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two days ago, December 10th, was #HumanRightsDay, and the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

it was and is groundbreaking, setting a principled basis for how people are to be treated, without torture, with dignity, no matter who they are or where they are from, or what religion they practice. we are to stand on and act from principles born out of the best of who we are and can be. these principles continue to call on us today, to be observed and embodied. 

it is, perhaps, in the most fractious, violent and fear-filled times, when emotions are high and wounds are deep, that we must not waver or be pulled down into the depths of hell where the most deluded of us act from. it requires a vow, discipline, and courage. in Tolkien’s words, “No half-heartedness and no worldly fear must turn us aside from following the light unflinchingly.”

may hearts open, may wisdom arise.

~j

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#HumanRights #light #flame #candle #love #vow #discipline #OpenHeart #path #practice #TolkienQuotes #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art

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here, open-hearted

where the body’s alchemy

smooths the rough edges.

~j

be gentle, allow for tenderness, in a world full of suffering.

leave no one out, including yourself.

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

*haiku and thoughts inspired this morning, by the insightful and beneficial words of Susan Piver ✨  

#gentleness #tenderness #OpenHeart #path #practice #SusanPiver #SusanPiverQuotes #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #haiku

hello friends!

my birthday is NEXT Sunday, Dec 17th, so i wanted to raise money this week leading up to my birthday for a cause close to my heart. i’ve been a monthly donor for years, because i believe in their mission and the benefit it brings – their work is LOVE IN ACTION, something i talk about all the time with my art and quote sharing. 

Action Kivu is led by Congolese Community-Builder and Educator, Amani Mataboro, and my good friend Rebecca Snavely is the Executive Director/Co-Founder. They have a Peace School, a Community Farm, and provide Entrepreneur Training along with HIV Education in the Congo. all of this is to support a people who have been subject to and victimized by extreme violence, loss of home, child soldier recruitment, and sexual violence.

here is a link to their latest Blog essay featuring the UN Report on Children in the Congo and Action Kivu’s commitment to MLK’s Nonviolence Principle Three:

https://www.actionkivu.org/blog/un-report-on-children-in-congo-amp-mlks-nonviolence-principle-three-oct-2023-at-the-congo-peace-school

i hope you will join in and give a few (or a lot of) dollars to support their great work! thank you! you can donate via their website:

https://www.actionkivu.org

may hearts open, may wisdom arise.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#ActionKivu #Congo #PeaceSchool #peace #nonviolence #love #OpenHeart

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#RobinaCourtin

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Posted @withregram • @plumvillageapp

A poem written by Thich Nhat Hanh during the Vietnam War. You can listen to a version of this poem put to music via the app – link in bio

Recommendation
by Thich Nhat Hanh

Promise me,
promise me this day,
promise me now,
while the sun is overhead
exactly at the zenith,

promise me:
Even as they
strike you down
with a mountain of hatred and violence;
even as they step on you and crush you
like a worm,
even as they dismember and disembowel you,
remember brother, remember:
man is not our enemy.

The only thing worthy of you is compassion –
invincible, limitless, unconditional.
Hatred will never let you face
the beast in man.

One day, when you face this beast alone with your courage intact, your eyes kind,
untroubled
(even as no one sees them),
out of your smile
will bloom a flower.

And those who love you
will behold you
across ten thousand worlds of birth and dying.

Alone again,
I will go on with bent head,
knowing that love has become eternal.
On the long, rough road
the sun and moon will continue to shine.

#ThichNhatHanh

@thichnhathanh

Happy Hanukkah with wishes for peace to all my Jewish friends. may it be blessed. 

may our inner light of love and wisdom burn bright and continuous, just as the oil lamps long ago. 

and may such love and wisdom transform our lives and that of the world for the better, for healing, for peace. 🕎

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#Hanukkah #light #wisdom #love #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

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this life, a rare gift.

to be spent how?

to embody love.

to heal.

how is it that we can use this one precious life, with our intelligence and our imagination, rallying the full force of our presence to what? to create a myriad of ways to harm and destroy life?

we must stand with the sacredness of all life and push back against the delusion that gives rise to the justification of harm and destruction wherever and in whomever it arises.

and when force is necessary to defend the innocent and endangered, should we not move with love still, with careful reservation and the intention to minimize harm and destruction?

there will always be those who seek to take advantage of tragedy and crisis, playing on heightened emotions. it is power they seek, not peace. 

as challenging as it may be, in such moments, may we remember we are called to stand with life, to love and heal without discrimination or favor, in solidarity with those suffering.

may hearts open, may wisdom arise.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏼

#life #sacred #gift #healers #love #empathy #kindness #OpenHeart #wisdom #bodhisattvas #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #Milarepa

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so much harm in the world could be avoided if we saw other people’s experience and pain as our own. their suffering as our suffering. 

empathy may be the most important human quality and potential, a quality which guides and governs all other qualities.

from empathy, arises our tenderness, kindness, and compassion.

may empathy inspire our practice, may our hearts open, may our wisdom arise, for the benefit of our world and all within, on, and around it.

~j

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#empathy #tenderness #kindness #compassion #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #AudreyHepburn

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we put so much off, waiting for the right time, waiting to be ready, waiting for the perfect moment, not knowing if another moment or even one more breath will come.

what if this moment, in all of its imperfection, in all of its ambiguity, in all of its restlessness IS the perfect moment to love, to be kind, to serve, to work for peace, to forgive and heal, to restore, to learn and grow, to dream, to open our hearts and awareness, to connect with others, and to let go, simply because it is truly the only moment we have?

the practice is now, the teacher is now.

if not now, when?

~j

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#IfNotNowWhen #WhyWait #ThisMoment #love #BeKind #learn #grow #heal #dream #restore #serve #peace #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art #calligraphy

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i take refuge

in a clear, calm, 

and steady mind,

an open heart,

and my practice.

all three benefit each other.

~j

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#clarity #calm #steady #mind #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart