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“though it is hot, stay
what is old shall fall away
you are born from love.”

you matter. i matter. 

together we matter & it is together, in community, that we can push back against fascism & oppression power, against cruelty & indifference. it is us, as embodiments of love, choosing to put such love into action, that we can be forces of healing, inspiration, & light, moved from a place of compassion born from empathy & open hearts.

love is our power & it is manifest in our work together, making the world anew. what can be more powerful?

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#stay #love #MadeAnew #healing #compassion #empathy #OpenHeart #SitDownRiseUp #MindfulResistance #power #haiku #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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to survive,

keep your heart open.

no matter what.

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#survival #OpenHeart #SitDownRiseUp #MindfulResistance #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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re-sharing this incredible art that i have hanging on my wall, by David Hayward – The Naked Pastor.

today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season leading up to Easter. traditionally, a time of prayer, fasting, & alms giving to the poor – all of which means nothing if we do not see Christ in others & treat them accordingly, loving them so.

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice…”

~ Hosea 6:6 & Matthew 12:7

may this season be a meditation on all inclusive love, a love that houses the unhoused, feeds the hungry, cares for the poor, heals the sick, tends to the imprisoned, welcomes the foreigner, & invites in the outcast.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#AshWednesday #Lent #Christ #LoveThyNeighbor #TheGoldenRule #OpenHeart #path #practice #TheNakedPastor #JinpaLhaga

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with fascism, the strategy is to gut the reality of truth, to make everything questionable & foundationless, murky & directionless. up becomes down, cruelty becomes benevolence.

but the truth is the truth. love is love, & neither can be long hidden. they are written into life itself. they are written in our hearts & they rise to the surface through our intimacy with nature & our relationships with each other.

open hearts, open eyes, open ears.

remember what is true.

remember what is love.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#fascism #truth #love #clarity #SitDownRiseUp #MindfulResistance #OpenHearts #path #practice #haiku #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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amidst all of the gaslighting, lies, & propaganda we saw last night – so much of which can be easily fact-checked & debunked with a simple Google search – please find the still point within the noise & intentional overwhelm which is the strategy of fascism.

remember what is true, then speak it.

remember what is love, then do it.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#fascism #gaslighting #propaganda #truth #RightSpeech #love #compassion #SitDownRiseUp #MindfulResistance OpenHeart #path #practice #GeorgeOrwell #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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i took a few days off from social media & news, so i’m returning having caught up on the absolute shameful disaster that is our current governing majority in how it treats our ally Ukraine, & how it has completely succumbed to whatever nefarious forces have had us capitulate & align w/ Putin’s Russia rather than the democratic nations of the free world. the greatest generation, having fought the existential threat of fascism already only to have it arise in our own country, must be turning in their graves.

may Ukraine, Zelensky, & the Ukrainian people find true ally support where it can be found, may they be free from continued unprovoked Russian aggression & invasion, may there be peace w/ Russia’s exit, & may freedom & sovereignty for all people be a valued principle we hold to despite the insidious forces that work against it. may we all hold onto the light of love & hope in an age of growing darkness.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#SlavaUkraini🇺🇦 #Ukraine🇺🇦 #democracy #sovereignty #freedom #nonaggression #OpenHeart #SitDownRiseUp #MindfulResistance #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #calligraphy

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like so many, i am still practicing finding balance in these challenging times. here are some steps i developed for myself to keep engaged skillfully without burning out. i hope they also bring benefit to you.

The Five R’s:

for self & community care in a time of resistance to fascism.

REST

get proper sleep. take naps. meditate. spend time in nature. listen to music. read for fun.

RISE

get up. bear witness. engage. take the action that you can where you are & how you are able. protest, march, boycott, call your Reps, write letters, post content, create art, write poetry, have one on one conversations – even the difficult ones. support others – orgs, charities, people doing the work you are unable to do.

RESIST

don’t obey in advance. don’t give in to hopelessness, despair, cynicism, or hate. don’t isolate yourself, connect with community instead. don’t accept lies or propaganda for truth. don’t give up on democracy or the power of love, goodness, kindness, beauty, & light. still have joy in things that are joyful, & gratitude for the good things, places, & people still present & available.

RINSE

literally – take a shower, give yourself a feeling of cleanliness & freshness. allow the water to wash away all you are carrying, down the drain. cleanse yourself of all the worry, concern, stress – at least once a day (i prefer the end of the day before bed). another option is a sun or moon bath, stand for a few minutes in the sunlight or moonlight & let it all go for a bit & just allow life, allow the light to shine on you, & in you, as a reminder that we are part of something far more vast than this one moment & we are supported by a universe beyond time.

REPEAT

consistency & persistence are evidence of our commitment to love & work like a kind of ordinary magic over time. bodhisattvas, those committed to love & freeing others from suffering, keep showing up. we too, can simply keep showing up, trusting that through love, what is needed will appear & we can be of benefit.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#TheFiveRs #rest #rise #resist #rinse #repeat #selfcare #balance #engaged #bearingwitness #OpenHeart #love #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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friends ~

the House budget that passed by the slimmest margin & party line vote yesterday is an immoral & harmful budget targeting those who are low income & poor, along with those who are disabled.

the budget would give tax cuts to the top 5%, with $1.1 trillion in tax cuts for the top 1%, while increasing taxes for the bottom 95%. the budget would increase the military spending by $100 billion, & increase the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.

all of this while cutting $880 billion from Medicaid which provides medical care for the disabled, for low income & poor, along with foster children. this budget also cuts $230 billion from SNAP, the food assistance/food stamp program for low income & poor, who are not able to afford enough to eat. this has been the planned agenda, but is this what you voted for – to take healthcare from the poor, from children & the disabled? to take food from children, the elderly, & poor? just so the obscenely rich can get financial assistance in the form of tax breaks?
this is immoral. this will lead to harm, injury, & death.

PLEASE call your Reps (202) 225-3121 Senators (202) 224-3121 to voice your opposition in the strongest terms.

may hearts open, may empathy, generosity, & compassion arise.

~j

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#GOPBudget #MAGABudget #HouseBudget #TaxBreaksForWealthy #TargetingThePoor #TargetingTheDisabled #TargetingTheElderly #TargetingChildren #immorality #harm #OpenHeart #empathy #generosity #compassion #JinpaLhaga

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if this is all there is, if what we have in front of us is it, we still have the power of individual choice to love all of it into beauty, into healing, into restorative justice, equity, & peace. not some saccharin hallmark card love, but getting our hands dirty doing the needed work of fierce compassion kind of love – raw, vulnerable, empathetic, tender, gentle, yet strong, clear, focused & wise. no one can take that away. we can choose to be practitioners of love, & we can choose to be alchemists of our own circles of relationship & influence when we have the opportunity, privilege & responsibility – transforming the world, bit by bit, seed by seed, spark by spark.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#LoveItAll #SitDownRiseUp #MindfulResistance #bodhisattvas #alchemists #OpenHeart #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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“…easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle…”

said with all due respect, out of love & concern.

we all know someone elderly, sick, or struggling financially. perhaps it is us, a loved one, or friend.

should the richest man in the world – not elected, not confirmed by Congress, working illegally, & outside the Constitution – tell us or them, their SSI is too much – breaking the bank? not worth the effort to heal? not worthy of food or housing?

~j

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#hell #cruelty #harm #FollowLove #OpenHeart #SitDownRiseUp #MindfulResistance #JesusIsWithThePoor #BookOfMatthew #JinpaLhaga