so…..i shouldn’t be yelling, “GO AWAY!!” ?

#welcome #challenges #life #opportunity #growth #practice #wisdom #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart

i humbly, but sincerely suggest the following response to anyone’s expressed continued support for this President, no matter their reasoning: children in cages.

there is no moral or ethical argument, especially for those who claim to be pro-life, that can justify supporting a man who sets a policy of separating children (even toddlers and infants – think about that) from their parents. there is no moral or ethical argument that justifies detaining children in something akin to chain linked dog runs, or in “camps.” think about that. there is no moral or ethical argument that justifies the President of the United States dehumanizing a group of people, calling them animals, using rhetoric that aligns himself with the worst authoritarian leaders and has historically led to genocide. think about that.

the cruelty, the harm, the suffering. these are the seeds that have been planted.

at some point a threshold has been met. i suggest that threshold has been met multiple times over and in various ways, and continued support of this man is complicity to avoidable pain and suffering. there is a poverty of the heart that leads to the priority of one’s own pocket book, there is a poverty in a view of life that is only concerned for an unborn child.

the path we are on is one of destruction, but impermanence is a blessing. nothing lasts forever. and other seeds can be planted – seeds of generosity, seeds of empathy, compassion and kindness, seeds of nonaggression and nonviolence, seeds of hope, light and love.

this begins with each of us. stand up and speak out fiercely, persistently, with love.

may we not fall asleep in this time. may we be vigilant, courageous, and attentive and aware. may we have an opening of the heart and an awakening of the mind.

~j

#Rise #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #bodhisattvas #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart

Infinite growth of material consumption in a finite world is an impossibility.

~ E.F. Schumacher

we cannot consume or attain our way out of suffering. we are free from suffering when we are free from seeking to attain more and more and more. simplicity and some renunciation bring freedom and freedom brings joy. we are free from suffering when we have learned to live in balance, in harmony, with all life.

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #impermanence #suffering #balance #harmony #nature #consumption #attainment #life #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart

We were designed to journey through the full measure of beauty and sorrows in life and survive.

~

Jack Kornfield

#survivors #LoveWarriors #Bodhisattvas #life #OpenHeart #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart

we cannot serve two masters.

choose love.

~j

#ChooseLove #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #JMWart

you make a difference. your open heart, your commitment to live in love, to act with kindness and compassion makes a difference. your choosing to be a source of calm within the chaos, an anchor in a raging sea, a shelter through the storm makes a difference. the littlest ways can be profound, awareness of each breathe can bring sanity and peace.

the world thanks you, “Oh nobly born” (as some Buddhist texts begin), because you make a difference 🙏🏻 ~j

#OhNoblyBorn #Bodhisattvas #interdependence #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist

Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, whose image and name transition from culture to culture, represents on some level our own potential for the generosity of pure compassion which can be found in our own open hearts.

the world needs more of us being willing to be bodhisattvas, more of us willing to tap into the vulnerability and courage found in our open hearts, more of us willing to be vehicles of fierce compassion for our world and those who inhabit it.

~j

“As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then, may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world.” – Shantideva

“Bodhisattvas play the long game. They have confidence in the power of goodness over time. And they know that dark times bring out the heroic in us.” – Norman Fischer

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #FierceCompassion #Bodhisattvas #Avalokiteshvara #EngagedBuddhist #JMWphotography #BWphotography #photography

we continue the work.

the work of light, of open-heartedness, of gentleness, of kindness, of compassion and love.

no matter the season, we continue the work.

the work of healing, the work of waking hearts and minds.

we continue the work…

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #Bodhisattvas

#EngagedBuddhist

for as many contacts as there were with Russia and Russian operatives, and for as many lies as there were about those meetings, it may seem surprising that the President and his campaign were found by the Mueller investigation to have not conspired. but I trust, based on his reputation, that Mueller and his team did a thorough investigation within the law.

it has always been a possibility that the President himself didn’t knowingly conspire or collude. it has always been a possibility that there are those around him who did, or that Russia sought for that, but within his narcissistic ego, he himself was not even aware of it.

i have thought the more damning part of this would be obstruction of justice. and though it seems that the Mueller investigation does not exonerate him from this, Attorney General Barr feels that there isn’t quite enough evidence beyond reasonable doubt to move forward and is leaving it in the hands of Congress.

what hasn’t changed with this new information, after two long years, is that our current President still acts with indifference and cruelty toward the marginalized, still acts with affinity and priority towards himself primarily, his family next, and then those of extreme wealth and power. what hasn’t changed is that we have a person sitting in the highest office, with a tendency toward authoritarianism. i don’t think we even have to imagine that this news today will feed his narcissism and ego, and his tendency toward authoritarianism and continued policies of indifference and cruelty toward the marginalized. why wouldn’t he feel empowered?

but I still have faith in what is good, in truth, and in the unwavering, persistent, immense strength of love and the human heart.

after the darkened night, the dawn.

after the long winter, the spring.

don’t lose hope in what is good, what is open-hearted and kind.

we press on, and the powers of light and love persist.

~j

03.24.19

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #Bodhisattvas #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart

#EachMomentOnlyOnce

#life #impermanence #now

#cherish #MakeItCount #MakeItKind #Zen #Buddhism #EngagedBuddhist #enso #JMWart