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there is the darkness of delusion, fear, aggression, violence & hate, but these are not the rich darkness of which the mystics have spoken of for thousands of years.

the rich darkness of which they speak is the deep darkness of mystery, silence, & presence where from light & life springs forth.

there is a balance in nature, in life – an ebb & flow, where even the darkest & longest of nights, holds within it the promise of ever-growing light in the days ahead.

blessed Winter Solstice to you, friends!

~j

🌑♥️🙏🏼

#WinterSolstice #darkness #mystery #balance #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #photography

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thank you, dear friends for all the kind, generous, beautiful birthday wishes!

50 years on this earth. how can i not be grateful, w/ a myriad – a lifetime – of experiences in relationships & learning & growing. these 50 year old eyes are weary & at times exhausted w/ constant change & the state of the world. but at 50, i find myself more resilient & resolved as ever to align w/ love, to embrace kindness & tenderness, & to act w/ fierce compassion for a world in need.

i am a little late in posting my gratitude, because i’ve been in the middle of a big move to Arizona, where i now reside w/ family for the indeterminant future. the last few weeks have been a whirlwind as we made our way here. i do hope to make my way to California for many visits, & perhaps, depending on where life opens & takes me, returning to reside once again. California will always be home in my heart, though it is my practice to make wherever i am my home. as Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh said, “I have arrived, I am home.”

this is a practice.

for anyone who may find themselves out this way, or for the purposes of mail, private message me for my new address.

grateful for you all, buoyed by your love & presence.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

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“Holding on to anything is like holding on to your breath. You will suffocate.”

~ Deepak Chopra

letting go or letting be doesn’t have to be an act of indifference, of not caring. it can be an act of wisdom & care where we are aware enough to know that ultimately we are not in control, that there are many conditions creating a situation or problem. 

so with such awareness, we don’t hold things with a tight grip, & we also don’t push things away. rather we hold things lightly with an open hand, & we do so with tenderness & care, which is an act of love.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#LetGo #LetBe #AllowLife #OpenHeart #wisdom #love #path #practice #DeepakChopra #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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it’s so easy to get pulled into the chaos & frenzy, the fear, the grasping & aggression, the darkness. it can feel like that is all there is.

but it isn’t. there is also light. love & beauty, kindness & calm, courage & compassion. these are also available in so many moments & corners of this life.

with meditation, practicing just sitting & breathing, listening, allowing for space both in heart & mind in the moments that we can,  we begin to see with more clarity the full picture, & where we can do good, be of benefit, & shine light.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#darkness #light #meditation #OpenHeart #steady #calm #love #courage #compassion #StillSmallVoice #path #practice #IndigoGirls #JinpaLhaga #JMWart 

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fascism lacks the true power of awareness, so it depends on lies, division, oppression, violence, & fostering despair. this leads to immense harm. it’s a hell. but even in hell we the capacity & responsibility as best we can to embody love for a world in need, to look at the patterns that led to such harm & do the difficult work of undoing them and planting new – different seeds for a more beneficial future.

we can choose differently than fascism in our own lives, recognizing & living in awareness of our interdependence. living in truth, empathy, kindness, tenderness, compassion. this can be our practice in such times.

this also is a form of resistance to fascism.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#fascism #falsity #harm #awareness #interdependence #RightSpeech #RightAction #OpenHeart #path #practice #bodhisattvas #ShunryuSuzukiRoshi #JinpaLhaga #JMWArt

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a beautiful source of light that i am fortunate to call a friend, reached out & asked recently, “How’s your heart?”

my answer:

heavy

open

resilient

& determined 

determined to continue serving love.

let’s continue together in the face of whatever is ahead.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#OpenHeart #love #resilience #determination #friendship #community #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #BWphotography #photography

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whew, no shortage of purportedly pious people filled with self-affirming “moral” outrage around issues of identity, with lofty goals of being “God” gatekeepers.

my unsolicited advice?

in life, as a friend once advised me, just apply the K.I.S.S. method people (Keep It Simple Stupid) & “love thy neighbor.”

that’s what we are called to do – to be embodiments of love through speech & action, to bring relief & reduce suffering without exclusion.

isn’t that challenging enough?

our time can easily be filled with helping where help is needed, feeding the hungry, sheltering the unhoused, healing the sick, welcoming the foreigner. 

loving rather than othering.

may it be so.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#LoveThyNeighbor #love #NoGatekeeping #OpenHeart #path #practice #bodhisattvas #AnneLamott #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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“Ours is not a caravan of despair. Even if you have broken your vows a thousand times, it doesn’t matter. Come, come yet again, come.”

~

Rumi

each out breath a chance to let go.

each in breath a chance to begin anew.

every moment a doorway of rebirth.

life is forward movement & flow, growth & creation. 

life is constant change, constant arising & falling apart & arising again. 

within such vastness, is potential & opportunity.

let us settle our minds, open our hearts, choose to enter the freshness of life, & begin anew, for the benefit of all who are here & everywhere.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#BeginAnew #BeginAgain #life #change #FreshStart #OpenHeart #path #practice #Rumi #Sufism #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #calligraphy #Buddhism #Buddhist #DharmaArt 

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a reminder for us this Cyber Monday, to seek & maintain balance. 

let’s not drown ourselves in technology.

go outside! connecting with nature, breathing, looking, listening. connecting with our world & each other without our devices. 

the gift of our presence & attention is the gift of our love & is the greatest benefit we can bring to each other & our world. it honors rather than ignores our inherent connection to all things.  

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#CyberMonday #technology #balance #presence #attention #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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“Our lives extend beyond our skins, in radical interdependence with the rest of the world.”

~ Joanna Macy

“Destiny itself is like a wonderful wide tapestry in which every thread is guided by an unspeakably tender hand, placed beside another thread, and held and carried by a hundred others.”

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

we should beware of those who target & divide, who scapegoat & oppress for their own consumption & consolidation of power & wealth. they are acting contrary to a path of awareness & love, & in time are doomed to fail, because they are acting contrary to life itself.

may we choose love. may we choose harmony with life.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#interdependence #interbeing #harmony #balance #life #OpenHeart #path #practice #JoannaMacy #RainerMariaRilke #JinpaLhaga

#JMWart #TibetanKnot #EternalKnot