A Prayer for Anxiety

Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

Please listen with compassion to my cry for help;

Please listen with sympathy to my miserable plight.

My mind is like a tangled ball of thread;

Unless the troubles in my mind can be unraveled,

I cannot be carefree.

My mind is like a broken boat that has lost its way;

Unless I can find land,

I will submerge in a sea of misery.

Oh Buddha!

I pray to you:

Please free me from this miserable predicament;

Please guide me towards liberation.

Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

I would like to confess my errors to you,

I would like to repent of my mistakes before you:

I have no plans when handling affairs;

I have no direction in my life;

Every day, I am confused and flustered;

In conducting myself, I am ignorant and inflexible;

In my thoughts, I am incapable of adapting to circumstances.

Therefore, I do not know what to do.

My heart is filled with greed, anger, suspicion, and jealousy;

My mind lacks confidence and faith for enlightenment;

Every day, I am anxious and agitated;

I do not have enough self-control;

I am unable to carry out actions decisively.

I know that all the mistakes are caused by myself;

I understand that all grievances and unwholesome karma are created by myself.

However, I lack the determination to reform;

I lack the motivation to repent.

As a result, I procrastinated my time away.

Oh Buddha, I pray for you to support me with your great power:

From today on,

I will discard narrow-mindedness;

I will learn not to be impatient;

I will bring cooperation fully into play;

I will develop a life of optimism.

Oh Buddha! 

Please help us:

To subdue the negative forces in our hearts;

To eliminate the bad habit of procrastination;

To be patient and uphold the precepts;

To settle our body and mind;

To help us to cultivate meditative concentration and prajna wisdom;

To grant us unfailing courage and diligence;

To eliminate our greed, anger, and ignorance;

And to increase our kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

Oh great, compassionate Buddha,

Please accept my sincerest prayer!

Oh great, compassionate Buddha,

Please accept my sincerest prayer!

(Excerpted from “A Prayer for Anxiety 為心慌意亂祈祈願文)” from Pearls of Wisdom: Prayers for Engaged Living by Ven. Master Hsing Yun)