January, 2021
It’s been such a very bizarre 4 years of unfortunate politics, conflicts and political turmoil in America… I’ve felt so much frustration, confusion and conflict…
And this past year…the virus…. I’ve felt so much fear… uncertainty… loss. I’ve felt so increasingly vulnerable as the virus spread in our area, across America and around the world. I’ve been feeling stunned by such tragic inequities of the impacts of the virus on vulnerable groups of people, the refusal of people to recognize the dangers of the virus, the refusal of so many people to wear masks to protect vulnerable people. I’ve felt so much anger… felt so many fears, concerns and worries…
To cope with the dismay of 4 years of political turmoil, virus fears, confusions and impacts and ONE FULL YEAR of close to 100% stay-home social isolation, I may have…
“braced myself”
“hunkered down”
“closed down”
“frozen” my heart
I seem to have unintentionally cut myself off from senses of warmheartedness…
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Recently, however, I’ve been recognizing and realizing that living with senses of a braced-heart, a closed-heart, a frozen-heart is, or might be, bringing no benefit to anyone…not to the wonderful people in my family, not to the wonderful friends in my life, not to the abundance of wonderful people in the wider world… and… not to myself… absolutely no benefits … none at all….and perhaps I’m even unintentionally contributing to unhealthy habitual emotional patterns and greater potentials for more losses or harms……?????
Therefore, I’m realizing and recognizing the deeper need for me to see the importance for me to at least TRY to shift out of those senses of a “frozen” heart… to at least TRY to focus instead upon warming up my heart in whatever ways I’m able to do …and then to connect with and share the goodness of my warm heart with others … and to recommit to contributing in whatever ways I can to the benefits of others…
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So…
choosing to begin again…
exploring and experimenting
with ways to be nurturing and sharing a
warmer, good, kind, full, strong, clear, light, bright and open heart
with those around me.
realizing the importance of happily sharing this
warmer, good, kind, full, strong, clear, light, bright and open heart
I sooooo fervently wish to
re-connect with feeling
warm hearted…..
good hearted….
kind hearted…
full hearted…
light hearted…
bright hearted…
strong hearted …
clear hearted …
. . . . . . open hearted . . . . . .
“I sincerely wish to feel more warmhearted again…”
“This is a heartfelt wish that I have……”
Kathy
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A welcoming hello…. to anyone who happens upon this blog… I offer you a very warm and sincere welcome…
I’m in the process of creating and adding to this blog each day out of my sincere wish to re-inspire and nurture my abilities to actually live with deeper senses of a warm heart, compassion and wisdom... the Bodhisattva commitment to living with increasingly deeper senses of wisdom and compassion…
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I know that a variety of stunningly deep struggles are continuing to be common these days…
Equally common, however, are the precious, heartfelt aspirations of so many people to live with a warm heart, compassion and wisdom….
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Below is a powerful, heartfelt aspiration I have been engaging with over the past many months … to do everything I can during these pandemic times of worries, fears, concerns and social isolation… for me to do whatever I can to come out “the other side of these many months” … a person with expanding vision, increasing intellectual vigor, deepening spiritual character, deepening and broader wisdom and more freely flowing and living with senses of goodness and gentle grace… ready to meet this “emerging” world again …ready to engage and contribute wherever and however I can in increasingly compassionate and wise ways…
So, this is a wish that I have…..
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And here are some of the strengths and qualities that I know I’ve lived and continue to live …. “strengths” and “lived qualities” that I can access, use, and live during these many months ahead… in support of coping with ongoing stresses … and even more important… engaging with my heartfelt aspirations…..
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“Common Humanity”
“May each of us support ALL Beings in achieving these heartfelt wishes”
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“The ‘Root Element’ of Bodhichitta is Compassion“
The Bohdhisattva’s Garland of Jewels
by Lama Atisha 982 CE – 1054 CE
Teachings by Gyumed Khensur Lobsang Jampa
Jan and Feb. 2015
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“The Six Perfections”
Generosity, Patience, Joyful Effort, Ethical Choices, Concentration, Wisdom
The budding and blossoming of ….this amazing wisteria in our back yard…
The budding and blossoming of… The Six Perfections in my everyday life
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“The Four Immeasurables”
Love, Compassion, Rejoicing, Equanimity
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“There’s so much you can rejoice in!”
from The Easy Path, First Panchen Lama (1570CE – 1662CE)
Easy Path book (2013) and teachings
by Gyumed Khensur Lobsang Jampa
“Rejoicing”
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“There’s so much you can rejoice in!”
Gyumed Khensure Lobsang Jampa
Rejoicing….
aspirations as we’re working toward developing
deeper senses of Bodhichitta,
Compassion, Wisdom and Generosity
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Joyful effort
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“To develop a sense of appreciation of this wonderful life we have.
And to do this all with warmth, love and appreciation”
Ven. Jampa Choepal
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“For the tiniest moment, in the great span of eternity,
you have the incomparable privilege to exist”
Bill Bryson
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“To really live to the fullest, this precious life we have been given”
Ven. Jampa Choepal
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“Life changes… so make the most of this very moment right now.”
Ven. Jampa Choepal
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“Shantideva’s Prayer”
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Part 2 of this blog
What may have happened?
How might I be able to shift?
What might I try?
I’m guessing that many of us might currently be struggling with reconnecting with our own senses of warm hearts…the ideas below are turning out to be very helpful for me….maybe some ideas below might be helpful for some of us?
In Part 2, I’m figuring out what may have happened that may have contributed to a sense of having “closed down” and seeming to have lost a former sense of warmheartedness.
I continue by exploring and figuring out how I may have actually interacted with the many national and world crises that made things worse for myself…
exploring… questioning…wondering… aspiring…
(and..btw……. March 16, 2021 spoiler alert!…. I DO seem to have reconnected more often with senses of warm-heartedness and brigh-heartedness! This seems to have happened through the many weeks, since early January, that I’ve been exploring what may have happened and trying to figure out how to nurture and stimulate senses of warmheartedness as I was creating this blog. So, I actually have gotten back to having way more frequent and steadier senses of warmheartedness and bright-theartedness in my everyday life!!! Now, isn’t that amazing?!?!?!)
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And so I welcome you,
whomever you might be,
to browse through all of this blog…
to linger upon any images or quotes that resonate or warm you heart…
perhaps….
as we’re browsing the beginning parts of Part 2 of this blog….
imagine wandering curiously and happily
amongst a delight-filled field of wildflowers…???
a blog filled with an abundance of “wildflowers…”
immersing ourselves, as we browse in “symbolic wildflower fields”
filled with little surprises, inspirations, joys and delights…
wandering happily along each of the “paths”
through fields filled with metaphorical “wildflowers”
visions, thoughts, insights and feelings
of warmth, joy, delight, compassion, insight and wisdom
welcome to the beginning part of this blog
welcome to….. my fields of wildflowers….
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Maybe…just maybe… in addition to nurturing senses of a warm heart…
Maybe…just maybe… I might be able, at times, to get back to feeling bright-hearted, again
ohhhhhhhhh…
how wonderful that might be!
Now…wouldn’t that be just amazing?!?!?!?!
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Just like our hearts, fields or wildflowers have some areas that are still developing… soils continually replenishing… seeds continually scattering and germinating, sprouts continually appearing…
Opening our hearts to… scattering seeds, germinating seeds and sprouting seeds of acceptance, kindness, warmheartedness, compassion, wisdom
wandering… browsing… exploring…
mingling within
increasingly open circles of
“common humanity”…
circles inspiring us
to live with increasingly warm hearts, compassion and wisdom
“Welcome to the Circle”
a truly lovely, heartfelt song by Betsy Rose
Welcome to this circle…
a circle of compassion…...
generated from and through
our warm and open hearts…
Looking at those lyrics…
answering those questions with a willingness to be honest..
“Yes” … I’m so sorry to say that I do sometimes feel …
“I have a burden that feels too much to bear…” … yes…
“a bitterness that I don’t know how to share…” …. yes…
“get too angry to breath to laugh to pray” …. yes…
But… I have a deep wish to learn to become strong and courageous enough
to learn ways to balance those challenges out and to remember and take comfort in an awareness that… I’m not alone in this quest … “there’s no one in this circle who has never felt this way.”
Just like those delightful fields of wildflowers have areas that are still developing… our hearts are also replenishing soil, scattering seeds, sprouting seeds… in this case, seeds and sprouts of acceptance, kindness, warmheartedness, compassion and wisdom as we’re opening our hearts wide enough to be able to accept any senses of “brokenheartedness”
And so….
I’m trying to learn to be “open-hearted” enough
to recognize and accept
the variety of ongoing states of “broken-heartedness” I feel
Gentle this heart….
The Window
By Leonard Cohen…
” Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love
Oh tangle of matter and ghost
Oh darling of angels, demons and saints
And the whole broken-hearted host
Gentle this soul”
exquisitely beautiful…. gentle this heart
may this heart become increasingly gentle
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I’m trying to be open-hearted enough
to be able to live kindly and compassionately
with any ongoing variety of senses of a “broken heart”
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But …
for me to ALSO become openhearted enough
to see the wisdom of shifting into
a variety of other senses of heart…
warm heart, clear heart, strong heart, bright heart, light heart…
so many potential states of our hearts
“welcome to the circle”
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Ohhhhh….
how wonderful it might be…
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Ohhhh….
how wonderful it would be…
if I could feel more warmhearted again….
if I could feel more openhearted again….
hmmm…..
I wonder if I could do that???
I wonder if I can do that???
yes…. I think that might be possible….
yes….. I think I can try to do that…
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Encouraging
“Figuring Out” and “Exploring”
A Variety of Ways to Nurture Warmheartedness
Here are several lists, above and below, of really helpful “figuring out” strategies that I put together several years ago as I was attempting to be…. lists I can use again now!
* figuring out how to refurbish and set up a WONDERFUL summer home in the mountains of New Hampshire, 3000 miles away
* figuring out how to pack our car with a summer’s worth of clothing and supplies…also including our beloved little doggie Lila, and drive across country to New Hampshire in June and drive back to California in September
* figuring out how to adapt to multi-day PGE power outages and find other power sources…or do without power
* figuring out how to pack “go bags” in case of need to evacuate predicted wildfires
* figuring out…..etc….etc….etc…
The strategies on these “figuring out” lists were so helpful for guiding myself along! And I can use them again now!
Now, I’m continuing to use the lists now as I’m nurturing senses of a warm heart.
I consistently use the strategies on this list when I’m trying to do
* something I haven’t done before…
* .something I don’t quite know how to do…
* something I don’t have a clue how to do…
* something I might get discouraged about as I’m trying to do it ….
* something I don’t seem to have confidence that I’m capable of doing…or at least TRYING to do…..
There are great strategies on this list…. really helpful!
And so… I continue to use this variety of strategies on this list as I’m engaging with this “project” … trying to figure out ways of reconnecting with living with a warmer heart, a brighter heart, a stronger heart….
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Using a variety of strategies,
as I’m exploring ways of nurturing warmer-heartedness
Here’s a list I use…especially as I’m exploring and experimenting with ways I might be able to develop this warmer heart.
This list helps me to change my focus from a “troubled” state of mind to more positive states of mind… using something very helpful called… “Positive Distraction”… or “Skillful Distraction” …really helpful! .
“Skillful Distraction”
Shifting my focus away from ______
Focusing instead upon_____
I’m trying to be strong enough and motivated enough to shift my focus away from possible negatives and to focus instead upon the many positives directly in front of me…
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Perhaps…. this might be similar to finding ways to open the “shutters” some of us, myself included, may have closed on each of our own hearts….
Learning how to open any closed “shutters” on our hearts by focusing instead upon positives around us … leading to letting an abundance of light come into our hearts …
And once any “shutters” are increasingly open, to continue to widen or broaden our awareness and capacities to actually look out and around… and perhaps to see a few…or maybe even an abundance … of delight-filled fields of “wildflowers”
Ohhhhh…. look!!!
Oh wow! I did manage to open those shutters! Oh wow!
At least in this moment….
I can see wildflowers now!
I can see whole fields of wildflowers!
Wow!! How wonderful!!!! Wow!!
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There’s such a variety of strengths and qualities
any of us might be able to access and use…
to support feeling more open-hearted and warmhearted again…
Below are a list of “character strengths” … results from VIA Character Strengths survey I took, January 2021…
(btw…I’ve had had a VERY narrow living context for the past year due to being in close to 100% “stay home virus isolation” …so results of that VIA survey may be skewed by that narrowing of life contexts and life situations…but most of the results still look valid to me, in spite of that limitation…I’ve taken this survey over the past 10 years, and results are similar each time….except for “spirituality” which made a huge jump this time, up to the top of this list... hmmmm…. ??? …. I wonder if “stay home social isolation” might have aspects of or conditions of of a spiritual retreat???
BTW… disclosure…. there are actually 24 VIA strengths, but I didn’t like how one particular quality/strength came in 24th, so I took that 24th quality off this results list … I would have placed it around 12th : )))
Hey!… wait a minute!!!
now that I think more about it !!!
maybe I WILL rearrange those strengths,
consistent with how I think I live them in my life!
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“If ferns can sprout and grow again….
then so can I ….”
Photos of ferns in our backyard…February 15, 2021, just starting to sprout and grow again… tiny as can be right now …but in a few months, they’ll grow to be huge and lush again!!
“If they can sprout and grow AGAIN… then so can I ….”
March 17, 2021…
the continuing re-emergence and re-growth of SEVEN ferns in our backyard!
The continuing re-emergence and re-growth, in “myself” ….
of senses of a warmer heart…a brighter heart
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Inspiring and strengthening myself with heart-warming “Fern Pages“
Below are some “Fern” pages I created in late spring of 2020, to try to comfort myself as I was trying to stay balanced amidst politics that were crazy, people who were acting with bizarre cruelty, the virus was spreading rapidly and I had been in 100% stay-home social isolation since the beginning of March… using inspiring photos of my very favorite fern growing in our backyard to help nurture and guide myself
Last year, that beloved fern got repeatedly, unexpectedly cut back to the ground …
I’d get dismayed when that happened because I loved that fern and was using it for inspiration for myself to grow … or to grow back again!
Well, it would grow back AGAIN and I’d be soooooooo happy about that… that fern was like my very own “Wilson,” the soccer ball, from the Tom Hanks movie “Cast Away” …. the fern was a deeply inspiring, heartwarming companion as I was living on what felt to me like being a “castaway” my very own socially isolated “island.”
But then!!! ….in late June 2020, the huge, lush, beautiful fern got cut back AGAIN and my inspiration was gone again!! I was dismayed and crestfallen!
Well, that fern offered me amazing amounts of inspiration, hope and courage…but it also seemed to be offering continuing life lessons to simply continue to grow… repeatedly getting “cut back” by life circumstances.. …grow again… getting cut back again by life circumstances… grow again and again and again….
I was truly inspired by the beauty of the growth and regrowth of that fern and by the photos and ideas in these reminder “fern pages”
Uh oh! Wait a minute… I just realized something a few minutes ago!!! Thistle alert!
( this “awareness” does not feel like a delightful “wildflower” kind of awareness… maybe a bit more like walking through “a patch of thistles” awareness? Well… I suppose that thistles are simply wildflowers with stickers??? )
I wrote that both the fern and I kept getting cut back by life circumstances…and in this past year there have been many extraordinarily difficult,challenging circumstances…
but…but…but…uh oh!.... As I expand my awareness, I’m just this minute getting a teeny tiny glimpse that I actually contributed to creating some even bigger challenge by how I actually reacted to those life circumstances that I REALLY did not like or REALLY did not want … uh oh!
Ohhhh myyyyy goodnessss…
!!!000.000!!!
I think I may have contributed to
. . . expanding . . . the senses . . . of difficulties . . .
through some of my own reactions
to some of those unwanted life circumstances!
Well! I didn’t see that! I didn’t recognize that aspect!
Uh oh! I’ll need to think more about that and reflect upon the layers of that…uh oh!
Sooooooo… maybe I can look more closely at ways I may have habitually reacted? …
* What might I have done that may have contributed to the unhappy reactions?
* How might I start exploring ways for me to react in more helpful, insightful ways?
* How might I find ways of shifting, adapting, using flexibly, agility and exploration?
Ah ha! I bet I can use some of those strategies on the “figuring out” list
Well ..this is a bit difficult…so I think I’d ALSO better use senses of “self-compassion” as I explore this awareness during the next few days and weeks ……“having influence, yet no control” …. ohhhh myyyyyy goodnessssssss….
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I’m actually using all of the ideas and inspirations in this blog
to help support myself in re-connecting and re-inspiring feelings of warmheartedness in my everyday life…
Each day, I scroll down through the variety of colorful “image pages” in this blog…
I linger on the heartfelt “pages” I’ve created throughout the past 12 years… quotes….lyrics… poetry … photos…. images…symbols…. reconnecting with a warm heart as I scroll through and linger on the many images
I’ve created each and every “page”
to support re-connecting with deeply felt senses of
warmheartedness…
care…
comfort…
insight….
wisdom…
compassion…
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“flying on the wings of wisdom and compassion”
In Buddhism, there are teachings about a bird needing 2 wings to fly… one wing is wisdom…the other wing is compassion…. A bird needs BOTH wings to fly…
And so we too, like that bird… need 2 wings to fly through our lives…
one wing is wisdom
and
one wing is compassion…
And so…living our lives…
“flying on the wings of wisdom and compassion”
And so… may I continue to use and develop increasing senses of wisdom and compassion as I undertake this quest toward expanded warmheartedness, open-heartedness and bright-heartedness…
Strengthening each of those wings of wisdom and compassion…. flying on the wings of wisdom and compassion…
(a photo of a cloud I saw in the sky a few days ago….it looks like a bird flying across the sky!)
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Re-stimulating…the regrowth of a warm heart
A list of titles of warmhearted “pages” that I’ve created through the years, all posted on Pocket Perspectives, another blog I created, I’ve been creating and adding to Pocket Perspectives since 2011
Link to Pocket Perspectives: https://pocketperspectives.com/
This list was the very beginnings of this blog…at first there was just this list, printed out and taped onto the lamp on our kitchen table… it NEVER crossed my mind that I would explore and develop those explorations onto a new blog!
Each day, I repeatedly read the titles of those warmhearted pages and resonated with the warm feelings of pages on this list … re-stimulating happy, heartfelt feelings of warmheartedness…. again and again and again
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Inspiring and encouraging ourselves to be…
“changing the world from here”….
starting with our own hearts….
starting from our own hearts…..
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Inspiring myself …..
Faith in … and living with….
goodness, kindness and love
as much as possible…. as often as possible
I created this “goodness, kindness and love” image around 10 years ago… and at that time, I easily resonated with and lived those qualities…
A translucent copy of that page, hanging in one of our bedroom windows…
whispering suggestions….
But!!! Do you know what? This seems so strange to me! I used to so naturally, spontaneously and easily live with ongoing felt-senses of “goodness, kindness and love”… it seemed so natural… so authentic… so spontaneous….so accessible…
But the past year??? …those went away! . I often feel so disconnected from those heartfelt qualities, so closed down, so frozen… It feels like I don’t even know where they went..??? … where they disappeared to…??? … and I miss feeling those warmhearted ways soooooo much…
I so wish I could naturally and spontaneously feel senses of goodness, kindness and love again.
(By the way… that heart is an actual beautiful, hand blown glass heart hanging in our dining area window. It’s made with volcanic ash from the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Oregon! I used a photo of that actual heart as the background colors for many of the pages in this blog… a wonderful connection to “a phoenix rising from the ashes”…. back toward living with a warmer heart again!)
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Living our “True Colors” …
as I’m nurturing the rekindling of a warm heart
Gracefully flowing and living aligned with our “true colors” …
skillfully choosing and living the qualities of each of the “5 Wisdom Families”
Green/Karma, Blue/Vajra, Red/Padma, Yellow/Ratna and White/Buddha families of qualities
…..lovely indeed…..
Uh oh!!! I think it’s many of the “Padma Wisdom Family qualities” that have taken the hit… that’s the family of qualities of warmheartedness and brightheartedness that I’ve been missing … the qualities I used to live easily…. ways I felt great about living… Well, yup…that seems to be where the hit happened!…. but….I don’t quite know what to do about getting them back?!?!? I REALLY want to be living these qualities again!!!
okay…. so I wonder how I might go about activating, using and balancing these various 5 Wisdom Families of qualities as I try to rekindle a warmer heart again????? hmmm….going to have to think more about that!
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Maybe…
I could start by
pausing again . . . and . . . reflecting again
and then…
“Taking a deep breath of life
and considering how richly it could be lived!”
a Cervantes quote
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Part 3
Ah ha! Now…
the introduction to..
“the heart of my practice”
we’re wandering past and out of those fields of wildflower…
entering and exploring the depths, beauties and
wisdoms of the ancient and deep woods and mountains …
marveling at the abundance of lush ferns, ancient mosses, resilient networks of mushrooms…roots, roots and more roots…. inspired by the abundance of beauty and interconnections in the midst of these ancient forests…
informed by the joys of the teachings
from great teachers of ancient and modern traditions
entering into …. the world of spirit
“the heart of my practice“
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After awhile……
emerging from the deep wisdom of the forests ….
and climbing way up to and along the high mountain ridgelines…
with their vast panoramas,
expanded “views” and broader “perspectives“
a quiet mind….
an open mind….
might seem to be in a vast space…
might extend towards….. soooooooo much space….
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“Don’t fence me in”
Roy Rogers
I love… love …love … listening to this old cowboy song! For me… as I listen to this song, there’s a deep sense of spiritual longing… a deep longing… for those wide open spaces along the road and, even more so, in my mind
It really does feels like a “spiritual” song to me … a “spirit lifting” song… a “spirit rising” song….
This song seems to open me to possible experiences of a wide open mind… in the midst of that sense of a wide open sense of quiet…. feeling a sense of being amidst those wide open spaces…. immersed in that wide open country…. in the midst of a quiet mind … extending wayyyyyyy out there….
moments of
“gazing at the moon til I lose my senses”
a senses of a wide open mind… ………
soooooo ………. much ………. space……..
…. sooooooooo …. much .… space ….
………. vast ……… open ………. space ………
Let me ride through the “wide open country” that I love …
Let me “wander over yonder” til I see the mountains rise …
I want to “ride to the ridge” where the west commences…
“Gaze at the moon” til I lose my senses…
I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences …
Don’t fence me in….
……sooooooooo……….. much ………… space……….
“Don’t fence me in” lyrics by Roy Rogers … a spirit lifting, spirit expanding song…. with photos of the stunning, spirit-opening vast spaces along our yearly travels west…..toward that Western sky! 3000 mile cross-country drives … driving back from New Hampshire … to … California …. soooooooooooo much space . . . . . . . .
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Part 4
“The heart of my practice”
Entering
“The heart of my practice”
accessing the beauties of deep, ancient, heartfelt wisdoms….
and the wider “perspectives” and expanded “views”
of the high mountain ridgelines
nurturing us, guiding us and inspiring us
as we’re warming our tender hearts…
(including many of the images from Part 1…but including more images, too…
for reflecting upon again and again and again…
immersed in a more tender, expansive open-hearted sense )
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Beginning….
entering into…
savoring…
resonating…
reflecting….
inspiring
lingering in the midst of…
“the wisdom teachings”
the world of spirit
“the heart of my practice….”
“I embrace my practice with all my heart”
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“Today…it’s given to you. It’s a gift.”
Brother David Steindl-Rast
Benedictine Monk Gratefulness.org
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“That everyone you meet on this day will be blessed by you…
just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch …
just by your presence….”
Brother David Steindl-Rast,
Benedictine Monk Gratefulness.org
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“The ‘Root Element’ of Bodhichitta is Compassion”
“I embrace my practice with all my heart”
Gyumed Khensur Lobsang Jampa
Same blessing…. on varying backgrounds…
the beautiful, inspiring, re-growing, Veriditas fern
the bright, cheerful yellow quilt on our wall
the gracefully flowing, rich colored wall hanging scarf
the beautiful little “goodness, kindness, love” glass heart
same blessing…
slightly different “energy” to each
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“Impermanence”
“Life changes…
so make the most of this very moment right now”
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“For the tiniest moment
in the great span of eternity
you have the incomparable privilege to exist”
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“To really use to its fullest,
this precious life we have been given“
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“To develop a sense of appreciation
of this wonderful life that we have”
“I embrace this practice with all of my heart”
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“To come out on the other end, a person of expanded vision, intellectual vigor, spiritual character and grace”
Bruce Springsteen
Recognizing the potential and possibility, through putting in consistent, good-hearted, insightful, diligent effort, of coming out on the other end of these MANY, MANY CHALLENGING MONTHS of virus fears, social isolation and political upheavals…. or even out of this lifetime….a better person….
Committing to the potential for coming out of these challenging times ….. a person of “expanded vision, intellectual vigor, spiritual character and grace.” …and… a warm heart!
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“It’s a joy to get to know you”
okay…
maybe, just a whimsical, bright-hearted, little “wildflower break”…????
happily….. lightening and brightening
for just a few, delight-filled moments
: ))))))))
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ohhhhhhhh…how wonderful….
it might be…
would be….
could be …
if we could ___________
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“The Heart of My Practice”
“I embrace this practice with all of my heart”
The blossoming of…. The Six Perfections…
Generosity, Patience, Joyful Effort,
Ethical Choices, Concentration, Wisdom
aspiring …. nurturing … developing …appreciating…
exploring … engaging with …..living………
“I embrace this practice with all of my heart”
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“The Heart of My Practice”
“I embrace this practice with all of my heart”
The blossoming of … The 4 Immeasurables
Loving-kindness, Compassion, Rejoicing, Equanimity
aspiring…nurturing…developing…appreciating…
exploring…engaging with…living
“I embrace this practice with all of my heart”
…earth….water…sky….
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“Rejoicing”
“There’s so much you can rejoice in”
“I embrace this practice with all my heart”
Excerpts from The Easy Path, Gyumed Khensur Lobsang Jampa, 2013, edited by Lorne Ladner, pages 11, 12, 13
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“Common humanity”
Just like myself, all beings wish for __________________
Just like ourselves, all beings wish to feel ______________
Just like ourselves…..
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“Joyful effort”
“I embrace this practice with all my heart”
Figuring out…
Following the positive ideas or impulse…
Aligning with the practices of Bodhichitta aspirations
Reminders to awaken helpful qualities of “learner mode” … using helpful strategies… again and again and again… during activities throughout each day…living aligned with the 6 Perfections and 4 Immeasurables
“Joyful Effort”
“figuring out…” …”exploring”
following the positive impulse
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Nurturing
senses of kindness and compassion…
toward oneself … myself … and others
(using and expanding upon
Self Compassion research and teachings by Dr. Kristen Neff)
“I embrace this practice with all my heart”
A reminder page, with spaces along the right side, that I can actually “fill in” during or after actual situations that feel challenging … when I might feel overwhelmed, cut off or reactive….to support myself to re-engage with more balanced, insightful, reasonable, warmhearted states of mind
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Beannacht Blessing
John O’Donohue
“I embrace this practice with all my heart”
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ohhhhhhh myyyyy... I think I might need just a little, slightly whimsical “wildflower break” …. just a few moments to pause, step back, take a deep breath and relax…. and to reactivate that wonderful sense of living amidst the joy-filled wildflowers… while also living amongst the depths of wisdom… but…for this moment… amidst joyful wildflowers, too… ahhhh… wildflowers…..
“You belong among the wildflowers…
You belong somewhere you’ll feel free “
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She is a boat, she is a light…
High on a hill, in dark of night….
When all is still and peace abides…
She carries me…to the other side…..
Shantideva’s Prayer
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“Shhhhhhh….it’s going to be okay…………..”
There have been so many challenges throughout this past year….
So many fears, worries, sadnesses, confusions…
Hopefully… eventually… “it’s going to be okay……”
Photo from the box of snugly Old Friend slippers
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“We are sending you light, to heal you to hold you….
We are sending you light, to hold you in love….”
Melanie De More song
So much need this year….
for “light” to be sent each other’s way….
To heal us…to hold us…
To hold us in love……
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Be a light in my lantern, light in my lantern….be light
Be a light in my lantern, light in my lantern… be light
Lantern Song Josh Ritter
Finding each of our own lanterns…
each of our own lights….
Offering our lanterns and lights to each other….
to help to guide each other along our way…
youtube video Lantern Song by Josh Ritter
Lantern Song … Singing starts at 33 seconds
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I’ve felt so scared, so fearful, so confused
so often this past year….
So many of us have felt so fearful and confused this past year….
I’m sooooo thankful for people and animals
who’ve helped ease some of our fears, worries and pains…
“If you needed me, I would come to you…
I would come to you for to ease your pain…”
I would come to you for to help to ease your fear….
Soooooooo much fear this year….
If I needed you, would you come to me?
Would you come to me for to ease my fear or pain?
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March 18, 2021: Several months into the new presidential Biden administration and implementing of more ethical policies in the United States… such a stunning relief!!!
March 18, 2021: Two weeks, to the day, after my second COVID-19 vaccination…full immunity! What an Incredible relief. As the day was approaching, I was doing a countdown! Such a stunning relief! I’m so thankful!!!
I was calling March 18 my “Blast off!” day…
There wasn’t all that much more I could do after getting the vaccines, but I had the freedom and opportunity to at least make the choices now… I felt the incredible relief of not being so afraid of catching the virus… the relief of not being so stunned by and fearful of people refusing to wear masks… the incredible joy about being able to drive from California to Washington to visit our daughter for TWO WEEKS!!!! ….so many senses of relief, joy and thankfulness!
Here’s a page I created and filled in with some people and things I was incredibly thankful for during the past year … people, activities etc…. that have helped “keep me going” … “helped to get me through” that extraordinarily challenging year!
A page with a blank section for continuing appreciations for “good things” along the way….
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reminding myself…
again and again and again…
as I’m living these heart-felt aspirations in this everyday life
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I’m soooo thankful for this abundance of insights and inspirations that I’ve received from so many people of wisdom.
And so, transitioning each day out from these “reflections” and into my everyday life!
Right now, I’m taking each of these wishes, ideas, inspirations, aspirations, explorations, insights and practices into my everyday life… doing my best to actually live them … as much as possible … as often as possible … as I’m again living with a warmer and brighter-heart!
“This is a heartfelt wish that I have…”
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Bodhichitta….
minds of BOTH …
compassion…and…wisdom
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May 17, 2021…..Oh my…..what a progression there has has been over the past many months …. I’m deeply thankful for increasing moments and minutes of feeling … bright-hearted … and … calm, steady, peaceful… how wonderful it feels!
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Bodhichitta….
wisdom….and…compassion
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Supreme Jewel Bodhichitta 