Author Archives: jimwdollar

What is missing from our life? What are we seeking? What do we need that we do not have? Pondering this, I realize that the world seeks release/relief from the burdens of life— the uncertainties, the insecurities. People seek reassurance, companionship, security, certainty, peace… The ground of all religion is hope for the future– someContinue reading “July 01, 2023 – A”

Accepting our plight for what it is, whatever it is, and determining to make the best of it, far exceeds the frantic search for an escape into bliss and happiness everlasting. We meet the day and do what needs to be done there, putting woe and “poor me” aside. “Here we are. NOW what? WhatContinue reading “July, 2023”

The saving grace about Jesus’ abject–perhaps even deliberate– inconsistency, ambiguity, self-contradiction, obtuseness– is that it recognizes/exhibits/declares/expresses the essential nature of life, of living, beyond absolutes in each situation as it arises. What is right, what is good, what is wrong, what is evil, shifts and changes from moment to moment, from situation to situation, andContinue reading “June 30, 2023 – B”

I recommend having nothing to do with the Buddha or with Jesus. The Buddha hated women and abandoned his wife and child in order to “seek enlightenment.” How enlightened was that? He opposed women having leadership positions over men, and it was due to strong opposition by his male monks that they were welcomed atContinue reading “June 30, 2023 – A”

See what we look at. Hear what we listen to. Know what we know. Say what needs to be said. Do what needs to be done. All there is to it. Derailed by wanting what we want. Refusing to maintain balance and harmony. Being awash in opinions, assumptions, presumptions, inferences, projections, fear, desire, hearsay, noise,Continue reading “June 29, 2023 – A”

What is right? How do you know? Where do your boundaries lie? Who lays them for you? What is the truth about you? Who told you so? There are things that define us that we have nothing to do with. They are just there. We just are the way we are. We just know theContinue reading “June 28, 2023 – A”

We all experience the same things that have always been experienced. “The way of a snake upon a rock, the way of a ship at sea, the way of a man with a woman.” All of our experiences are universal experiences. They differ by the quality and degree of the expectations, assumptions and opinions thatContinue reading “June 27, 2023 – B”

Human beings are good for laughter, playfulness, poetry, music and art. War, violence and sex trafficking… I’m sure the natural world would be better off without us, but here we are, and the trick is to make the best of it– not in terms of what we get out of it, but in terms ofContinue reading “June 27, 2023 – A”

What’s good for the antelope is bad for the lion, and vice-versa. So what’s good? Or bad? Who’s to say? How do they know? Good and bad all depend on who’s talking and what they have at stake in the matter. Good and bad are always good or bad from somebody’s or some thing’s pointContinue reading “June 26, 2023 – A”

We are (Get ready for this, as ridiculously unbelievable as it is) vehicles of transcendence. We are transcendent reality writ large, spilling over, pouring out. Along with Jesus, we all can say, “The Father and I are one!” Except but… If only… We are at once, transcendent wonders and the slime at the bottom ofContinue reading “June 25, 2023 – B”

We generate noise in 10,000 ways, along with complexity, drama and trauma. We could compensate for that, if we will, with emptiness, stillness and silence. In order to maintain our balance and harmony, remain in the flow of life through all situations and circumstances, and live in the way of life everlasting in each momentContinue reading “June 25, 2023 – A”

We live looking for things that catch our eye and be alive with the radiance, the splendor, of the sublime, and divine. Transcendent reality grounds us, steadies us, anchors us, reminds us that “this”–the everyday world of normal, apparent, reality– is not all there is, or even a sizeable percentage. We are wonders ourselves, fromContinue reading “June 24, 2023 – B”