Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.

~ Hans Margolius

may we care enough for ourselves and the world, to allow space for some solitude, some silence, some non-doing, for some clarity.

~j

#JustSit #JustBreathe #path #practice #meditation #enso #Zen #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art

Awake in the world

What is this meditation?

Dirt beneath these nails

~j

“A long time ago in China, a Zen student asked if any of the sages had ever fallen into hell. His teacher answered that they are the first to go there! The shocked student asked, ‘But if they are enlightened, why would they fall into hell?’ The teacher looked at the student and with a smile said, ‘If I didn’t fall into hell, how could I help you?’ Do you see what he is doing here? He completely reverses the student’s problem, saying this is not about the student’s idea of purity, but about helping and caring. That is what’s important. He’s saying that you have to get your hands dirty; you have to dig right in. Just as you are, without some special robe or degree or twenty years of meditation practice. Just as you are, you can help.”

~ Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara

from “Most Intimate: A Zen Approach to Life’s Challenges”

#bodhisattva #service #generosity #compassion #wisdom #PlantingSeeds #TheLongArc #Zen #Buddhism #haiku #art #JMWart #JinpaLhaga #art

this isn’t an invitation for debate. i feel it necessary to share my thoughts and view. if you feel differently, so be it, i wish you well. 🙏🏻

the law recently passed in Texas and allowed to move forward by the US Supreme Court is abhorrent.

knowing the law is unconstitutional and unable to be enforced by the government, Texas has abdicated enforcement to the citizenry, pitting citizen against citizen, encouraging vigilantism and bounties. this is insidious, dark, dystopian ideology once again come to life. the result will be increased harm and suffering. i believe this is about power, fearmongering, and subjugation. this isn’t about valuing life. if it were, then Texas wouldn’t be fighting so hard against mask wearing during a pandemic, or completely undoing gun regulations.

for far too long the debate has been falsely framed as “pro-life or pro-choice.” it should be framed as “anti-choice or pro-choice.” there are many of us who deeply value life to a degree far greater than some who claim to be “pro-life” yet we are are pro-choice. why? because we believe the government shouldn’t be empowered to legislate and control an individual’s body in this way.
if we believe the government should, then why just women? let’s be fair and require men who are co-creators in procreation to have vasectomies. when deemed by the government to be sufficiently mature and responsible enough to have and care for children, the vasectomy can be reversed. ridiculous? then we shouldn’t support it being done to women. be aware of hypocrisy and powers that yield it.

setting governmental authority aside, as individuals and as society, if we want to claim that we value life, then we need to take a deep and serious look at what that means. it cannot be just some lives and at certain times when we decide. we must include all life – the life of the immigrant and refugee, the life of the criminal on death row, the life of the poor, the sick, and yes even the life of animals. how can we say we value life and yet support factory farming or the consuming of animals when not necessary, or perpetuate war that isn’t necessary, or deny universal health-care, or promote capitalism to a degree that literally starves and kills other people?
my guess is to one degree or another we all fall short on this list. at the very least, all of us in the US are participating in the harmful aspects of capitalism, and many of us are receiving the benefits in resources, while many around the world suffer because of it.

if our goal is love and compassion. then we have an obligation to be love and to be compassionate. we should do the best we can to support systems, structures and institutions that promote a life that supports life, and then trust our fellow humans to do the best that they can in their lives with their choices. but we shouldn’t pursue or support a government that uses its power in the way that we are seeing in Texas. we have a responsibility to speak out and publicly admonish what we are witnessing and then work to end the harm.

~j
⭕️❤️🙏🏻

…We touch this truth: in the midst of our daily confusions, self-doubts, conflicts, and fears, we need support, reminders to trust in ourselves. We can trust. We were designed to journey through the full measure of beauty and sorrows in life and survive…The warrior in your heart says stand your ground. Feel the survival of a thousand years of ancestors in your muscles and your blood. You have all the support you need in your bones.~ Jack Kornfield

in our bones, in our open hearts, in the very fibers of our being.i need this reminder lately. i hope it resonates and is of benefit to you as well.~j

#HereAndNow #path #practice #OpenHeart #rise #flow #JinpaLhaga #JMWphotography #photography #BWphotography

cycles of aggression and violence repeat.

we must break the pattern and we start by beginning with ourselves.we must not be indifferent to the suffering around us, instead we must engage with love.

remembering our time is short and not knowing if we will wake up tomorrow, we should let go of all ill will. making amends where we can and forgiving the rest.

releasing our grasp, surrendering our desire to control outcomes.we can set an intention to do our best and to begin again, in the very next moment, in the very next breath.
~j

#love #life #impermanence #nonaggression #path #practice #Buddhism #LetGo #JinpaLhaga

sitting. breathing. in this moment, i come home to myself. body and mind in union, with all life.

take a moment today to love yourself, to simply sit and breathe, to feel the earth beneath you, rooted and held. to feel your lungs fill with air, receptive and open. to feel the air exhale, with freedom and release.
~j

#JustSit #JustBreathe #meditation #mindfulness #path #practice #life #JinpaLhaga

pain and sufferingsitting with a heavy hearti offer my love.
~j

as we look around us, as we listen to the news, the burden of this moment is heavy.
Haitians suffering from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on August 14th. nearly 1500 lives lost and 6,000 injured with an impending tropical storm. these dear people can’t catch a break.
panicked and desperate Afghans trying to exit as Taliban takes over complete control. the images at the airport are harrowing. we have failed them in our exit. so many who have fought side by side with our military, as interpreters, as informants. women will suffer the most, many who had hope, who were receiving or received education and prominence in professional fields and politics, burning their degrees, their documents, leaving no trace.
if these events break your heart open and engage your empathy – good. allow it. allow your heart to feel, to love. let that love move into compassionate action.

for Haiti, i suggest Doctors Without Borders www.msf.org(please do not donate to Red Cross, they were criticized for not forwarding donated funds during the previous earthquake).

to assist in getting our Afghan allies out who assisted during the war and who are in danger of being locked away or killed, i suggest supporting the organization, No One Left Behind www.nooneleft.org
please list any other beneficial organizations in the comments.
lastly, please practice self-care for yourself and others. i’ve been doing Metta (Lovingkindness) Practice tonight. i’ve included a longer version that i have written in the second photo.
~j

#Haiti #Afghanistan #Metta #compassion #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #Haiku #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

with an open heart and an authentic engaged path and practice, with radical empathy and fierce compassion, leaving no one out.

may it be so!

~j

🌍❤️🙏🏻

#love #OpenHeart #authenticity #empathy #compassion #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #MaryOliverQuotes #JinpaLhaga

it’s so simple, feels almost too simple really. to just sit and breathe. to do so without goal. to come back to something so natural, sitting and breathing. in our habits and patterns of being busy, of getting lost in or avoiding, we can forget to just allow stillness, to allow the opportunity for relaxation and natural ease and calm.

it is also something that we can have some joy in doing. it doesn’t have to be some epic journey to enlightenment. the simple pleasure of just sitting and breathing, of feeling our body rooted and held by the earth, feeling the calming coolness of air coming into our bodies, the release and freedom of air leaving. this can be quite enjoyable and peaceful.

there’s no reason we shouldn’t have this joy, this peace, this simple pleasure, which is always available. and with practice we can even tap into, settle into this feeling in all kinds of environments. it can be our anchor as Thich Nhat Hanh shares in this quote.

~j

#JustBreathe #JustSit #mindfulness #meditation #path #practice #ThichNhatHanhQuotes #ThichNhatHanh #Zen #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga

whew. we can use a big reminder to practice empathy right now.

empathy seems to be what we are lacking most regarding many areas of life whether it be the pandemic, immigration, poverty, healthcare, and more particularly in the last day or so regarding Simone Biles – our veneration of celebrity and athletes.

we have this perverse habit of becoming awed by people in their excellence, lifting them up, nearly worshipping them, only to tear them apart when reality sets in – they are not the gods we have created them to be. they are what they have always been – human.

we have a responsibility to allow people to be human, to be authentic, to be vulnerable, even fragile. their humanity, their welfare, and their wellbeing should be more important than our idea of who they should be, who we want them to be, or the dollar signs that accompany their name or image.

may hearts open.

~j

#SimoneBiles #Olympics2021 #empathy #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #OpenHeart #humanity #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art