Thanksgiving is a year-round practice of giving thanks… For local Wampanoags (in what is today Plymouth, Mass.), and Indigenous people throughout North America, gathering to give thanks was already a familiar custom, taking place not just annually, but 13 times throughout the lunar, calendar year — a cycle known as the Thirteen Moons or Thirteen Thanksgivings.
“Thanksgivings are a big part of our culture. Giving thanks is how we pray,” says Kerri Helme, a Mashpee Wampanoag…
A monk was traveling across a field and he encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger chasing after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed and snarled at him from above. Trembling and hanging there, the monk looked down to where, far below, a second tiger was waiting for him to fall, to eat him.
Then out of a crevice in the cliff two mice, one white and one black, appeared and little by little they started to gnaw away at the vine. The monk noticed a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. Delicious! How sweet it tasted!
~ Zen Buddhist Parable
posting Thanksgiving wishes a bit early, friends, as we are on alert that we may be without power tomorrow due to high winds and potential for fires.
may each of us appreciate the beauty and joy available in each passing moment. may this day remind us to take a pause and reflect on all we have to be grateful for.
gratitude for all of you!
~j
⭕️❤️🙏🏻
*if you like this photograph, you can have it as a print or on various products found at JMWart, my online Redbubble store. you can visit directly at JMWart.redbubble.com or via my website (www.jaysenwaller.com) 👍🏻🙏🏻
who else felt threatened and is looking over their shoulder this time of year?? 😂
don’t let your fear get the best of you! one way to face your fear is with humor 😉 ~j
⭕️❤️🙏🏻
*this illustration makes for fun apparel and products for the holiday season or anytime of the year! all available at JMWart, my online Redbubble store. you can visit directly at JMWart.redbubble.com or via my website (www.jaysenwaller.com) 👍🏻🙏🏻
it is easy to feel overwhelmed by life events, personally and globally. we can feel like our actions don’t mean much in the grand scale of what is happening, but we shouldn’t underestimate our influence on life around us.
“It only takes one seed to grow a forest.” ~ Matshona Dhliwayo
there’s a concept in Jewish Mysticism, mentioned in the Talmud, of the existence of no less than 36 righteous ones known as the Tzadikim Nistarim (hidden righteous ones) or Lamed Vav Tzadikim (36 righteous ones) whose existence keeps the world from destruction.
in Buddhism, we speak of planting seeds. seeds that will later flower and bear fruit, as conditions arise that support them.
so, though we may not know fully the benefit of our words and actions, when and how they will bear fruit, we continue to do the good work in front of us. knowing the world is relational and interdependent, we plant seeds of kindness, of love, of compassion and nonaggression. we practice to live in a way that is open-hearted, open-handed, and sane, rather than closed, grasping and aggressive.
we live our lives in this way now, moment to moment, knowing that the seeds of mindfulness, of compassion, of lovingkindness, and nonaggression will someday flower and bear fruit that benefits the world. regardless of tradition or no tradition, this work – this work of love, is the work of bodhisattvas. ~j ⭕️❤️🙏🏻
*if you like this art, you can have it as a print or on various products found at JMWart, my online Redbubble store. you can visit directly at JMWart.redbubble.com or via my website (www.jaysenwaller.com) 👍🏻🙏🏻
Although the wind blows terribly here, the moonlight also leaks between the roof planks of this ruined house.~Izumi Shikibu
light finds a way. there are reasons for hope. we can be those reasons when we connect with empathy and embody and act from love.
~j
⭕️❤️🙏🏻
*if you like this art, you can have it as a print or on various products found at JMWart, my online Redbubble store. you can visit directly at JMWart.redbubble.com or via my website (link in bio) 👍🏻🙏🏻
is it really self-defense to show up armed with provocative, aggressive behavior?
Kyle Rittenhouse was driven across state lines, armed and willing to inflict harm and destruction. he did just that. he shot and killed two people, injuring another, and then walked away right past law enforcement with no consequence to his actions, and he walks away again today acquitted of all charges, with no consequence for the harm, death, and loss caused. so he walks away relieved and perhaps emboldened while the terrorized and the two lives lost along with their families receive no relief. he is being celebrated by those on the Far Right and some sitting GOP members of Congress – even being offered internships, as if he is some sort of hero. he is not a hero.
are we okay with a reality in this country where being an armed vigilante and killing people goes without consequence and is even celebrated?
what happened today isn’t okay, it isn’t justice. this country has long celebrated, since its founding, violence perpetrated by White men in power and our Justice System suffers systemic issues that support this harmful, dangerous status quo. BIPOC communities and those on the margins have known this, many of the rest of us have been slow to wake up to it. but are we awake enough now? are we awake enough to fight back against the push to cover up this history?
those trying to hold onto White privilege and power advocate and use violence, they even celebrate it. they celebrate death. aggression and violence are a deep dive into hell and not on the side of love.
we must choose to be on the side of love – fiercely so and to rise, to rise up, and rise above in heart and in mind. there’s so much work to do. self-care is necessary. find a practice that takes care of and opens your heart. find a practice that takes care of and steadies your mind. i think in the time ahead, resilience is going to be necessary and that comes from a place of love and fierce compassion.
i love trees and this tree in particular, just a bit down the road from my home. when i walk by it, i often greet it with gratitude for being here. the tree is a gift. trees bring oxygen, shade, shelter, and beauty to our lives. they are also a wonderful example of how we can approach our meditation practice. trees sit between heaven and earth, rooted in the earth yet stretching out and up to the heavens. we can approach our sitting in the same way. we can sit rooted and held, with a sense of groundedness, of stability and solidity. we can also sit upright, tall and dignified, stretched up into the heavens, our heart and awareness open, our mind focused and steady. we can practice being rooted, yet flexible as the winds of life blow through, just like the tree. ~j
*if you like this photograph, you can have it as a print or on various products found at JMWart, my online Redbubble store. you can visit directly at JMWart.redbubble.com or via my website (www.jaysenwaller.com) 👍🏻🙏🏻
Om Mani Padme Hum is probably one of the most recognized Tibetan mantras if not in all of Buddhism, probably due to the presence of the Dalai Lama on the worldwide stage and his emphasis on compassion and compassion practice. the mantra is sometimes called the compassion mantra or mantra of compassion, because of its close association with Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion (which can be understood as a quality that is within us already, our own potential for open-heartedness and embodiment of compassion rather than something outside of us like a deity or being, etc.). the six syllable phrase can also be seen as a condensed version of all Buddhist teachings. i’ve included a slide that breaks down the mantra and the teaching within it for those interested.
that’s a lot of Buddhist stuff for my friend audience who aren’t Buddhist 😜, so i’ll share that the way i practice with this mantra and the way it seemed to speak to me years ago, is that it is a way of opening the heart. so as i recite it, i visualize my heart opening to the world around me, the situation i may be in. this includes other people, animals, life, and myself. this heart opening allows this quality of compassion, a quality we all have at our core, our true nature, to be free and embodied. this mantra has a special place in my heart, so much so, years ago i had it tattooed over my heart (see bonus pic 😂).
in past years, i’ve been gifted two Tibetan Singing Bowls with the mantra on them. i regularly use them. here is a black and white photograph i took of one of them one morning.
may all of our hearts open and may be embody this quality of compassion for ourselves, those around us, and a world in need. ~j⭕️❤️🙏🏻
*if you like this art, you can have it as a print or on various products found at JMWart, my online Redbubble store. you can visit directly at JMWart.redbubble.com or via my website (www.jaysenwaller.com) 👍🏻🙏🏻
i think empathy is the antidote to the defiant individualism we are seeing, where so many are acting out of fear of losing and aggression in securing their individual self (family, group, etc) over all others.
defiant individualism is concerned first and foremost with itself as a priority over all else, no matter the cost to others. this can’t really last though, it eventually devolves, because it is a harmful and destructive way to live. the core reason for this, is that it isn’t aligned with life. life is intrinsically interdependent, everything is interrelated and affects everything else in minor and major ways, seen and unseen. so to live life in such a way, brings disharmony and suffering.
empathy on the other hand, is embodiment of awareness of interdependence. your suffering is my suffering. i feel your pain, so i am moved to help you and to relieve your suffering. you feel my pain, so you are moved to do the same. empathy is born out of our tender, vulnerable heart. vulnerability and feeling is actually a strength, not a place of fear. why? because of love. love lives in our tender and vulnerable (yet resilient!) hearts and where there is love, there is no need to fear. but this takes practice – being aware and allowing the heart to stay open. this practice is where humanity is most healthy and can build communities that are healthy, where the health and welfare of all life is a priority.
i created this piece of art titled EMPATHY to embody this view of empathy. where two are joined and appear as one in their empathy for each other. may we all embody such empathy. it very well may be the thing that saves us. ~j
*if you like this art, you can have it as a print or on various products found at JMWart, my online Redbubble store. you can visit directly at JMWart.redbubble.com or via my website (www.jaysenwaller.com) 👍🏻🙏🏻
this phrase can sum up the first of Five Precepts in Buddhism that lay Buddhists follow. though, the precept consists of a prohibition on killing, it is often generally interpreted as a prohibition on harming. most of us aren’t running around killing others. most of us understand the harm that causes, but if we allow our awareness to open, we may see that there are many types of death, and this precept invites us to investigate the more subtle ways we harm and destroy with our thoughts, words, actions, with our consumption, our indifference, our non-caring.
the Precepts aren’t commandments in our traditional understanding of that word. they are more like guidelines for living a life that is beneficial and non-harming. Buddhism is concerned with recognition of suffering and then acting in ways to reduce or end suffering. the Five Precepts beginning with the First Precept, are basically saying, “Don’t do this and you’ll reduce suffering.”
this view of non-harming includes all life – including ourselves. we can look into our lives and ask ourselves if we are acting in ways that bring harm to ourselves or others, how can we change this to bring benefit?
i see the Precepts as an invitation to practice having an open heart and embodying love for myself and for others. and the key word is practice. we aren’t looking for perfection – to be perfect or without fault, or being right or wrong, we are looking to reduce our participation in harm and suffering, we are looking to engage our loving, empathetic hearts, to live with compassion in this world. ~j
*if you like this art, you can have it as a variety of prints and products found at JMWart, my online Redbubble store. you can visit directly at JMWart.redbubble.com or via my website (link in bio) 👍🏻🙏🏻
The Metta Garden 