i am love

i am life

and so are YOU.

this is our starting point.
beneath the ignorance, the struggle, the neurosis of aggression and grasping, we are simply life manifest and in the tenderness, the rawness of our open heart, we find that we are love.

imagine how different the world would be if everyone were aware of this, that each of us and together are life and are love, if we really connected to this and had faith in it. this isn’t faith in something unseen. when we settle our minds and open our hearts, when we look deeply with clarity and allow space, it becomes evident. we are often too busy to do so and we are often caught up in our worries, our pain, and our storylines or patterns of thought.

the simple, yet profound, practice of meditation – taking our seat, placing our attention on our breath, and seeing what arises without any judgement, criticism or bias – can open our awareness to this profundity.

it’s not a magic pill, we still have hurt, challenges and struggles, but navigating our hurt, our challenges and struggles from a place of connection with life and our love, is a world of difference than trying to navigate this life from a sense of unworthiness or lowliness. some Buddhist scriptures begin with the phrase, “Oh nobly born.” that’s YOU, that’s me, that’s us.

i wrote the phrasing for the art with love preceding life, because so many feel a lack in love and as we connect with our love, we may feel more connected with life. however, as a practice, i like to reverse these as such:

(breathing in)

i am life

(breathing out)

i am love

as we breathe in, we are literally breathing in life – oxygen fuels and sustains our body. we are connecting with life. as we breathe out, we are letting go. this letting go, this allowance and trust is fundamentally an act of generosity and our generosity is our love in action.
~j

#love #life #path #practice #meditation #EngagedBuddhism #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

our words and actions

carried on winds of intent

both flowers and weeds.

~j

we should be careful the seeds we plant. all comes to fruition.

when we practice from a clear and steady mind, from an open heart, from a space of empathy and our own genuine warmth, we bring great benefit. our words and actions rippling out upon the sea of life that surrounds us.

~j

#PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #empathy #kindness #compassion #beauty #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #haiku #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

how present this quote feels, especially with the purgatory of this past year. so much unknown, so many changes. simple beauties and joys along with a weighty sadness at times.

there are variations of this quote depending on the translation, but all convey the deep imperative to love the mystery of your life right now with all of its ambiguity, its confusion and questions, not when you think you have it figured out.

the best writing transcends time and speaks directly into the heart of our experience in this life, so much of which is shared.

the book, Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, is one of my favorite books. it continues to speak as it did when first published in 1929 by Franz Xaver Kappus, as it did when it was gifted to me by my dear friend Cynthie and i read it in 1999. Kappus was the young poet with whom Rilke corresponded. Rilke, a poet with a poet’s heart, bearing the deep love, the fragile beauty, and heavy sadness of life.

the book speaks to all lovers, all artists, anyone who is breathing and wants to go deeper and abide in the mystery.

~j

#RainerMariaRilke #Rilke #LettersToAYoungPoet #OpenHeart #love #life #path #practice #JinpaLhaga

this is our world.

this is our family.

this is our home.

this is our life.

Arkansas denying healthcare and insurance to trans youth.

Georgia, Texas and so many other states with Republican Legislatures enacting racist modern day Jim Crow voter suppression laws.

a rise in aggression and violence toward the AAPI community.

growing income equality and a widening gap between obscene wealth and desperate poverty.

family, friends, neighbors refusing to wear a piece of cloth in order to help save lives.

an unbridled, unrestricted love affair with weapons of death and turning a cold cheek to mass shootings.

a planet sick and suffering from over accumulation and over consumption, wreaking havoc on ecosystems.

this is us.

this is on us.

and it is up to us to engage this world, to use our lives – our words, our actions, our art, our love – to heal the harm and wounds, to rebuild that which has been destroyed, to reduce suffering where we can, and create the reality we want to live in.

we have the hearts, the intelligence, and the raw bravery to do it, if that is what we want.

~j

#TransYouth #TransLivesMatter #BlackLivesMatter #VotingRights #StopAsianHate #StopAAPIhate #IncomeEquality #ClimateChange #GunReformNow #engage #SpeakUp #StandUp #OpenHeart #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga

everywhere i look

abounds in resurrection

love births life through death.

~j

awaken and arise to the love already in you, my friends.

love wins.

Happy Easter!

#Easter #love #life #death #resurrection #spring #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #haiku #enso #JinpaLhaga

“The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe have all arisen interdependently. We cannot survive alone. We cannot eat, wear clothes, or breathe alone. The more keenly we are aware of this, the more we will begin to take responsibility for the welfare of other beings.”

~ Ogyen Trinley Dorje,

HH The 17th Karmapa

it is a myth, this

individualism

all life can attest.

~j

#interdependence #together #community #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #HHThe17thKarmapa #JMWart #haiku #JinpaLhaga