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“A world without empathy is a world where we are dead to each other.”

~

Roshi Joan Halifax

may hearts open, may empathy arise, may our empathy be whole and include all.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#empathy #OpenHeart #path #practice #RoshiJoanHalifax #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #enso #calligraphy #art 

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similarly, but from a Zen Buddhist view, Thich Nhat Hanh once said, “Enlightenment is when a wave realizes it is the ocean.”

so, who is up for a deep dive instead of spending the rest of our lives in the shallow end?  🖐🏼

whether we go for a deep dive, tread the water, or simply float, relax a bit and  b  r  e  a  t  h  e, because we are already in IT. 

happy swimming (living), friends!

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#enlightenment #JustFloat #DeepDive #TreadingWater #existence #life #love #OpenHeart #path #practice #FredAlanWolfQuote #ThichNhatHanhQuote #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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Any exercise of power 

apart from love 

leads to brutality and evil; 

but any claim to love 

that does not lead to using that 

as power for others 

is mere sentimentality and emotion.

~ 

Richard Rohr

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#love #power #OpenHeart #RichardRohrQuote #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #PhotoArt

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“We have to find the power in kindness, the confidence in kindness, the release in kindness; the type of kindness that transcends belief systems, allegiances, ideologies, cliques, and tribes. This is the trait that can transform our lives.”

~ 

Sharon Salzberg

embodying division, tribalism, aggression, and hostility seem to come quite easily for us. perhaps, because they spring out of our fears, fears that are rooted in the misunderstanding of thinking we are separate, rather than the ultimate truth that we are not separate from each other or all life.

these traits of division, tribalism, aggression, and hostility may come quite easily for us, but they can cause immense harm, and they betray our true nature, which is one of love, spaciousness, and wisdom.

with awareness, we can come home to and choose to engage our true nature. we can choose to embody kindness which is the outpouring of our love, spaciousness, and wisdom. when we choose to embody kindness, we bring heaven to earth and are in union with love, and by doing so we are choosing to bring benefit to ourselves and others in the world, instead of contributing to harm.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#kindness #OpenHeart #SteadyMind #path #practice #SharonSalzbergQuote #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #enso #calligraphy #art

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Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

~

Martin Luther King, Jr.

may our light shine bright and may we be a people of true love and justice, not vessels of destruction that fear, hate and vengeance create.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#BeLove #BeLight #love #light #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #path #practice #bodhisattvas #EngagedBuddhist #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art #candle #JMWartCandleSeal #MLKjr

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The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe have all arisen interdependently. We cannot survive alone. We cannot eat, wear clothes, or breathe alone. The more keenly we are aware of this, the more we will begin to take responsibility for the welfare of other beings.

~

Ogyen Trinley Dorje,

HH The 17th Karmapa

interdependence is the foundation of all life in this universe. when we see something or someone as separate, we are bobbing along in an ocean of delusion and ignorance. we might say, “oh? big deal.” but this ignorance, this delusion is the root of all harm, violence, destruction, and suffering we see and participate in. it is the cause of poverty, hunger, and violence/war. so, it is imperative that we do the work within ourselves to cut through this delusion, to open our own hearts and minds as a starting point, for the benefit of our world and all life. and it is imperative, an act of love, to call upon others to do the same.

in hate we will fall together into the abyss. 

or with love, we can rise together into new life.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#interdependence #we #life #love #OpenHeart #OgyenTrinleyDorje #17thKarmapa #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #calligraphy #enso

happy 90th birthday to a hero and bodhisattva, Dr. Jane Goodall!

Dr. Goodall was the subject of my first ever book report in grade school. her embodiment of love for the natural world, for life, for wonder and engagement, fostered the very same in myself and my young heart. a love that has sustained throughout my life, where the sacred and divine, feels so apparent and radiant with beauty, and calls for our deep care and stewardship.

her open heart and wisdom as an elder, has the power to guide us in these times. may we listen.

may she have good health and happiness as her life continues to bring benefit to our world.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#JaneGoodall #life #nature #environment #bodhisattva #OpenHeart

🕊️

the death of seven World Central Kitchen relief workers has put an even finer light on the horror in Gaza. WCK had clearly marked their vehicles. they were on an approved route and had communicated their route and location to IDF. they were hit three times with precision weapons. they were one of only a few humanitarian organizations left still trying desperately to keep innocent Palestinians in Gaza from starvation. 

it’s disturbing that this has become what appears to be a pattern. there have been 200 aide workers killed by IDF since military action began, due to the targeting of refugee camps, and hospitals etc. 

aide organizations and humanitarian orgs say there is a pattern of what the Israeli government calls indiscriminate or accidental deaths. claims that if not earlier have now begun to challenge reasonable observation. is the IDF so clumsy or bad at what they do to accidentally kill tens of thousands, destroy most educational institutions, refugee camps, and nearly all hospitals? 

humanitarian aid is desperately needed. the number of Palestinians in Gaza that have been killed is over 30,000. whole families, generations wiped out. 70% of Palestinians in Gaza are facing famine.

even while facing worldwide condemnation, worldwide protests- many of which are led by Jewish human rights groups by the way, a UN resolution for ceasefire, and mass protests by Israelis calling for new elections and Netanyahu’s departure, Netanyahu and his far right extremist government refuse to stop the bombing or blocking food aid and have yet to prioritize negotiations to free the hostages who along with their families continue to suffer. 

the current path will not bring safety, security, or peace. this path is only bringing mass death, destruction, and suffering.

collective punishment, mass death, starvation, and forced migration do not equal self-defense.

vengeance does not equal  justice.

may hearts open, may empathy, compassion, sanity and wisdom arise 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

#CeasefireNow #FreeTheHostagesNow

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to much weight to carry around. 

why allow ourselves to be so oppressed? why accumulate and carry so much baggage?

we can love ourselves and others enough to:

let it be.

let it go.

walk away

and

be free.

hate is waste. hate prevents freedom, prevents our lives from flourishing and embodying the beauty that is our birthright.

this can be our practice. 

a practice of love, of no hate.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#NoHate #LetBe #LetGo #BeFree #love #freedom #OpenHeart #FreeMind #path #practice #MichaelBrownQuote #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

🏳️‍⚧️

today is Transgender Day of Visibility. 

today i celebrate my trans friends who bring beauty, authenticity, and resilience into life. i see you, i love you, i stand with you, and will continue to welcome your sacred embodiment.

i hear some are upset that this important day also falls on Easter. this is a coincidence, not a conspiracy, friends. Easter is always on a Sunday and is based on the Gregorian calendar and the date moves from year to year. Trans Day of Visibility was set as March 31st which changes day of the week from year to year. The date was set in 2010…so this isn’t a new thing or an attack on Christianity. the two days won’t always align.

that being said, it is more than possible to hold both things. i for one am happy and grateful the days have aligned. Jesus’ view of love and embodiment of love often challenged the people and the powers that be during his time. and yet, his love had the capacity to hold and include all. today each of us in many diverse ways are challenged to open our hearts as well, to all. practicing including and loving all people and life is a beautiful way of honoring Jesus and celebrating Easter.

so be challenged to include all into your love with gratitude! you and the world will benefit from it.

may love awaken in all hearts and prevail.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#TransgenderDayOfVisibility #TransRights #Love