vote.

vote like body autonomy depends on it, because it does.

vote like personal liberty depends on it, because it does.

vote like the welfare and safety of yourself and others depends on it, because it does.

vote like we are in an existential crisis to save our democracy, because we are.

~j

⭕️♥️🙏🏻

#vote #democracy #liberty #OpenHeart #sanity #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

climate change, poverty, famine, healthcare inequity, war, refugee crisis, racism, anti-LGBTQ+ laws, authoritarian oppression…name the harm, name the destruction, until we open our hearts to the suffering these cause for others, real healing & transformation won’t happen.

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#empathy #OpenHeart #compassion #interdependence #path #practice #JinpaLhaga

there is a shared trait in this photo – the color green!

my eyes are green and so are the leaves of this shrub. 

however, here is also a difference. my eyes won’t be here in the year 2100, but green leaf shrubs like this one still have a chance to be alive, if we take action to mitigate climate change NOW.

visit https://linktr.ee/jaysenwaller to read an AP article regarding the UN report on climate change, along with an NPR article with resources for climate change action, and a link to the Climate Change Resources website.

~j

🌍❤️🙏🏻

#EarthDay2022 #EarthDay #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateAction #ClimateActionNow #interdependence #EngagedBuddhism #JinpaLhaga

today, the Dalai Lama released a letter for #EarthDay2022. his letter leads off with the statement, “All of us should be concerned about our collective existence”, a reflection of the Buddhist recognition that all life is interdependent, a recognition shared by others as well, and proven with science. 

Ogyen Trinley Dorje writes, “The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe have all arisen interdependently. We cannot survive alone…the more keenly we are aware of this, the more we will begin to take responsibility for the welfare of other beings.” climate change is already endangering our planet’s rich biodiversity that makes the complexity of life on this planet possible. food chains are being disrupted and species are going extinct. this has a domino effect on all other life including ours.

scientists have been warning that we are in danger. climate models are now showing that if we don’t significantly curb our carbon emissions by 2030 (just 8 years), the planet will be unlivable by 2100. unlivable. suffering will begin decades earlier as global society collapses due to famine, land loss, mass migration, and conflict over limited resources. many of us will still be around as this happens, even if we aren’t around for the worst of it. what about our children and grandchildren? are we really willing to allow such a future for them and other life on this planet?

there have been five great mass extinctions in Earth’s history. are we on the verge of a sixth?

the irony is that the very intelligence, ingenuity, and fortitude that helped to cause this crisis, are the qualities that we can access to at least mitigate if not resolve this crisis. however, the distrust of science by some, our lack of empathy and our unwillingness to experience the disruption to our comfort and embrace change now to ensure an actual livable future as a whole, may very well be our downfall. 

we say we love the Earth, we say we love life. it’s well past time to prove it. we need action.

~j

🌍❤️🙏🏻

#EarthDay #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateAction #interdependence #earth #life #EngagedBuddhism #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #enso #JMWart

you have within you what a wounded world needs for healing. 

YOU and your open heart. 

tender and vulnerable, yet resilient and a holder of the most powerful force in existence – Love.

offer it.

wounds and all of its delicate beauty, offer it.

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #life #love #lovingkindness #EngagedBuddhist #path #practice #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

instead of chasing after an endless stream of thoughts coming and going, we can learn to relax into the moment and simply allow thoughts to arise and fall away. when we do this, when we stop the chase and practice just being with the moment as it is, we allow the opportunity for spaciousness to arise. in this spaciousness, life has the opportunity to reveal itself to us in a genuine, personal way. this is a practice and a generous way we can approach our lives.

also, it just kind of feels good to simply allow thoughts to be and not feel compelled to constantly chase after them. whew! one less burden to bear 😉

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

if interested in learning meditation or sitting and practicing together, join me this weekend for Self-Care Saturdays & Sundays at 10am PT. sessions are free or by donation. $10 suggested. you can find the Zoom links here: https://linktr.ee/jaysenwaller

#thoughts #thinking #stream #presence #spaciousness #generosity #mindfulness #awareness #meditation #path #practice #haiku #JMWart #JinpaLhaga

life gives us what we need to grow and develop, to continually open our hearts, to cultivate our awareness, our attention, our empathy, tenderness, and compassion. 

it is a journey into our heart, into our own life, and all life around us. can we see with clarity the beauty and brokenness? the pattern of arising and falling away? can we love the brokenness just as much as the beauty? can we love the loss as much as the gain?

both the beauty and brokenness, the arising and falling, the gain and the loss, call for our love.

this is the practice. opening to life, opening to love, right here.  looking deeply and seeing the abiding love that is within and without. love is the wave and also the ocean that carries the wave to shore and back out to sea.

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#love #life #awareness #attention #meditation #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga

happy Easter to all my friends who celebrate!

even in death, life finds a way. nature embodies this, we are part of nature. the pattern repeats. day into night, winter into spring.

love holds and carries it all. with awareness, we can be present with this flow, and we can have good reason for hope.

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#Easter #resurrection #rebirth #life #cycles #patterns #nature #awareness #hope #path #practice #haiku #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon.

~

Ikkyū

full moon tonight! 🌕

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#OneMoon #moon #TheWay #journey #life #Sangha #TheLongArc #interdependence #Zen #Buddhism #Ikkyu #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art

prayers for the family of Patrick Lyoya as they join too many other families who’ve had their loved one taken from them, from life this way.

license plates did not match the vehicle – a misdemeanor, no weapon. these encounters shouldn’t be a death sentence. officer was kneeling on Mr. Lyoya’s back. Mr. Lyoya was shot in the back of the head.

violence and death come too easily from those who wield such power, yet are supposed to be there to protect and serve. these are tax dollar supported deaths. we also must not conflate this systemic problem as a representation of all who protect and serve. but a systemic problem needs all of us, including those who protect and serve, to participate in calling out the harm and ending the harm.

are we learning nothing?

there must be accountability. there must be change.

~j

⭕️❤️🙏🏻

#PatrickLyoya

#BlackLivesMatter