presence

Oh this life, this life!

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

  
“Buddha told a parable in a sutra:

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another Tiger was waiting to eat him. 

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the fine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!”
~ a Zen parable as retold in the book, “Zen Flesh Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings” compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki

the experience of our life as it is…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

  

“…disasters do happen and our pictures of how our life should be are blown away. Then we have a choice: do we face the disaster directly and make it our practice or do we run once again, learning nothing and compounding our difficulties? If we want a life that’s peaceful and productive, what do we need? We need the ability (which we learn slowly and unwillingly) to be the experience of our life as it is.”
~ Charlotte Joko Beck

meditation is a practice…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

  

meditation is a practice


coming back to reality ~
here i am. 

this is my breath coming in 

and going out.

this is my body aching or at rest.
hearing the sounds of this moment.

taking care of oneself in this reality ~
i feel my body. i feel any tension or pain.

i hold it with tenderness and breathe into it
and breathe out of it. 
i hear the confusion in my mind.
thoughts racing nowhere.
i hold this feeling with understanding
and compassion.
letting go and coming back to my breath. 
i hear the lovely sounds of life around me.
i am grateful and smile.

staying open to reality ~
my heart has the capacity to hold 

the entire world and all of life.
my mind, the wisdom to let go. 
i stay open to the present, 
trusting life and my true nature, 
trusting the capacity of my heart to 
stay open and grow.  
and in this space of understanding 
and compassion 
– in this openness – 
i am able to be of benefit 
to others’ well being 
and their end to suffering 
as well as my own.

~j

beauty is waiting, love is calling…

~ jaysen ~ 1 Comment

tibetan prayer flags

 

the thing is, around every corner beauty is waiting to be seen,
anxiously calling our attention.

and love.
love is calling to be held close and to be given away.

beauty and love.

sometimes they are disguised as the wind dancing through and with the
willing, swaying trees.
sometimes they are disguised as the little ants working together in
purpose or in laughter from a good joke, or the taste of your favorite
food, or the look in your beloved’s eyes.
sometimes they are hidden in struggle and grief, pain and loss.

but they are always present.

can we see the beauty in our broken moments?
can we hold ourselves with love?

sometimes the beauty we find and the love we discover are in how we
respond to life.

we have the capacity of heart to respond to life with openness, with a
spacious quality that allows.  love allows.

so we still ourselves.
becoming aware of our breath.
we listen with fresh ears.
we look deeply.
and we stay open.

everything is a miracle, every moment sacred.

~j
02.13.15

i am here to be Love…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

…i’m a bit behind with this, because stayed offline for most of yesterday until that late hours. this is a favorite quote near this time of year and i think a wonderful meditations peace:
“We are all meant to be mothers of God…for God is always needing to be born.” ~ Meister Eckhart

…for me this manifests in a mantra that i use to use – “i am here to Love…”
this mantra has evolved a bit this past year into “i am here to be Love…”

surely, true love is a choice and more of a verb because it comes to life in our actions, our kindness and compassion. but can we take it one step further and be willing and open to be an incarnation of Love? are we willing and open to embody Love? where we are aware that Love is our very ground of being, where Love is our reference point, our compass, our lens to see through, and our vehicle to move in?

…something to think about.
~j
12.26.14

to be love ENSO original