Author Archives: jimwdollar

Hitler captivated his audiancesand talked them into seeing the way he saw things.He had a “hypnotic personality.””Strong, forceful personalities”can be that way.Politicians and evangelical preachersand “snake oil” salesmen thrive onhaving “the gift.”The rest of us would do wellto spend our time away from their influence,and happy to be at homein emptiness, stillness and silence.We areContinue reading “May 11, 2024 – A”

Listening to ourselves,hearing what is going on within,knowing how we are being impactedby the circumstances of our life,and responding to that with a level of empathy and compassionappropriate for the situation as a whole,would be an important steptoward balance and harmony,and a partnership with ourselvesbased on mutual respect and encouragementfor the effort of meeting lifeContinue reading “May 10, 2024 – A”

The missing piece was D.T. Suzuki’s statement that Zen considered “enlightenment” to be equivalent to “habitual intuition.”Listening to ourselvesand being right about what we are saying/hearing!Enlightenment is INTUITION!!!So is living faithfully–faithfully aligned with what we know to be true!And, it is the same thing as living in sync with the Tao–living in accord with whatContinue reading “May 09, 2024 – B”

We are each “built” differently.The truer we are to who we are “built” to be,the truer we exhibit/serve our “original nature”and the intrinsic virtues/virtuosities(The things we do best and enjoy doing most),and are at the service of our “habitual intuition,”the better our quality of lifeand the more centered/grounded/focused we are.Getting us together with who weContinue reading “May 09, 2024 – A”

Nothing tops honest conversationstraight from the heartabout things that matter.How long has it been?How often does it come to pass?Carl Jung said,”The only thing wrong with peopleis that they have no one to listen to their story.”And how it impacted them,and who they are because of it,and who they might have beenif they had hadContinue reading “May 08, 2024 – A”

Most of us don’t have the Tetons in our backyard,but they call to usall the way from Wyoming,reminding us of what is missingin our lifeand inviting us to seek outeven faint facsimiles in the parks and greenwayswhere we live,opening ourselvesto what is open to us,offering peace and silencewhere it may be found,and reuniting with sacredContinue reading “May 07, 2024 – A”

The idea is to developan in-depth relationshipwith our intuition,learn to check everything outwith our body’s felt sense,and live mindfully presentwith the here/now all the wayalong the way.How far are we from being able to do that?That’s how far we are from being able to liveas indigenous people live,trusting themselves to themselves,living their lifeas their lifeContinue reading “May 06, 2024 – A”

Maintaining our balance and harmonyis remaining square-up with our life.Aware of the forces of destabilizationand rolling with the rhythm of the waveson the wine-dark sea.I laugh as I write thatbecause it sounds as thoughit can be done.The fact of the matteris that we are swept awayagain and again by things likebeing out of coffeeor losingContinue reading “May 05, 2024 – A”

Where do you find what is helpful?Where do you find what you needto help you along life’s way?You are here, and that leads me to supposeyou find this “place” to be helpful–unless this is your first visitand we will have to wait to seehow helpful you think it is.I hope it is helpful–I fully intendContinue reading “May 04, 2024 – B”

I observe the 1 year old Great Granddaughterat lunch in local restaurants twice a week.She is incredibly attentive and curious,looking intently at everything and everyone,lifting the table clothto see what is underneath,trying everything that is offered to her to eat,and reaching a hand into her mouthto retrieve and hurl to the flooranything that doesn’t meetContinue reading “May 04, 2024 – A”

Neil Postman and Charles Weingartnerwrote Teaching As A Subversive Activity,but it could have been entitled,”Living As A Subversive Activity,”because it is up to all of usto “subvert attitudes, beliefs and assumptionsthat foster chaos and uselessness”(Their words in their book).They say, “(Students) are almost never requiredto make observations, formulate definitions,or perform any intellectual operationsthat go beyondContinue reading “May 03, 2024 – B”

Something always wants to be heard.Something always has something to say.When do we ever get to just be here, now,sitting still,touching the groundlike the Buddha under the Bo Treegrounding himself here, now–being here/now forever?Standing with the sunflowerswith nothing better to dothan be here/now forever?Moving between this nowand the next nowwith nothing better to dothat moveContinue reading “May 03, 2024 – A”