Author: jaysen

endurance…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

“Is the dark side stronger?”

~ Luke

“No…no…no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.”

~ Yoda

we are seeing so much cruelty.

this can feel overwhelming and disheartening for those of us concerned with justice, truth, open-heartedness, and non-harming.

but life has a way of regaining balance in the long arc of things. that which burns most aggressively and fast, will also burn out sooner. nothing lasts forever, even power and cruelty.

breathing. keeping focused. keeping our hearts open, our bravery quivering, with patience and endurance, speaking out and taking action – compassion, kindness, and peace will prevail.

~j

#endurance #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #light #TheForce #OpenHeart #MindfulResistance #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #Buddhist #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

Happy 84th Birthday to HH The 14th Dalai Lama…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

Happy 84th birthday to His Holiness The 14th @dalailama

Grateful for his continued presence and his persistent message of compassion as the vehicle of resolving the world’s problems. I’ve had the pleasure of attending three of his public talks, one of which was for his 80th birthday. He turned 80 during the talk, so the whole auditorium sang him happy birthday. May he live in good health for many years to come, continuing to be a light of compassion and peace.

~j

Every day, think as you wake up, “Today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.”

~

HH The 14th Dalai Lama

#TheDalaiLama #HHDalaiLama #hhdalailamabirthday #compassion #peace #Bodhisattva #Buddhism #Tibetan #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #LoveWins

not waiting until later…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

Sooner or later life catches up with us and we come to the realization that there is no avoiding our problems, there is no running away from our demons, there is no going to war to win over this life or force our way through. It never lasts. There is nothing to grasp in desperation. It only adds to the suffering in the world.

We come to realize, often through experiencing or bearing witness to suffering, that the only true option is to meet life with authenticity in all of its rawness with an open heart, right here in this moment.

Meditation is the practice of not waiting until later, but gently and persistently meeting life as it is and as we are in this moment. Staying put. meeting our demons with compassion and gentleness. Moving beyond winning and losing. Letting go. Transforming suffering rather than transmitting suffering. Then we have no need to go to war with ourselves, with others, with life. Then we have peace.

~j

#life #suffering #avoidance #running #grasping #war #meditation #practice #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #mindfulness #ThisMoment #gentleness #transformation #JustSit #stay #peace #LetGo #LettingGo #Buddhism #zen #enso #TheMettaGarden #JMWart

this moment matters, we must not remain silent…

~ jaysen ~ 1 Comment

how we respond to such times as these, cuts to the very core of our moral compass, speaks to all that we say we value and hold to be true.

i say this as a citizen who loves my country and is immensely grateful to have been born and live here:

no amount of military might on display, or flags of red, white, and blue dancing in the wind, carried on waves of Pomp and Circumstance can distract or blind me to the horror and harm i am bearing witness to.

i celebrate the best of what my country is, but i am no fool and will not placidly condone or be indifferent to suffering through celebratory costumed pageantry.

what can be celebrated while families are separated – children in their most formative years separated from, taken from whom they most need and love, marched in formation or packed like sardines, sleeping on concrete with little food or water, kept from needed medications or humane health care, children watching children, some sick, some on death’s door, some dead?

what can be celebrated on such a day, other than what we might have been or what we may yet be if we are willing to stand up and speak out on behalf of those cruelly targeted and suffering at the hands of power?

may we yet save what’s left of our nation’s soul and honor its founding far from the shores of the tyranny it sought to be free from and free of.

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #MoralCompass #SitDownRiseUp #SpeakOut #immigration #camps #harm #suffering #EngagedBuddhist