every amendment from the House Managers asking to admit new testimony, documents, and issue of subpoenas for high level witnesses – tabled.

White House counsels blatantly lying on Senate floor (unlike Senators they aren’t under oath – so why not lie?), in contradiction with established evidence/facts with the ugliest of dramatic flair playing to their tweeting would be ruler.

it’s surreal watching our democracy fall deeper into darkness, each passing moment with this President in power, and a capitulating, enabling GOP abandon their oaths of office, our country, our democracy.

this is beyond the normal partisan politicking. for whatever reason, they are all in with this President and have wagered that hell isn’t so hot.

reminder: families are still being separated, children are still being pulled from parents’ arms and put in detainment.

as i tweet to the President and GOP quite often:

“power doesn’t last.”

may their power end very soon and may we have the integrity and honor to say we stood up, spoke up, and worked in this dark time to end harm, and bring light.

#impeachment

bows of gratitude for this man – a bodhisattva and prophet whose words still need to be heard and reheard and reheard…

too many amazing pieces of wisdom to share in one post. please read his work – his speeches, his autobiography (especially Letter From Birmingham Jail), his wisdom on equality, justice, peaceful (yet interruptive) protest, his embodiment of fierce compassion, his critique of war.

a true bodhisattva and prophet, a transformed heart that knew the journey to nonviolence requires the weapons of Love, Truth, and Patient Persistence. It may be a long road, but if we commit as he did, we will get there. and the way we get there is part of it.

~j

#MartinLutherKingJr #MLK #MLKDay2020 #Prophet }

#Bodhisattva #Nonviolence #Gratitude

not able to make it this year, but thinking back to the first march in 2017 (which feels like a decade ago 😑) with this wonderful group of people!

it was and continues to be so empowering to join in community with big – fierce, compassionate – hearts, standing up and speaking out for what is moral and just.

bravo and blessings to all who are able to attend today and all who continue to bring voice and presence in opposition to cruelty and harm.

🌍❤️🙏🏻

#womensmarch #TheLongArc

#PlantingSeeds

#EngagedBuddhist

The moon does not fight. It attacks no one. It does not worry. It does not try to crush others. It keeps to its course, but by its very nature, it gently influences.

What other body could pull an entire ocean from shore to shore? The moon is faithful to its nature, and its power is never diminished.

~ Deng Ming-Dao

when we are faithful to our true nature, which is our awakened nature, which is open hearted and spacious, we too are in our place of power, a power that cannot be diminished.

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #nonaggression #nonviolence #TruePower #TrueInfluence #moon #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #art #BuddhistArt #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

Is peace something you get, or is peace something you are? If you can get it, you can lose it. If you are it, it is never gone.

~

Scott Shaw

our practice can be one of expanding the spaciousness of our hearts, opening our hearts wider and wider, a practice where we are cultivating peace within our hearts, a peace not dependent on outside circumstances. rather, a peace that we find has been in our hearts all along, a peace we notice when we finally stop for a while, when we finally let go, let be, allowing our thoughts to arise and fall away.

what are we left with when we finally allow such tenderness, such vulnerability to reveal itself, to be recognized, and valued, when we aren’t trying to ignore, avoid or go to war?

and far from being inactive, this state of peace frees us to act beneficially, without the burdensome load that fear, anger and aggression carry.

~j

#peace #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #JMWphotography #JinpaLhaga

when fear is present and the circumstances seem so dire, a desire to control outcomes can arise.

we can even feel this in our body when things don’t seem to be going the way we wish, the way we have been working for. there is a tightening of the muscles, a heaviness in the head and chest, a sinking in our stomach.

there is an opportunity in that moment when we feel this. we can stop, we can reconnect to our breath, and take a step back to look at the larger picture.

in any given scenario there are multiple forces at work, and we are one of those forces. our power is in our choices, how we think, speak, and act. one choice can be to work with our own hearts and our own minds, to plant seeds that are beneficial, that reduce harm and suffering, that bring healing, and genuine connection to ourselves, our families, our communities. our work can contribute to change for the better, to build a better world.

we do our work with intention, with love and compassion, diligently and purposefully, moment by moment, day by day, week by week and year-by-year throughout our lifetime.

we do so as an offering, letting go of our desire to control outcomes.

this is a journey free from the poisons of resentment and bitterness, of aggression and hate. it is a journey built on love, compassion and healing.

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #life #GoodWorks #love #compassion #healing #EngagedBuddhist #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

it isn’t beneficial to add flames and heat to an already burning fire.

the world is burning and we must be engaged and take action.

and although anger at injustice and inequality may be our initial motivator, our source of power for engagement must be grounded in love and compassion. otherwise, we too just burn with it, and we too are consumed.

there are a lot of people burning.

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #WakeUp #love #compassion #EngagedBuddhist #ThichNhatHanhQuotes #JinpaLhaga