Tag: peace

Darkness, Transformation, and Redemption.

The darkest moments of my life led to the most transformation. The darkness brings self-reflection, awareness, and focus.  This is only if we do not numb the pain with alcohol, drugs, and/or overeating. When a family member suddenly dies or a relationship ends, we can have moments of pure awareness and clarity on what led to this moment in time.

My first experience with this transformation was when I was honest with my ex-fiance about my infidelity. She left me the following day. At first, I numbed myself with distraction but when her parents moved all her stuff out of our studio I was forced to sit in a dark & empty apartment. My first reaction was to run away and move to a new place. Luckily I chose to stay in my empty studio. The following weeks I cried every night in sorrow. Pain, suffering, and anxiety filled each moment until one day I picked up a book called “Buddhist Bootcamp” by Timber Hawkeye. Suddenly I was meditated 1 hour a day, reading, writing, eating healthier, and working out every day. I quit smoking and significantly cut down on drinking alcohol. My days were now filled with joy instead of sorrow. This all took place from March-May 2015 in San Luis Obispo, CA. Since then I have fallen back into old habits, relearn lessons, and also had new transformations from suffering. I began a journey of self-love, peace, forgiveness, and acceptance; a journey I am currently still on (and always will be). There is no destination on this path, only the love of the journey itself.

The famous Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh says “No Mud, No Lotus”. The beautiful lotus flower grows in the darkest and muddiest environments; I truly believe humans are much the same as the beautiful lotus flower. The right environment for growth usual consists of awareness, compassion, and love while we are suffering. Once we learn how to suffer, we suffer much less. Suffering can actually be the most transformative process of life if we allow it to be.

Through the darkness, we can transform ourselves and become the light to see out of the darkness. We accept the darker side of ourselves (and the world) with compassion, understanding, and peace. In this practice, we feed the light while accepting the dark. This allows for peace instead of war. The key to transformation is to sit with ourselves through the pain instead of distraction or numbing the pain. The coldest winters of my life have always ended with a warm inviting spring. All is impermanent, even the darkest of times.

 

With Aloha,

Johnny Hoffman

May I.

May I show compassion

To even those who harm others

May I always seek peace

When others choose violence

May I be grateful

Even when life gets tough

May I seek forgiveness

Knowing its a gift to myself

May I choose love

When fear crosses my mind

May I choose freedom

Over security

May I always seek to understand others

Not judge

May I be in this present moment

Even when my mind drifts to the past or future

 

Non-Judgment Day.

Who am I to judge?

Deciding what others should or shouldn’t do?

I am no God or ruler.

Today I will begin the process of letting go of judgment.

For I too have fallen short.

I will allow love to fill the space where judgment once was.

To work to understand those I disagree with.

To understand that people change in their own time.

First I will begin the journey of letting go of self judgment.

Non judgment day has arrived.

Through the Darkness, We Shall Rise.

Through the darkness, we shall rise

Rise like the sun

Bringing light into the darkness

For we are all holy men & women

Lost in the sea of fear

We have forgotten our true nature

Of compassion & love

We are disoriented by distraction

Haunted by our past

Paralyzed by the path unknown ahead of us

We cling to material wealth & status

Fearful to take risks for the true life we desire

So how do we begin this journey?

Don’t worry

The answer lies within you

Good luck

 

 

All Will End.

All will end

All will be okay

 

The sun will rise

The sun will set

 

Suffering will come

Suffering will go

 

Joy comes

Joy goes

 

Relationships come

Then end

 

For life is short

Yet infinite

 

Endings

Brings new beginnings

 

Death brings life

Life brings death

 

My life too will end

Bringing new life

 

All will end

All will be okay

Peaceful Warriors

Peace

Violence

Live within all of us

Feed the peace

Acknowledge the violence

Shed light into it

For peace grows with peace

Water the seed of peace

With compassion & understanding

Love the dark side

Show it loving kindness

Join me if you chose

In the army of love

Soldiers of peace

Compassion & understanding

As our weapons

We are peaceful warriors

Sheding light into the darkness

Coming Home.

I have lived in paradise

Warm weather

Palm trees

Tall lush mountains above me

I have travelled far & wide

In search of adventure

Hawaii

Japan

New Zealand

Vietnam

Thailand

I have been tested on this journey

Brought down to my knees

Fearful of uncertainty

But I kept going

Faith in the path unknown

As I pack my bag one last time

Tears fall down my cheeks

Joy of the many great memories

Flooding my mind

Many new friends

So much growth

Beautiful mountains, ocean, & people

It was worth every penny spent

Worth every fearful moment

On my path unknown

Peace Within

Violence on the streets of Syria

Mass suffering in Yemen

Chaos in Afghanistan

Is peace possible?

Or are we doomed?

I have faith that everything will work out the way it’s suppose to be

All you & I can do is

Focus on becoming peace

To spread it far & wide

To understand

To show compassion

To live our message of peace

How will the world be at peace

If we are at war?

True Compassion.

As I glance through YouTube I see many arguing over diet, ethics, and the environmental problems of animal agriculture. I see my fellow vegans becoming angry with meat eaters. I hear the words ” I just don’t understand” being repeated over & over again. To develop compassion for others we must first understand them. Us vegans will drive ourselves crazy with this mindset of misunderstanding. I hope to inspire others to practice a vegan lifestyle but do not wish to force others to be vegan. People change on their own time. You can not force anyone to be more compassionate to animals or care about the health of themselves & the planet. Forcing another is a violent act in itself, which goes against my vow of non violence. The world will change in it’s own time. All we can do is live our message and share it with others. If our message is peace & compassion, then we must be peaceful & compassionate with our meat eating brothers & sisters. Peace is the way.

Understanding others is necessary for compassion, love, & peace. I ate a meat/dairy/egg based diet for 27 years and have been vegan for 2 years. How can I judge anyone who still consumes animal products when I ate them most of my life? My focus as of now is to develop true compassion for those who consume animal products and especially for those who advocate for them in ones diet. True compassion is when we can show compassion to those we disagree with. It’s easy to show compassion to the innocent & weak. It’s much more difficult to show compassion to a slaughterhouse worker but nothing could be more important than developing compassion for them as well. Slaughterhouse workers are often immigrants who are recruited to work long hours for little wages. They often suffer from PTSD from the horrific violent acts they see on a regular basis. There are documented cases of slaughterhouse workers dieing from bacterial diseases and neurological diseases from freshly slaughtered animals.

I also feel strong compassion for those who suffer from chronic diseases from eating animal products all their life. From heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, colon cancer, and many other diseases that could of been prevented with a whole food plant based diet. They were lied to be industry and led to believe that they are wild carnivores that need to eat meat every meal for protein. So much unnecessary human suffering. My heart goes out to them & their families.

I hope to inspire my fellow vegans to be more compassionate & understanding to our meat eating brothers & sisters. Many of us were meat eaters most of our life. Who are we to judge? We are not perfect enlightened beings floating above others. Let’s focus our energy on educating others while showing compassion & understanding to them. This way we don’t drag ourself down with anger, rage, & misunderstanding. We can allow compassion guide our life. How will they ever understand compassion if all we show them is apathy? How will they know peace if all we show them is violence? Our own life is our message to the world.

With Aloha,

Johnny Hoffman