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on this, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, may Dr. King‘s words in the tradition of all the great prophets, calling upon us to not only bear witness, but to tend to our responsibilities in this moment, our responsibility to each other, to our nation, & to our world, find a place in our heart, in our words & in our actions. 

may it be so.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#MLKday #MLKjr #MartinLutherKingJr #DrKing

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friends –

i have many book suggestions for these times, but see pics & list below for some book suggestions regarding developing practices for open-heartedness, clarity, knowledge, resilience, & balance. qualities i believe will be not just beneficial, but necessary in this time. all of these teachers are of immense integrity, & some are teachers i’ve studied directly or indirectly with. 

may these books be of benefit.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#dharma #practice #knowledge #openheartedness #clarity #resilience #balance #lovingkindness #compassion #bearingwitness #path #practice #JinpaLhaga

Start Here Now by Susan Piver

Confidence by Ethan Nichtern

Standing At The Edge by Roshi Joan Halifax

Steady, Calm, and Brave by Kimberly Brown

Calming The Fearful Mind by Thich Nhat Hanh

Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chodron

Lovingkindness by Sharon Salzberg

True Peace Work by various teachers

Radical Dharma by Rev. angel Kyodo williams & Lama Rod Owens, with Jasmine Syedullah, PhD

Mindful of Race by Ruth King

Time To Stand Up by Thanissara

Ecodharma by David R. Loy

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may it be our intention, commitment, & practice now & in the times ahead to engage & cultivate our capacity for empathy. our empathy can connect us to the tenderness in our heart & motivate our compassion. having empathy for others opens our awareness to the connection we already have with each other as interdependent life on this planet & in this universe. as our awareness opens to our connection each other, this also increases our capacity for empathy for each other. in this way, we are offering our lives as instruments of love & healing, even while some in their delusion may seek ever increasing power at the cost of others, leaving harm & destruction in their wake. being in touch with our empathy, increasing our capacity for empathy for all, is our superpower. this capacity for empathy, for open-heartedness, for tenderness, warmth, & compassion (all of which is to say – love), is what may very well save this world. 

how incredibly blessed are we who understand this as a privilege, as a responsibility, & can participate with such love for the benefit of all?

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#empathy #love #compassion #tenderness #warmth #OpenHeart #SuperPower #interdependence #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

study

practice

refuge

#JinpaLhaga #JMWart #buddhadharma #meditation #OpenHeart #SteadyMind #mindfulness #awareness #lovingkindness #compassion #BWphotography #photography

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“This life that is so short, so tenuous,

so precious, so valuable, so necessary, 

a life not to be squandered 

but to be used impeccably and usefully 

for the benefit and welfare of all.”

~

Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche

may every breath be filled with gratitude, aligned with love, & offered as a benefit to all without bias or exclusion.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#life #gratitude #offering #service #OpenHeart #love #NyoshulKhenpoRinpoche #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #PhotoArt #photography

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“When buddhas don’t appear and their followers are gone, the wisdom of awakening bursts forth by itself.”

~

Nargarjuna 

out of the darkness & into the light, love manifests presence, a lotus flower rising from the dark depths revealing its beauty for all to know.

who or what can stop such BEing?

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#awakening #presence #darkenss #light #buddhanature #wisdom #love #OpenHeart #enso #Nargarjuna #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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an important reminder in this last week before the next administration begins:

the abandoning of facts & objective truth propels forward a society where nothing matters, so anything goes – except that it isn’t “anything”, rather it is whatever those who propagandize & are in power say is so. what & where is the barometer to measure, if we do not accept facts as facts or objective truth as objective truth?

this leads to a “post-truth” culture, a culture where ignorance & indifference lead to harm, destruction, & death.

if we say we are devoted to love & its embodiments of empathy, tenderness, kindness, compassion, generosity, equity, justice, & peace, then we have an obligation to speak out on harm, to build against such destruction, to breathe healing life into death, to defend objective truth, & to do our due diligence to align with facts, & to speak no “post-truth.”

may we rise to this moment & may our democracy survive this era.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#RightSpeech #facts #truth #ObjectiveTruth #love #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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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