jimwdollar

February 10-A, 2023

I find this scene to be a beautiful rendition of a point of contact with the numinous/ineffable/radiance/etc. of life being aware of itself, and consider it to be a still life worthy of the term. I have watched deer and elk grazing in the late hours of the day, look up at the sunset andContinue reading “February 10-A, 2023”

February 09-C, 2023

Circumstances spawn/create/produce/beget/etc. circumstances. That’s all there is and ever has been. That is all there ever will be. We keep talking about “the beginning,” and “the end.” There is no beginning! There is no end! There is no outcome! One “outcome” leads to another set of circumstances with another “outcome,” ad nauseam. The “outcome” ofContinue reading “February 09-C, 2023”

February 09-B, 2023

It’s all practice! Why don’t we have it down? We get up each day as though it is the first day– as though we have learned nothing through all of the other days. We pursue the same ends using the same means in the same ways. We think it is just a matter of tryingContinue reading “February 09-B, 2023”

February 09-A, 2023

That Which Has Always Been Called God is more akin to the flow of time and life than a being eternal in the heavens. All things have a flow about them, and participate in the flow of time and life that carries them along from birth to death. There is movement to life and being.Continue reading “February 09-A, 2023”

February 08-B, 2023

Living out of our own center, like a gyroscope maintaining its balance through all situations and circumstances, stable and unperturbed regardless of the conditions within which we must live, is out of the question for most of us all of the time. We have to have things our way. Yet, we all are capable ofContinue reading “February 08-B, 2023”

February 08-A, 2023

The way forward– the way to the way– is built upon each individual developing their own practice around mindful awareness, being present here/now with what is present with us (With what is happening and with what is called for in response to what is happening). In conjunction with that aspect of our practice, we alsoContinue reading “February 08-A, 2023”

February 07-B, 2023

How do you strive to live your life? How do you think your life should be lived? What guides you through each day? My fundamental orientation flows from my original/essential nature. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator dependably places me as an INF/TP, which favors Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, Thinking, Perceiving. Creativity/adventure/innovation/inquiry/ exploration/curiosity/asking/seeking/ searching… also play a bigContinue reading “February 07-B, 2023”

February 07-A, 2023

Religion is solely a matter of opinion. People say they have faith in God. They have faith in their opinion of God– in their opinion of what someone says about God. All the religions have different opinions of God. Some of the people say their faith is based on the Bible. Their faith is basedContinue reading “February 07-A, 2023”

February 06-B, 2023

Carl Jung had Philemon, I have Jake, as an alter-ego/ever-present companion/guide. My role is to get out of the way with my plans/agendas/goals/expectations/ knowledge/desires/timetables/wishes/wants/etc. and let Jake do it what/when/where/how it needs to be done. “IT” is like grass growing, flowers blooming, fruit ripening, chicks hatching, birds migrating, the tide coming and going… Everything inContinue reading “February 06-B, 2023”

February 06-A, 2023

Accommodation and acquiescence increase our chances of balance, peace and harmony. When applied in conjunction with respect for boundaries and honoring lines, they work to produce goodwill and well-being with all but the ruthless, greedy and atrocious. It takes an army to deal with Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and those like them. Diplomacy hasContinue reading “February 06-A, 2023”

February 05-B, 2023

The search for the Holy Grail is the search for the enlivening elixir that will restore life to the land– to the wasteland– to the land of inauthenticy, the land of sterility, the land of pretension, duplicity, deception and lie. Joseph Campbell describes the wasteland as “A land of people who do simply what theyContinue reading “February 05-B, 2023”

February 05-A, 2023

Our response is the most important thing. What happens to us does not matter nearly as much as what we do in response to what happens to us. We make responses to every situation as it arises, and make responses to our responses, all day long, every day. If we improve the quality of thoseContinue reading “February 05-A, 2023”