Walking the tightrope between joy and suffering

My primary Zen vow is to bear witness to the joy and suffering of life. Some consider joy Pollyanna and naive, thinking that despair, given the horrors of the world, is much more realistic. But both joy and suffering are essential aspects of every life, to deny either is unrealistic. At this time, when there is so much despair and dark news, joy becomes a form of activism.

Beauty is all around us when we open our eyes.  Seeing can be a portal into joy.  With the intent to enter that portal, I offered a Zen and art series through Zen Peacemakers International. You can watch all 4 events for free on the Zen Peacemakers website. Here is a video of the first of that series HERE .

The series was so impactful to me and the participants we decided to continue on, now through my website. The next Zen and art series will be on painting the season. In this 4 week series we will fill ourselves up with art, meditation, painting, drawing and conversation.

Enhancing joy while doing what we can to relieve suffering fuels us to offer sorely needed joy to a troubled world. We fill up our coffers with one another then offer it as a feast to those in need. If you feel called to join us please sign up soon. I like to keep my groups small so each member can be seen and heard and we are filling up quickly.

To enroll go to: https://jacquelinekramer.work/new-page-2

Zen and art-painting the season

Dates: Thursdays April 11, 18, 25 and May 2

Time: 9AM PDT to 10:30AM PST

Place: on Zoom

Hope to see you there!