You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep Spring from coming.

~ Pablo Neruda

friends ~

love is the spring. your open heart and your love, have the power to awaken this world. so, center yourself in openness and love no matter the outside forces, moving forward with empathy and compassion, working to support the forces of good, of justice, of truth and love, lessening the suffering in the world.

~j

#WakeUp #Spring #Bodhisattvas #BodhisattvaVow #Service #FierceCompassion #Compassion #Kindness #Courage #Love #OpenHeart #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #LoveWins #TheResistance #MeditateAndResist #Buddha #JMWart

our path is to contribute to the work of love, in smalls ways and large, planting seeds for the long arc. we can take heart in our work, knowing that even as we face what seems an overwhelming darkness at times, even the tiniest of light brings hope. after winter there is spring, after night there is the dawn.

~j

#PlantingSeeds #TheLongArc #MeditateAndResist #LoveWins #light #love #spring #dawn #hope #TheResistance #MahatmaGandhi #Gandhi #bodhisattvas #EngagedBuddhist #JMWart

today is #Vesak, a day when Buddhists commemorate the birth, enlightenment, and death of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.

here’s the thing – the seed of enlightenment, the open heart and steady mind of enlightenment is available to us all.

may this day and all days be fertile ground for growing open hearts and calm, steady minds. may this precious life be cherished and lived in a way that brings healing and an end to suffering.

~j

#Vesak #Buddha #Buddhist #Bodhisattvas #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #enso #JMWart

we have a responsibility to speak out on that which is harmful and those who cause or participate in harm through their words and actions.

we can do so clearly, standing in the presence of the moment, the truth of the moment, without causing additional harm.

just speak the truth. like beam of light cutting through the darkness, just speak truth.

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #BearWitness #StandUp #SpeakOut #MindfulResistance #EngagedBuddhist

“…because there are times when you have to speak up against harmful behavior.”

we cannot afford to normalize all the harm that is happening. we cannot afford to simply stand by and ignore or hope for its passing. we cannot afford to be indifferent. we are living in a time that calls upon the best part of us, the part that stands up and speaks out against individuals and power structures that feed separation, hate, and harm.

~j

#SpeakUp #SpeakOut #MeditateAndResist #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #TheResistance #EngagedBuddhist #bodhisattvas

open your heart. open to life and love.

#OpenHeart #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #AllThings #EngagedBuddhist #enso #Zen #JMWart

today is Teacher Appreciation Day and I came across a post and quote from two years ago. the quote is holding particular relevance right now, so I thought it would be beneficial to share again. Also, I can’t praise Susan Piver enough. so here is the repost with some updates:

I trained to be a Meditation Instructor under Susan Piver’s guidance and I continue to learn from her practical, grounded practice and teaching. she is real, direct, humorous, and immensely generous.

below is a teaching I keep going back to. so beneficial.

“When I’m at my lowest and have no more ideas about what to do, I think, ‘Offer it,’ and something shifts. Even if only for a moment, I feel lighter. It’s not a simple offloading into the ether; I intend my feelings as a devotional gift, a kind of mind-Prasad. Even though I have no idea how my ‘gift’ could be of any value, I offer it anyway…I know not to what or to whom.” ~Susan Piver

profound. just “offer it.” all of it. the sadness, the anger, the hurt, the confusion, the broken heart. the swirling chaos, and the shaking ground beneath your feet. who you are, where you are at, what you are feeling – offer it. all of it.

~j

05.09.19

#SusanPiver #TeacherAppreciationDay2019 #meditation #Buddhism #practice #teachers #offering #gift #gratitude #life #OpenHeart #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #JMWart

“We don’t have to let go, we simply have to not hold on.”

~ Joseph Goldstein

we have the capacity to have hearts and minds that are spacious and free. to live our lives in a way that is spacious and free. and in doing so, we are free from reaction. we are free to choose action rooted in love, in compassion, in generosity.

~j

#spacious #free #OpenHeart #love #compassion #generosity #meditation #practice #EngagedBuddhist #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #enso #JMWart

“You cannot find peace by avoiding life.” ~ Virginia Woolf

it is through our life, this life, the pain and bliss, sorrow and joy of this life, that we learn how to authentically let go, stay open, and love. when we attempt to avoid our lives and all that is uncomfortable, we are in essence avoiding our opportunity in that moment to open more fully, to increase our capacity of heart and our capacity to love no matter the circumstance.

in truth there is no avoiding the pain of life. true and lasting peace comes from opening to our vulnerability, to all that life has opened to us. there we will find the grounding tenderness of our hearts and a capacity to love through it all. in that love is where we find our peace.

~j

#peace #love #OpenHeart #vulnerability #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #enso #JMWart

the Force is still with me, so i’m going to share some of my favorite Force and wisdom quotes from Star Wars:

It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.” ~ Obi-Wan Kenobi

“Luminous beings are we. Not this crude matter.” ~ Yoda

“Close your eyes. Feel it. The light…it’s always been there. It will guide you.” ~ Maz Kanata

“I’m one with the Force. The Force is with me.” ~ Chirrut Imwe

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.” ~ Yoda

“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” ~ Yoda

“To answer power with power, the Jedi way this is not. In this war, a danger there is, of losing who we are.” ~ Yoda

#StarWars #TheForce #DarkSide #LightSide #Yoda #ObiWanKenobi #MazKanata #ChirrutImwe #loss #fear #anger #hate #suffering #power #training #luminous #MeditateAndResist #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #TheResistance #JMWart