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i once wrote and shared:

“Be a lighthouse, rather than a bullhorn.” 

it was a call to nonaggression, non-harshness, to simply (though not so simple) shine our light of love and lead by example.

and while the spirit of this still resonates with me, and i still think aggression is destructive and embodying love in the long term is most beneficial, i’ve grown in my perspective around this.

sometimes love does embody as a bullhorn, because we need to wake up. we can’t see the light if our eyes are closed and we’re asleep.

a bullhorn can wake us up to the harm and suffering around us, to the work we need to do within ourselves and in the world.

so…now i’d say: 

“Be a lighthouse, and when needed, be a bullhorn as well.”

~j

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#ShineYourLight #JustBe #LeadByExample #Light #Wisdom #Shine #Nonaggression #SpeakUp #SpeakTruth #attention #SitDownRiseUp #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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may the force be with you 💫

~j

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#love #FierceCompassion #wisdom #OpenHeart #power #persistence #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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there are solutions to immigration and border challenges that don’t involve putting up razor wire on a bank of a river, where human beings and their children are desperate to cross. 

in a relative way, borders can serve a practical purpose. but we’d be wise not to lose our humanity over them. they are constructed and impermanent. they were not always there, nor will they always be there. they do not occur in nature, they are not visible from space, and they are not ordained from on high.

it’s mindboggling to watch professed “Christian” politicians not only resort to such cruelty but encourage and celebrate it as some sort of victory moment, or pass the blame for cruelty. they should read what the Bible and what Jesus have to say about immigrants.

but what do i know as a Buddhist, who still attempts to follow Jesus’ teachings? i know one thing, borders built on the outside likely begin as borders built on the inside. also, that no one person is more sacred or deserving of a full, healthy, and happy life than another. if all things come from God who is beginningless and endless, we can also say: if God is in one, God is in all. or as a Buddhist, we may say all beings have Buddhanature and are interdependent.

we forget ourselves, when we forget this, when we forget others.

so, if we want to take up immigration and border challenges, we should begin with opening the borders of our own heart and proceed with empathy and compassion. there will be a time when we need it as well. 

may hearts open, may awareness and wisdom arise.

~j

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#immigration #immigrants #border #OpenTheBordersOfYourHeart #OpenHeart #emapthy #compassion #generosity #kindness #awareness #wisdom #PabloCasals #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art #calligraphy

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perhaps the most beneficial practice? if we are not able to simply breathe, to be at home with our own breath, then how can we practice anything else?

breath is the foundation of all practice. as we breathe in, we are saying yes to this moment, to this life, to all that is possible. we are saying “i am at home, here and now.” as we breathe out, we are saying yes to letting go, to impermanence, to change, to generosity and offering. 

as we breathe in, we accept our life. as we breathe out, we offer our life back.

to be able to accept our life, and offer it back, we are allowing for equanimity and peace within ourselves. 

imagine such steadiness.

how would our lives change, acting from such spaciousness? how would it benefit our relationship to ourselves, others, and all life?

i have a calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh hanging on my wall that reads, “Peace is every breath.”

may it be so. 

just breathe.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#breathe #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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are we able to open to, to see and hear the sacred in all things?

in the car in front of us, the neighbor across the street?

the person on the other side of a border we constructed, not just physically, but within our own hearts and minds?

are we able to settle our minds and open our eyes and hearts where we are, to all around us?

love is always calling, life is always teaching.

this is the practice, to let go of all that separates us, and realize the interdependence, the interrelatedness of all things. then who would we seek to harm?

~j

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#life #sacred #interdependence #interbeing #OpenHeart #love #SteadyMinds #clarity #wisdom #path #practice #HafizQuotes #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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“We can’t lose our heads. 

Oh, Bodhisattvas! 

Losing your head doesn’t help – 

Instead, extend your hand,

Offer your words, your wisdom, your effort. 

That’s what a Bodhisattva does, day in and day out,

Serving all of life.”

~ 

Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara

we practice to be of benefit, to ourselves and others, a life as an offering. during challenging times, we can lean into our practice, take refuge in our practice of having a steady mind and an open heart, and then get up off the cushion and offer it. just offer it back to life, to others who are suffering, in whatever ways we can.

~j

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*quote from, “A Little Bit of Zen: An Introduction to Zen Buddhism” by Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara 

pictured: statue of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva

#Bodhisattvas #offering #vow #OpenHeart #SteadyMind #path #practice #RoshiPatEnkyoOHara #Avalokiteshvara #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #BWphotography #photography 

this precious human birth.
with awareness and gratitude may we grow in wisdom and love to the benefit of all life.
~j
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Posted @withregram • @jtenzinpalmo You know, you’re so lucky. You’re so lucky because you have all the conditions. You have a human body. That’s a big condition. You have intelligence. You have teachers. You have the teaching. You have the path. And you have the interest. You have the desire. I wonder if you realize how rare that those conditions are.

• Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

Photo: Jetsunma sitting on the steps in front of a bright, blue door

#jetsunmatenzinpalmo #buddhism #wisdom

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this, your very heart,

broken open, heals the world.

dam breaks, water flows.

***

we can trust the love within our hearts. we can trust our raw openness and authenticity, both tender and resilient. 

this love is not something to be protected or walled up, but meant to be free and love free and flowing is medicine.

~j

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#OpenHeart #love #tenderness #healing #BreakOpen #offering #flow #haiku #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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may we have eyes to see with awareness, clarity, and wisdom. may we have eyes to see with love.

~j

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#interdependence #interconnectedness #interbeing #awareness #clarity #wisdom #love #OpenHeart #OpenEyes #IshaUpanishad #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

☘️

the 3% of me that is Irish and the 9% of me that is Scottish and feeling charitable wishes 100% of you a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 🍀 😂

#SaintPatricksDay #StPatricksDay

*bonus second pic of my first attempt with the sun which burns ☀️🥵 

shade = friend 

thank you for reading my blog 🤗

may your path be graced by the presence of much shade. 💚🙏🏼