buddhism

bearing witness for the Earth…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

On the morning of the Buddha’s enlightenment it is said that the great tempter and deceiver Mara after many failed attempts to deceive and distract the Buddha, asked the Buddha, “What gives you the right to be enlightened?  Who are you to awaken?  Who bears witness to this?”  Silently, calmly the Buddha took his right hand and touched the Earth and in that moment the Earth shook, bearing witness to the Buddha’s enlightenment.  With this, Mara disappeared.

And so it is with every step we take, our feet touching the ground, that the Earth also bears witness to our right to be here and to awaken.

It is now our turn to bear witness for the Earth in her time of need.  The Earth has given us life and sustains us.  In fact, science has shown us that we have the Earth’s elements within us.  Without these elements, without the delicate balance that is our Earth, life as we know it would not be – we would not be.  The only appropriate response for such gratuitous love, is gratitude, a gratitude that manifests in reciprocal love.

Our relationship to the Earth, is just that, a relationship.  How do we show our love?  How do we show our gratitude?  How do we pass this relationship on to our children and grandchildren?

Let us take some time today to touch the Earth.  Feel the dirt between our fingers, feel the ground beneath our feet as we step.  Are our steps, steps of love?  Let us step out into nature and listen, look.  Allowing in all the life that is sustained by the Earth, allowing it into our hearts, blessing it and sending it back out with love.  Let us make new choices that bear witness to our love for the Earth and all of life.

~j
04.22.17
Earth Day

 

let the mind stay…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment


The world is swirling around, a sound over here, a sight over there.
Confusion is an easy companion of distraction.
Where is balance and harmony, when the mind wants to run?
Let the mind stay…

~j

Song of Paldarbom
by Shepa Dorje, the yogi Mila Milarepa

I can contemplate the sky,
But clouds make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on clouds.

“If the sky’s as easy as you say,
Clouds are just the sky’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within the sky.”

I can contemplate the sea,
But waves make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on waves.

“If the sea’s as easy as you say,
Waves are just the sea’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within the sea.”

I can contemplate my mind,
But thoughts make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on thoughts.

“If your mind’s as easy as you say,
Thoughts are just the mind’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within your mind.”

 

 

simply exist, exist simply…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

The secret of the mountain is that the mountains simply exist, as I do myself: the mountains exist simply, which I do not.  The mountains have no “meaning,” they are meaning; the mountains are.  The sun is round.  I ring with life, and the mountains ring, and when I can hear it, there is a ringing that we share.  I understand all this, not in my mind but in my heart, knowing how meaningless it is to try to capture what cannot be expressed, knowing that mere words will remain when I read it all again, another day.

~
Peter Matthiessen

 

rethinking violence…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

 

Sitting with this quote, recently: “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent” (by Isaac Asimov) and I thought, “Should we expand our definition of violence?”

 

I think we often view violence through a rather restrictive lens of war and aggressive, physical assault.  However, is it truly too far a reach to suggest that words or actions that cause harm, injury, or death are also a form of violence?

 

Isn’t it violent to legislate healthcare out of the reach of the elderly, the poor, the ill?

Isn’t it violent to deprive food from children and the elderly, by cutting the programs on which they depend?

Isn’t it violent to marginalize an “other” (fill in the blank) virtually placing a target stirring fear and hate?

 

The poor, the elderly, the ill, the undocumented, the marginalized (including Muslims and LGBTQ) are easy targets for leadership that is incompetent.

 

We harm or we benefit. 

 

So, what do we do?

 

We bear witness.  We speak up.  We speak truth to power.  We stand and we walk in solidarity with those who suffer, the marginalized and oppressed.

 

But perhaps, even more importantly…

 

We begin with ourselves, and our own hearts and minds.  Am I willing to work for resolutions in my own life that best benefit the big picture, the long arc?  Am I willing to call upon my most creative and innovation potential to benefit all those around me and not just myself?  Am I willing to serve?  Am I willing to be vulnerable?  Am I willing to understand and embrace empathy?  Am I willing to love?

 

~j

03.22.17