#NeverForget #WeRemember

#HolocaustMemorialDay

#HolocaustRemembranceDay

#enso #JMWart

being kind can be a courageous act!

kindness often causes us to move beyond our fears, our own prejudices and ignorance. the call to act with kindness can reveal the walls that we have built around our hearts.

it takes courage to move beyond our fears, to open our hearts to something or someone new, to learn, to grow, and to remove these walls around our hearts so we are free to be kind and act with kindness.

~j

#BeBrave #BeKind #kindness #courage #OpenHeart #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

~

Martin Luther King, Jr.

#BeLove #light #love #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #MLKjr #MLKday #MLK90 #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #JMW

Tansheng was making tea.

“Who is the tea for?” Daowu asked.

“There is someone who wants it.”

“Why doesn’t he come himself?”

“Fortunately I’m here to do it.”

~ from “Chan Heart, Chan Mind” by Master Guojun

#WhyWait #DoGoodNow

#WeAreTheOnesWeAreWaitingFor

#offering #service #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #tea #enso #JMWart

“Wherever you stand

be the soul of that place.”

~ Rumi

Rumi quote, Buddha statue.

#wisdom #presence #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #Rumi #Buddha #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #JMWphotography

…just in case you are looking.

this precious life is you, it’s this moment, open and available.

be curious, be kind.

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #life #here #PresentMoment #practice #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart

for the heart

for the soul

staying open

we are whole

there is no “other”

~j

…late night enso.

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #NoOther #EngagedBuddhist #SitDownRiseUp #Zen #Enso #JMWart

#repost of some activist art i did earlier this year in response this insane and yes immoral “wall” controversy. it is immoral to spend 5 Billion Dollars on a wall for a manufactured crisis/emergency when the facts (even the the Government’s own data) don’t support our President’s script of a crisis.

terrorists are not running over the southern border. there were 6 (as i recall) suspected terrorists who came over the southern border in 2018, not 4000. illegal drugs more often arrive by legal means (airplanes, mail) than over the southern border. and a wall won’t resolve the humanitarian crisis – abiding by international law and hearing asylum cases will, not pushing immigrants to more remote places of entry.

holding the Government’s ability to pass a budget, denying work/pay to Federal workers (which also affects businesses near and patronized by them) for some bogus crisis is also immoral.

there was a bipartisan (yes both Democrats and Republicans) that was set to pass, but it didn’t include the wall the President said Mexico would pay for…so here we are.

I wish he wasn’t given the air time, but it is what it is. my hope is that he is fact checked in real time by these networks and that people wake up and call their Representatives and Senators to pressure a bipartisan bill without the wall (but with immigration reform funding) that is veto proof.

but perhaps more than any of this, i hope people open the borders of their own hearts to see through this “othering” that the President has engaged in since he descended the stairs at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy, for what it is and rise up, speak out, and engage.

#TheLongArc #NoWalls #OpenHearts #ImmigrationReform

we often feel powerless.

but within our open hearts there is an overflowing wellspring of goodwill, of compassion, and of kindness – the manifestations of our true nature, which is born in love.

where there is darkness,

may we bring light.

where there is destruction, violence, and harm,

may we bring healing.

seasons change,

but our light and our love with practice can be our grounding,

even as the leaves fade and fall,

and are born again.

#seasons #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #healing #practice #meditation #MedicineBuddha #Zen #JMWphotography

first enso of 2019.

an enso circle to remind us to include all within our circle of compassion and kindness, leaving nothing or no one out. there are plenty willing to name another as “other” and exclude, building walls at borders and around hearts. may we break down these walls and borders first around our hearts, building bridges of inclusivity and peace.

blue for healing, in a world and moment where and when there seems to be so much that is destructive – in words, in posts and tweets, in actions – may our words and our actions bring healing. there are plenty who are willing to go to war over every disagreement. how many willing to bring healing?

may we know we belong. may we know we are valuable and loved. and may we bring the healing the world needs.

Happy 2019, dear friends!!

😊❤️🙏🏻

#HappyNewYear #2019 #gratitude #hope #healing #compassion #kindness #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #Zen #enso #JMWart