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it can feel overwhelming when we look out into the world and see so much suffering. 

we have a tendency when our heart is moved by such suffering to take it all on in some way, if not in action, then in thought. this can lead to anger, burnout, and distress, even depression and despair. we get pulled into and swept up by the storm.

we can also have a tendency when our heart is moved by such suffering to close up and stick our head in the sand, choosing an “ignorance is bliss” attitude to avoid the discomfort and feeling of powerlessness. but it isn’t so easy to unsee what we have seen or to un-know what we have known. so it stays with us, perhaps buried, but waiting to reappear at some point in the future.

neither of these approaches are sustainable or beneficial. and we may end up causing even more harm to ourselves and others. 

instead, we can take up a middle path of not closing ourselves off to the suffering we see. we can stay aware, but take smaller actions towards alleviating suffering and adding benefit to our immediate relationships, surroundings, and community. and if able, we can support the work of organizations who are taking up the large scale issues, all the while being mindful of our own well-being. mindful of what level we can participate and maintain an open heart and steady mind. we can take up practices that support our own well-being, including valuing rest.

each thread of love, of empathy and kindness, we contribute adds to the larger tapestry of compassion people are weaving for a world in need. in the words of another Stephen, Stephen Sondheim, “Bit by bit, putting together. Piece by piece, only way to make a work of art…”

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#bodhisattvas #suffering #compassion #awareness #mindfulness #kindness #healing #service #activism #OpenHeart #path #practice #StephenCopeQuote #StephenSondheimQuote #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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be the open heart 

the earth longs for.

~

The Guruganesha Band

why not?

in humble and grand ways, with those close and far, we have the incredible opportunity, privilege, and responsibility to be the instruments of love and healing needed in this world.

~j

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#OpenHeart #WakeUp #Bodhisattvas #Service #FierceCompassion #Compassion #Kindness #Courage #Love #TheLongArc #OpenHeart #path #practice #TheGuruganeshaBand #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #PhotoArt

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bodhisattva path.

we can CHOOSE another path besides harm. we can commit to a path and practices that recognize our interdependence and bring benefit to others and the world, rather than harm. we can engage a way of living that embodies love and honors our own life and embodiment. this is living by vow. 

it doesn’t have to be something official or uptight. it’s as simple as just remembering that everything we do has consequence, has importance, carries weight, has meaning for ourselves and others, and plants seeds for future fruit. what kind of seeds do we want to plant? do we want to add to the harm, the destruction, the suffering we see? or do we want to be a vessel of healing, of kindness, gentleness, compassion, balance, and joy – all of these, embodiments of love.

what an incredible power, opportunity, and responsibility. 

may it be so.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#bodhisattvas #OpenHeart #healers #peacemakers #guardians #messengers #path #practice #vow #DianeAckerman #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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are we open to the questions? 

the gray areas? 

the mystery?

the questions can be a place of practice, a place to work with our curiosity and our capacity to be with the uncertainties of life. they can also be an opportunity to practice keeping our heart open and steadying our mind.

practicing patience and opening to uncertainty, allowing our hearts to open to life and trusting life, can be a practice of and a way of embodying love.

~j

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#mystery #uncertainty #questions #life #curiosity #patience #OpenHeart #love #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #RainerMariaRilkeQuote

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“A world without empathy is a world where we are dead to each other.”

~

Roshi Joan Halifax

may hearts open, may empathy arise, may our empathy be whole and include all.

~j

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#empathy #OpenHeart #path #practice #RoshiJoanHalifax #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #enso #calligraphy #art 

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similarly, but from a Zen Buddhist view, Thich Nhat Hanh once said, “Enlightenment is when a wave realizes it is the ocean.”

so, who is up for a deep dive instead of spending the rest of our lives in the shallow end?  🖐🏼

whether we go for a deep dive, tread the water, or simply float, relax a bit and  b  r  e  a  t  h  e, because we are already in IT. 

happy swimming (living), friends!

~j

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#enlightenment #JustFloat #DeepDive #TreadingWater #existence #life #love #OpenHeart #path #practice #FredAlanWolfQuote #ThichNhatHanhQuote #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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Any exercise of power 

apart from love 

leads to brutality and evil; 

but any claim to love 

that does not lead to using that 

as power for others 

is mere sentimentality and emotion.

~ 

Richard Rohr

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#love #power #OpenHeart #RichardRohrQuote #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #PhotoArt

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“We have to find the power in kindness, the confidence in kindness, the release in kindness; the type of kindness that transcends belief systems, allegiances, ideologies, cliques, and tribes. This is the trait that can transform our lives.”

~ 

Sharon Salzberg

embodying division, tribalism, aggression, and hostility seem to come quite easily for us. perhaps, because they spring out of our fears, fears that are rooted in the misunderstanding of thinking we are separate, rather than the ultimate truth that we are not separate from each other or all life.

these traits of division, tribalism, aggression, and hostility may come quite easily for us, but they can cause immense harm, and they betray our true nature, which is one of love, spaciousness, and wisdom.

with awareness, we can come home to and choose to engage our true nature. we can choose to embody kindness which is the outpouring of our love, spaciousness, and wisdom. when we choose to embody kindness, we bring heaven to earth and are in union with love, and by doing so we are choosing to bring benefit to ourselves and others in the world, instead of contributing to harm.

~j

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#kindness #OpenHeart #SteadyMind #path #practice #SharonSalzbergQuote #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #enso #calligraphy #art

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

~

Martin Luther King, Jr.

may our light shine bright and may we be a people of true love and justice, not vessels of destruction that fear, hate and vengeance create.

~j

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#BeLove #BeLight #love #light #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #path #practice #bodhisattvas #EngagedBuddhist #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art #candle #JMWartCandleSeal #MLKjr

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The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe have all arisen interdependently. We cannot survive alone. We cannot eat, wear clothes, or breathe alone. The more keenly we are aware of this, the more we will begin to take responsibility for the welfare of other beings.

~

Ogyen Trinley Dorje,

HH The 17th Karmapa

interdependence is the foundation of all life in this universe. when we see something or someone as separate, we are bobbing along in an ocean of delusion and ignorance. we might say, “oh? big deal.” but this ignorance, this delusion is the root of all harm, violence, destruction, and suffering we see and participate in. it is the cause of poverty, hunger, and violence/war. so, it is imperative that we do the work within ourselves to cut through this delusion, to open our own hearts and minds as a starting point, for the benefit of our world and all life. and it is imperative, an act of love, to call upon others to do the same.

in hate we will fall together into the abyss. 

or with love, we can rise together into new life.

~j

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#interdependence #we #life #love #OpenHeart #OgyenTrinleyDorje #17thKarmapa #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #calligraphy #enso