“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”

~ Yoda

many of us are motivated by and move through life with fear as our companion. in this transient world, whose very foundation is one of change, it is easy to grasp at illusions of security and desperately avoid loss. but in a world of change, we can’t avoid loss. in our desperate efforts, we suffer, because we expect life to be something other than what it is. in fear there is no freedom.

with practice we can train our minds and open our hearts, to expand our capacity to be with life as it is. when we live openness – not grasping or fearful of loss – there is freedom and the reality of change becomes potential for expanded love and opportunity to do good and be of benefit. loss opens space for newness. the cycle of loss and newness is written into life, into nature. we can look to it for guidance and comfort. day turns to night, and then the dawn of a new day returns. summer fades to autumn and autumn to winter. and then, out of winter comes spring and new life. spring is there all along, just waiting for the right conditions to appear, as is every season.

as i age and practice, desperation and grasping feel more like a death than the physical death that awaits my arrival someday. grasping and desperation feel like they are strangling-suffocating life…and yet fear is still present at times and in situations, so ingrained and patterned into my mind.

so, i practice letting go, i practice being free.

~j

(artwork of #Yoda from #Inktober2017)

#fear #loss #change #life #death #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #dharma #EngagedBuddhist #JMWart #JinpaLhaga #StarWars #TheForce

sitting.

listening.

breathing.

i take refuge.

surrounded by

so much life

vibrant.

beautiful.

i take refuge

in sitting

in listening

in breathing

in life

in beauty

in shade.

~j

#refuge #EngagedBuddhist #life #beauty #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #JMWphotography #photography #JinpaLhaga

“The biggest thing in the world, bigger than the ocean and the sky, is your heart.”

~ Do Hyun Choe

let your love light shine, friends

💙🙏🏻

#love #WhatTheWorldNeedsNow #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

In violence we forget who we are.

~

Mary McCarthy

#peace #dove #nonviolence #nonaggression #presence #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #Buddhanature #Zen #Buddhism #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

take heart and take heed.

there is hope – it is found in you, it is found in me.

it is found in hearts open to empathy, in open minds, in beings tireless in their compassion and love for life.

where there is chaos, be the calm steadiness that is needed.

where there is destruction and devastation, be the healing that is needed.

where there is darkness, shine your light, in your unique and gifted way.

remember the forgotten.

stand with and for those who cannot stand on their own.

raise your voice for those without words spoken.

love those around you, stay focused, smile, and breathe.

~j

#hope #StayWoke #MeditateAndResist #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #LoveWins #life #light #focus #empathy #compassion #OpenHeart #OpenMind #breathe #JinpaLhaga

If you want a calm sea, you cannot get it by suppressing the stormy sea. You must wait for the same sea to become calm.

~

Thich Nhat Hanh

sit and be the calm you seek. set the example. allow the world to bend to harmony and peace you embody, rather than being caught up in the scrambling and chaos.

~j

#sit #JustSit #SettleDown #calm #meditation #practice #SelfCare #Zen #Buddhism #SitDownRiseUp #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

“…renunciation is not supposed to hurt. It’s supposed to clear away the psychological clutter in our lives that get in the way of joy…renunciation comes from understanding, not force.”

~

Gesshin Claire Greenwood

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #renunciation #simplicity #freedom #joy #practice #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

The world will continue to change dramatically, but fighting and war can destroy us utterly. What we need now are techniques of harmony, not those of contention. The Art of Peace is required, not the Art of War.

~

Morihei Ueshiba

how do we work against the current rise of fear, anger, hatred seeded from the highest seats of power without devolving into fear, anger, and hatred ourselves?

this is the question for our time.

there is no healing through aggression, there is no life through being at war.

our motivation, our strength, the course of our path must be drawn from love and sourced from the fiercest, most steadfast compassion. the stakes couldn’t be higher.

may we offer our lives to stand with those who are marginalized and targeted, those who are “othered.” to always speak truth to power that racism and hate have no place in our society, and no home within our hearts. may we do the work in ourselves and outward into society. as above, so below. as within, so without.

when those in power attempt to drag us down with fear and aggression, we will rise even higher through love and tenderness, in harmony with life.

~j

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #ArtOfPeace #FierceCompassion #nonaggression #NoFear #OneLove #life #Bodhisattvas #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

this current Administration can attempt to rewrite history and the honored words of Emma Lazarus all they want, but it doesn’t change them or that they are not only etched at the statue but also in the hearts of all who believe in its timeless message ~j

The New Colossus

BY EMMA LAZARUS

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

“These mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb.”

~ Najwa Zebian

all of the worlds problems, all that calls our attention, all that needs healing, can feel overwhelming.

it’s important to remember that we are not asked to solve, resolve, or heal everything.

but we can love.

we can choose to love the world and all in it, to put our love for the world and all in it into action that does bring healing, that does bring comfort and that plays a part in resolving conflict and suffering.

just offer your love.

how does offering your love to the world look for you?

~j

#mountain #burden #life #engagement #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #zen #JMWart #JinpaLhaga