Christ Breaks the Rifle

by Kelly Latimore

(inspired by the work of Otto Pankok 2nd photo)

“…they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks…” ~ Isaiah 2:4

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” ~ Jesus (Matthew 5:9)

“All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.” ~ The Buddha (Dhammapada 129)

WE ARE DOING IT WRONG. to embrace a weapon capable of such fast mass killing, that has the capacity to mutilate bodies beyond recognition, a weapon of war in civilian hands, not meant for hunting or defending a home from an intruder, but intended for war and catastrophic injury and death IS a type of cultural, societal mental illness.

there’s one common denominator in all of these mass shootings, the weapon of choice for mass shooters. a weapon that gives little to no chance for the victims to survive. by the time a first responder (police, security, so called “good guy with a gun”) arrives or engages, a multitude can be dead.

a uniquely American horror story, fed by the greed of politicians paid off by the NRA, while they scapegoat anyone and anything other than the favored weapon of use, and then feed the fear of a minority of gun owners preparing for armageddon with a belief that it is their God given right to own as many and whatever kind of guns they want, even posing with them on Christmas cards as they celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. what a sick, tragic irony.

where is our empathy? where is our sanity? how many multitudes of children have to die?

“There is something deeply hypocritical about praying for a problem you are unwilling to resolve.” ~ Miroslav Volf, Croatian theologian

may hearts open, may sanity arise.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#MassShootings #GunViolence #AssaultWeapons #Carnage #Death #Insanity #Soulless #America #BanAssaultRifles #SaveOurChildren #GunReformNow

a day late post for #WorldTheatreDay. there’s a particular show that’s been on my mind of late due to our current heightened (and harmful) rhetoric around LGBTQ+ community and also around immigration.

in 2003, i had the incredible privilege to be in the San Diego premiere of “Deporting the Divas” by Guillermo Reyes. what a play! i remain immensely grateful to Kirsten Brandt who directed, Chuck Zito who produced at Diversionary Theatre, and my castmates, George Gonzales, Juan Manzo, and Arturo Medina for such a rewarding, challenging, and creative experience. the play traversed the intersections of being gay, being Latino, of gender identity, the cultural and personal expectations around these, of immigration, and love. it was funny at moments, touching in others, and filled noir, and the fantastical. could i have imagined just how relevant this play would still be today – maybe even more so?!

theatre is so important to culture, to critical thinking, to growth. to sit with a group of people and be moved to think, to feel, as another group of people embody a story, bringing it to life. and i got to dip my feet into drag (i don’t think i’ll ever shave my legs, arms, chest, pits, or wear high heels again 😂) i have the utmost respect for real deal drag performers. i’m in awe of them, frankly. such gorgeous, incredible artists. so bravo and kudos to them, especially at this time as they field unwarranted, harmful, politicized attacks from ignorant buffoons. and the fact that they can still do it with such humor, sass, and style is simply FABULOUS.

~j

💅🏻🧜‍♀️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🤩❤️🙏🏻

#Theatre #Drama #Acting #Drag #DragPerfomers #GenderIdentity #Gay #Queer #LGBTQ #Latino #Immigration #DeportingTheDivas #DiversionaryTheatre #QueerTheatre #LGBTQtheatre #SanDiegoTheatre

🌀

we don’t have to beat ourselves up.

one of the gifts of a regular meditation practice is the practice of “beginning again”.

when our attention drifts from our breath, the feeling of our breath, and we notice we have become lost in thought, we simply return to placing our attention on our breath and begin again. we don’t sit there criticizing ourselves, passing judgment, beating ourselves up. we simply (yet profoundly!) begin again. this is the practice over and over again. beginning again is gracious, it’s gentle, it’s kind.

we can live our entire life this way. showing up, doing our best, and beginning again when we go off track, hit a bump in the road, have a hiccup in our attention, our mindfulness, our lovingkindness, or our compassion.

our practice on the cushion, is practice for how to live, how to relate, how to beneficially be in this world.

less beating up, less aggression, and more making peace with ourselves, with life – a beautiful way to live!

path and practice.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#Life #PeacefulLife #Peace #Kindness #Gentleness #Compassion #Grace #Beauty #Meditation #MeditationPractice #OpenHeart #Path #Practice #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #AjahnBrahm #AjahnBrahmQuotes

🌀

bodhisattva work. keep it simple, doable, balanced, without expectation of fruition.
we tend to give up and do nothing, feeling helpless, when we feel we can’t do a lot or “enough” or a resolution isn’t in immediate sight.
every little bit helps, though, we aren’t always able to see how seeds planted may one day bloom, and isn’t our job to save the world (or this country). it is our job to show up, heart open, mind free, and embody love in the best way that we can and is most helpful in the moment.
we do this with grace, for ourselves and others, it’s not about perfection, it’s about path, practice, and meeting a world in need.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#Bodhisattvas #BodhisattvaVow #OpenHeart #Compassion #DoSomething ##ShowUp #SitDownRiseUp #Path #Practice #EngagedBuddhism

#SeungSahnQuotes #JinpaLhaga

“You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep Spring from coming.”

~ Pablo Neruda

🌼

love is the spring. your open heart and your love, have the power to awaken this world. so, center yourself in openness and love no matter the outside forces, moving forward with empathy and compassion, working to support the forces of good, of justice, of truth and love, lessening the suffering in the world.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#WakeUp #Spring ##SpringEquinox #Bodhisattvas #FierceCompassion #Compassion #Kindness #Courage #Love #OpenHeart #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #LoveWins #Path #Practice #EngagedBuddhism #Buddha #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #BuddhistArt #ContemplativeArt #Art

solitary chair.

unaware of the one taking the photo.

emptiness means possibility. 

empty chair means a place to sit.

not so solitary after all. 

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#Chair #Photography #Nightphotography #JMWart #JinpaLhaga #Buddhism

🍀

Happy St. Patrick’s Day friends!!

i’ve long been drawn to the beautiful Celtic knotwork of Ireland and other Celtic nations well before i found out that i too have Celtic roots from Scotland and Wales. one of my tattoos is a triquetra, or trinity knot.

these beautiful knots without beginnings or endings, are wise ways of depicting reality and relationship, with its twists and turns, its intertwining. life is interconnection and movement. each moment, though passing, filled with infinity. knotwork can be found in other cultures as well, the Tibetan endless knot comes to mind (second pic). i don’t wear much jewelry beyond my mala beads and a red braided Tibetan endless knot, but my current regular wear are a Celtic knot pendant and a ring made of trinity knots.

may this profound Celtic symbolism, a gift from the great land Éire, Ireland, remind us of our true nature and the nature of reality – beautiful, endless, and intertwining with all, which is to say – LIFE.

may the road rise up to meet you, my friends, and may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, and may the rains fall soft upon your fields.

~j

☘️💚🙏🏻

#StPatricksDay #SaintPatricksDay #Ireland #Celtic #CelticKnot #CelticKnots #CelticKnotwork #TrinityKnot #TibetanEndlessKnot #Life #Love #Path #Practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

🌀

“Be a lamp, a lifeboat, a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal.” ~ Rumi

may we be a part of the solution.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#Light #Luminous #Wisdom #Sanity #OpenHeart #Healing #Path #Practice #EngagedBuddhism #RumiQuotes #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #Candle #Candlelight #Art #ContemplativeArt

🌀

fluid.

impermanent.

floating and flowing in a sea of change.

how come i feel like i’m drowning??? 😅

a simple truth: impermanence is reality. we see change happening all around us, all the time. 

a simple solution: allowing things to be their nature of change. letting go, letting be. not grasping and tightening our fist around life, strangling the life right out of it.

relax. 

relaaaaax and float.

i often say “open heart”, but should probably include “open hand” as well. that is the practice after all and a beautiful way to live – to love fully and care deeply with all our being, and yet have the wisdom to let go when it is time to.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#Life #Impermamence #Change #Transition #Relax #JustFloat #Allow #LetGo #LetBe #OpenHeart #Love #OpenHand #Wisdom #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #ChogyamTrungpa #ChogyamTrungpaRinpoche #ChogyamTrungpaQuotes

repost: @shambhala

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#FierceCompassion #ToughLove #EngagedBuddhism #OpenHeart #SitDownRiseUp

Posted @withregram • @zenpeacemakers 

A moving quote from Elie Wiesel’s 1986 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech:

“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.”

-Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor

#ElieWiesel #HolocaustSurvivor #NobelPrizeSpeech #TakeSides #StandUpForChange #Interfere