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what do we do when so many are bent on destruction, on asserting power & dominance, who oppress & target their own people, or choose conflict, killing civilians including children, destroying hospitals, schools, & places of worship? many say “peace” & “liberation”, but what they bring is destruction & death. one of the greatest gifts the Jewish tradition has given this world & a teaching i hold in high regard & try to live by, is the philosophy of Tikkun Olam, which means “repairing the world”. it is a foundational ethic & call to action, that we all can take part in – indeed, the world needs us all to take part in, especially in this moment when even some of the world’s most powerful leaders, Trump & Netanyahu among them, are off course & escalating harm & destruction. the direness of this moment is existential in scope. people are already dying & the suffering is immense. perhaps at times a situation does require force, motivated by immense love, fierce compassion, & restraint after all other efforts have been exhausted, but this is often not the case for the majority of war & conflict we see. ultimately we have a choice, each of us, whether we are going to participate in harm & destruction, or whether we are going to choose love, life, & restoration over & over again for as long as the world needs. may Tikkun Olam inspire, motivate, & govern our words & action in this challenging time.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#TikkunOlam #RepairingTheWorld #JewishWisdom #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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friends, on this first day of spring, step outside. breathe deep. allow yourself to connect with & remember the order of nature. it is always moving towards life, towards creation. even, within the context of nature, death is a movement towards more life. this is all the more important, when we have world leaders who are bent on destruction. they are misaligned, they are in disharmony, blind & deluded. we don’t have to be. we as individuals, & collectively, can wake up. wake up to interdependence, to life, to love. may it be so.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#Spring #SpringEquinox #life #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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may there be more awareness & understanding.

may there be less othering.

may there be less violence, less war, less destruction, less hate, less indifference to the suffering of others.

may we see life is of one piece, love is of one piece, & in our delusion we are destroying whole worlds. 

may we wake up & may hearts open.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#interdependence #love #RobertThurman #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control.”

~St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians

what fruit are we bearing?

may we embody such fruit for a world in need. may we, in this time, be discerning. may we practice opening our heart & steadying our mind, to see clearly those who are aligned with, participating in, or provoking cruelty, harm, & destruction. may we, in seeing clearly, be resilient in our love, fierce with our compassion, & wise with our words & action.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#FruitOfTheSpirit #love #dove #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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prophetic wisdom from the late, great James Baldwin.

he got it – the depth of love, of life, of how to dance in this mystery of BEing.

Jesus said “…whatever you did for one of the least of these…you did for me.”

he got. Buddhists also get it w/ their foundational recognition of our interdependence, indeed, our interbeing w/ all life. the South African philosophy of Ubuntu is another way of saying it as well, “I am because we are.”

do we get it? how can we say we do, if we support a consistent flow of othering, escalation, & violence? i don’t think we get it & we will continue to cycle through violence & pass violence onto our children as a way of un-BEing, wrapped up in a million shiny righteous excuses until we do. may we wake up to our inherent relationship w/ life.

~j

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#Ubuntu #interbeing #love #JamesBaldwin #JinpaLhaga 

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“We’ve entered this new era, and we have to be planning for healing just as carefully as others are planning for destruction.”

~ Omid Safi

the work of healing, of restoration, is the work of love. may we be lovers of this world, lovers in this world, intentionally bringing healing & restoration w/ our words & actions, in the face of the cruelty, violence, & destruction we are bearing witness to.

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#lovers #healers #OmidSafi #MedicineBuddha #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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we cannot bomb our way to peace. regime change doesn’t happen from the air. we are not liberating people when we bomb their civilian infrastructure, hospitals, & schools.

how does one measure success when the definition of measuring itself keeps shifting?

chaos, uncertainty, mass destruction, & mass death will not save people who need saving, or bring peace & security.

~j

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#war #peace #clarity #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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i suspect abandoning fear, greed, lust for power & control, along with not declaring one’s own agenda as a holy war might help. awareness of our interdependence & a commitment to loving our neighbor (spoiler alert – that’s everyone) would have us on the correct & beneficial path.

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#OpenHeart #peace #EleanorRoosevelt #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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may we wake up to see clearly:

how we hold one thing 

is how we hold every thing.

how we care for one person 

is how we care for all people.

that the only profanity 

is how we treat each other 

when we abandon 

our sacredness.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#sacred #interdependence #LoveThyNeighbor #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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be here now.

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#BeHereNow #presence #LoveThyNeighbor #HarperLee #JinpaLhaga