Author Archives: jimwdollar

We have had the Hero Talk before, and we will have it again, because it is central to being centered in/grounded upon what matters most. We see what matters most reflected in our heroes. Who are your heroes, fictional and actual? It is telling, for me, that I have no actual male heroes, and noContinue reading “July 13, 2023 – A”

The only thing that separates us is our view of what is important. If we all placed the emphasis in the same place, we would all be one— the same one. It isn’t just that we see things differently, from different points of view, from different vantage points, from different perspectives from different times andContinue reading “July 12, 2023 – A”

My Son-in-law Lee asked an AI bot to explain the Tao to a six-year-old. Here is the reply: “Do you know what the Tao is? It is a word that means the way of nature. The way of nature is how everything in the world works together in harmony. The Tao is not something youContinue reading “July 11, 2023 – B”

I call this “High Mountain Lake Sunset,” and see it as eternal and everlasting. I created it by playing with shapes and colors, allowing it to create itself by showing me what it wanted to be. All art forms itself that way, through a “dear and glorious communion” with some recipient of its need toContinue reading “July 11, 2023 – A”

What kind of God is it that has to be taken on faith? That has to be believed in due to being apparently nowhere around? One who is a complete fiction created by the priests who are paid to function as intermediaries excelling in talking people into seeing what isn’t there! As a viable alternativeContinue reading “July 10, 2023 – B”

We have to know what is holy to us, what is sacred, what we owe fealty to and honor with filial devotion, liege loyalty and unwavering allegiance. How long is your list? Mornings and evenings are holy unto me. And time. Coffee. Naps. Writing. Photography. Reading. Avoiding noise. Looking out the window. Maintaining my boundaries.Continue reading “July 10, 2023 – A”

The old Taoist masters knew it comes down to, flows from, centers upon, living from our original/ essential/ true/ eternal nature. “What was the face that was yours before your grandparents were born?” Why don’t we know? Why doesn’t everyone know? “Buddha Mind” is any mind that knows who it is and what it isContinue reading “July 09, 2023 – B”

I’ve written recently about the importance of our own confession/repentance/atonement, and there is another aspect of our sensitivity to wrong that begs to be mentioned. We are to bear witness of other people’s refusal to be truthful and their failure to be good. I’m speaking of the fascists among us. The members of Congress, theContinue reading “July 08, 2023 – C”

Carl Jung said that a hermit is a primitive person who trusts their unconscious. I would have used the term “Natural” instead of “Primitive.” A natural person who trusts their unconscious is a rare sight in any age. And a natural person would naturally trust their unconscious. There is no other way. Living naturally isContinue reading “July 09, 2023 – A”

What do you like to do? What are the things you do best? Could be crossword puzzles. Or picture puzzles. How long has it been since you’ve done the things you like to do and the things you do best? They are likely to be the same things. Maybe not. Tying my shoes is oneContinue reading “July 08, 2023 – B”

We all stand in need of atonement which cannot be administered by another or by faith of any kind, but only by dying ourselves the death that Adam and Eve had to die to get back into Eden– the death that has nothing to do with one’s last breath and the cessation of mobility andContinue reading “July 08, 2023 – A”

There is what we do to live, and there is what we live to do. What do you live to do? How does who you are come alive in doing what you live to do? We bring ourselves to life in/by doing what we live to do. If we are mostly dead, it could beContinue reading “July 07, 2023 – B”