Prayer of Emptiness

May I empty myself to you God

So you can fill me with your divine love

May I empty myself of all self centered ideas

So you can fill me with your divine grace and humility

May I empty myself of all hatred, fear and greed

So you fill me with your infinite compassion

I empty myself to you God

I surrender to your unconditional love

The Awakening of the Buddha

The awakening of the Buddha was that he saw Buddha nature in everything

In Buddhist philosophy, Buddha-nature is the potential for all sentient beings to become a Buddha or the fact that all beings already have a pure buddha-essence within.

So the Buddha awakened to the ultimate reality of the universe

That every being is born with and has Buddha nature

Even if they are deeply lost in fear, greed, and hatred

Even if someone is violent

Even criminals, beggars, and addicts

All have the essence of Buddha nature

All are holy and are in the image of God

With this awakening we can help heal this world of much suffering

We can see every being as holy and our brother or sister

We can vow to reduce their suffering and look at them through the lens of compassion

With aloha,

Johnny

The Miracle of Life

The Miracle of life

Is a seed of mustard

With water, soil, and sun

This tiny seed grows into a large tree

Giving food and shelter to many birds and insects

There are many miracles around us each day

Yet we can’t seem to them

With mindfulness we can see that a cloud is a miracle

It transforms into rain or snow

Giving us life through water and food

We are a miracle

From one cell to a trillion

We can only grasp this if we are still

Not distracted

Not striving

Living in the moment

Jesus spoke of the mustard seed

Just by being still we can see the Kingdom of God right now and it’s many miracles

With Aloha

Johnny