“Allow nature’s peace to flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.”
~ John Muir
may we reconnect with nature and it’s healing presence.
we cannot overestimate our need for this connection. we are interdependent with nature and all life. to be connected to, to be in union with nature, is to be connected to and in union with ourselves.
~j
#nature #healing #interdependence #EngagedBuddhist #MedicineBuddha #JMWart #JinpaLhaga
Even if you practice zazen so earnestly that you break through the floor, if your practice is only for yourself it will come to nothing.
~
Zen Master Dogen
“off the mat into the world”…”sit down, rise up”….
the quote and phrases above note the distinction between meditation as just self-help (which can also be a good thing) and as a practice and path to relieve suffering for all.
in Buddhism meditation practice is inextricably tied to ethics as a path to waking up. we are interdependent in our existence and we are a community in our waking up. the core of the practice is one of compassion, toward oneself and all life to relieve suffering. how can we leave anyone out?
when we sit, we not only sit for ourselves that our hearts may continually open and our minds may be calm and steady, but also for the rest of the world and all life, that we may be instruments of love and peace.
~j
#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #meditation #practice #SitDownRiseUp #OffTheMatIntoTheWorld #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #JMWart #JinpaLhaga
flowers are blooming
in the midst of this chaos
Spring is within us.
~j
life is still blooming within you – we can do this together. all of it. 🙏🏻
#life #interdependence #community #Sangha #TogetherWeAreBetter #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #haiku #JMWart #JinpaLhaga
there is a dignity
to just sitting and
breathing.
seated on the earth,
head reaching toward
the sky.
strong back, open heart.
still.
calm.
breathing.
present.
bearing witness to life –
sights, sounds, feelings, thoughts.
allowing life,
is an act of generosity and
spaciousness.
~j
#meditation #practice #JustSit #BeStill #breathe #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #JinpaLhaga #JMWphotography #BWphotography #photography
as this day draws to a close, so does the Buddhist holiday, Vesak.
on Vesak, we commemorate the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and death.
I decided to take a break from social media today in large part to focus on meditation, and Buddhist studies – reading and dharma talks, but I also needed to take a break from the heaviness of what I’m seeing on social media.
to be quite frank, I found myself simply over conspiracy theory bullshit, disappointed by friends abandoning reason and taking the bate down the rabbit hole. I found myself angered by this seemingly growing movement to consider preventable death as inevitable, so we can “reopen” the economy. But the top of the list was the horrific gunning down of 25 year old Ahmaud Arbery which just hit me in the gut. I came across the video on Wednesday and had watched it not knowing what it was about initially and I just couldn’t shake it from my mind or body. I’m just so sickened by this consistent insidious thread that runs through our history and infuriated by the consistent baiting by white men in seats of power and a populace that sits dormant of empathy…and I’m fearful it could one day be one of my beautiful nephews being shot, just because of the color of their skin.
so I went into today with a heavy and exhausted heart (probably in part from arguing with racists on Twitter…sometimes I can’t help it – they’ve closed their hearts and lost their sanity and I feel I should tell them that).
it is said upon the Buddha’s enlightenment, he came across some men along the road who recognized there was something different, unique – perhaps extraordinary about him. they asked him: “Are you a god?” “No,” he replied. “Are you a reincarnation of god?” “No,” he replied. “Are you a wizard or magician, then?” “No.” he replied. “Well, are you a man?” “No.” he replied. “So what are you?” they asked, being very perplexed. the Buddha simply replied: “I am awake.”
what does it mean to be awake? in Buddhist terms, it means to see clearly, to come face to face with life, the impermanence of life and the fear that may arise, with an open heart – not running away from the painful moments or grasping at the joyful moments as they fade away. to stay open is an act of love. and staying open is the only way we can name the harm we see from a place of love and then work to end the harm from a place of love.
what I see when I see grasping at conspiracy theories, abandoning of reason, of the sick and elderly, is fear, not love. what I see when I see a young man of color gunned down while running is fear, not love. I see fearful people not remaining open to loss, I see fearful people closing up their hearts and I see the destruction, the harm, the suffering that ensues.
so, there has to be people willing to be with what is uncomfortable. there has to be people willing to stay open, willing to not run away or grasp, willing to choose love. there has to be people willing to be buddhas.
may we all wake up. may we all choose to stay with it and choose to love out of it, so that we may be of benefit to a people and world suffering.
~j
you are love.
our wounds unattended, not healed, can become masked as fear, anger, resentment, and possibly hate.
don’t forget who you are.
don’t abandon who you are.
who you are is exactly what the world needs to heal as well.
your healing is the world’s healing.
~j
#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #wounds #suffering #healing #love #life #EngagedBuddhist #JinpaLhaga #paulcoelhoquote
May The 4th Be With You!!
i was born in 1974 and A New Hope came out in theaters in 1977. from the age of three Star Wars, the Force, the Jedi – all of it, have been such an indelible part of life.
a work of fiction that points to bigger truths – light, balance, hope, heroism, family and friendship. and it probably isn’t surprising that it would also peak an interest in related real world philosophy like Taoism and Buddhism for me, that there is a connecting “force” in life, that unites all things and that we can have an active participation in that, that can benefit ourselves and all beings.
in that spirit, here are some favorite Force and wisdom quotes from Star Wars:
It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.” ~ Obi-Wan Kenobi
“Luminous beings are we. Not this crude matter.” ~ Yoda
“Close your eyes. Feel it. The light…it’s always been there. It will guide you.” ~ Maz Kanata
“I’m one with the Force. The Force is with me.” ~ Chirrut Imwe
“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.” ~ Yoda
“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” ~ Yoda
“To answer power with power, the Jedi way this is not. In this war, a danger there is, of losing who we are.” ~ Yoda
#StarWars #MayThe4th #MayThe4thBeWithYou #TheForce #DarkSide #LightSide #Yoda #ObiWanKenobi #MazKanata #ChirrutImwe #loss #fear #anger #hate #suffering #power #luminous #Meditation #JMWart #JinpaLhaga
“Once we experience and feel this inter-dependence of all living beings, we will cease to hurt, humiliate, exploit and kill another. We will want to free all sentient beings from suffering. This is karuna, compassion, which in turn gives rise to the responsibility to create happiness and its causes for all.”
~ Suresh Jindal
do no harm.
“I get lost in the beauty of everything I see, the world ain’t half as bad as they paint it to be.”
~ Ryan Tedder
even in the middle of the storm, we can practice keeping our hearts open, our minds steady, and allowing space for the beauty in life to be revealed. in fact, in the middle of the storm may be the best place and time to practice.
~j
#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #life #suffering #OpenHeart #practice #EngagedBuddhist #JinpaLhaga #JMWphotography #BWPhotography #photography
“Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world.”
~ Pema Chödrön
wonderful and wise quote.
notably not referring to some hierarchy of kindness (i.e. i’m more important than you so i take care of me with kindness first), rather it is referring to a process (i.e. if i practice kindness towards myself, i have the practice and capacity to be kind to all others as well).
it begins in our hearts with the love already there. it continues in offering that heart with that same love to a world in need.
being gentle, being tender, being kind are some of the most underestimated of powers.
~j
#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #BeKind #offering #EngagedBuddhist #JMWart #JinpaLhaga
The Metta Garden 