Author Archives: jimwdollar

Our primary concern needs to be living as good stewards of our health. Health is not to be taken for granted, as though we can live anyway we want and eat anything we like anytime we feel like it and be healthy. What changes do we need to make in the way we live toContinue reading “October 21, 2023 – A”

If we were to build a church without theology (And why don’t we?), we could do it basted upon personal experience. The ground/foundation would be the right kind of emptiness, stillness, silence. The touchstone components for maintaining/deepening our attachment to the core/center/source of life and being would be integrity/sincerity, spontaneity, balance/harmony, spirit, energy, vitality… AsContinue reading “October 20, 2023 – A”

The day is here to be seen, and heard, and understood, comprehended, attended and served. We are here to do right by each day. To size things up, know what is called for and do what needs to be done. Some days demand that we go back to bed. Some days require us to goContinue reading “October 19, 2023 – A”

The Hum at the foundational center of the universe is the gravitational remnant of the destruction of hundred, or thousands, of galaxies. AUM is the triumph of Black Holes, and the wail of unimaginable devastation. Israel in Gaza. Hamas in Gaza. This is where we live. How we live with what we live with isContinue reading “October 18, 2023 – A”

Find a place in image form or actual life, that is for you a fine place for engaging the truth of what’s what and how things are, and finding what you have to bring forth in adjusting to it and doing what needs to be done in response to it. Just sit there, or walkContinue reading “October 17, 2023 – A”

No one has ever had the solution to war/hatred/evil. Makes it easy to think no one ever will. Leaves us with wringing our hands and staring at the wall, weeping. The best among us never did any more than that. Buddhist monks self-immolation in Vietnam speaks to the futility of “nothing better to do.” FlashContinue reading “October 16, 2023 – A”

During the heresy hunts and murders, people were compelled to convert to something that can only be taken on faith. And faith cannot be forced. The core/foundation of my faith is the essential/utmost importance of doing the right thing at the right time in the right place and in the right way. I believe thatContinue reading “October 15, 2023 – A”

We all need a sounding board. A sounding board is all we need. In world of balance and harmony, we all would be our own sounding board, sitting down with ourselves on a regular basis in a dependable kind of way to talk things over and think things through in order to see what weContinue reading “October 14, 2023 – A”

My central symbol of life, of being alive, is the swamp. Swamps are vital sources of vitality, wellsprings of all the qualities of life and being. They are where life originates, and carry the realization of the Buddhist chant, “Om Mani Padme Hum” and its implication of the jewel that is in the lotus andContinue reading “October 13, 2023 – B”

Joseph Campbell said the thrust of the Bahgavad Gita is “Get in there and do your thing and let the outcome be the outcome.” We live to manipulate the outcome by doing whatever is necessary to leverage what we want into place and letting “our thing” be anything it takes to get what we desire.Continue reading “October 13, 2023 – A”

All of the philosophies of life that I am aware of assume a high enough income to meet the cost of living. I don’t know of any philosophy that makes poverty bearable, much less fun. Life starts with being able to pay the bills. Once we take care of that requirement, then we can turnContinue reading “October 12, 2023 – A”

What would it take for you to enjoy being who you are? For you to enjoy your life? What do you enjoy in a day? Make it your thing to enjoy what remains of the time left for living! Music. Friends. Art. Poetry. Nature. Food… Make your list of the enjoyable aspects of life andContinue reading “October 11, 2023 – A”