other writing
just come back…
the instruction is simple:
just come back. come back to your breath, resting your attention on your breath, allowing your breath to carry you. just come back. time and time again, return to the breath. this is the practice.
~j
04.23.17
bearing witness for the Earth…
On the morning of the Buddha’s enlightenment it is said that the great tempter and deceiver Mara after many failed attempts to deceive and distract the Buddha, asked the Buddha, “What gives you the right to be enlightened? Who are you to awaken? Who bears witness to this?” Silently, calmly the Buddha took his right hand and touched the Earth and in that moment the Earth shook, bearing witness to the Buddha’s enlightenment. With this, Mara disappeared.
And so it is with every step we take, our feet touching the ground, that the Earth also bears witness to our right to be here and to awaken.
It is now our turn to bear witness for the Earth in her time of need. The Earth has given us life and sustains us. In fact, science has shown us that we have the Earth’s elements within us. Without these elements, without the delicate balance that is our Earth, life as we know it would not be – we would not be. The only appropriate response for such gratuitous love, is gratitude, a gratitude that manifests in reciprocal love.
Our relationship to the Earth, is just that, a relationship. How do we show our love? How do we show our gratitude? How do we pass this relationship on to our children and grandchildren?
Let us take some time today to touch the Earth. Feel the dirt between our fingers, feel the ground beneath our feet as we step. Are our steps, steps of love? Let us step out into nature and listen, look. Allowing in all the life that is sustained by the Earth, allowing it into our hearts, blessing it and sending it back out with love. Let us make new choices that bear witness to our love for the Earth and all of life.
~j
04.22.17
Earth Day
no score to keep…
we chain ourselves to the debts we carry for those who have wounded us. a second wounding from the weight of burdens too heavy and never meant to be carried or held onto.
let them go and be free.
~j
let the mind stay…
The world is swirling around, a sound over here, a sight over there.
Confusion is an easy companion of distraction.
Where is balance and harmony, when the mind wants to run?
Let the mind stay…
~j
Song of Paldarbom
by Shepa Dorje, the yogi Mila Milarepa
I can contemplate the sky,
But clouds make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on clouds.
“If the sky’s as easy as you say,
Clouds are just the sky’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within the sky.”
I can contemplate the sea,
But waves make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on waves.
“If the sea’s as easy as you say,
Waves are just the sea’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within the sea.”
I can contemplate my mind,
But thoughts make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on thoughts.
“If your mind’s as easy as you say,
Thoughts are just the mind’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within your mind.”
simply exist, exist simply…
The secret of the mountain is that the mountains simply exist, as I do myself: the mountains exist simply, which I do not. The mountains have no “meaning,” they are meaning; the mountains are. The sun is round. I ring with life, and the mountains ring, and when I can hear it, there is a ringing that we share. I understand all this, not in my mind but in my heart, knowing how meaningless it is to try to capture what cannot be expressed, knowing that mere words will remain when I read it all again, another day.
~
Peter Matthiessen
the kindness that transcends…
it seems, we may need this now more than ever. so much going on that encourages division, that encourages anger and aggression, that encourages the dismissing of individuals as well as whole groups of people.
the good news is that this kindness that transcends is always available, right here, right now in your very own heart.
~j
Palm Sunday reflection…
doing lovingkindness meditation today for so many at the receiving end of horrific violence including Egypt today, and Syria. sitting with the darkness of such anger and violence, in contrast to the Palm Sunday message of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on the humble donkey as a prince of peace, as opposed to a king of war.
the transformative message of the deep and lasting power (love) present in openness and vulnerability – seemingly powerlessness – is still waiting to take hold. it has to take hold in each of our hearts first…
#LovingKindness #metta #meditation #love #vulnerability #peace #PalmSunday #Jesus #war #violence #anger #darkness #light #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds
still answering the call…
49 years ago we lost Dr. King to an assassin’s bullet, but we did not lose the dream or the movement that still calls to our hearts this day – to stand up and speak out for the oppressed, the marginalized, the suffering with strength drawn from love and recognition of our interdependence, the call to love our neighbor as ourself and treat everyone with dignity.
~j
04.04.17
#MLK #MountainTop #TheLongArc
let go and be free…
letting go isn’t an act of surrender. it isn’t giving up.
it is an action we choose, from within our own power and grace, to allow. it is an act of trust.
it is an act of freedom.
even in this challenging time – when we work towards justice, openness, kindness and peace with fierce compassion and love – we dive in pouring ourselves into each moment. moment by moment. letting go, diving in. with each breath out and in, letting go, diving in.
letting go is how we retain balance in a swirling sea of constant change. it is how we can continue dancing, even as the songs change.
letting go is our freedom to be beautiful, graceful, gentle, generous, and kind.
let go.
~j
The Metta Garden 