Dear readers, welcome to our June newsletter.

• We are very happy to announce the publication of our latest title, When the Rose Blooms, a collection of spiritual aphorisms by Ali Lakhani, illustrated by Nigel Jackson and prefaced by Barry McDonald.

The geography of these utterances, each like a signpost, maps a vast and ancient territory in few words, tracing the frontiers of Prayer and Silence,
“If you let the silence within you sing to itself, you will become its song.”

• We bring next a new addition to our Sacred Audio Library, a recording of the Kumulipo (“Beginning-in-deep-darkness”), the native Hawaiian chant describing the origin of the universe and of the human race.

Under the surface meaning of the words lies the hidden meaning, or meanings, the kaona, as the Hawaiians say. A divine child, a sacred chief, Lono-i-ka-makahiki, is the cosmos described. It is his origin that begins in the deep darkness of the spirit world, in the intense darkness of the fruitful night of the Pleiades.

• Finally, we are grateful to present a new translation of the Infinite Life Sutra. Known also as The Longer Sukhavativyuha Sutra, this is a key text in Mahayana/Pure Land/Shin Buddhism, which has had and continues to have an unparalleled influence through the Far East.

With a single sound the Blessed One saves
each and every type of living thing
in a wondrous form he appears
for everyone to see

I wish to obtain the pure sound of a buddha
and broadcast the dharma across limitless realms
making known the methods
of discipline, concentration and energy
and penetrate the profound and subtle dharma

With knowledge and wisdom as vast as the ocean
and an inner mind purified, cleansed of all defilements
I shall transcend the limitless gateways to evil destinies and swiftly reach the distant shore.