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“You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them. Tie no weights to your ankles.” 

~ C. JoyBell C.

let go, let be, and be free. 

letting go can be a practice of love.

we may think letting go is the same as not caring, that it is indifference and not loving, but holding on – grasping tightly, is not love. it is an attempt, even with good intention and care, to control, to have things stay and not change.

with love we can care, we can do our part, offer our portion of compassion and healing, without holding on, without trying to control an outcome. we just plants seeds, we tend, we water, we let go.

letting go, we can allow for change, we can allow for life. 

love is freedom, letting go is freedom, and we should be free.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#LetGo #LetBe #LetLove #love #freedom #OpenHeart #path #practice #CJoybellC #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #calligraphy

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i heard the incomparable Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Pema Chödrön, give a talk once where she shared a story of waiting in line at an airport. she recalled looking around and seeing all the different people going through their different experiences – frustration, impatience, and irritation, but also laughter, joy, sadness. all these different people coming and going, and hurrying and waiting. and she thought about her own emotional experience dealing with flying, what she was going through, and she thought to herself, “Just like me.”  looking around at each person, she said to herself, “Just like me.” and this, she shared, could be a practice. whether at the airport, or stuck in traffic, or in line at the bank, grocery store – whatever – we could use that time to connect with those people around us, recalling that we have a shared human experience, “Just like me”, and we can wish for them whatever it is we too may be needing, whatever seems supportive in the moment.

of course, on one level, our lives are very different from each other. we may all be bobbing around in the same ocean, but some are bobbing around in yachts, while others are bobbing around in rafts, barely afloat. we should keep aware of such inequity and do our part to remedy it. so on one level our experiences have a taste of uniqueness to them, however on another level, we will all share the human experience of gain and loss, of old age (if we are fortunate), sickness, and death. we will have our various experiences of laughter and tears, of love and loss, bliss and pain. the practice can be that we remember this when we feel alone in our experience, or when we feel divided, separate from each other. we can recall our shared human experience, and looking around at each person we see, we can say to ourselves, “Just like me.”

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#interdependence #life #OpenHeart #path #practice #PemaChodron #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #calligraphy #art

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as i understand it, the explosive death of a star is what propels out into space oxygen, carbon, iron, and other elements that make life possible. a star in its death, makes new life possible. it is said that the elements within our bodies began in stars billions of years ago. so, in a very real way, we are indeed made of “star-stuff” as Carl Sagan once said, which later came to be popularized as stardust.

how incredible and miraculous is that? without the events of billions of years prior to us, we wouldn’t be here. if ever we feel like we don’t belong, that we don’t fit in, we can remember the incredible truth that we are an expression of this universe, it quite literally continues within us.

whether we believe this life is it, or there’s a hereafter, or whether we believe in rebirth or reincarnation, this life now that we are living is unique for us, billions of years in the making and that is a precious, sacred gift worth cherishing and honoring with our love. 

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#cosmos #universe #stars #starstuff #stardust #life #OpenHeart #path #practice #ThichNhatHanh #JinpaLhaga

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“Correcting oneself is correcting the whole world. The Sun is simply bright. It does not correct anyone. Because it shines, the whole world is full of light. Transforming yourself is a means of giving light to the whole world.”

~ Ramana Maharshi 

we don’t just practice meditation or ethics, steadying our mind or opening our heart, for ourselves. 

we practice for ourselves and for the benefit of the world and all life in it. 

open-hearted caring people, kind people, gentle people, thoughtful, mindful, compassionate, wise, resilient, balanced people make the world a better place to live.

so we work with ourselves, with our own mind, and our own heart to engage life and our world in a healthy way. then we and others see it is possible to live in this world with love, as love embodied, rather than fear, aggression, and hate.

we are authentically available and able to assist others in a healthy way, a way that is truly beneficial, a way that doesn’t repeat patterns of suffering, because we have begun to unravel the patterns of suffering within ourselves.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#BeLight #shine #selfcare #selfwork #transformation #healing #meditation #ethics #bodhisattvas #life #love #OpenHeart #path #practice #RamanaMaharshi #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art #sun

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“Love and Justice are not two. Without inner change, 

there can be no outer change. Without collective change, 

no change matters.”

~ 

Rev. angel Kyodo williams

path & practice.

all in this together. 

who can we exclude from our love & still call it love?

a love that excludes is not love.

a love that does not uproot, heal, plant anew, nourish & nurture is incomplete.

may our practice of self-healing be a source for collective healing.

may our practice of heart opening, open us to the sacredness & suffering of all.

may our practice of steadying mind lead to awareness, clarity & wisdom, & may such awareness, clarity & wisdom be a benefit to all. 

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#interdependence #love #justice #healing #OpenHeart #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #angelKyodowilliams #wisdom #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #BWphotography #photography 

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“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.”

~ Thomas Merton

all of this life, from the micro to the macro (even inside this very body!) is relationship.there’s no escaping this truth. we cannot say, “oh, that’s just happening over there” or “not my problem”. the ripple set forth will reach our shore, the seeds planted will bear fruit served to our table.
all we have before us is our decision whether to relate in a way that is closed, tight, fearful, and aggressive, or to relate in a way that is open-hearted, steady, wise and kind, tender and compassionate.
our mutual future and wellbeing depends on how we choose to live this sacred life.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#interdependence #life #relationship #OpenHeart #path #practice #ThomasMerton #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #TibetanKnot #EndlessKnot #art 

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this is love.

path and practice.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#love #freedom #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art #enso

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“Only love is big enough to hold all the pain of this world.” 

~ Sharon Salzberg

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#love #pain #suffering #OpenHeart #path #practice #SharonSalzbergQuote #SharonSalzberg #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art

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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

every breath is a new opportunity to engage life in an open-hearted way, with empathy, with tenderness, kindness, wisdom and compassion.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#BeginAnew #BeginAgain #OpenHeart #empathy #tenderness #kindness #wisdom #compassion #path #practice #RumiQuote #Rumi #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #calligraphy

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who are we leaving out of our love & compassion?

who are we allowing to suffer without a response from our love & compassion?

is our love & our compassion free to all because of their inherent sacredness, or only to those we feel aligned or close to, or approve of, or understand, or have a natural arising affection or tenderness towards?

these questions are not about shame or guilt. they are foundational work. they are an exploration of accountability & responsibility to each other. we belong to each other. this is the law of life, of interdependence, of interbeing. so, when we build borders of exclusion within our hearts & world, when we “other” & marginalize, & oppress, & colonize, & annihilate, we are living in opposition to life itself, to love itself.

asking the tough questions is practice.

cultivating love, tenderness, compassion for all without bias or exclusion is practice.

responding to the pain & suffering of our world is practice.

building peace by being peace is practice.

one of the first things we learn with practice is how to “stop”. to simply stop & allow a gap of space where our minds & hearts have the chance to open a little bit more, where awareness and wisdom have the opportunity to arise.

without stopping, there is little chance of our participation in a change that is beneficial to bringing about a lessening or ending to suffering, to building a world of safety & peace. 

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#CeasefireNow #love #compassion #empathy #peace #practice #path #SaintFrancisOfAssisi #EngagedBuddhism #enso #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art