“Our lives are like the plants, floating along the water’s edge, illumined by the moon.”
~ Ryokan
held.
carried.
we reflect
the beauty
of this life
given
for a time.
and then
given back
just as easily
and all too quickly.
~j
nature
come home…
“Nature is not a place to visit.
It is home.”
~
Gary Snyder
outdoor meditation today.
grateful.
~j
bearing witness for the Earth…
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
simply exist, exist simply…
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
love thy neighbor…
after winter, spring…
it is all right here…
it is all right here
wind dancing through sleeping trees
birds singing, “Wake up!”
~j
02.26.17
renunciation, for benefit…
after nearly 12 years of being vegetarian, this year for Lent, moved and inspired by my Buddhist practice and a desire to lessen aggression and increase compassion within myself I am giving up dairy to lean more into being vegan.
renunciation is a sacrifice, but it can be a sacrifice for benefit – for oneself and for those around us, even extending from our own little microcosm out into the macrocosm of life including animals.
All beings tremble before violence.
All fear death. All love life.
See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt?
What harm can you do?
He who seeks happiness
by hurting those who seek happiness
will never find happiness.
~ from the Dhammapada (translated by Thomas Byrom)
Those who wish
to protect themselves and others
swiftly should practice the great secret:
exchanging oneself for others.
~ Shantideva
Every living thing,
without exception,
is a song
written in the heart
of the Beloved.
~j
perspective from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche…
wise perspective in the times ahead. while this is most certainly always the case, I think this perspective has a special benefit now with all that is happening in the world. we must still be engaged and put our values, ethics, morals into action. however, holding this perspective and surrendering to the flow of life may keep us from being overwhelmed…
~j
“There are times to cultivate and create, when you nurture your world and give birth to new ideas and ventures. There are times of flourishing and abundance, when life feels in full bloom, energized and expanding. And there are times of fruition, when things come to an end. They have reached their climax and must be harvested before they begin to fade. And finally of course, there are times that are cold, and cutting and empty, times when the spring of new beginnings seems like a distant dream. Those rhythms in life are natural events. They weave into one another as day follows night, bringing, not messages of hope and fear, but messages of how things are.” ― Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
fall in love with life…
fall in love with life…
“Every day, priests minutely examine the Dharma and endlessly change complicated sutras. Before doing that, though, they should learn how to read the love letters sent by the wind and rain, the snow and moon.” ~ Ikkyu
#love #life #nature #ItIsAllHere #dharma #Ikkyu #zen #JMWphotos #JMWart
The Metta Garden 