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who are we leaving out of our love & compassion?

who are we allowing to suffer without a response from our love & compassion?

is our love & our compassion free to all because of their inherent sacredness, or only to those we feel aligned or close to, or approve of, or understand, or have a natural arising affection or tenderness towards?

these questions are not about shame or guilt. they are foundational work. they are an exploration of accountability & responsibility to each other. we belong to each other. this is the law of life, of interdependence, of interbeing. so, when we build borders of exclusion within our hearts & world, when we “other” & marginalize, & oppress, & colonize, & annihilate, we are living in opposition to life itself, to love itself.

asking the tough questions is practice.

cultivating love, tenderness, compassion for all without bias or exclusion is practice.

responding to the pain & suffering of our world is practice.

building peace by being peace is practice.

one of the first things we learn with practice is how to “stop”. to simply stop & allow a gap of space where our minds & hearts have the chance to open a little bit more, where awareness and wisdom have the opportunity to arise.

without stopping, there is little chance of our participation in a change that is beneficial to bringing about a lessening or ending to suffering, to building a world of safety & peace. 

~j

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#CeasefireNow #love #compassion #empathy #peace #practice #path #SaintFrancisOfAssisi #EngagedBuddhism #enso #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art