planting Seeds…

When you plant seeds in the garden, you don’t dig them up every day to see if they have sprouted yet. You simply water them and clear away the weeds; you know that the seeds will grow in time. Similarly, just do your daily practice and cultivate a kind heart. Abandon impatience and instead be content creating the causes for goodness; the results will come when they’re ready.

~

Thubten Chodron

#PlantingSeeds #TheLongArc #goodness #kindness #patience #cultivation #wisdom #DoGood #LetGo #Zen #JMWphotography #BWphotography #photography

a weed doesn’t call itself a weed…

what would happen if we were to look at ourselves with naked eyes? with eyes anew and fresh?

what would we see if we stripped the inner critic of their weapons of war? their eroding judgements looming large?

what would happen if we were to befriend this body with its hills and valleys, wounds and scars?

outside of the projections, stories and myth, this incarnation, this body where space and time have met to dance has only one name: beauty.

a weed doesn’t call itself a weed.

~j

#beauty #life #SeeYourself #TrueSeeing #nonjudgement #kindness #compassion #sacred #PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #TheLongArc #JMWphotography #BWphotography #photography

unfold…

“I want to unfold. I don’t want to stay folded anywhere. Because where I am folded, there, I am a lie.”

~

Rainer Maria Rilke

this quote very well may sum up enlightenment or waking up, for me – to live authentically, to be in authentic relationship with the arising and passing life around us, to not fold up or close up in fear or anger, but to remain open – both heart and mind – courageously loving all that is suffering.

~j

#life #enlightenment #WakeUp #samsara #suffering #OpenHeart #courage #StayOpen #authenticity #LoveWins #PlantingSeeds #TheLongArc #practice #meditation #zen #buddhsim #Buddha #JMWart

stay with it…

we run

we hide

we ignore

there is another option

though it is hot, stay

what is old shall fall away

you are born from love

~j

#stay #StayPresent #StayWoke #presence #MeditateAndResist #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #meditation #love #LoveWins #haiku #poetry #JMWpoetry

#MarchForOurLives

change is possible.

we can choose peace. we can choose to live in a society that creates a culture of nonviolence and values life more than a weapon of war. a society and culture that sees the life of others as more valuable and sacred than a hobby or some far stretched interpretation of the Second Amendment, that impedes on and jeopardizes another’s’ life.

what we saw today were seeds, some planted long ago in blood and grief and some all too recent, being born to life.

i’m inspired by the strength i see from these young people, their focus and poise, their authenticity, their courage, their persistence.

grateful for them and all of the students i saw today marching, the teachers, the artists, the veterans who see a continued call to serve – still honoring their oath to protect and see sensible and desperately needed gun reform as part of that, lending their voice.

pictures (some me by me and some by my friends at the march today) of beautiful friends with incredible hearts and beautiful strangers with incredible hearts below ✊🏻😌❤️🙏🏻📿

#MarchForOurLivesSD #MarchForOurLives #ENOUGH #NeverAgain #EndGunViolence #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #EngagedBuddhism #MindfulResistanc

just breathe…

The breath changes and you change. Nothing stays the same, yet there is constancy. The breath reminds us that we are here and alive: let it be your anchor to the present moment.

~

Elana Rosenbaum

#EverythingChanges #JustBreathe #anchor #steady #CalmAbiding #meditation #practice #Zen #Buddhism #calligraphy #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #JMWart

to yield…

in my own life and in the lives of others i’ve seen it time and again. the effort to control, to grasp, to always go to battle leads to increased suffering. it exhausts us and our relationships. and though it may demonstrate a short term success, it rarely lasts and the cost can be very high.

we think to yield is to surrender, to give up, and we are severely averse to such a notion. our egos just won’t have it.

however, to yield is quite different than surrendering or giving up. to skillfully yield, we are called to employ our creativity, alternative thinking, and wisdom. to skillfully yield, is to demonstrate a great strength.

~j

#yield #strength #StayOpen #StayGentle #TheLongArc #LoveWins

JMW on Tumblr…

hey friends!

i have a Tumblr site where i post my artwork and photography for professional purposes, with no commentary – just the work 😊

please visit and follow 👍🏻

http://www.jaysenmatthewwaller.tumblr.com

*link also in bio

i’ll continue to post here as well with my work along with personal stuff and commentary.

thanks! 😌❤️🙏🏻📿

#JMWart #JMWphotography #Zen #Buddhism #art #photography