buddhism

Nelson Mandela, 1918 – 2013

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NelsonMandelaRIP

 

July 18, 1918 ~ December 5, 2013

 

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
~ Nelson Mandela
 
 
In Buddhism, there is a name for someone who serves Compassion, who works tirelessly to awaken, to wake up the masses that they may work for justice, work for peace – the healing of the world.  We call this person a Bodhisattva.  In Christianity, we may call this person a Saint, one who works for the fulfillment and realization of Love.Truly, Nelson Mandela, can be and should be called by either one of these names. And although he has passed, he surely still lives in all of the hearts he has touched and all of the souls he has awakened from the insidious sleep of ignorance, indifference, and injustice.

Thank you, Nelson Mandela, for choosing to take your gift of life and return it to this world as one of service to Love and Peace, through the hard work of Forgiveness.

~ j

all shall be well…

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AutumnMeditation

 

November 14, 2013

i look outside and see beautiful yellowed green trees gently dancing with the breeze
i see rugged brown mountains dotted with rock, standing still, standing strong
i see a vast blue sky almost glowing vibrant with possibility
nature, once again, stands hand in hand reminding us what is always
HERE
nature doesn’t hold, it let’s go and just flows
if that is not grace, i don’t know what is

“all shall be well…”

~ j

 

*“all shall be well…” is a celebrated phrase of the 14th Century Christian Mystic, Julian of Norwich, from her collection of “Showings”

a teaching ~ an act of conscience…

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PrayingHands

 

“It is not an untrammeled market economy that is going to redeem our world. It is not strategies of aggression, domination, and repression that are going to make us safe. The secret to transforming the world, the key to security and safety, lies in cooperation and collaboration. It lies in compassion for all beings in the wider web of life, and in generosity and love channeled into selfless action on behalf of people we will never know or see.”

~ Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, “An Act of Conscience”

carry the Lamp of Love…

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candle light
 
 
 
slowly and steadily, with an open and steadfast heart,
carry the Lamp of Love.
 
even while chaos storms around you,
ground yourself in your breath – your true home.
touch nature. be still and listen.
 
then in your peace, your kindness, and your compassion
you will shine bright as a beacon.
 
and the world will wonder why it ever chose
to do anything other than
love love love.
 
~ j

to be a warrior…

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ONEenso

“…the practice, for me, is about creating the kind of resilience or buoyancy where you can be present to bear witness to the truth of suffering.”
~ Roshi Joan Halifax
 
i read this in an interview today. it struck me, stopped me really. … woke me up a bit to this call of warriorship. to be a warrior. and it seems very real to me that to truly be compassionate – which to be true, must include all – takes the heart of a warrior. the courage to BE with pain, to BE with suffering. to BE with it as a witness. the only way to get there is to train, to practice – to just do it.

it is, it seems to me, the courage to recognize that whether in our joy or suffering, we are One. there is no division, no duality. just One.

it is why i practice Buddhism, it is why i still love the teachings of Jesus who aligned himself with the poor and those who were outcasts. it is why i find the words of the current Pope encouraging.

and when it seems impossible to live this Compassion, to live as One, we can take comfort and encouragement in each other as we practice together.

 
~ j

windows (shall we dare?)…

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fullwindowmediation

September 11, 2013

 

…still so present

…still so fresh
after all of these years…

 

eyes frozen on images, pulling at my heart, calling on my soul to…to what?  jump up?  to hide?  to fight?

this chest heavy, this throat tight – choked with emotion.  this heart trying to hold it all…

the fear, the anger, the grief.


do me a favor will you?

let us sit.  together.  let us sit and invite these emotions to be our friends, our teachers, shall we?

before we act out of turn, let us allow time and space to do their work, for the fear, the anger, and the grief to shed their weight and reveal their gifts.  shall we?

even as the door to our heart begins to close under the overwhelming burden of it all, even as our chests tighten again and our tears freely flow, let us allow a window in our heart to open.

a window for fear, a window for anger, a window for grief. 


shall we dare?


even as we feel fear, we can allow a window in our heart to open to all others who feel fear – fear of loss, fear of age and illness, fear of death…
even as we feel anger, we can allow a window in our heart to open to all others who feel anger – anger at loss, anger at injustice, anger at feeling powerless…
even as we feel grief, we can allow a window in our heart to open to all others who feel grief – grief for loved ones gone, grief for dreams not lived, grief for the mortality of life…


shall we dare?


shall we dare Life, even in the most tragic of circumstances, to reveal Her Beauty?

if we dare to open the windows of our hearts
if we dare to allow such nakedness – such vulnerability
if we dare to open our eyes – to see how we all suffer the same fear, the same anger, the same grief…

then, even as the Lotus growing out of the mud, reaches up revealing Life’s Beauty
we, too, can grow from the darkest and most tragic places in life, revealing that we are also capable of Beauty


shall we dare?


~ j

begin with silence…

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 Silent Buddha

 

Saturday, July 13th 2013

 

in contemplation. in meditation.
within this sea of emotion where confusion and frustration ebbs and flows so easily
into suffering,
where institutions may fail and people may fall,
i will ride this wave with calm awareness that begins with…
 
silence
 
if i want to see Justice, i must first find it here
– within this heart.
a heart that decided a long time ago to commit itself
to integrity, to openness, to awareness, to kindness, to understanding, to faith, to compassion,
to love, to Life.
 
it is from this heart, our hearts
– hearts committed to forming a nonviolent world with our Love –
that we will tranform hearts and minds, institutions, nations, and the
 
world
 
~ j
 
 
“Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us, not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of s…omeone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence. It is hard to find. In its presence we can remember something beyond the moment, a strength on which to build a life. Silence is a place of great power and healing.”
~ Rachel Naomi Remen ~

Still Life…

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Still Life

 

“Life is precious and fleeting. Pay attention.”
~ Seido Ray Ronei

 

“Still Life”

this moment to breathe
when all soon will fade away
feel the sun and wind

this moment to love
when all soon will fade away
keep open, in haste

this moment to live
when all soon will fade away
death, there is no end

moment by moment
this moment is all there is
do not, do not waste!

 ~ j