Finding our way to The Way one situation at a time. I don't know how great it will be, but I expect it will be interesting, and I look forward to it going on past all reason because wonder is just that way. Are you coming or not?
How do things need to be here, now? How do we know? Take inventory? Consult the Silence? Check our email? Wait to see? I like easing into the day. Letting the day arrive slowly, at its own pace. Little by little. Giving it room to be what it needs to be. Without plans and agendas, schedules and deadlines. Seeing what’s what and doing what is called for when it is called for, by and by.
I am dealing with cognitive decline which shows itself in forgetting things I am supposed to know, like the name of one of our daughters, which I can remember by thinking of the name of another of our daughters, but forgetting how to get home from the auto dealership after getting an oil change is on a different level (I googled my name and my address popped up which I put in the iPhones GPS which guided me. home (which I remembered as soon as I saw the map). All of which is to say that knowing the difference between normal forgetting and something to be concerned about forgetting is a line that is important to be able to draw. And how do you know? Tricky, when you think about it. So I live not knowing if I am right to be concerned about not knowing or not. Which normal people don’t have to be concerned about. So, there’s that.
I am taken by the solitude that abounds in the world. Every scene conceals and reveals elements of solitude. And where do the lines lie between solitude and aloneness, between aloneness and loneliness? And the cure for loneliness is solitude according to Marianne Moore. What we have here is a circle of perception/perspective, and how much of our life hinges on how we see what we look at handing us what we see when we look. So that it is all an optical illusion, exposing us to who is looking as much as what is seen. And where do we end and our projections begin? Where does our experience of reality end and reality begin? And Joe Friday’s request, “We just want the facts, ‘mam” asks for the impossible. Where do we stop and the facts start?
The less we care about what happens, when, where and how, the smoother our life goes. The more we care, the more complicated/complex/trouble things are. The way to smooth and easy is to have no opinion about, nothing at stake in, any outcome. The moon, for instance, doesn’t give a damn about anything anywhere and has an easy path through the cosmos all day, every day. Want an easy life? Be the moon!
Trump in the White House means the South Won the Civl War. How are we going to recover from that? How do we get back to “Liberty and Justice for All”? How are we going to get back to who we were when Lincoln was President before the White Supremacists killed him? How do we recover the filial devotion and liege loyalty to Freedom! Justice! Equality! Truth!?
How do we get back to: We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Prosterity do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America!?
Doing what is called for situation by situation, moment by moment, when where and how it is called for, doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place, in the right way, throughout eternity is taking care of business the way business needs to be taken care of–but it does not take care of what we want, when we want it the way we want it for as long as we want it, and so we don’t do what is called for it the way it is called for and needs to be done, and so, here we are, of course.
My childhood friend, Eddie Stanton, was killed in an airplane crash when he was 27. That was 55 years ago. For 55 years I have felt what a shame that is. And what a loss, mostly for him, for all he has missed. And it rankles me to this day. His death is one of the many things “I just cannot stand” about how things are. Like 77MILLION IDIOTS voting for Donald Trump!!! for President of the United States. For Class Dumbass, I could understand. And a large number of those 77 million votes had to be cast knowing they were really voting for the Class Dumbass and they laughed about it. They did not care. And if you don’t care about that, what do you care about? And in all probability, Eddie Stanton would have voted for Donald Trump, laughing. That’s the kind of world we live in. Not a damn thing makes sense. Not one damn thing. What are we to do with a world like this? I am flummoxed by all of it. And if you are flummoxed too, here’s to you! That makes at least two of us!
It is up to us to make of it what we will and to do with it as we will, “it” being what greets us on arrival. It is a common mistake to rush to judgment, wondering, “Is this all there is?” Sitting with it, open to it, brings different aspects into awareness. The Yin/Yang symbol opens us to the depths rather nicely. Nothing is what it appears to be. Life is not a steady state of being. “Now we see it, now we don’t.” Koans and optical illusions are everywhere. Nothing can be taken for what it is, or for what it also is. And before long it is clear that nothing is clear and we don’t know what to make of anything, because, “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.” And, “Those who know don’t say, and those who say, don’t know.” The only appropriate response to the whole show is roaring laughter and a standing ovation. It is a wonderful joke that keeps getting better with age. It is all such a marvelous, wonderful world. The Buddha died from eating poorly cooked pork. How enlightened was that? Isn’t that exactly as it should be? Wonderful, wonderful in every way!
I do not believe in the God of theology. Why would I? Even the theologians tell you you have to “take it on faith” what they tell you. Means they are making it up–or worse, telling you to take on faith what someone else told them to take on faith. “Faith” is nothing more than an opinion that takes itself seriously. And theology is nothing more than a collection of opinions about hearsay. Between going with what you know to be so and going with what they tell you you have to take on faith, go with what you know to be so every time.
What we know to be so is the validity, the reality, of the God before and beyond theology. That which has always been called God has also been called Tao, Psyche, Intuition. All of which go back to at least 5,000 years BCE to the Shamans of lore, and the Taoists, and the Hindus… To that which is directing our boat on its path through the sea, along, what Martin Palmer talks about as “The path that can be discerned as a path is not a reliable path.” Which I take to mean that the path can only be discerned in hindsight. We look back and see what got us here and know that was The Path, and all we have to do is what we were doing that got us here, now.
What got you here, now? Keep doing it. Trusting yourself to what you know to be so. Not to what someone else tells you to take on faith. What did Jesus say? You have eyes to see! Trust them! You have ears to hear! Listen to them! That’s so simple a baby could do it. What did Jesus say? “Unless you turn and become as children you will never enter the Kingdom of God.”
Diversion, distraction, denial, addiction help us pass the time. The Buddha called it “Peaceful abiding, here, now.” Being still and quiet, seeing what emptiness, stillness and silence have to offer. Contemplating what’s called for and what needs to be done about it where, when and how, doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place and the right way. Entertaining ourselves by being enthralled by the moment, moment by moment, calling it “seeking enlightenment,” as the sure cure for boredom and what to do with time on our hands. Or, there are drugs, sex and alcohol. Or war. And buying, spending, amassing and consuming. Sleeping and eating. Life in a nutshell. Pick your poison. Or make your own list of favorite ways to pass the time. Conversation. Art. Music. Diversion. Distraction. Denial…
Blue Ridges. Get it?
Anyway we look at it, Jesus had all of the advantages, right? “God’s only son, Jesus Christ, our lord,” as the old confession of faith puts it. “God’s only son” should count for something, no? Evidently not. “Crucified, dead and buried.” Just like everyone else. Well, except for the “crucified” part, but a lot of us would up there, too. Big woop being God’s only son. No advantage at all. Leaves me with the conclusion that there are no advantages at all. There is only here, now for everyone and the opportunity to do with it as we will–in a “Here we are, now what?” kind of way. Stop seeking the advantages! There are none! Only deception, diversion, distraction, denial. There is only here, now and “Now what?” That’s where we come in. “Now what?” How we answer that question tells the tale. We are all born with that question to answer with our life. “Now what?” I’m doing my best with it. And you? How might we help one another with our question to answer? That’s what I’m doing with my question. My “Now What?” is helping other people answer their question. My best initial response to the question is to suggest emptiness, stillness and silence as our best friends and Tao, Psyche and Intuition as our other best friends. If we make friends with those six friends, we are going to be well equipped to do well with our question, “Now what?” We will have all we need. We only have to live in the presence of our six best friends and our life will be the best life we could be expected to live. It would be honest, straight forward and self-corrective. Our experience would be our most reliable guide. And we will do very well on our own, trusting ourselves to ourselves. We will amaze ourselves, and enjoy ourselves, and be enthralled at the wonder of it all. Really. No kidding. I speak from 82 years in the business. Why would I lie?
I wonder if there is a Wild Thing anywhere that likes its chances. That feels good about its prospects. That ever thinks it has a cushion. Which is interesting because I am confident that every Wild Thing everywhere is 100% at one with Tao, Psyche and Intuition. Which is all Wild Things have going for them. And they all are at odds with other wild things in the work of survival. They all survive at each other’s expense. Which means that Tao, Psyche and Intuition are at odds, pitted against one another in a system that is rigged against them. Which suggests to me that Life is dishonest from the start. It doesn’t matter to Life. Life knows from the beginning that it isn’t about Life. Life is serving a purpose beyond Life–a means to a greater end, so to say. Raising the question, “What purpose could Life be serving?” An experience gathering mechanism? For what purpose would Life be gathering all these million years worth of experience? To what end? What is Life learning? What is going to be better of for knowing what Life is learning? Whose idea was this? The word, “Nonplussed” would fit me perfectly at this point. “Dumbfounded” would also work.
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