jimwdollar

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”

January 12, 2021

05 Returning to the silence, seeking the center, harmonizing ourselves with the disharmony on all sides, making our peace with the complete absence of peace in our life, putting ourselves in accord with the complete lack of accord anywhere we look, is walking on the water of the heaving waves of the wine-dark sea, betweenContinue reading “January 12, 2021”

January 11, 2021

02 Living out of our center, listening to our imagination, and trusting ourselves to find what we need to do what needs to be done, is a day-by-day task of life, no matter what is going on around us. We have as much as anyone has ever had, and that got us to this point.Continue reading “January 11, 2021”

January 10, 2021

05 If you have been with me for a while, you know that one of the central features of my faith is the crucial importance of knowing what you would go to hell for– being right about it being worth going to hell for– and being willing to go to hell for it. Now, theContinue reading “January 10, 2021”

January 09, 2021

05 What are we doing with our life? What are we doing with our time? How do we know it is the right thing to do? Who says it is right, or wrong? How would we know whom to believe in case of a disagreement? How do we know what to do with our life?Continue reading “January 09, 2021”

January 08, 2021

02 We are the center and ground of our own existence. We interpret our experience (reality) to suit ourselves. What we say goes. We are our own authority. Our own God. We see all we look at, all we experience, in light of all we have looked at, experienced, and how we have responded toContinue reading “January 08, 2021”

January 07, 2021

03 What is the organizing idea of our life? The original Oomph driving our original nature? We are here to do what? What drives us? What shapes our life? What does our particular constellation of interests/abilities/knacks/proclivities/ virtues/characteristics equip us to do? What calls us forth? Leads us on? What fascinates us? Attracts us? Spellbinds us?Continue reading “January 07, 2021”

January 06, 2021

03 When the Commander in Chief assumes no responsibility and incites riot and rebellion, the Commander in Chief has to be relieved of duty. This is fundamental “how to do it” procedure. The problem is that those who would initiate the procedure themselves need to be relieved of duty, because they are incapable of doingContinue reading “January 06, 2021”