Author Archives: jimwdollar

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”

We wade into our circumstances bent on conquest and annihilation! On “Shock and Awe”! On triumph and subjugation! And for all of the bluster, here we are. We who would be Champions of the Way, are lost, adrift and astray. Without direction or incentive, vitality or hope, with only the wasteland to call home. AllContinue reading “June 24 – A, 2023”

I’m interested in where opinions originate and how they proliferate, and what they do on their days off. I’ve noticed that they are everywhere people are, and that everyone has more than they need, so they keep trying to give them away to anybody who will relieve them of the burden, but nobody wants moreContinue reading “June 23, 2023 – A”

What guides our boat on its path through the sea? What idea of how things ought to be do we live to impose upon each situation as it arises? How do we know that is how things ought to be? How does how we want things to be impact our actions in each situation asContinue reading “June 22, 2023 – A”

Being right about “Yes” and “No” is the most important thing to be right about. We can’t go by what someone else says. It is our own call all the way. We can only trust ourselves to know what we are talking about when we have more than a casual acquaintance with emptiness, stillness andContinue reading “June 21, 2023 – A”

“We are all One, but not the same One.” I wish I remembered who said that. We are one in our individuality, in our personal identity, which is as different for each of us as our fingerprints or the cones in our iris. Different in our sameness. The same in our different-ness. Seeing the sameContinue reading “June 20, 2023 – B”

It starts with “Yes” and “No,” and being right about when to say what, and flows from there through all of the circumstances of life to form a reliable identity and establish our individuality, shaped by our original nature and the innate virtues/specialties that are with us, and are us, from birth. When Jesus said,Continue reading “June 20, 2023 – A”

We have to develop our own eyes! We cannot allow anyone else to do our seeing for us! Yet, how many of us “see” with other people’s eyes?! The entire thrust of Christianity– and all other religion– is to talk us into allowing “those who know best” to do our seeing and our thinking forContinue reading “June 19, 2023 – B”

Fraser Snowden said, “The only true philosophical question is ‘Where do you draw the line?’ It is a bigger question than that. Knowing where we draw the line, and drawing it, is owning our own “Yes” and “No.” When we own our “Yes” and “No,” and draw lines commensurate with our decision, we are establishingContinue reading “June 19, 2023 – A”

Jason Garret, when he was coaching the Dallas Cowboys, said, “It comes down to this: Handle the success of the game and keep playing. Handle the adversity of the game and keep playing.” He was saying, “Deal with it and go on. Without making a big deal of it.” The old Buddhists thought Dharma cameContinue reading “June 18, 2023 – B”

Step into any theological/doctrinal/dogmatic debate with only one question and you will be the last one standing when all the others have left the room. “Who says so?” Is all you need ask, and keep asking. “The Bible says…” “Who says the Bible knows what it is talking about?” “All of Christendom throughout the ages!”Continue reading “June 18, 2023 – A”