Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

The newest edition of A Handbook For The Spiritual Journey is up and available ($2.00) at the Kindle store on Amazon. It revolutionizes thinking about all things God, though the cover will be a bit different due to complications beyond my control.

Looking out the window is another form of escape, diversion, distraction, denial, and a wonderful way of producing a self-induced trance state in which we can engage the force of Tao-Psyche-Intuition that aligns us with the truth of how things are and what is called for here, now in order to do what needs to be done, in the right way, at the right time, in the right place with the gifts that are ours to share in each situation as it arises, all our life long–tuning in, turning on, gearing up, to see, hear, know, do be what the moment is asking for to the best of our ability–even though it appears to be just killling time. But those who know, know. No?

The idea that the quality and amount of our silence can improve the quality of our life (And our luck) in itself improves the quality of our life and luck. What could possibly be the connection? Calming us down, focusing us on what we are doing and what needs us to do it. Taking our mind off where it habitually goes, interfering with our usual pattern of life. Opening us to possibilities we wouldn’t normally consider. Giving us something new to think about. Offering us the opportunity to think about our thinking and reflect on how we think might be good for us and bad… Giving silence a try and exploring what “high quality silence” might be and how we might arrange it, and practice it, is already transforming our thinking.

It would be better if we had better choices. The choices we have, and have had, are and were the only ones available at the time, and we did, are doing, the best we can do with them given the circumstances we are working with. And the ony suggestion I can make to us all for improving what we have to work with here on out is to improve the quality, and quantity, of silence in our life. The higher the quality and greater the amount of silence in our life will make all the difference in our opportunities and outcomes. And our luck will improve within two weeks.

Joseph Campbell said, “We know when we are on the beam and when we are off it.” And yet, being on the beam is contingent upon not thinking about it. Being at one with the Tao is not thinking about it. Not thinking about what to do, when, where, and how, and trusting ourselves to “just do” what is called for and what needs to be done about it in each situation as it arises is the key to being on the beam, doing what needs to be done, when, where and how, in each situation as it arises. Like a newborn baby is just who she is wherever she is. No baby ever overthinks being a baby.

Resting in the moment, being here, now, fine with everything just as it is in a “This, too. This, too,” kind of way, is doing it (Life, I’m talking about) exactly as it is to be done–in a “Nothing special” kind of way. Being here, now in a way that allows everything to be with us here, now, just as it is, with nothing to gain, nothing to lose. This is optimum. Exqusite. Perfect. Congratulate yourself every time you pull it off!

Pretend it matters, and live like it does, whether what we do makes any difference or not. It will make a difference in how we live our lives–and that will make as much difference as we can legitimately expect to make with our life. So join me in living like it matters. Do everything we do exactly like we would do it if everything were riding on everything we do. Live like we care, whether we do or not. Fake it if we must, so well that no one, not even ourselves, can tell if we are faking it or not. Fake it so well we would deserve an academy award for the way we life what remains to be lived of our life. Let’s do us well! As well as Jesus did Jesus! Let’s live doing us so well that we could legitimately stand before Jesus and say, “You have nothing on us! We did us every bit as well as you did you! So that he will have to say, “Yes you did! And I am as proud of you as you are proud of me! And we all walk off together into Eternity to do Eternity as well as we are going to do here, now!

Wu-wei is a Taoist phrase that means “Don’t push the River!” Don’t force your way!” It actually translates as “Getting things accomplished without appearing to be doing anything.” Or, “No pushing, no shoving, no screaming, no shouting!” Or as, “Easy does it.” It means, “Looking things over,” “Sizing things up,” “Seeing what is needed,” “Knowing what is called for,” and “Doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, and the right place, so that things are done with nothing appearing to be done at all.”

All of this is possible with the right relationship with the Tao, Psyche and Intuition. Tao is the movement and flow of live. When Stella got her grove back she aligned herself with the Tao, and moved as she needed to in synch with the way things were moving in her life. When we are “in the flow of things” it is like being lucky all of the time. Because we aren’t swimming against the current of our life in the here, now. We aren’t forcing our way. We are assisting the happening of things where, when and how they need to happen. This is a skil available to anyone who pays attention and doesn’t try to force their way through life.

Psyche assists what needs to happen in a situation in a way that eases the way of life there. Psyche does not do things the hard way, and helps us by way of our intuition to see what’s what and know what is called for and how to do it when, where and how it is called for in each situation as it arises. We only need to “bide our time” and wait for the “propitious moment,” and then do things as they need to be done, for things to fall into place as if by magic. And, again, it will appear as though we are being lucky, when we are actually seeing what’s what and reading the signs of the times.

As we become conscious of the roll Tao, Psyche and Intuition play in our lives, things flow with increasing smoothness for us across the board. I have a Category on my home page in my Blog Tao-Psyche-Intuition called “Conversations with Copilot” (The Microsoft Word A-I), and we talk a good bit about Tao, Psyche and Intuition, and you can check this out there, or begin your own conversations with Copilot. Tell them I said hello!

I have several domains with Word Press. Tao-Psyche-Intuition.com is the newest.

There is the God of theology, the God of the doctrines and the dogma, the Bible, the Sacraments, the Catechisms and the Prayer Books. And there is the God before theology, etc. The God Beyond theology, etc. Psyche is God without theology. The God wars forced Psyche out of business, along with the Gnostics and other Heretics. Leaving the field wide open for theology to do its thing. And theology took over the world, or a large portion of the world at any rate. So that the word “God” now means the God draped with theology, doctrines, dogmas, and the way of thinking about God that goes with the way God has been thought of for the past 2,026 years.

But Psyche remains available for consultation, along with Tao and Intuition. Psyche might be thought of as Life, Tao might be thought of as the flow of life, the way of life, particularly the way of life lived in the right way in the right place at the right time, and Intuition may be thought of as the interface between Psyche/Life and living beings. The way Psyche has of communing with all living things to align life with Tao so that all things might be as One. And the way Psyche has of being experienced in the lives of all things capable of experiencing their experience by way of their intuition and their dreams and their way of being in the world.

All life has preferences. All life eats, breathes and sleeps–and knows when, where and how to do it. That is called “taking care of our basic needs.” The further from meeting our basic needs we get, the more our preferences get in our way–and we have to know when to over-ride our preferences, and when to disappear them entirely. The old Sufi and Taoist and Zen and Buddhist masters had it down to a fine art, and knew when to do what, when and where. How much better off they were than the general population of their day is a difficult call to make. It probably matters not. After a certain point on the “Things That Matter” spectrum, it doesn’t count whether something matters or not. Life Eats Life–always has, always will. If things live long enough, they will likely be eaten, before they die, or after. From that point of view, the things we take seriously don’t matter much, if at all. The things that matter, matter here, now, and the further we get beyond here, now, they less they matter until the significance of the things that matter, matters not to anyone keeping score. And “taking the long view” puts things in their place here, now, puts things in perspective, and makes it easier for us to “do our work and stand aside, letting nature take its course,” and acquiescing to the flow of the Tao through space and time.”

Here is an excerpt from my book, “The Way of Wild Things, 6th Edition”–

Our opposites, contradictions and polarities are thresholds to awareness, awakening, maturation, grace, mercy and peace. We only have to recognize and appreciate them for what they are, bear consciously the tension of their opposition and allow them to shape us into who we need to be in order to live the life that is ours to live, doing the things that are ours to do. And all we want is a shortcut to soft and easy and happiness ever-after. Sitting with the agony of ambivalence is at the top of our bad list. Getting rid of–or denying–our conflicts is what we do best.

I stand in a long line of those who spent their entire life pointing our what cannot be seen and saying things that cannot be heard. Like Lao Tzu, who said, “The Tao that can be said, told, explained, taught, etc. is not the eternal Tao.” And Jesus who said, “You have eyes to see! Open them!” and “You have ears to hear! Listen!” And Jeremiah who said, “Land, land, land!!! HEAR the word of the Lord!!!” It is a grand tradition, and I am proud of the company I keep.

Evey photograph is time and place. And a surprise. Unrepeatable, thus unique. A miracle of time and place. And a gift with the caption, “Are you kidding me?” Amazing Grace out of nowhere. That’s why we all carry cameras. No?

And this is also the cover of my newest eBook on Kindle, although it is the 6th incarnation and the final one as well. $2.00 because the book will be good company for a cup of coffee, and the book will last longer.