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beautiful, authentic, beneficial – needed wisdom from my friend @thebrandonalter. he does such incredible healing work along with his husband via @thespiritualgayz. 💙🙏🏻

may his message and their work continue to be of benefit for all whom it resonates with. 

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#healing #pain #OpenHeart #path #practice #spirituality

Posted @withregram • @thebrandonalter 

YOUR PAIN DOESN’T WANT TO BE HERE EITHER.

Ever since my Mom died I’ve been holding more pain than usual. I can feel it stored up in my hips and my heart, like a squirrel setting aside nuts for the winter. But the difference is, I don’t want these reserves.

And then it struck me, last week, while forcing myself to do some Yoga I really didn’t want to be doing: maybe the Pain doesn’t want to be here either. 

Instead of looking at it like an enemy, what if the Pain is just as miserable as I am? What if it wants to be somewhere else too—to become something else? Surely the Pain has a destiny if its own— and it can’t live it out when it’s  stuck in my body and your heart.

What if we made an agreement, the Pain and I, to let go of each other? What if I figured out how to stop holding it hostage; just opened the door to let it go and didn’t even watch it leave? What if I turned around so it could sneak out, unseen?

Or course Pain isn’t just one thing. It can’t leave all at once. But maybe you just keep the door open, and keep your back turned, and bit by bit it trickles out. 

What if letting go of the Pain wasn’t just an act of kindness towards yourself, it was a great act of generosity towards the Pain, too?

I know, I’m not the only one holding large amounts of pain these days. So if you know how to hold the door open, if you know how to liberate yourself from it, and it from you, let me know.

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“Wherever you stand be the soul of that place.” ~ Rumi

this *photoart really speaks to me. it feels appropriate for challenging times. 

even in darkness the moon still reflects light and that light can bring hope and comfort. we can stand in the midst of darkness and the light with integrity and dignity, with a sense of solidity, with a groundedness buoyed by a practice of mindfulness, awareness, and lovingkindness.  

such a way of living can be our path and practice, and a benefit for this world in this life we have. a healing force, a compassionate and anchoring force, a courageous force in this life and world.

it may not be an easy path, and we will likely not meet each moment in such a way, but we can return to it again and again as often as necessary. this is practice and practice is path, and such a path is worthy of this sacred, precious life.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#presence #courage #bravery #mindfulness #lovingkindness #OpenHeart #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #RumiQuotes
*unfortunately, even after a search, unable to credit image.

to me, this seems very similar and may be just another way of practicing living in mindfulness and lovingkindness – the quality of our energy in this life and world, how we are present with awareness and open hearts. 

i am reminded of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians in the Bible where he instructs to “pray without ceasing.” this points to a type of prayer that is a state of being, a way of being present, a way of engagement in the world.

such a way, can be our path and practice, and a benefit for this world in this life we have. it can be a beautiful way to live.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#prayer #presence #mindfulness #awareness #lovingkindness #OpenHearts #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #RichardRohrQuotes

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some Buddhist texts begin, “Oh Nobly Born…” 

that’s you!

pick yourself up, friends, you are a luminous embodiment of love, worthy of this sacred gift, this incarnation of life.

as is everyone else.

treasure not trash.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#TreasureNotTrash #AllLife #sacred #life #OhNoblyBorn #OpenHeart #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #ZuiganRoshiQuotes

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may we hold this important reminder – this awareness and true wisdom – within our hearts even as some overcome with aggression, lost in their delusion, resort to violence as a means to fulfill their desired agenda.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#nonviolence #nonaggression #wisdom #awareness #TrueStrength #OpenHeart #tenderness #kindness #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #KahlilGibranQuotes

still reflecting on the anniversary of the Jan 6th Insurrection and the continued efforts by some to consolidate power at all costs, with no regard to the harm caused to individuals, to groups, to the democratic foundations of this country.
what is the antidote to such insanity? in Buddhsim, the starting point is our own hearts and minds, sanity begins within ourselves. this doesn’t mean we ignore the structures and institutions that cause or contribute to harm, of course we work on them, but we include ourselves – our own heart and mind, because we are who create and inform the structures and institutions, the society and culture at large.
may we be the beneficial change we seek, may we be the healers and builders needed when others in their delusion harm and destroy.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#sanity #SaneWorld #healers #builders #OpenHeart #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #PemaChodronQuotes

a reflection on this 2nd anniversary of the Jan 6th Insurrection & attempted coup, & the current incoming GOP majority House of Representatives.

for all the history making that was this week of 15 rounds of voting for the 55th Speaker of the House, may it be remembered that much of the power exerted this week has been from current sitting members of Congress who were actively & aggressively attempting to undermine & upend our democracy in the 2020 election, w/ rhetoric that incited the Jan 6th Insurrection & continue to this day to question the legitimacy of the 2020 election & undermine our election integrity & democratic institutions.

these are the people who Kevin McCarthy has handed over the power of the Speakership to in order to finally get the power of the Speakership he’s long been grasping for? congratulations?

Kevin McCarthy, who decried the events of Jan 6th Insurrection & Trump’s participation to only later shake hands & downplay the violence & shame of that day, doesn’t really come out of this a winner & neither do the citizens of this country as long as power at all costs, including through insurrection & coup, is sought after.

may open hearts & sanity arise, & may democracy continue to survive 🙏🏻

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#violence #incompetence #Jan6thInsurrection #coup #HouseSpeaker #GOP #democracy #nonviolence #sanity

no less than infinity ♾️

may our path and practice reflect this reality, the vast capacity of our tender heart, which is love.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#OpenHeart #infinity #love #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #ZeldaFitzgeraldQuotes

as we begin this new year with resolutions of “self-improvement” let us do so not out of self-criticism, disgust, or hate, but with love! 

a love for the miracle of this body and this life as it is, as we are, right now. 

let us make friends with ourselves and extend a warm, welcoming heart, a tenderness for who and how we are in this moment and all the potential we have ahead.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#NewYear #resolutions #SelfImprovement #SelfLove

#OpenHeart #WarmHeart #tenderness #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #SwamiAmarJyoti

“Could we exclude any from our compassion any more than the sun could exclude any from the warmth and radiance of its rays?”

~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche  

ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ

Om Mani Padme Hum

with open hearts and a love so vast, holding all life with tenderness and compassion, may we meet this world.
~j
⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#OmManiPadmeHum #compassion #tenderness #kindness #love #OpenHeart #EngagedBuddhism #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #BWphotography #photography #ChagdudTulkuRinpocheQuotes