this, your very heart…

  
this, your very heart.

broken open, heals the world.

dam breaks, water flows.

~j

11.11.15
“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.” ~ Zelda Fitzgerald
“O, that my monk’s robe were wide enough to gather up all the suffering people in this floating world.” ~ Zen poet-monk Ryōkan
“The practice is never for ourselves alone.” ~ Joseph Goldstein
#heart #HeartBrokenOpen #healing #suffering #love #CapacityToLove #interdependence #community #sangha #practice #meditation #compassion #metta #LovingKindness #Zen #haiku #quotes #JMW #TheMettaGarden 

Dia de los Muertos

  
Dia de los Muertos
a day to reflect on those who have passed, but haven’t left us. a lifting of the veil revealing that we are all One, interconnected through space and time, life and death, in this always moving ground of Being. through memory and ritual, offering prayers of honor, respect and gratitude.
the theme of death is an integral part of Buddhist practice, not as some morbid practice – but practice for what is inevitable and a sacred part of life. something we so desperately try to avoid in our culture, namely – sickness, aging, and dying – change.
practicing “death” is practicing “life.” each out breath is a death and each in breath is life reborn. an opportunity to be grateful for, an opportunity to continue this adventure of learning to love better and open our hearts.
perhaps this is what our loved ones, who have passed, are trying to tell us.
~j
“In trying to deny that things are always changing, we lose our sense of the sacredness of life. It’s easy to forget that life and death are part of the natural scheme of things, intrinsic to our lives in an eternally shifting universe.”

~ Ronna Kobatznick
#DiaDeLosMuertos

#life #death #practice #love #meditation #buddhism #interdependence #change #family #relationships #ghosts

together we wake up…

  

Somewhere this very moment, 

babies are born, fathers are dying, mothers are grieving. 

Yet, pervading all is a 

groundless awareness, 

delicate and strong at the same time. Everything becomes we, 

a beating heart with a 

transparent, radiant smile. 

And we are awake

 ~Judith Simmer-Brown

Cecil…renewed call to Wake Up

  

Whether Walter James Palmer, as a proud trophy hunter, thought this hunt was legal or not (though apparently he was found guilty of poaching in a previous incident) is really beside the point.
After shooting Cecil, this majestic lion, with an arrow and then allowing him to experience pain and suffering for 40 hours as his life drained out of him, he finally ended Cecil life, beheading and skinning him.
The disconnection from another life, the perceived separation, the false hierarchy and inflated ego that leads to such cruelty, lack of empathy and recognition of another’s suffering, along with the lack of awareness of the consequences and repercussions of such actions is what concerns me. 
I do not know what fate will befall Mr. Palmer. And as a practitioner and cultivator of peace I cannot encourage more harm or an increase in suffering. But, I do hope that in the wake of such tragedy, an opportunity arises for not just Walter James Palmer, but all of us, to wake up.
~j
“We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.” 

~ Thich Nhat Hanh
“I do not care for happiness which is sought at the price of others’ suffering.”  

~ Siddhartha Gautama, The Buddha

are we willing?

Are we willing to listen?

Are we willing to see?

Our response to suffering, whether in Nepal, or Baltimore, or the arguments presented to the Supreme Court on this day, reflects our humanity and our ability to look and listen beyond our own perspective and our own initial emotional responses, from a place that reflects our interdependence, our capacity for compassion, and service to the principle of alleviating this world from suffering from where we are in this moment, with what we have in this moment, and who we are in this moment.
#interdependence #compassion #WeAreOne #Presence #look #listen #serve #Nepal #Baltimore #Equality #wisdom #peace #Life #Love

Nepal Earthquake Relief…

please consider giving some assistance  to Nepal and surrounding areas affected by this devastating earthquake, through a vetted, reputable charity. Charity Navigator is a wonderful resource to investigate. 

I have chosen Global Giving. they are well regarded, working with local groups to affect relief and assistance fast with first responders, health and food aid and into the long term. they have set up a specific funding page for the Nepal earthquake. #Nepal #NepalEarthquake

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/nepal-earthquake-relief-fund/

Donate Here

Planetary, the film…

  

in honor of Earth Day and in celebration of this beautiful gift that is this planet I watched (and subsequently purchased) this exquisite movie and wholeheartedly recommend that watch it. you can rent rather than purchase 🙂

namaste ~j

#PlanetaryTheMovie #Planetary #Earth #Interdependence #WeAreOne #PlanetaryCollective