time loses its hold
in nature beyond these gates
dharmas flow as one.
~j
nature is a healing balm. if weather permits where you are today, get out into it 🌳🙏🏻
#healing #balance #harmony #nature #life #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #Haiku #JMWart #photography #JinpaLhaga
i love the perspective of mystics, like St. Catherine of Siena. they see in a way that is far more vast, and far deeper than most of us. for them, there is no separation between the sacred and the mundane. from a Buddhist perspective, the underlying nature of all things is luminous, awake and spacious.
but how can we have a perspective that things are this way, when we see so much harm, so much cruelty, so much ugliness at times?
i would suggest that it is the very act of not recognizing things as sacred and luminous, which can be called ignorance, that propels the harm and cruelty we see. if we were to really see others as sacred, the environment as sacred, then maybe we would harm less, we’d care about the person going hungry, living without healthcare, or a home. we’d care about the environment and all the life that depends on it being healthy.
we can practice this perspective, through insight, by uprooting our ignorance and the destructive patterns of attachment and aversion that arise from it. meditation can give us the time and space to practice this.
~j
#sacred #luminous #meditation #insight #path #practice #ChristianMysticism #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga
Breath rises and falls.
Just this sitting, nothing more.
Sun shines, birds’ songs sing.
~j
#meditation #path #practice #life #nature #haiku #JMWart #JinpaLhaga
500,000
a year into this pandemic, we have now surpassed this grim number, 500,000 lives lost to COVID-19. the highest of any nation on earth, more lives lost than in WWI, WWII, and Vietnam combined.
mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, friends…all lives that loved and were loved, who had dreams, goals, wishes, regrets, and prayers…
please do not become numb to the loss of life, to mass death and the toll it takes on individuals and to us as a community.
so many are tired and weary, this long year taking its toll, but for many moving on is impossible and moving forward, they will never be the same. there is a hole, a deep wound, worthy of our empathy, our compassion and care, our attention and honor.
i have known some who have lost their lives to this virus, and many who have lost family members and friends. this number represents real lives, lives that will be deeply missed.
life does move forward and we too will move forward, but let’s do so honoring those who are no longer present in this space and who will be missed. let’s do so by receiving the vaccine when it is our turn to do so, let’s do so by wearing our masks, and responsibly social distancing.
mass death should not be and is not inevitable.
holding all in my heart with love.
~j
#COVID19 #death #grief #life
there is a phrase/hashtag used by some Engaged Buddhists that i really like. it is #SitDownRiseUp. i like the harmony/balance of it.
our seated, formal meditation where we train with our mind and heart, is preparation for stepping into the world to bring benefit and reduce suffering.
and what we are training to do on our cushion, at least partly, is to get up and relate to the world with the same mindful and open-hearted energy, so that we are a benefit to others.
~j
#EngagedBuddhism #path #practice #meditation #mindfulness #ThichNhatHanhQuotes #JinpaLhaga
afternoon slides into evening,
with such ease.
there is always movement.
life doesn’t stop, it doesn’t need to.
i practice to move with life.
not ahead of it, not lagging behind,
not stopping with heels dug in.
even when sitting, silently,
in stillness, i move with each breath.
~j
#life #impermanence #movement #change #path #practice #meditation #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga
“The practice is never for ourselves alone.”
~ Joseph Goldstein
sometimes there is a misconception about meditators being “navel gazers” and meditation just being some form of “self-help”. and this may be true for some (btw – not that self-help is a bad thing! self-help can be a very beneficial pursuit on one’s journey to and practice of healthy living.)
but from a Buddhist perspective, meditation practice is not about just oneself. how can it be? one of the foundations of Buddhism is recognition of our interdependence. we don’t exist in a silo. as Buddhists, when we meditate, we meditate for the benefit of all beings (which does also include ourselves). our intention to “wake up”, is to do so for the benefit of others. and on a practical level this makes a lot of sense. if we are more at ease, clear headed, open hearted, and stable, then we bring these qualities to those we interact with.
of course, we don’t have to be Buddhists to have and set such intention. each of us, as we sit down to meditate no matter our tradition or non-tradition, can do so with the intention to wake up to ourselves and our lives not just to our benefit, but to he benefit of those around us as well. we can dedicate whatever benefits of clarity, strength, stability, open heartedness, calmness, ease, and insight we have to those around us on outward to everyone we encounter and even those we may not encounter.
may we practice in such a way, that all life benefits from our practice.
~j
#meditation #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #bodhisattvas #JMWart #JinpaLhaga
this, your very heart.
broken open, heals the world.
dam breaks, water flows.
~j
11.11.15
i wrote this a little over 5 years ago now.
still true, i think 🙏🏻
~j
#haiku #OpenHeart #love #life #healing #path #practice #Metta #EngagedBuddhism #JMWart #JinpaLhaga #JMWphotography #photography
wishing all who observe, a beneficial Ash Wednesday and beginning of the Lenten season!
so many will participate in prayer and renunciation during this period leading up to Easter.
renunciation can really get a bad rap. we rarely want to sacrifice or fast from things. we can change our perspective though. renunciation is really an act of freedom. letting go of things, allowing them to escape our grip, our habit, our patterns, can be extremely liberating. we can approach it with some investigation and curiosity. do i really need this? how do i really feel without it? what are my relationships to things, food, habits, patterns in my life?
renunciation can also be a form of simply reprioritizing what is important and needed in our lives. our letting go, can make room for more beneficial habits and the Lenten season can be a really beneficial period to develop these new, beneficial habits.
we can use this time to reestablish our relationship to ourselves and how we love our life.
~j
#AshWednesday #Lent #renunciation #LetGo #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #JMWart #JinpaLhaga
ah, beautiful Rumi! so comforting and reassuring.
his call to our hearts can be applied to our meditation practice as well. one of the hallmarks of our practice is beginning again. when we realize we have drifted off into thought, we gently return to placing our attention on our breath. we don’t judge or criticize, we just come back and begin again. over and over, this is the practice. it doesn’t matter how many times. we become lost in thought, we come back. we miss a day, we come back. we miss a week, we come back, and on and on.
don’t despair! hold all of it in love, with your gentleness, your tenderness, and kindness.
~j
The Metta Garden 