Bodhi Day – Wake Up! Touch the earth…

December 9, 2020 ~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

yesterday (Dec 8th) was Bodhi Day, the day Mahayana Buddhists commemorate the enlightenment of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, 2600 years ago.
as the story goes, the Buddha was moved by the suffering he saw in life and felt upon seeing sickness, aging, and death. disenchanted with the excess from which he came, and the practice of extreme asceticism which he practiced for a time, he set out to meet life face to face as it is. practicing the middle way of neither aversion or grasping, he sat until he woke up. in waking up he became the Buddha, which simply means awakened or awakened one. meeting life with an open heart, with clarity and balance, he found freedom from suffering.
my favorite part of the story is when Buddha is tested by the demon Mara who eventually challenges Siddhartha’s ability and right to enlightenment as a mere human. the story goes – after not succumbing to Mara’s temptations, Mara challenged Siddhartha, “What right have you to be enlightened? Who will speak for you, who will bear witness for you?” sitting beneath the Bodhi tree, Siddhartha reached out his right hand and touched the earth, and the earth itself shook saying, “I bear you witness!”
this wasn’t just for the historical Buddha – it is for all buddhas, for you, for me. we too can wake up, we too have within us the ability to be with life as it is, to live open-hearted with clarity and balance, to be free and at peace.
may it be so.~j

#BodhiDay #Buddha #Buddhism #Mahayana #TouchingTheEarth #OpenHeart #WakeUp #WhoYouAre #JMWphotography #JinpaLhaga #photography

planting Seeds…

April 3, 2018 ~ jaysen ~ 1 Comment

When you plant seeds in the garden, you don’t dig them up every day to see if they have sprouted yet. You simply water them and clear away the weeds; you know that the seeds will grow in time. Similarly, just do your daily practice and cultivate a kind heart. Abandon impatience and instead be content creating the causes for goodness; the results will come when they’re ready.

Thubten Chodron

#PlantingSeeds #TheLongArc #goodness #kindness #patience #cultivation #wisdom #DoGood #LetGo #Zen #JMWphotography #BWphotography #photography

a weed doesn’t call itself a weed…

March 28, 2018 ~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

what would happen if we were to look at ourselves with naked eyes? with eyes anew and fresh?

what would we see if we stripped the inner critic of their weapons of war? their eroding judgements looming large?

what would happen if we were to befriend this body with its hills and valleys, wounds and scars?

outside of the projections, stories and myth, this incarnation, this body where space and time have met to dance has only one name: beauty.

a weed doesn’t call itself a weed.

#beauty #life #SeeYourself #TrueSeeing #nonjudgement #kindness #compassion #sacred #PlantingSeeds #OpenHeart #TheLongArc #JMWphotography #BWphotography #photography

to yield…

March 14, 2018 ~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

in my own life and in the lives of others i’ve seen it time and again. the effort to control, to grasp, to always go to battle leads to increased suffering. it exhausts us and our relationships. and though it may demonstrate a short term success, it rarely lasts and the cost can be very high.

we think to yield is to surrender, to give up, and we are severely averse to such a notion. our egos just won’t have it.

however, to yield is quite different than surrendering or giving up. to skillfully yield, we are called to employ our creativity, alternative thinking, and wisdom. to skillfully yield, is to demonstrate a great strength.

#yield #strength #StayOpen #StayGentle #TheLongArc #LoveWins

the leaves fall…

March 9, 2018 ~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

the leaves fall

the grass grows

and so it is

with each passing day

of this precious

fleeting

life

every breath

a season of

now

just breathe

listen…

March 7, 2018 ~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

we could all benefit from better listening. listening, is an undervalued quality and skill. I think, especially in an era where everything is so fast moving and immediate.

true listening, conscious listening, is an act of patience, an act of openness, and an act of generosity.

true listening is also an act of letting go and allowance. it involves releasing our own agenda, and truly listening to what is being said, what we are hearing.

our participation is one of silence, which is something most of us seem uncomfortable with. but, if we are willing to be curious – to be open, then when we truly listen, we learn new things and we grow, and our awareness is heightened.

true listening it’s not just with the ears, it is also with the heart.

#listening #listen #StayOpen #StayCurious #NoAgenda #LetGo #LetGoAndGrow #awareness #practice #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds #enso #Zen #Buddhism #JMWart

let go…

March 6, 2018 ~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

“Let go of the illusion of control.” ~ Master Oogway

To “let go” may be the greatest teaching and perhaps the most challenging. We find security in control, but it is only an illusion. All things in life arise and pass, all things are changing moment to moment. And control, like all things, is fleeting. Holding on to that which by its nature will change, trying to keep it from changing, brings us suffering. We are chained to a self-imagined outcome. We are not free. Life is not free. This can hurt us and those around us. Letting go, staying open, brings some peace to us and those around us.

I have a phrase I sometimes use when meditating. Breathing in I say in my mind, “May I hold all of life in love.” Breathing out I say in my mind, “And in love, may I let go…”

The great teacher Ajahn Chah has said, “If you let go a little, you will have a little happiness. If you let it go a lot, you will have a lot of happiness. If you let go completely, you will be free.”

Letting go should not be confused with inaction or indifference. Especially in a time of activism, as we are in now. We are still called forth by the suffering in the world, from our empathy and compassion, to tend to this life and those in it, to relieve and end suffering where we can. We do the good work, the kind work, but we do so not dependent on the outcome. We do so regardless of praise or blame. This can be really challenging in a culture such as ours, so driven on outcomes and a particular vision of “success.” Can we do good and kind work, simply because it is good and kind? Can we do good and kind work, knowing that we may not see fruition in our day, but we are perhaps planting seeds that may bring benefit in the days ahead?

#TheLongArc #LetGo #BeFree #PlantingSeeds #NoControl #Flow #peace #empathy #compassion #suffering #enso #Zen #Buddhism #JMWart