peace
may we be free of aggression and violence…
goodness, the violence. i don’t know the details, but may all be safe.
we must stand firm in our resolve to not succumb to aggression and violence as a resolution to even our most passionate disagreements. and we must avoid the temptation to quickly politicize and use aggression, violence, or any tragedy to advantage an agenda.
may we remember who we are, our interdependence. my we listen and try to get to the root of anger that it may be transformed and healed rather than transmitted, giving birth to more anger, aggression, and violence.
may we all be remedies to suffering, not causes.
~j
#interdependence #nonaggression #nonviolence #LoveWins #PlantingSeeds #TheLongArc #peace #TheResistance #MeditateAndResist #TheMettaGarden
may we be healed…
“All healing is first a healing of the heart.”~ Carl Townsend
war or peace?…
Every day, at the moment when things get edgy,
we can just ask ourselves,
“Am I going to practice peace, or am I going to war?”
~
Pema Chödrön
let the mind stay…
The world is swirling around, a sound over here, a sight over there.
Confusion is an easy companion of distraction.
Where is balance and harmony, when the mind wants to run?
Let the mind stay…
~j
Song of Paldarbom
by Shepa Dorje, the yogi Mila Milarepa
I can contemplate the sky,
But clouds make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on clouds.
“If the sky’s as easy as you say,
Clouds are just the sky’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within the sky.”
I can contemplate the sea,
But waves make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on waves.
“If the sea’s as easy as you say,
Waves are just the sea’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within the sea.”
I can contemplate my mind,
But thoughts make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on thoughts.
“If your mind’s as easy as you say,
Thoughts are just the mind’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within your mind.”
Palm Sunday reflection…
doing lovingkindness meditation today for so many at the receiving end of horrific violence including Egypt today, and Syria. sitting with the darkness of such anger and violence, in contrast to the Palm Sunday message of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on the humble donkey as a prince of peace, as opposed to a king of war.
the transformative message of the deep and lasting power (love) present in openness and vulnerability – seemingly powerlessness – is still waiting to take hold. it has to take hold in each of our hearts first…
#LovingKindness #metta #meditation #love #vulnerability #peace #PalmSunday #Jesus #war #violence #anger #darkness #light #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds
just passing through…
Leave your front door
and your back door open.
Allow your thoughts
to come and go.
Just don’t serve them tea.
~
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
no place like Om…
because love calls us to…
Despite what this Administration says, the welfare and safety of our transgender youth is not a States’ Rights issue.
It is a Human Rights issue. Plain and simple.
Creating and supporting an environment that is safe and affirming for all of our youth, including and especially those who are marginalized and vulnerable is in the best interest of all of us as a society and only asks that we open our hearts. It does not require our agreement, or even our full understanding. All it asks of us is our empathy and compassion.
If you find yourself resistant to this, there is a wonderful Buddhist meditation practice called Metta, or Lovingkindness meditation. It is a training in opening the heart.
In Metta, we begin with offering to ourselves, using the phrases:
May I be happy
May I be safe
May I be free from suffering
Then we offer to others, using the phrases:
May you be happy
May you be safe
May you be free from suffering
Offering to a loved one, then to a benefactor. Offering to someone we may be aware of, but do not really know. Then to someone with whom we may be in disagreement or find we have some negative feelings toward. Then we offer to all beings, all of life.
We can surely also offer this practice to those whom we may not understand, for those who are different from us, who hold different views, who have a life experience different from ours.
Compassion is love offered and put into action out of the tenderness and softness of our hearts. It is not something we give to only those we agree with or for whom we think merit its benefits. It is a gift we give, simply because it is there and it is needed. It benefits the giver as well as the recipient.
Stand with our youth, stand with our transgender family, because love calls us to do so.
~j
02.22.17
from love, we act…
we must find our inspiration and motivation within love if we are going to last and succeed in resistance.
what we are seeing is a lust for power and money. a grasping (though meticulously planned and manipulated) at all costs and at the expense of anyone who gets in the way. light a bunch of fires in many directions, and quickly, one after another. a divide and conquer that will exhaust us and diminish us.
what they aren’t counting on, and perhaps have no awareness of, is that Love is inexhaustible. and our Love put into action for the benefit of those suffering (including ourselves) is compassion. and what we need is a fierce compassion that is in for the long arc, knowing that Love will win.
Love is not weak, quite the opposite. and their ignorance to that will eventually be their downfall.
but it will take us, all of us, as a community – a sangha – working from our love, putting our fierce compassion into action. peacefully, but disruptively and persistently.
~j
#MeditateAndResist #Resist #TheLongArc #LoveWins #FierceCompassion #Bodhisattva #OffTheCushionIntoTheWorld #Peace #SocialJustice #Heal #Love #PlantingSeeds
The Metta Garden 