today, the Dalai Lama released a letter for #EarthDay2022. his letter leads off with the statement, “All of us should be concerned about our collective existence”, a reflection of the Buddhist recognition that all life is interdependent, a recognition shared by others as well, and proven with science. 

Ogyen Trinley Dorje writes, “The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe have all arisen interdependently. We cannot survive alone…the more keenly we are aware of this, the more we will begin to take responsibility for the welfare of other beings.” climate change is already endangering our planet’s rich biodiversity that makes the complexity of life on this planet possible. food chains are being disrupted and species are going extinct. this has a domino effect on all other life including ours.

scientists have been warning that we are in danger. climate models are now showing that if we don’t significantly curb our carbon emissions by 2030 (just 8 years), the planet will be unlivable by 2100. unlivable. suffering will begin decades earlier as global society collapses due to famine, land loss, mass migration, and conflict over limited resources. many of us will still be around as this happens, even if we aren’t around for the worst of it. what about our children and grandchildren? are we really willing to allow such a future for them and other life on this planet?

there have been five great mass extinctions in Earth’s history. are we on the verge of a sixth?

the irony is that the very intelligence, ingenuity, and fortitude that helped to cause this crisis, are the qualities that we can access to at least mitigate if not resolve this crisis. however, the distrust of science by some, our lack of empathy and our unwillingness to experience the disruption to our comfort and embrace change now to ensure an actual livable future as a whole, may very well be our downfall. 

we say we love the Earth, we say we love life. it’s well past time to prove it. we need action.

~j

🌍❤️🙏🏻

#EarthDay #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateAction #interdependence #earth #life #EngagedBuddhism #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #enso #JMWart

you have within you what a wounded world needs for healing. 

YOU and your open heart. 

tender and vulnerable, yet resilient and a holder of the most powerful force in existence – Love.

offer it.

wounds and all of its delicate beauty, offer it.

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #life #love #lovingkindness #EngagedBuddhist #path #practice #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

instead of chasing after an endless stream of thoughts coming and going, we can learn to relax into the moment and simply allow thoughts to arise and fall away. when we do this, when we stop the chase and practice just being with the moment as it is, we allow the opportunity for spaciousness to arise. in this spaciousness, life has the opportunity to reveal itself to us in a genuine, personal way. this is a practice and a generous way we can approach our lives.

also, it just kind of feels good to simply allow thoughts to be and not feel compelled to constantly chase after them. whew! one less burden to bear 😉

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

if interested in learning meditation or sitting and practicing together, join me this weekend for Self-Care Saturdays & Sundays at 10am PT. sessions are free or by donation. $10 suggested. you can find the Zoom links here: https://linktr.ee/jaysenwaller

#thoughts #thinking #stream #presence #spaciousness #generosity #mindfulness #awareness #meditation #path #practice #haiku #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

life gives us what we need to grow and develop, to continually open our hearts, to cultivate our awareness, our attention, our empathy, tenderness, and compassion. 

it is a journey into our heart, into our own life, and all life around us. can we see with clarity the beauty and brokenness? the pattern of arising and falling away? can we love the brokenness just as much as the beauty? can we love the loss as much as the gain?

both the beauty and brokenness, the arising and falling, the gain and the loss, call for our love.

this is the practice. opening to life, opening to love, right here.  looking deeply and seeing the abiding love that is within and without. love is the wave and also the ocean that carries the wave to shore and back out to sea.

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#love #life #awareness #attention #meditation #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga

happy Easter to all my friends who celebrate!

even in death, life finds a way. nature embodies this, we are part of nature. the pattern repeats. day into night, winter into spring.

love holds and carries it all. with awareness, we can be present with this flow, and we can have good reason for hope.

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#Easter #resurrection #rebirth #life #cycles #patterns #nature #awareness #hope #path #practice #haiku #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon.

~

Ikkyū

full moon tonight! 🌕

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#OneMoon #moon #TheWay #journey #life #Sangha #TheLongArc #interdependence #Zen #Buddhism #Ikkyu #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art

prayers for the family of Patrick Lyoya as they join too many other families who’ve had their loved one taken from them, from life this way.

license plates did not match the vehicle – a misdemeanor, no weapon. these encounters shouldn’t be a death sentence. officer was kneeling on Mr. Lyoya’s back. Mr. Lyoya was shot in the back of the head.

violence and death come too easily from those who wield such power, yet are supposed to be there to protect and serve. these are tax dollar supported deaths. we also must not conflate this systemic problem as a representation of all who protect and serve. but a systemic problem needs all of us, including those who protect and serve, to participate in calling out the harm and ending the harm.

are we learning nothing?

there must be accountability. there must be change.

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#PatrickLyoya

#BlackLivesMatter

can we be with ourselves, others, and life as it is in this moment with an open heart and stable mind? can we allow enough space in our life and relationships to look deeply and respond in a genuine, thoughtful, and tender way? 

a beneficial spiritual practice, a beneficial human practice, is one where we can be authentic and kind.

when we practice meditation, this is what we are practicing. we are practicing being with ourselves, in an open and authentic way, not pushing away or grasping at how we are feeling, or with what arises in sensation, feelings, emotions, thoughts, etc. we do this with the breath as our anchor and with gentleness as our companion, without judgement or criticism.

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

if you’d like to practice with me this weekend, please join for Self-Care Saturday at 10am PTfor mindfulness awareness and lovingkindness meditation. 

*there will be NO session on Sunday 4/17 due to the Easter holiday. link: https://linktr.ee/jaysenwaller

#OpenHeart #LetGo #love #meditation #mindfulness #awareness #lovingkindness #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JackKornfieldQuote

The secret of the mountain is that the mountains simply exist, as I do myself: the mountains exist simply, which I do not.  The mountains have no “meaning,” they are meaning; the mountains are.  The sun is round.  I ring with life, and the mountains ring, and when I can hear it, there is a ringing that we share.  I understand all this, not in my mind but in my heart, knowing how meaningless it is to try to capture what cannot be expressed, knowing that mere words will remain when I read it all again, another day.

~

Peter Matthiessen

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

*stickers, magnets, posters, unframed/framed prints, mugs, t-shirts and many more items featuring my Mount Fuji digital art can be found at my JMWart Redbubble store. link: JMWart.redbubble.com

#Zen #Buddhism #ZenBuddhism #meditation #practice #wisdom #BeStill #BeYou #BePresent #simplicity #life #nature #mountain #MountFuji #MtFuji #JMWart #JinpaLhaga #art

there have been 131 mass shootings in the US so far in 2022.
it’s worth thinking about, isn’t it? it’s worth our attention, isn’t it? it’s worth our care and effort to resolve, isn’t it?

most rarely make the news. today’s mass shooting in Brooklyn is making the news. 29 victims suffering injury. we see the physical trauma, the blood on the subway floor on the news, but we don’t see the emotional trauma which may take a lifetime of healing.

this country’s love affair with guns (which by any measure are tools of destruction – even in self-defense, hunting, etc.) yet proclamations of loving life and liberty is just so baffling and empty. what about the liberty of the subway passengers or of any citizen who doesn’t want to live in fear of someone gunning them down? some say they just love their guns for sport. that’s also just so empty to me. pick another sport…there are a lot to choose from.

i continue to hope, pray, meditate for, and put my support behind #GunReform. and even more importantly a reformation and transformation of heart and conscience.

i don’t know the legislative answers, but our continued “thoughts and prayers” – a metaphorical throwing our hands up – isn’t actually addressing or trying to resolve it. there has to be room for compromise and common sense and a prioritizing of our fellow citizens’ lives.

may open hearts and sanity prevail.
may all the wounded heal in all ways.
may the perpetrator be found, held accountable, and also be healed.
may all beings and all life be safe, at peace and free from suffering.

~j
⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#guns #gunviolence #MassShooting #insanity #violence #aggression #sickness #suffering #OpenHeart #sanity #transformation #healing #hope #candle #light #EngagedBuddhism #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art