For the beginning of a day, the middle of a difficulty, and the end of an evening. The Sanskrit invocations are traditional and widely used. Everything in English is the author’s own, written for this edition.
Morning · before the day arrives
ॐ सत्यं शिवं सुन्दरम्
OM SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM · TRADITIONAL
Let today’s actions match today’s knowledge.
Let me not require an audience to do what is right.
Let the first hour be mine before it is anyone else’s.
Before speaking, deciding or acting
What is this for — and would I say so aloud?
Let no word leave without awareness.
Between the thought and the deed, let there be no gap I would need to hide.
For the Earth
I am made of this place and will be returned to it.
Let me serve it by attention rather than by alarm.
Let me leave this ground better than I found it, in the small ways available to me.
Evening · four questions
Was I truthful — not only in word, but in presence?
Did I follow what I knew, or what was expected?
Where did I drift, and where did I return?
What is unfinished that I can leave until morning without pretending it is done?