our investment in developing empathy, in acts of compassion, in justice building and peacemaking are investments not just for us, but for future generations.
these investments are made in the way we speak, the actions we choose to make, our relationships, our art, and our politics.
~j
#VOTE
#TheLongArc
#PlantingSeeds
#SitDownRiseUp
#EngagedBuddhism
#JinpaLhaga
19 years.
today continues to grieve me.
not just because of the horrific events that I woke up to 19 years ago on September 11th and the sadness that still lingers, but because we still appear to have learned so little from that experience – an experience, that should be noted, happens elsewhere in the world and at times on a greater scale.
immediately after that tragic day the world outstretched its arms to us and our nation opened our hearts to each other. nearly 3000 people lost their lives that day and now as many people lose their lives every 3-5 days during this pandemic, yet people refuse to wear masks. where did the empathy go? in the years that have followed we’ve lost tens of thousands of our troops in ongoing wars that were a response to the tragic events of that day. and now, in the past 7 months we’ve lost nearly 200,000 people due to a pandemic, yet people refuse to wear masks and we have a preventable failure of leadership from the top. where did the empathy go?
it seemed on that day that our hearts opened and we relearned empathy and compassion. even in the horror of that tragedy, there was a glimmer of hope. 19 years later we are living through increased division, rage, hate and cruelty from the highest office, where we are also seeing white nationalism and conspiracy cults like QAnon embraced.
we say “never forget” yet it seems we have failed to remember, failed to remember our initial unity, our empathy, our compassion even amid the horror of that day.
caught up in fear, we give rise to selfish individualism, anger, aggression and hate. these feed division and opportunity for unscrupulous people in power.
if we truly want to honor the victims of 9/11, the lives lost since, and our humanity, we must reject ideologies of division, lies, aggression, cruelty and hate we are bearing witness to and perhaps participating in.
may truth, open-heartedness, empathy, and compassion prevail.
~j
care.
care about everything.
allow your heart to be touched,
to be moved.
the stirring of
your heart is
what awakens
empathy,
compassion,
kindness,
generosity.
all the things a
hungry
thirsty
naked
world
needs.
~j
#VOTE
#OpenHeart #empathy #compassion #kindness #generosity #SitDownRiseUp #EngagedBuddhist #
His Holiness the Dalai Lama: “Anger that is motivated by compassion or a desire to correct social injustice, and does not seek to harm the other person, is a good anger that is worth having.”
A few notes about anger from Roshi Joan Halifax:
Anger that is rooted in ego, including narcissistic rage (the rage and outrage of the privileged), the anger of helplessness, or the anger that endeavors to harm or get revenge, is not what HHDL is speaking about. Nor is this moral outrage, indignation, or self-righteousness, again often indirect expressions of privilege or direct expressions of those subjected to harm. Fierce compassion, the healthy anger that HHDL is referring to has clarity at its core. We can ask then: What is anger devoid of aggression? What is it before the narrative takes over? It is energy of wrathful wisdom, of clear seeing, of ruthless compassion, maybe hard to stomach, but bare and true. It means “Pay attention.” It is saying, “Awaken.” It is saying, “Do not fall into aggression.” “Do not by-pass.” “Keep grounded.” Use the energy to free others from suffering. This kind of anger is power with, not power over. Thanissara Mary Weinberg puts it thus: “Anger is traditionally thought to be close to wisdom. When not projected outward onto others or inward toward the self, it gives us the necessary energy and clarity to understand what needs to be done.” Rebecca Solnit puts it this way: “Buddhism offers an elegant model of anger management. Harness the emotion, feel it without inflicting it.”
photo credit: Buddhist Peace Fellowship
hey friends –
I’m strongly recommending you read “ON TYRANNY: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century” by Timothy Snyder. He is a Professor of History at Yale University, a member of the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and hold a permanent position with the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna, Austria.
It’s a quick read with a lot to absorb and ponder, especially given our current circumstances and leadership. In fact, it is deeply striking and concerning the similarities between our current situation and actions by leadership to that of authoritarianism in Germany, the Soviet Union, and others in the distant and not so distant past. For many of us, this has been apparent for some time, but reading it so starkly…well.
Our representative democracy is not a forgone conclusion. It is kept healthy and alive only insofar our populace is engaged and willing to participate.
We cannot say there have not been signs, that there have not been warnings.
A rise in authoritarianism power depends on us not caring or getting involved.
#VOTE and get involved. Hope is alive in the words and actions of those who care and are willing to get involved.
~j
#SitDownRiseUp #BeEngaged #tyranny #authoritarianism #democracy #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga
#OnTyranny
#ontyrannytwentylessonsfromthetwentiethcentury
#ontyrannybytimothysnyder
with so much happening and so much at stake, it is easy to fall into a malaise, but there still is beauty in this world.
take time to just sit and observe, especially in nature. allow the time and space for the beauty in this world to reveal itself to you.
there still is beauty in this world and it is worth fighting for.
~j
#VOTE
#SitDownRiseUp #PlantingSeeds #Beauty #nature #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #JMWphotography #bwphotography #photography
“I’ve found it is the small things. Everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.” ~ Gandalf The Grey
we got this.
together, our open hearts, fueling beneficial work in the world, in this life. just keep doing the work. seeds planted will one day grow.
~j
#PlantingSeeds #TheLongArc #kindness #love #ItTakesAVillage #EngagedBuddhsim #sangha #JinpaLhaga #LOTR #GandalfTheGrey
This quote deeply resonates.
We’ve been duped by Western idolization of the individual and an ideology of prosperity gospel.
None of us do this or get through this life alone, on our own merits. I applaud goal setting, a strong work ethic, and an opportunity to rise, and I support a healthy sense of pride in good work, and goals accomplished. It is important, however, to be ever aware of all the help and provision along the way. From our conception and birth to parents nurturing, to nature with farmers and grocers providing sustenance for our physical well-being, and teachers supporting and providing for our mental, intellectual, emotional well-being, to our employers who hire and take a chance and our coworkers/colleagues who share in the work – we don’t get to where we are without help.
The “I” is a myth. The truth is “We.”
The idea that the most basic needs in our society – food, shelter, health care – continue to be merit based is an act of cruelty and wounds our humanity, individually and collectively.
We must ask ourselves, “What does a loving society look like?” Does a loving society allow hunger, starvation, homelessness and avoidable sickness or death?
Love is within us and knows what to do, but we are often blinded by fear. When we are finally able to remove our fear (need for security and control), our sight becomes clear and we can recreate a society of love. I’m not saying this is easy or without deep lasting effort/work, I’m saying it is necessary.
~j
#Interdependence #sangha #community #WeNotMe #practice #EngagedBuddism #JinpaLhaga
[photo credit: Hu Yuanjia]
i keep these photographs in my phone to look at every once in a while.
briefly, the story around them, goes as so: the photographer heard someone yelling and then people gathering around an elderly man sitting on a bench in a train station. he had apparently fallen asleep and then passed away. out of the crowd, a Buddhist monk walked over and began chants and prayers over the deceased man, holding his hand. after completing the ritual, the monk bowed to the deceased man and then disappeared into the crowd.
i find this story and these images so moving. there’s so much beauty in seeing such empathy and compassion in action. the monk, treating the deceased man with an incredible depth of dignity and compassion. he did not know this man, yet he honored him as if he were the most important person present.
keep images and stories like this close to your hearts during this time, friends. where we don’t see it, we can be it.
we are currently seeing a grave lack of empathy, lack of treating others with dignity, lack of compassion from the highest offices, and in some cases from each other. it has become even more worrisome than in 2017 when i first posted these. i’d say it has become dangerous. we are teetering on the edge.
however, these values of empathy and compassion and honor, these ways of being still exist, they exist in us if we choose, and where they exist there is hope.
~j
#empathy #compassion #dignity #service #practice #life #death #OpenHeart #bodhicitta #bodhisattva #LoveWins #Buddhism #Zen #monk #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #lovingkindness #JinpaLhaga
it takes courage to be present, to bear witness to suffering, to look directly into cruelty and harm.
but to do so is the embodiment of love and it is from embodied love that we can act to end harm and transform suffering into healing.
this takes an open heart, a tender heart, so this is our practice. moment after moment, day after day, life after life.
~j
#OpenHeart #DontLookAway #practice #SitDownRiseUp #bodhisattvas #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga
The Metta Garden 