O Nobly Born, O you of glorious origins, remember your radiant true nature, the essence of mind. Trust it. Return to it. It is home.

~

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

we stop. we breathe. we rest with an open heart and calm mind free from clinging.

in that rest, that place of silence, we reconnect with life, we reconnect with our tenderness of heart. in Buddhism this is called buddha-nature. in Christianity you might say it is who we are in God. in other practices one might say it is our deepest, authentic self beyond the layers of ego and suffering.

this is our practice, over and over again, so that we may be of benefit to others, filled with love and free in our openness.

you are a unique expression of life and love in this place and at this time. what a gift! act from that place of love and life – be luminous as you are!

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #BuddhaNature #tenderness #love #life #luminosity #EngagedBuddhist #TibetanBuddhism #Zen #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

we are suffering from an illness, a delusion. we believe and act as if we are separate, as if we can exist solely outside the reality of interdependence.

the truth is “ubuntu” – i am because we are.

when we see ourselves as separate from others, from nature, somehow set apart from life or above rather than among other life or in union with all life, we are more apt to objectify, to dehumanize others, to devalue all aspects of life. this causes harm, this causes suffering.

we are parts of a whole and it is going to take all of us who see the harm, who choose the path of open heartedness – of compassion – of kindness – of nonviolence, engaging and participating to turn the current tide of fear, anger, hate, aggression and violence.

awakening is collective, it is communal, it is embodied love.

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #interdependence #ubuntu #OpenHeart #community #love #awakening #OneLove #EngagedBuddhist #zen #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

“With life as short as a half-taken breath, don’t plant anything but love.”

~ Rumi

#OurWork #OurPractice #love #life #PlantingSeeds #TheLongArc #RumiQuote #SufiQuote #bodhisattvas #EngagedBuddhist #zen #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

cruelty and deception can win for a period of time.

however, these traits and actions are contrary to life itself.

who amongst us can go to war with life and come out winning in the end?

in their delusion and fear, those who choose deception and cruelty will have their time and then their time will end.

our responsibility and our practice is to work with life, to bear witness to the harm of deceit and cruelty, to bring light to their horror and destruction, to limit their time and reach, and to be a source of healing for the suffering they have caused.

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #SitDownRiseUp #StandUp #SpeakUp #EngagedBuddhism #Bodhisattvas #Zen #Enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

#repost

empty, i am full…

Only one thing

made him happy

and now that

it was gone

everything

made him happy

~

Leonard Cohen

empty,

i am able to receive

the fullness

of life.

~j

#empty #full #life #practice #meditation #Buddhism #Zen #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #presence #JMWart #poetry #TheMettaGarden

Mornië utúlië

(darkness has come)

Mornië alantië

(darkness has fallen)

if our hearts are open, if we can manage to stay with the suffering we see, allowing it in, so that our compassion may be awakened, then that compassion will lead us into action to end suffering.

darkness may have come and imbalance taken hold, but with the engagement of open hearts, empathy, and fierce compassion courageously put into action, this imbalance of darkness will fall and harmony can manifest.

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #Darkness #Light #balance #harmony #FierceCompassion #Bodhisattvas #SitDownRiseUp #EngagedBuddhism #JMWart #JinpaLhaga #MornieUtulieMornieAlantie #Tolkien

“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

a call for healing…

#healing #healers #Bodhisattvas #empathy #fiercecompassion #kindness #gentleness #love #nonaggression #nonviolence #meditation #EngagedBuddhist

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

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