jimwdollar

January 24, 2021

05 If you cannot be vulnerable, you will be symptomatic all your life, and crazy as well. We are surrounded by vulnerabilities! There is no way we can be protected from them all! Everything worthwhile about us and about our life is strictly dependent upon our vulnerability threshold. The more vulnerable we can be, theContinue reading “January 24, 2021”

January 23, 2021

02c Living to do what the moment needs us to do is to put ourselves in the service of that which is greater than we are. It is the most spiritual thing on the planet, serving the moment, being alive to the here and now, being aware of the here and now, being present toContinue reading “January 23, 2021”

January 22, 2021

03 Living to be what the situation is calling us to be– doing what it is calling us to do– would flip our life around. Turn it inside out and upside down, kill us and resurrect us in one reality-transforming instant. As it is, we live to get the most out of every situation thatContinue reading “January 22, 2021”

January 21, 2021

04 What is worth doing for itself alone? Start there. Give yourself to the actions that are their own fulfillment and reason for being. Horseback riding, perhaps. Walking on a foggy morning through the woods. Reading stories to the grandchildren. Surely, your life is filled with things that you do for the joy of it!Continue reading “January 21, 2021”

January 20, 2021

03 Living aligned with our life and living in accord with the Tao is bringing our best to meet the day, like water seeking its way, not forcing its way, by responding appropriately, at the right time, in the right way, to each situation as it arises. That sounds simple enough. What makes it difficult?Continue reading “January 20, 2021”

January 19, 2021

03 We live on to pass it on– to pass life on. Not only physical life, but spiritual life as well. And spiritual life has nothing to do with beliefs, ideology, theology, doctrine, dogma, creeds, catechisms, words, thinking, reason, logic, rationality. Spiritual life has to do with dancing, playing, laughing, singing, drumming, poetry, metaphor, symbol…Continue reading “January 19, 2021”

January 18, 2021

03 We live on to pass on what we have learned about living from living. The problem with this is that most of us merely pass on what has been passed on to us from those who passed it along from someone who passed it along… through centuries and eons of passing along the sameContinue reading “January 18, 2021”

January 17, 2021

03 We have to attain a certain level of maturity before we are able to live with the kind of balance and harmony required to dance with our circumstances without being crushed by them. People who aren’t somewhat grown up before their life begins to deliver disappointment and heartbreak, grief, loss and sorrow, winking andContinue reading “January 17, 2021”

January 16, 2021

04 We cannot control what happens, but. We can strongly influence what happens next by the way we respond to what happens. Balance and harmony do not depend upon external circumstances. Living from our center with sincerity and non-contrivance, mindful awareness and optimal emotional distance between ourselves and what is happening in each situation asContinue reading “January 16, 2021”

January 15, 2021

03 The Buddha’s first great discovery was “All life is suffering.” It gets better. His second great discovery was “The way to freedom from suffering is to not care about anything.” That’s it. Buddhism in two sentences. Get those down and you are as enlightened as the Buddha was. Or, you could just say, “SufferingContinue reading “January 15, 2021”

January 14, 2021

04 We have to be clear about what we would go to hell for– about what we would serve with our life because it is life itself for us. This isn’t some grand principle, “My family,” “My country,” “Human rights,” etc. This is what we do every day because we cannot imagine a day withoutContinue reading “January 14, 2021”

January 13, 2021

03 Accepting our vulnerability without allowing it to slow us down or keep us from living the life that needs us to live it is the sine qua non of the Hero’s Journey and the Spiritual Quest. Living to be safe, to never suffer, to avoid all pain and refuse to risk loss and defeatContinue reading “January 13, 2021”