quotes
meditate…
how we speak and how we act begins in the heart and mind. Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of watering the seeds of kindness and nonharming within our heart and mind. meditation is watering those seeds.
there is Native American story of feeding the wolves. we have within us the bad wolf filled with arrogance, envy, anger, greed, false pride, bitterness. and we also have the good wolf filled with empathy, kindness, compassion, generosity, joy, peace, and love. they are battling. which one will win? the one you feed.
meditation is feeding the good wolf.
#meditate
welcome…
Zen student: “When times of great difficulty visit us, how should we greet them?”
Zen teacher: “Welcome.”
#zen #tao #open #InTheFlow #JustGoWithIt #AlwaysLearning #welcome #wisdom
no exclusions…
the wisdom of The Force…
~Yoda Explains About the Force~
Yoda: A Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will…
Luke: Is the dark side stronger?
Yoda: No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.
Luke: But how am I to know the good side from the bad?
Yoda: You will know… when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, NEVER for attack.
let it begin with me…
early morning #Christmas #meditation?let’s do this…
let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me, indeed.
Merry Christmas, dearest friends to you and your families! May the Love that is celebrated today be manifest in our hearts and lives. May we be the hands, the feet, the voice and the heart of this Love for a world thirsty for love, healing, and peace ~j
“Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you.” — Steve Maraboli
#Christmas #Christmas2015 #meditation #peace #love #healing
one flesh…
Brave Uncertainty…
Brave Uncertainty
“Anxiety, heartbreak, and tenderness mark the in-between state. It’s the kind of place we usually want to avoid. . . . When we are brave enough to stay in the middle, compassion arises spontaneously.”
~ Pema Chödrön
my work is loving the world…
My work is loving the world.Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,
which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.
~ Mary Oliver
#love #OurPurpose #WorkToDo #gratitude #awe #BeginnersMind #MaryOliver
words matter…
dear friends ~
i will repeat this until my dying breath Words Matter. our voice has tremendous power and where we lend our voice, the seeds we plant, can have immense implications. it is not beneficial to be careless. the misdirected fear, the unreasonable paranoia, and impassioned vitriol can cause harm and motivate violence. now is the time to stand up and shine a light on the dark that is ignorance, that is fear, that leads to hate and violence. a Muslim member of congress received a death threat. on Monday (you’ve probably seen this) a friend of a friend posted on FB that she was spat on by a man in a business suit while commuting. he yelled at her calling her a “sand n**ger” and told her she is the problem and she should get the f*ck out of his country.
if you think the current talk and climate of fear has had nothing to do with this, i believe you are mistaken. you have the freedom of speech. use that freedom to lift and enlighten, to be of benefit, rather than adding to harm, aggression, and violence.
as a Buddhist i have taken a personal vow of non-harming, which even while impossible fulfill, i am committed to through practice of Right Speech and Right Action. i take this seriously, so i will not demonize those whom i believe are mistaken, who feel differently and may have become lost in the mire of fear and panic.
but i will speak up and stand with my Muslim brothers and sisters. i will stand with all Muslims whom i have worked with in the past and currently. i will stand with all Muslims whom i am grateful to call my friends and whose welfare i care about greatly, as i care for my Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Pagan, and Atheist brothers and sisters. why? because i remember that we are interdependent, because your heartbeat is my heartbeat, your breath is my breath.
i will share messages of unity and beauty – reminding you of who you are, of who we are. not this hyped up bullshit, but the stardust and ancient love that is you, that is me, that is us no matter our religious tradition.
and this first message, i am sharing?
it is my favorite poem, from my favorite poet. his name? Hafiz…a Muslim.
~j
#StandingWithMuslims #WeAreOne #interdependence #RightSpeech #RightAction #unity #ShineYourLight #buddhist #bodhisattva #Hafiz
The Metta Garden 