sharing some more of the incredible and needed social justice art of Rick Frausto 🙏🏻

yesterday, January 6th, we saw democracy attacked by a mob of insurrectionists provoked by a sitting albeit outgoing President and an enabling GOP. however, we also saw democracy work and win with Congressional certification of Pres-elect Joe Biden’s and Vice Pres-elect Kamala Harris’ 306 Electoral College votes. we also saw democracy work and win on November 3rd and again impressively again on January 5th. this doesn’t just happen, it happens through an engaged citizenry, good-strong candidates like Rev. Raphael Warnok and Jon Osoff, and incredibly hard beneficial work from bodhisattvas like Stacey Abrams. let’s not lose sight of how absolutely amazing the success of Georgia is. Stacey Abrams is a hero with a view of the long arc, good-heartedness, and strategic mind needed for beneficial transformation of our political landscape. Rev. Warnok was John Lewis’ minister and Jon Osoff was John Lewis’ intern. it doesn’t escape me that a bodhisattva saint like John Lewis may have been working from beyond to assist. at the very least, his spirit lives in these fine people.

as hard and treacherous as the path ahead may be, as difficult and challenging as the work ahead of us may be to transform and heal this country into the country we have said it is, have hoped it would be, and should be, having good people like these as leaders and all the grassroots organizers and workers on the ground, brings hope 🌍❤️🙏🏻

~j

#Election2020 #Georgia #Grassroots #Organizers #Bodhisattvas #Decency #Integrity #Empathy #Compassion #Love #SocialJustice #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga

…and the calls for and the rhetoric of violence from the highest office are also signs of incompetence.

it’s a little late for the President and some GOP Congress members to call for peace after the antagonizing and encouragement of division supported with lies.

was there any question that this would be an outcome?

the images coming out of the Capital building are stunning, shocking. today should have been, as it has been before, a simple yet profound procedural day that embodies our tradition of a peaceful transition and transfer of power.

may peace prevail, may the process of transition continue. may all be safe and free from violence. 🙏🏻

the world is watching.

~j

For as long as space endures

And for as long as living beings remain

Until then may I, too, abide

To dispel the misery of the world.

~

Shantideva

from “Guide to a Bodhisattva’s Way of Life”

this can be our path. a path that recognizes our interdependence, a path of open-heartedness, of compassion and love.

~j

#bodhisattvas #EngagedBuddhism #EngagedLife #service #offering #OpenHeart #compassion #

this is your life

here and now

this is our life

here and now

this is life

here and now

our presence is needed

pay attention

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#Zen #Buddhism #EngagedBuddhism #practice #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

the foundation of the practice as practitioners, students, teachers, is to be gentle. this approach of friendliness toward ourselves and our practice may be contrary to how we are used to relating to ourselves and our world, which can often be quite aggressive.

over time, this seemingly simple approach has a profound influence in our lives off the cushion as well.

are we tired of beating ourselves and others up?

give some gentleness a shot ❤️🙏🏻

~j

#gentleness #practice #meditation #life #EngagedBuddhist #JinpaLhaga #SusanPiverQuotes #SusanPiver

Dear friends – Happy New Year from me and my Child 🙏🏻

2020 has been a tough year. Unbalanced in so many ways, but also a year of clarity, of clear seeing of the inequities that exist in our society and a rising up and engagement from everyday citizens passionate for beneficial change. We are the spark…

There have also been heroes, people strong in the Force – the healthcare professionals, essential workers, and again everyday people willing to take the simple steps of wearing a mask and social distancing, willing to tap into their empathy and then choosing to act with compassion. sacrifice. service. offering.

May we all be such people – open-hearted, warm, empathetic, kind, compassionate, and willing to speak up and take action for the benefit of others, especially those who are oppressed or marginalized, because we are one in the Force and there really is no “other”. We are interdependent. This is the light the world needs and we can begin by finding it within ourselves. This is the way.

So grateful for family and friends during these challenging (yet still beautiful) times. Community is a blessing.

May The Force Be With You and your loved ones throughout 2021!

~j

#NewYearsEve #HappyNewYear #MayTheForceBeWithYou #TheForce #ThisIsTheWay #TheChild #Grogu #Jedi #TheMandalorian #StarWars #EngagedBuddhist #JinpaLhaga #JMWphotography

*Background taken and adapted/altered from The Force Unleashed

when in doubt, when feeling confused, when feeling lost, when feeling off balance – just love, choose to love.

what does this mean?

it means to stay open, to not close up shop or build walls up around our hearts, as we are often apt to do. it means to trust our own vulnerability, tenderness, warmth of heart and remembering that we too should be the recipient of our own gentleness, warmth and compassion.

~j

#JustLove #OpenHeart #practice #buddhanature #EngagedBuddhism #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

Please take a moment to appreciate this natural world, right here and now. Take this moment to stop your distracted thinking, sit still, and appreciate the birds, the breeze, the play of sun and shadow, the air around you—even the human sounds.

~

Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara

stopping. paying attention. appreciating all that is passing, arising and then falling away.

these are such simple practices, but also deeply profound. at their heart, they are simply just being with life as it is at this moment. what could be more beneficial, more stable, more opening than that?

~j

#practice #nature #life #JustThis #EngagedBuddhism #Zen #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

As you breathe in cherish yourself. As you breathe out cherish all beings.

~ HH The 14th Dalai Lama

a beneficial contemplation for ourselves:

what does it look like to cherish oneself?

what does it look like to cherish the life of others? how far does that cherishing of other life extend?

how are these two – cherishing oneself and cherishing others – related and how do they act in relationship to one another?

can we think of examples of where we see cherishing of self and others out into action?

~j

#cherish #life #practice #love #EngagedBuddhsim #enso #buddha #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

Merry Christmas friends!

may the gift and wisdom of the Christmas story not be lost on us. that Love enters the world in the most humble and vulnerable of places, in the outcast, the refugee, the homeless and poor – the very things we strive so hard not to be, and the very people we so often turn away from. 
perhaps this is the greatest lesson of Christmas, teaching us to open our view and look for the divine and sacred where we least want to and when we feel our lowest, knowing that Love has also come into this world as us.

may we feel grateful for what we have, where we are, and who we are. may our hearts open to all who feel alone, marginalized, or oppressed. and in this year especially may love carry and comfort all who are quarantined alone, all who have lost loved ones, their homes or jobs.

thank you to all those who have sacrificed so much for their families and communities, wearing masks, social distancing, and not traveling during these holidays. deep bows of gratitude for you.

much love and health to all of you, dear friends and your families, on this auspicious day.

~j

#Christmas #Love #Zen #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga