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it’s important to honor our feelings of pain & suffering, feelings of overwhelm, of fear, of loss & grief. we should meet these experiences & feelings that arise with the same warmth & tenderness that we would offer for a loved one. but when we are in the middle of extreme challenges & difficulties, our view can narrow & increase the intensity & weight of the emotions we are experiencing. so, it can be helpful to remember to take a wider view as well, both in regards to space & time. we can recall the stories from those who have been through similar & made it through. we can also bring to mind when we went through other challenges, even if smaller in scale & intensity, & how we also made it through.

the world is still spinning, we are still here with heart beating, breath cycling, surrounded by others experiencing similar on this journey. life continues to flow & so do we, together.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#WiderView #perspective #life #community #OpenHeart #tenderness #warmth #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart 

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“We say, to shine one corner of the world — that is enough. Not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are.”

~Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

shine on, dear friends.

shine brightly & shine on.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#shine #light #candle #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #MindfulResistance #SitDownRiseUp #Buddha #Zen #OpenHeart #path #practice #ShunryuSuzukiRoshi

#JinpaLhaga #JMWart #photography 

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what a shame on the conscience of those who are dismissive of the suffering of all those affected by these horrifically destructive fires in Los Angeles. the destruction & suffering span all forms of life & economics, residential homes to small businesses, so many lives have been upended in a brutally traumatic way.

may we be reminded of our humanity. may we be reminded of our potential & capacity for altruistic love. there are beautiful examples of such love in the heroic actions of the firefighters, the first responders, restaurant owners opening their doors & giving away food, & community members banding together to take care of each other. 

we have such potential & capacity for beauty. may we shine a light on these examples of love in action & dismiss the ugliness of the small minded, & closed hearted.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#LAfires #empathy #compassion #generosity #love #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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this is a photograph of a statue of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara. this version has four arms & one face. however, in many painted & statue versions of the bodhisattva, they are depicted with a thousand arms & multiple faces. the multiple faces are representative of Avalokiteshvara looking in every direction where there is suffering & cries for help. the thousand arms are to reach in every direction in all the myriad of ways assistance is needed, tending to all the suffering.

the common mistake is to think that the bodhisattva is someone or something outside of ourselves, that we are simply calling upon some outside force to help end the suffering in this world. though that can be the case, we often miss the very real, important, & practical point that WE are the faces & the thousand arms of the bodhisattva. we are the ones who can look into the world, tending to the suffering of the world & assist in the myriad ways that are needed. when we call upon the Bodhisattva of Compassion, in a very real way we can call upon the compassion that is right here in our very own tender, open hearts, ready to engage our empathy, mercy, compassion, & put our love into action.

may it be so for those suffering in these fires, for those suffering in war zones, for those suffering oppression, poverty, hunger, illness, injustice & heartbreak.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#compassion #BodhisattvaOfCompassion #Avalokiteshvara #OpenHeart #LoveInAction #LAfires #WarZones #unhoused #poverty #hunger #injustice #inequity #heartbreak #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #photography

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a reminder every night before bed.

this life is impermanent, fleeting, like a flash of lightning across the sky.

how will we spend this time?

for benefit? for harm?

in service of love? 

may we practice opening our hearts to a world in need, speaking truth when others have abandoned it, living with dignity & integrity, with gratitude, generosity, & purpose for the benefit of all.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#Zen #EveningGatha #ZenEveningGatha #impermanence #life #gift #cherish #purpose #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart 

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“Love is what we are when we drop all the things that stand in the way.”

~ Karen Maezen Miller

may love be all that remains.

may we let go of all else and be free.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#Love #WhoYouAre #LetGo #LetBe #LetLove #OpenHeart #path #practice #KarenMaezenMiller #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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no one can live our lives for us. 

this is your precious life.

live your life.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#life #discovery #wisdom #precious #OpenHeart #path #practice #Proust #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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“Somehow we all must learn to love people, groups, and institutions that really turn us off – or love is not love at all.

Love is of one piece.  We either love everybody or we do not really love.”

~

Richard Rohr

…love doesn’t mean we are indifferent or complicit in harm. in fact, love is the source of our motivation to dismantle & prevent such harm. loving everyone simply (but not so simply done) means that we leave no one out of our desire to not harm & to reduce suffering. loving everyone means that we include everyone in our compassion & the heart healing that is needed. we can start practicing such profound love, by beginning with ourselves & then those closest to us, & then continue to expand the capacity of our heart to include everyone. 

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#love #NoExclusion #inclusion #OneLove #OpenHeart #path #practice #ThichNhatHanh #RichardRohr #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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“When nothing new can get in, that’s death. When oxygen can’t find a way in, you die. But new is scary, and new can be disappointing, and confusing-we had this all figured out, and now we don’t. New is life.”

~

Anne Lamott

👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼

may we embrace impermanence, change, closing doors, empty cups, a beginner’s mind, open-heartedness & the newness that life brings.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#change #newness #life #BeginnersMind #OpenHeart #path #practice #AnneLamott #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #Om #OmCalligraphy

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may we wake up to our lives & know life fully & exquisitely.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#life #awareness #WakeUp #OpenHeart #Zen #Dogen #JinpaLhaga #JMWart