MindfulResistance

#MarchForOurLives

~ jaysen ~ 2 Comments

change is possible.

we can choose peace. we can choose to live in a society that creates a culture of nonviolence and values life more than a weapon of war. a society and culture that sees the life of others as more valuable and sacred than a hobby or some far stretched interpretation of the Second Amendment, that impedes on and jeopardizes another’s’ life.

what we saw today were seeds, some planted long ago in blood and grief and some all too recent, being born to life.

i’m inspired by the strength i see from these young people, their focus and poise, their authenticity, their courage, their persistence.

grateful for them and all of the students i saw today marching, the teachers, the artists, the veterans who see a continued call to serve – still honoring their oath to protect and see sensible and desperately needed gun reform as part of that, lending their voice.

pictures (some me by me and some by my friends at the march today) of beautiful friends with incredible hearts and beautiful strangers with incredible hearts below ✊🏻😌❤️🙏🏻📿

#MarchForOurLivesSD #MarchForOurLives #ENOUGH #NeverAgain #EndGunViolence #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #EngagedBuddhist #EngagedBuddhism #MindfulResistanc

inexhaustible love…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

Our power is love.

Inexhaustible.

Found in our open hearts.
Vulnerable, tender, brave,
and strong beyond measure.

No one can take this away.

It is the weapon of the oppressed,
that eventually defeats the oppressor,
who in ignorance
underestimates its power,
its reach.

It is the long arc.

~j

#LoveWins #TheLongArc #inexhaustible #OpenHeart #PlantingSeeds #TheResistance #MeditateAndResist #MindfulResistance #EngagedBuddhism #EngagedArt #JMWart

#rise

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

Whether we remain the ash

or become the phoenix

is up to us.

~

Ming-Dao Deng

#TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #StandUp #SpeakUp #Rise #TheResistance #MindfulResistance #MeditateAndResist #Phoenix #enso #FlameEnso #FireEnso #JMWart

a marathon, not a sprint…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

so impressed with the multitudes marching yesterday. looking through the pictures i see so much to be inspired by.

a lot of love, passion, light and humor.

this is what democracy looks like.

and the continued persistence of this movement will be needed.

despite my critic friends, i would have loved to have seen the President do an about face and grow into this job, but many of us knew that wouldn’t happen and it hasn’t. i’ve been called out for not being fair and not carrying a neutral position. i disagree with that opinion. i firmly believe that a year in, any fair assessment continues to shed light on the consistent destructive nature of this Administration and Presidency. i believe it cuts through to the moral core of our hearts and the very fiber of our democracy. so being neutral in the face of such harm is not my path and not an option. i will continue to add my voice and my art mindfully and peacefully to #resist any actions that result in the degradation of our planet, any actions that target those on the margins and most vulnerable, and policies that deepen the divide of wealth in favor of the most elite. and i will continue to do so from a place of love and fierce compassion, calling out all forms of aggression and violence as best and consistently as i am able.

the road may be long, but it is well traveled by generations of open hearts before us who stood in the light with love, as they faced darkness.

~j

November 8th, 2018

#TheLongArc #TheResistance #PlantingSeeds #LoveWins #WomensMarch #MindfulResistance #MeditateAndResist #StandUp #SpeakOut

#RiseUp

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

last year i was marching, joining tens of thousands of others through the streets is downtown San Diego, joining hundreds of thousands in other cities around this country, joining millions around the world, rising up and speaking out.

i am unable to march this year, but my heart is there with so many courageous and caring souls putting their passion to the pavement.

it is still so necessary. the attack on our lands, on immigrants, on others in the margins – Muslims, people of color, women, LGBTQ, elderly, poor, sick is ongoing. not always in big ways, but in little ways chipped away and ignored with more salacious headlines. the Russia issue continues to reveal that it is much deeper and goes much further than thought. and a twitterstorm of fake news, insults, continues to stream out of phone coddling fingers of a leader who golfs and holds court at his private resort every weekend.

there’s a lot to be concerned about and speak to. may we of sound mind continue to retain focus, avoid false equivalence, persist in our resistance, and ensure our passion – our drive is motivated from fierce compassion and unwavering love for that which is true, kind, and open-hearted. may it be put into action with our feet, our hands, our voices, and our art.

truth will out, love will win, and light will shine bright.

#TheResistance #RiseUp #resist #StandUp #SpeakOut #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #LoveWins #FierceCompassion #MindfulResistance #MeditateAndResist

The Metta Sutta

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness and who knows the path of peace. Let them be able and upright, straightforward and gentle of speech, humble and not conceited, contented and easily satisfied, unburdened by duties and frugal in their ways, calm and wise and skillful, not proud or demanding in nature. Let them not do the slightest thing that the wise would later reprove. Wishing in gladness and in safety, may all beings be at ease, whatever living beings there may be. Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none: — the great or the mighty, medium or short or small, the seen and the unseen, those living near or far away, those born and to be born. May all beings be at ease.

Let none deceive another or despise any being in any state that none through anger or ill will wish harm upon another. Even as a mother protects the life of her child — her only child, so with a boundless heart should we cherish all living beings. Radiating kindness over the entire world, spreading upward to the skies, downward to the depths, outward and unbounded, free from hatred and ill will. Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down, free from drowsiness one should sustain this recollection. This is said to be the sublime abiding. By not holding to fixed views the pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision, being freed from all sense desires, is not born again into this world.

~

The Buddha

from “The Metta Sutta”

#TheMettaSutta #LovingKindness #Metta #wisdom #life #bodhisattvas #Buddhism #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #MindfulResistance #JMWart

breathe…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

…and repeat.

you can do this. your heart is stronger and more resilient than you may yet know.

#breathe #JustBreathe #YouGotThis #YouCanDoIt #StayOpen #StrongerThanYouThink #TheLongArc #TheResistance #MindfulResistance

advice for our President regarding nuclear war…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

in response to the President, some wisdom from Thomas Merton. and may we, my friends, substitute “Christian” as “human” and/or “humane and sane” because all of us need to participate in this mission no matter our spiritual tradition or of we have no spiritual tradition.

~j

“(the) task is to work for the total abolition of war. There can be no question that unless war is abolished, the world will remain constantly in a state of madness and desperation in which, because of the immense destructive power of modern weapons, the danger of catastrophe will be imminent and probable at every moment everywhere. The church must lead the way on the road to the nonviolent settlement of difficulties and toward the gradual abolition of war as the way of settling international or civil disputes. Christians must become active in every possible way, mobilizing all their resources for the fight against war. Peace is to be preached and nonviolence is to be explained and practiced. We may never succeed in this campaign but whether we succeed or not, the duty is evident.”

~Thomas Merton

listen…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

one of our greatest skills and assets, listening with our hearts.

~j

#listen #OpenHeart #wisdom #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #MindfulResistance #MeditateAndResist #TheResistance #Zen #Buddhism #enso #JMWart