.

3. The Jewel in the Lotus
from the Tibetan Book of the Dead

When the impulse of my lifespan is worn out,
As dear ones cannot help beyond this world
And I must wander alone in the between,
May Buddhas mild and fierce exert the force of their compassion
And clear the dense fog of darkness of misknowledge!

When wild beasts of prey roar savagely,
May it become the Dharma sound - OM MANI PADME HUM!
When I am driven by snow, rain, wind, and darkness,
May I find the divine vision of brilliant wisdom!

Now when the death-point between dawns upon me,
I will give up all-desiring mind,
Enter unwavering the experience of the clarity of precepts,
And transmigrate into the birthless space of inner awareness;
About to lose this created body of flesh and blood,
I will realize it to be impermanent illusion!

With mind distracted, never thinking, "Death is coming,"
To slave away on the business of mundane life,
And then to come out empty - is an error.
The need is recognition, holy dharma
So won't you live this divine truth from now on?
These are the words of the great adepts.
If you do not put these teachings in your heart,
will you not become your own deceiver?