it is said that happiness is always available and is a choice. however, if happiness is dependent on outside circumstances going our way, the way we have planned it in our heads, then we are often disappointment and we suffer. how can we choose happiness if we are residing in a space of disappointment?

one practice i find helpful in finding happiness in the moment, is by finding appreciation OF the moment – of whatever i’m doing. for instance, when we eat, we rarely eat mindfully. we usually shovel food quickly and in large bites into the hole in our face as we work, watch a tv show, etc. however, we can approach our eating (or whatever we are doing) with a quality of appreciation instead of something to just get through or do while we are doing something else.

take this fruit for example. i took a look at the fruit prior to eating, just looking at the texture, the color, the moisture gathered. i was captivated and grateful for this fruit prior to even placing it in my mouth and tasting it. i found that i was quite happy with this simple pleasure, this basic function of eating and consuming nutrients. it became something quite sacred and precious.

now, i could have thought while i was eating about all the things not going my way – and there are quite a few (aren’t there always?!), but instead i just gave my attention to what i was doing, staying present with what was happening and enjoying this aspect of life, which i won’t always get to enjoy, and one day will not get to do or enjoy any longer…at least here in this life. what if this was the last grape, rasberry, blackberry or blueberry i get to eat? did i enjoy it? did i relish in its beauty and its taste?

time moves quite quickly and each moment is its own in a way. enjoy this moment, enjoy the simple pleasures that are available, and embrace happiness.

ps – i took these photos of my fruit so you can enjoy their beauty as well, but you’ll have to get your own to taste! 😂🙏🏻

~j

#happiness #appreciation #gratitude #life #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #JMWart #JinpaLhaga #fruit #photography

ultimately, no one can live our lives for us and we cannot live our lives through others.

each step of this journey, of this precious life, is ours to take.

we can listen to all of life speaking around us, there is much wisdom there.

but we must not neglect listening to life speaking within us, where wisdom also speaks deeply to us.

we, each of us, are a unique manifestation of this life with so much to share, so much to offer.

life expressed, love embodied, with each word, with each step.

~j

#life #love #path #practice #OpenHeart #meditation #EngagedBuddhism #RilkeQuotes #JinpaLhaga

in a time when so much harm and oppression is taking place and our attention and sometimes urgent action is needed, i think a quote like this can be misunderstood.

it helps me to think of patience as a practice of spaciousness, or equanimity. the patience we are speaking about isn’t inaction and it isn’t procrastination. the patience we are speaking about is an act of generosity and a practice of non-harming.

so often, if we are even really paying attention to life around us, we are pulled by our grasping or our aggression, by our attachment or aversion. and in jumping right in, in reacting without any space to see clearly or to choose our next step wisely, we contribute to harm.

we aren’t sitting, detached to what is happening ignoring pain and suffering or ignoring the need around us, and we are also not jumping in blinded by our patterns of reaction and impatience.

what is being proposed here is allowing enough space in relationship to what is happening so that we can see and hear life clearly, keeping our heart open long enough to allow our empathy to arise, so that we can act wisely and respond with authentic compassion.

that spaciousness will allow us to act from the heart and mind together, to do what is really needed, to do what is really beneficial in the moment.

~j

#patience #allowance #generosity #RightAction #nonharming #OpenHeart #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga

it’s hard to imagine that seeing Star Wars so early as a kid, the Force, the Jedi, and especially this guy, Yoda, didn’t influence my life and the contemplative path and practice i’m on today.

Yoda’s speech to Luke on interdependence as the ground and connective tissue of life, rang true even at such an early age before i read the Christian and Sufi mystics, prior to entering the Buddhist path. When he told Anakin that “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering” he laid out how harmful aversion and attachment can be, how harmful it can be to transmit, rather than transform and heal, to abide in equanimity.

here is my latest photographic art, created for this #StarWarsDay 😊

#MayTheFourthBeWithYou and #MayTheForceBeWithYou 🙏🏻

#StarWars #Yoda #Jedi #TheForce #LucasFilm #DisneyPlus #JMWart #JinpaLhaga #photography

learn, grow.

and then let go of the past.

breathe.

breathe in and as you breathe out

let it all go.

every moment is new,

every breath a rebirth.

~j

#ThisMagicMoment #breathe #LetGo #life #meditation #path #practice #EngagedBuddhsim #Zen #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

The Zen Master asked, “A piece of gold, a pile of mud. Which is more useful?”

The monk answered, “The gold, of course.”

The Master replied, “But to a seed?”

He continued, “Everyone has a purpose.”

~ from the film, “Shaolin: Protect The Temple”

friends, you belong here. you have value and purpose, just as you are. as life, you bring life to those around you, flowering in your own unique way, your own unique and beautiful embodiment of this one life, this one love, we call home.

~j

#life #love #embodiment #value #purpose #PlantingSeeds #path #practice #meditation #EngagedBuddhism #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

life.

🌸🌤❤️🙏🏻

#life #nature #awake #gratitude #perspective #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #haiku #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

aware of the pain

and suffering of all life

aware of the delicate

impermanence of all life

aware of the inherent beauty

and interdependence of all life

let us bow to all life

opening our hearts in love

~j

#life #interdependence #beauty #impermanence #diversity #connection #OpenHearts #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #Zen #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

feet push into dirt

between toes grass blades find light

love flows freely here.

our mother, she breathes

in our bottomless hunger

where we hide our fear.

can we love like her

spring’s warmth waking from winter

healing what we love?

~j

we heal what we love, we save what we love.

we have this one home, where our reality is governed by the truth of interdependence. what we do here affects all life here, now and in future generations. what we do here matters.

species are already dying out due to rise in oceanic acidity, changes of temperature and drought. the food chain is breaking apart. we are looking at an end to polar ice caps and an extraordinary rise in sea level, increased famine and displacement that will lead to a further refugee crisis and conflict/war for resources.

the poor and marginalized will be most affected. all of this by mid-century or within 100 years. what will be our legacy? gratuitous greed, consumption and temporary pleasure? if so, the cost will be high and horrifying.

we are not above nature, we are within and are nature. we have the ingenuity and resources to do what is necessary. we just need the conviction and good will to do it.

engage. figure out what you can do, to do your part:

adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet and lifestyle

drive less often

stop or dramatically reduce using plastics

encourage friends to engage

support green companies and activism

and perhaps most important, pressure policy makers to enact robust and immediate changes.

#EarthDay2021 #EarthDay #ClimateChange #nature #life #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #Zen #Bodhisattvas #Ecosattvas #haiku #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

thoughts coming, going

like water that can’t be caught

can you hear life’s song?

~j

#life #impermanence #nature #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #Zen #haiku #enso #JMWart #JinpaLhaga