There is no uniformity, no consistency, no homogeneity, no regimentation, no orthodoxy, no systematic theology, no systematization, no orchestration, no choreography, no imposed, inorganic, ordering of life upon the living. Only death is static, unchanging, unmoving, rigid, frozen, the same forever. Jesus was inconsistent. So was the Buddha. And don’t even think about their disciples!Continue reading “December 30-C, 2022”
Author Archives: jimwdollar
December 30-B, 2022
What guides our boat on its path through the sea? Where do we turn when we have nowhere to turn? What do we have to do regardless of the cost, no matter what the price? What feeds our soul? What causes our little heart to sing and our little toes to dance? Our eyes toContinue reading “December 30-B, 2022”
December 30-A, 2022
The catch with living aligned with the Tao is that you have to be sincerely okay with things being as they are. Every here/now is just right exactly as it is. You can’t have opinion or will in the matter. Your way is one with The Way, or it’s a no-go. The Way is howContinue reading “December 30-A, 2022”
December 29-C, 2022
The way that is the way is like snow melt finding its path to the sea. Like a baby knowing what to do with a nipple. Like a duckling taking to water. Like people naturally being who they are, liking what they like, laughing at what pleases them. It is not like following a recipeContinue reading “December 29-C, 2022”
December 29-B, 2022
Circumstances initiate consequences, begetting responses to circumstances, producing new circumstances, creating complexity, noise and drama– all brought on by things just being what they are, which leads to conflict, confusion and chaos, with intermittent periods of peace and tranquility while circumstances gather themselves for another round of disarray. It is all quite ordinary and predictableContinue reading “December 29-B, 2022”
December 29-A, 2022
Trying to know who is saved and who is not, who is enlightened and who is not, who is in and who is out, who has it and who doesn’t… is contrary to the spirit of “just being, just seeing, just knowing what is called for, just doing what is needed, when, where and howContinue reading “December 29-A, 2022”
December 28-B, 2022
An antiphon/antiphony is “a short chant in Christian ritual” based on the “call and response” alternation” between singers. It doesn’t have to be set to music. It doesn’t have to be sung. It is a fundamental structure, not only in Christianity, but in all religions. It is grounded upon an unspoken reply, or completion, toContinue reading “December 28-B, 2022”
December 28-A, 2022
If it is not helping you, be done with it. If it is not helping you, it belongs to the category of noise/complexity/drama. If it is not helping you, it is hurting you. Take an inventory. Divide your life into the things that are helping you and the things that are not helping you. AllContinue reading “December 28-A, 2022”
December 27-B, 2022
By 600-or-so BCE, the Old Taoists had it figured out. When Yoga and Buddhism came to China, between 200 BCE and 250 CE, Taoism folded in the best of both, and settled into “practice, practice, practice,” while the rest of the world stumbled around in the Waste Land of 10,000 mutually wasteful opinions– with thingsContinue reading “December 27-B, 2022”
December 27-A, 2022
It doesn’t matter what you want. It isn’t about getting what you want and having your way. It is about growing up and doing what needs to be done whether you want to or not. It is about doing what you know you must do. It is about making every sacrifice to do what youContinue reading “December 27-A, 2022”
Winter Months, 2022-2023
Ray Grigg says that real human beings are Taoist sages, “Living peacefully and unnoticed among others. (They are people) who belong everywhere and nowhere, (People who seem) deeply ordinary and yet subtly different, (inner outcasts following) some unknowable wisdom of great grace.” They know what they know without knowing how they know, and not knowing,Continue reading “Winter Months, 2022-2023”
December 26-C, 2022
Ray Grigg said, “Our everyday life should have the same single-mindedness as sitting (in meditation): To cook or fix some food, is not preparation; it is practice…. Whatever we do, it should be an expression of the same deep activity. We should appreciate what we are doing. There is no preparation for something else.” WeContinue reading “December 26-C, 2022”
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 