“In the struggle between the stone and water, in time, the water wins.” ~Japanese Proverb
love and light will endure, friends. align yourselves with and center yourselves in love. and keep on keeping on ~j
#MeditateAndResist #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #LoveWins #FlowLikeARiver #bodhisattvas #TheResistance
You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep Spring from coming.
~ Pablo Neruda
friends ~
love is the spring. your open heart and your love, have the power to awaken this world. so, center yourself in openness and love no matter the outside forces, moving forward with empathy and compassion, working to lessen the suffering in the world.
~j
our path is to contribute to the work of love, in smalls ways and large, planting seeds for the long arc. we can take heart in our work, knowing that even as we face what seems an overwhelming darkness at times, even the tiniest of light brings hope. after winter there is spring, after night there is the dawn.
~j
05.21.17
The other person is not our enemy.
Our enemies are misunderstanding,
discrimination, violence, hatred,
and anger.
~
Thich Nhat Hanh
I love this teaching. It is deceptively challenging. On the face of it, most would probably agree (though some may not). However, when put into practice, I think most of us will find we fall short of honoring these wise words.
In a time such as now, when so much feels at stake and emotions are heightened (and for good reason), the easier path is to assign blame to one person or a group of people and go in for the kill. It is easier to have a face to direct our anger, our grief, our confusion. It even feels good! However good this feels in the short term, and however much it may motivate and seem to contribute to a resolution, in the long run it remains a delusion and contributes to cyclical suffering, fueling the very enemies we are working to defeat.
We will only be successful in our struggle, in this movement, when our motivation to act is fueled by a fierce compassion, born of a love that seeks the end of suffering for all beings, even those who act in harmful ways and contribute to the suffering we are fighting to liberate from.
This is the challenge of our time. In an era where we seek targets to blame and scapegoats for our suffering, can we with fierce compassion, work for the very solid cause of defeating fascism, defeating racism, defeating homophobia and transphobia, defeating policies that dismiss the poor, the sick, the elderly? Can we do this without demonizing individuals, even as we tirelessly work for their removal from positions of power, and work against the harmful policies and suffering their ideology causes? Buddhism and other contemplative practices say we can. And in fact, when we do we are honoring our true nature and not adding to the suffering. When we act out of fierce compassion, born from love, we upend the true enemies we seek to defeat: confusion, discrimination, violence, hatred, and anger. And in doing so, we are planting seeds toward the long arc, contributing to the end of suffering for all people. Then we are acting as bodhisattvas in this world. And this world, especially now, needs as many bodhisattvas as it can get.
We begin with our own hearts.
~j
05.19.17
to my mom and all moms – thank you for teaching love!!Happy Mother’s Day!
“Like a caring mother holding and guarding the life of her only child, So with a boundless heart hold yourself and all beings.”
~
The Buddha
perhaps we are here
simply to bear witness
to the world
her
suffering and joy
all the while reminding her
in the thickness of morning
and
the surrender into night
she is beautiful
and
she is loved.
~j
05.03.17
…real love and truth
are stronger in the end
than any evil or misfortune
in the world.
~
Charles Dickens
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
The Metta Garden 