🌀

“If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.”

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

taking nothing for granted. seeing the sacred in all things.

recently i listened to cosmologist Brian Cox speak about our universe. the piece of universe we can see, that we are aware of, has something like 2 trillion galaxies of what may be an infinite universe. and within each of these galaxies, averaging same in size as our Milky Way (some bigger, some smaller), about 400 billion stars. perhaps having their own solar system of planets. 

too vast to comprehend. however, we can still know this universe by opening to and knowing even the smallest expression of life. and instead of feeling seemingly insignificant within such vastness, everything and everyone comes to life with importance. we are here.

this can be our practice. 

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#nature #snail #RolyPolyBug #life #universe #sacred #OpenHeart #presence #interdependence #path #practice #RainerMariaRilke #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #BWphotography #photography 

🌀

Enlightenment will be ours when we are able to care for others as much as we now care for ourselves.

~

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche 

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#look #listen #care #empathy #kindness #compassion #OpenHeart #bodhisattvas #path #practice #interdependence #DilgoKhyentseRinpocheQuotes #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #calligraphy

🌀

The moon does not fight. It attacks no one. It does not worry. It does not try to crush others. It keeps to its course, but by its very nature, it gently influences. 

What other body could pull an entire ocean from shore to shore? The moon is faithful to its nature, and its power is never diminished.

~ 

Deng Ming-Dao

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#nonaggression #nonviolence #TruePower #TrueInfluence #moon #nature #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art #Taoism #DengMingDaoQuote

🌀

what we have is now, and now is always enough. this now, is the opportunity, the moment we have to engage our lives, to open our hearts and practice being present with our lives, and with all life around us.

each moment, only once.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#ThisMoment #now #presence #OpenHeart #engagement #path #practice #HaidakhanBabaji #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #calligraphy 

🌀

a contemplation for our time.

such blindness and division.

if our beliefs or ideology would have us only align with the suffering of some, while dismissing the suffering of others, then it falls short of Love and should be abandoned.

may our hearts open to all who suffer, especially those who suffer oppression under the heels of power.

may our compassion expand to all, not just those within our group, our religion, our political party, our country, etc.

our loyalty should be to Love and our solidarity with those who suffer. 

may we take up the cause of Love however and whenever we can through words and actions, through intimate conversations and social media, through protest and art.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#suffering #power #compassion #interdependence #OpenHeart #love #path #practice #SitDownRiseUp #EngagedBuddhism #bodhisattvas #BenjaminCarterQuote #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

🌀

life is a flowing interweaving of interdependence. life is relationship. we don’t exist as separate from one another, or apart from other life. 

so when we see overconsumption, when we see “othering”, when we see corporate greed, and war, what we are seeing is ignorance, what we are seeing is delusion, what we are seeing is a kind of shortsightedness. 

it can be our practice to take a wider and deeper view of reality, to see how we breathe with the trees, a give and take of oxygen and carbon dioxide, to see how greed and overconsumption has a direct relationship to poverty and famine, to see that when it comes to war, violence and hostility, there is just one flesh to wound.

may such awareness, clarity, and wisdom arise within our minds and open our hearts.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#interdependence #interbeing #life #relationship #awareness #wisdom #OpenHeart #path #practice #RainerMariaRilke #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

🌀

allowing for the good and beautiful in life, is also a practice. consistently caught up in a chaotic news cycle of doom is not beneficial. it’s also not the truth of the state of the world. it’s only part of the truth. yes, there is horrible suffering, but we are not able to bring benefit if we show up burnt out and bitter, numb or in despair.

it’s on us to regulate and bring balance. like most things, this takes practice. we can bear witness to the suffering and help where we can. but we can also bear witness to all that is good as well. getting out into nature is our ally. connecting with friends is our ally. bearing witness to the good work and kindness of others is our ally. these connections with love will buoy and fuel us for the journey. 

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#life #BearWitness #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

🌀

choosing empathy and compassion when others are indifferent, or caught up in division, vengeance and aggression, isn’t easy. choosing patience, thoughtfulness and de-escalation, when others are engaged in reactivity and escalation, isn’t easy. it can be lonely and scary to swim against the tide, to stand with love, and to open our hearts to and include the suffering of all.

it is a brave thing to practice a love that includes all who suffer, standing alone if necessary. but bravery, like the love that calls forth such courage, is a practice. bit by bit, we step into the uncomfortable, with our heart and mind clear, steady, and remaining open, not despite but including the fear that may arise.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#bravery #love #suffering #empathy #compassion #deescalation #thoughtfulness #OpenHeart #SteadyMind #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art #calligraphy

🌀

authoritarianism lacks true power, so it depends on hostility and violence. so let us choose kindness and peace. 

authoritarianism lacks true power, so it fosters despair attempting to shut us down and close us off. so let us keep our hearts open, let us choose connection with each other, with nature and all life, and live with joy.

we can find rest, strength, and joy in who we are – our true nature which is love, beyond all the ignorance and fear, beyond all the grasping and aversion. this is true power.

may it be so.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#friendliness #love #connection #joy #strength #kindness #peace #OpenHeart #TruePower #path #practice #BuddhaQuotes #Dhammapada #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

🌀

in a time bereft of nuance and discernment, where reactivity, cognitive dissonance, conflation, generalization, and bias are prioritized, i really appreciate Bend The Arc’s statement released earlier today. 

it is dangerous to paint with such a large brush as so many are doing. words lose their meaning. the protest movement is not monolithic. by overall accounts, the majority of people reacting and responding to the absolute devastation of life we are bearing witness to, are doing so, because we are moved from the heart.

still. there are some that will take advantage of such moments to stir up hate and discrimination – including anti-Semitism and anti-Arab sentiments and this should be called out.

i will add though for those moved from our hearts – that a love, and by love i mean empathy and compassion, that doesn’t include all, is not love in its fullness, it is not empathy in its fullness, it is not compassion in its fullness. and if not fully inclusive, may not be any of these values at all.

may our hearts expand and open to all, and may wisdom arise.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#Gaza #Palestinians #Israel #protests