surely in our anger, in our aggression, in our bitterness and despair we have forgotten that not even our next breath is guaranteed. we live as if our words are empty and actions can be undone. we live as if we have an infinite number of tomorrows when all the while death is standing on the other side of the door. everything counts, every moment is sacred. live with gratitude, joy, kindness, compassion, peace, and wisdom – for these are love.
~ j
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
dear ones ~
i recently read that gun sales were up triple in 2011 of what they were in 2010. what does this say?
who are we arming ourselves against?
what are we arming ourselves against?
i am reminded of one of my favorite Zen stories…it is as follows:
A village was warned that a vicious warlord and his soldiers were coming to destroy the town, so they all fled. All except one old monk, that is, who stayed meditating in the temple. When the warlord came in and saw him, he drew his sword, pointed it at his heart and said angrily, “Don’t you know I can run you through without batting an eye?!” The old monk looked up at him and calmly replied, “And don’t you know that I can be run through without batting an eye?” The warlord bowed before the presence of this old monk and left. Such courage, composure, and non-attachment can be ours.
namaste, dear friends.
peace to you as we wake up to this spacious and available place of nonviolence and no fear – as we wake up to who we are!
~ j
August 28, 2012
a letter to Aurora…
to all those who are suffering from this horrific tragedy in Aurora, our prayers are with you. to all those who are suffering from their own personal tragedies in this life, our prayers are with you. we are connected in our suffering, in our pain, in our confusion as to how such violence can occur. we are connected in these dark moments of life, where our hearts break and our minds spin with emotion, we are connected in our sense of loss as life seems to have lost all that is good.
it is important to feel these emotions, to sit with these emotions. to be where we are at, to grieve. so many of us, in our confusion, our pain, our anger are running from this horrible event. it isn’t easy to sit with tragedy, to be awake with suffering. it is far easier (and even feels good to have some brief relief) to blame. to blame the existence of guns, to blame a broken system, to blame a single individual who has forgotten what it means to be human, to be connected in life and love. and there too, we connect. we connect into groups with missions and we feel some brief relief as we find a place to place our anger, our pain, our suffering…forgetting our truer connection, that we are One.
but there is another way we are connected. we are connected in our Light, in our Love, in Life.
so as we sit in this darkness, in this night of tragedy and pain, let us look to Aurora itself. Aurora means “dawn”…the coming of day. that sacred, beautiful time when the night moves from twilight to day.
there is pain here. there is confusion and anger. but, my friends, there is also hope. the day will come again and with it the sun, shining bright the light of love and life. the Light that lives in all of us – both passed and still present, and the Love that connects us – whether we have passed or are present, whatever may come.
wishing peace and freedom from suffering for us all.
namaste ~ j
Friday, July 20th 2012
how can i live
in this pain anymore?
my days
have been long filled
with hurt
with feelings of betrayal
and then
today
with a nudging from Life
our eyes met
looking deeply at you
truly, mindfully
seeing you
how can i be angry?
looking in your eyes i see
a child frightened, broken
desperately searching, seeking
longing to be understood
longing to know Love
i understand
looking in your eyes
i see me
precious
let go
you’re far too beautiful
to hold onto such
ugliness…
my friends ~
i haven’t been writing lately. words, for the time, have escaped me. i simply don’t have anything to say. i did come across, today, a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh, however, which i’d like to share.
he wrote this poem after the town of Ben Tre had been bombed by U.S. forces during the Vietnam war. this poem is about anger. i was taken back when i read it today. only hours earlier, i sat in the green-room at work (dealing with my own anger and hurt) with my face in my two hands…comforted as i simply would breathe in and out. now for Thay’s words ~
I hold my face in my two hands.
No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands
to keep my loneliness warm –
two hands protecting,
two hands nourishing,
two hands preventing
my soul from leaving me
in anger.
i am
exhausted
my heart
grows weary
morning
noon and
night
anger jealously and hurt
come
to feed on this
weakened muscle
and this
tired soul
they leave nothing but
scraps of guilt
in
their gluttonous wake
i am exhausted
my heart grows weary
morning noon and night
i think i shall plant Love
in
this broken heart and weeping soul
we’ll see how they like feeding on that!
in my anger
i become a ghost
in my Love
i become human
The Metta Garden 