meditations

just because…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

Just because 

you feel certain, 

doesn’t mean you are in the right.

Just because 

you have heard the song of truth, 
doesn’t mean you’ve got the only moves.

All of us can dance 
and the floor is open to everyone.

So

Take a deep breath, 

then another, 

and sit down here 
at this table of 
communion and humility.

All you need to bring with you, 

is your beautiful, 
wounded heart 
and
the willingness to listen…

~j

when you love, you love…

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Bug Walk medium

 

“Someone has said, ‘To be a saint is to have loved many things’ —many things —
the tree, the dog, the sky, the flowers, even the color of someone’s clothing.
You see, when you love, you love, and love extends to everything all the time and everywhere.”
~ Richard Rohr

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalom quote…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

“There are people who advocate and practice compassionate listening, there are those who embrace voluntary simplicity, who remove the calluses from their hearts and keep them open to feel the pains of others. Seek them out, I urge you, and join them in their compassion.”
~ Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalom

the choice…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

LovePeaceHope

 
there is always a choice to choose the positive, to work within the great artistry of hope. there is also the choice to focus on the negative, to undermine and work for the purpose of failure, to lie in bed with cynicism.
 
…before making that choice, it helps to remember that everything – EVERY THING you have is a Gift. yes, it is good if you have worked hard and achieved. but remind the ego that you wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the stars, the minerals, the elements, if it weren’t for the biology, the chemistry, or your ancestors. all of these have given the right circumstances, the perfect combination of Gift that has afforded the opportunity for you to manifest in this life, in this world at this time.
 
now, take a deep breath and go do some good. work for good. work for peace. work for community. work for kindness and compassion. be a servant to Love. and then see, yes see, all the beauty you bring to Life.
 
~ j

carry the Lamp of Love…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment
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

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