Over 2500 years ago, deeply moved by the suffering he saw in life (sickness, aging, and death), disenchanted with the excess from which he came, and the practice of extreme ascetism, the historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) set out to meet life face to face, as it is. He sat until he woke up. And in waking up he became the Buddha, which means awakened or awakened one. Seeing the middle way – not running away from or grasping at life, rather meeting life with an open heart – he found freedom from suffering.

Today, December 8th, we Buddhists commemorate the Buddha’s awakening under the Bodhi Tree, as Bodhi Day. A day to remember the event, but to also be reminded that we too can wake up, we too have within us the ability to be with life as it is, to be free and at peace.

“Lotus”

remember

don’t despair, do grow

here is your life blossoming

called forth from the mud

remember

remember

~j

#BodhiDay #Buddha #Buddhism #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #WakeUp #growth #struggle #mud #lotus #flower #beauty #WhoYouAre #poetry #JMWpoetry #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

The moon does not fight. It attacks no one. It does not worry. It does not try to crush others. It keeps to its course, but by its very nature, it gently influences.

What other body could pull an entire ocean from shore to shore? The moon is faithful to its nature, and its power is never diminished.

~ Deng Ming-Dao

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds ##nonaggression #nonviolence #TruePower #TrueInfluence #moon #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #art #BuddhistArt #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

this is a good and worthy code of conduct not only in how we treat those close to us, but our neighbors, the immigrant, the poor, the marginalized, and what food we eat. this can also apply to companies and corporations – along with those who work for them.

how we treat others, defines in part, who we have been and how we have lived this life.

how are you living your life?

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds

#EngagedBuddhist

#ThisLife #Practice

#Zen #Enso

#JMWart #JinpaL

defining who our neighbors are, has consequences. defining who our neighbors are, reveals how vast our love is, how open we’ve allowed our hearts to be.

who are your neighbors?

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds

#neighbor #OpenHeart #EngagedBuddhist

#power

#TheLongArc

#PlantingSeeds

#EngagedBuddhist

i sit

so that

i may stand

i breathe in

with love

allowing

all that i feel

all that is around me

into my heart

i breathe out

with love

allowing all that i hold

all that i carry

to sink

into the earth

in her generosity

i am emptied

in her generosity

i am free

to rise up

to love

i touch the earth

she bears witness

to love

to life

to all.

~j

#meditation #OpenHeart #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #SitDownRiseUp #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #JinpaLhaga #JMWpoetry #JMWphotography #BWphotography #photography

“We are life, and life is far vaster than this body, this concept, this mind.”

~

Thich Nhat Hanh

we human beings are great at labeling things and in some sense it is beneficial to do so, to have a common way of communicating about a situation, a feeling, a person, an object. naming things can also imbue them with a sense of power, with life.

however, an unfortunate problem arises out of this. once we name something, or label a situation or a person, all of a sudden we think we know all there is to know about it. story done, the end. signed, sealed, delivered – it’s ours! in some sense, we do take ownership or possession of things, situations, and people once we name or label them and we think – yes, this is the truth!

but it isn’t, at least not completely. in thinking we know all there is about something, a situation, an object, or a person we are no longer allowing things, situations, objects, and people to be fully what they are or ourselves the opportunity to learn and grow.

it is important to keep a sense of mystery, of humility, of open-heartedness toward all of life.

~j

#Tao #Life #TheForce #Zen #EngagedBuddhist #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #Enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

darkness and the light

all things dancing in between

nature’s harmony

~j

#PlantingSeeds #TheLongArc

#Tao #TheWay #YinYang #balance #harmony #haiku #enso #Zen #EngagedBuddhist #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

i missed posting for #NationalComingOutDay on Friday.

for so many of us, coming out is a daily occurrence. not in large ways perhaps anymore, but in subtle ways, the minutia of conversation, words and actions can carry such weight.

the journey can be short or long, but it is a journey into the heart of life and love. the road can feel so long, to realizing the innocence in one’s life, our embodiment of love, and our worthiness to be loved, and the offering and gift it is to give our love and live our love in this world.

to live one’s life authentically and openly, offering our life to the world, is a gift to the world, helping the world to expand its capacity to hold and celebrate love.

please know that you are an embodiment of love. please know that you are worthy of being loved. please know that the love you have in your heart is a love that is meant to be lived and offered to this world. this world needs your love.

~j

#ComingOut #Love #life #LGBTQIA #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

No external condition can prevent love; no one and no thing can stop it. The awakening of love is not bound up in things being a certain way.

~ Sharon Salzberg

#UpToYou #ChooseLove #Love #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #SitDownRiseUp #OpenHeart #Zen #Buddhism #PhotoArt #photography #JMWart #JinpaLhaga