December 12-A, 2022

Lows Lake 09/24/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Adirondack State Park, New York 
The Fentanyl epidemic 
is fueled by a culture
that has to have more/better/faster/Now!

Commercial TV (Etc.) is grounded
on the premise
that we don't have everything (anything)
we desperately need NOW!

Commercials sell us everything we don't have yet,
or have enough of yet,
and don't know what (All) we need NOW!

The commercial culture is in the business
of creating need
that it is quick to supply
for the low, low, price
of everything we have.

Capitalism is commercialism.

Capitalism is the root of all our problems today.

Or, as Jesus said,
"The love of money is the root of all evil."

Take a bow, Jesus!!!

Commercial TV (Etc.) creates the milieu,
the umwelt,
the lived environment
of the entire planet
grounded on the premise
that we don't have enough of what we need
to be happy with our life as it is.

And we can never have enough.
Which means we can never be happy.
And Fentanyl is right there 
to compensate everyone for what
they don't have
by helping them feel better (Great!)
about what they do have,
and to care less about what 
they will never have.

And, of course, Capitalism benefits
from that as well.

Capitalism gets us coming and going.

Capitalism is the addiction that kills.
Everyone.
Sooner or later.
(The environmental crisis
is Capitalism's baby, too, you know).

The cure/preventive/prescription
is to withdraw
into emptiness/stillness/silence,
return to our original nature
and to the innate virtues that are ours
from birth (The characteristics/qualities/traits
that define us,
identify us,
and set us apart from everyone else
whoever lived,
the way our fingerprints 
and our retina cones do).

Distance ourselves from our desires
and our fears,
and live "as one thus come,"
just as we are,
who we are,
where we are,
when we are,
how we are,
doing what needs to be done
when, where and how it needs to be done,
and finding our joy in living
like that
in each here/now of existence
all our life long.

It will take, in other words,
a complete re-writing of the script
we are now handed at birth,
turning the light completely around,
flipping the cultural perspective,
and transforming life as we know it.

And there is no time better to start
than right now!

–0–

December 11-C 2022

Oconaluftee River 09/01/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee, North Carolina
Joseph Campbell said the crux of the matter
of our spiritual/psychological/emotional/human development
hinges on which question we ask about our art.

Are we primarily concerned with:
"What can I do to make money with my art?"

Or with:
"How is my art enabling me to flower/bloom/come forth
as a human being?"

If we are pursuing commercial success,
that will take us in a certain direction.

If we are pursuing our own personal development,
that will take us in a different direction.

The difference in the two directions
is the difference between Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden,
and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In deciding which question is honestly
our question,
we face the truth of having to die to something
in choosing the question.
Something lives and something dies.

This is the kind of dying that follows us
throughout our life.

Campbell said, "T.S. Eliot said that the career
of a writer is a life of crucifixion every day."

Our relationship with our art requires this kind 
of devotion in giving up one way of living
in favor of another.

What are we interested in getting out of our life?
What are we here for?
What are we willing to give up--
to sacrifice--
in the service of what we are here for?

Both Eden and Gethsemane require dying to something.
What kind of death are we going to die?

December 11-B, 2022

On Roan Mountain 22 06/14/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — The Fir Forrest, Roan Mountain Highlands, Carver’s Gap, Tennessee
No one can hand you 
your adventure--
you can't even hand it to yourself.

We fall into all our adventures.
We turn a corner
and there it is.
Winking at us.
Blowing us a kiss.
Smiling.
And the next step
tells the tale.

The next step depends upon
the state of our heart
at the time
and our relationship with it.

How much heart?
How much head?
Is always the question.

We can never think our way forward,
we must feel our way there,
trusting ourselves to know 
the right thing to do
when we see it,
and waiting for the validating confirmation
from disinterested sources--
perhaps the next headline we read
and a snippet of conversation
between the people ahead of us
in the check-out line.

Things come together in unpredictable ways 
on our way to the next adventure,
to lead us along the path
that cannot be discerned as a path,
and click into place
creating direction and flow,
carrying us along independent
of our will and desire,
and often contrary to them.

It is the nature of adventure
to have a will of its own,
and if we say "No!"
with a Noble Heart,
it will come back around,
and won't leave us alone,
until we change our mind
in a "Have you lost your mind completely??!"
kind of way.

–0–

December 11-A, 2022

Over the Fence 10/20/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Julian Price Memorial Park Picnic Area, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Joseph Campbell said,
"Foster your virtues,
don't dwell on your sins."

The old (Classic) Taoists
made nothing of sin, 
and everything of living in accord
with our original/essential nature
aligned with our innate virtues.

Virtues here are to be understood,
not as the opposite of vices,
but as the peculiar characteristics,
qualities and traits
that identify us as individuals
and set us apart from all others.

When we live in the service 
of our nature and our virtues,
we are following the way 
that is our way,
and enjoy the benefit
of an internal guidance system
keeping us on track,
in balance and harmony,
"Like a wheel turning out of its own center,"
(Friedrich Nietzsche).

–0–

December 10-C, 2022

Ox Bow Bend Reflection 06/25/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Grand Teton National Park, Jackson, Wyoming
I owe you all,
and everyone I know and have known, 
a heartfelt apology,
for I have short-changed everyone
by being less than I might have been with you.

I could have done better,
just by being more awake,
aware,
alive to what was what
and what needed to be done about it,
and doing it,
for the true good of all.

I'm sorry that's the way it is.

And.

You owe me and everyone you know
the exact same apology
for the exact same reason.

We all are let-downs and disappointments,
if only to ourselves.

And we all need rites and rituals
of cleansing and redemption
on a regular basis.

And it does not need to be 
"a corporate prayer of confession"!
There is nothing corporate about our confession!
It is wholly individual through and through.
We have failed ourselves as only we could.
There is not a "we" here,
it is all "me and mine" around the circle
for the entire globe.
And we need to own it as our own,
not to be shared with anyone.

Our cleansing and our redemption
is a private matter between us and ourselves alone.
And it must come from,
and be received by, 
the heart--both as cleansing and as redemption.

No one can redeem us but us.
You telling me I am redeemed (or forgiven)
means nothing!
It has to come from me to me!
From myself to me!

I have to know it is so,
not because someone tells me,
or a lot of someone's,
but because I say it is so--
because I know it is so.

And so,
I suggest we make our daily, 
or however often,
bath/shower 
a conscious, deliberate, rite/ritual
of cleansing and redemption--
as elaborate as you like--
remembering and sending down the drain
all we have done and left undone,
all we might have done if only we had seen,
all we needed to know and did not know...

Remember and let go,
washed away--
to be remembered again,
and washed away again, perhaps--
and allowing redemption to rest easy upon us,
grounded in our determination
to do better in the time that is left to us,
even now, even yet, even so, nonetheless.

To be repeated as needed for
as long as it is so.

–0–

December 10-B, 2022

Rangeley Lake Reflection 09/27/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Rangeley, Maine
We have to learn 
to live for something
beyond our desire and fear
(Joseph Campbell).

But.
We are sure there is nothing
beyond our desire and fear.

The First Death is letting go
of our desire and fear.

It is the first of many deaths
all the way up to the Last Death,
which is the transition point
between conscious into unconscious,
into the light that knows no end
(and no beginning).

We all come from the light,
and return to the light
(That's my opinion).

And in-between,
there is learning how to see
what to value
and how to know what's what
and what to do in response to it,
where, when and how.

That is all life is good for.
If we live learning that,
we know things 
that cannot be known any other way.

Which is true knowing.
Stuff no one can teach us.
To be known only by those
who live their way there.

Life is where light becomes enlightened
by life,
becomes aware of itself,
knows itself as though for the first time.

Life is where light wakes up.
Or, comes back again 
for another round.

Or, comes back again
because its fun,
or to learn more,
or to do it again better.

Light is all there is,
and it can do what it wants
forever.

Knowing what's what
is one of light's deepest joys
and greatest pleasures,
and purest delights.

De light loves being delighted.

–0–

December 10-A, 2022

Sumac 01 10/28/2019 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Roanoke, Virginia
When we live to be aligned with,
in accord with,
the way we are built to be,
we know clearly what to say yes to
and what to say no to. 

Being clear about yes and no
is a super power
guiding us through our life.

What could tempt us off that path?
What could buy us off?
Scare us off?

That's Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
They have paradise,
but could be led astray.

Paradise is knowing what we are built for
and what we are not built for. 

I'm built for looking out the window
and putting things in perspective,
and asking questions,
and seeking right relationships between things...

And very much not built to work in an environment
where things have to be just so,
where things are rigid, either/or,
good/bad, right/wrong,
and the right people have to be pleased
no matter what.

Clarity and courage keep us on the beam.
In Eden, Adam and Eve ignored the importance
of the beam.
In Gethsemane, Jesus held fast to the value
of the beam.

Know what you are built for
and remain true to that
all the way.

–0–

December 09-B, 2022

The Falls 09/23/2012 Oil Paint Rendered — West Branch of the Penobscot River, lower end of the 100 Mile Wilderness along the Golden Road near Millinocket, ME
"Transparent to transcendence"
is a term Joseph Campbell passed along
from Karlfried Graf Dürckheim
as being the goal of seeing-beings.

Enlightenment is realization
leading to being transparent to transcendence.

Reality consists of two levels,
the conscious, apparent, logical,
rational, analytic level
which can be seen, tasted, touched,
photographed, weighed, measured, fenced in,
bought/sold, owned/stolen/given away...
and the unconscious, sensed, felt,
intuited, known...
which transcends the conscious world,
is the source of it
and beckons/calls to it
to become transcendent to transcendence,
at one with the Tao
in a "The Father and I are one" kind of way.

It is the work/calling/challenge/glory
of those in the conscious world
to become conscious of the unconscious world
and to recognize/acknowledge/align itself with
the unconscious world of "more than can be said."

We are ideally capable of being, and called to become,
transparent to transcendence.

This is the work/goal of spirituality
to be here/now in ways that are transparent to transcendence
and exhibit/reveal/declare the relevance
and reality of the other world
that is the source and ground of our being
on this world of apparent reality.

Living with a foot in each world,
walking two paths at the same time,
being "in the world but not of it,"
as the old saying goes.

When this life loses its allure,
and we begin to look around, 
asking with Peggy Lee,
"Is this all there is?"
it is time to look deeper
within ourselves
to the unconscious levels
waiting to be born/brought forth
and made real through us
by experiencing transcendence
and becoming transparent to it.

We are only a perspective shift away
from being there, now--
in all times and places.

It only takes seeing to know that it is so.

–0–

December 09-A, 2022

Crater Lake Sunrise 04 05/28/2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Crater Lake, National Park, Kalmath, Oregon
What form does your protest take?

I strive to see things as they are
and keep going,
keep looking--
in an "Anyway,
nevertheless,
even so" kind of way.

It is like this:
If this is the best we can do 
as a species over time,
we should be ashamed.
And, if this is not the best we can do
as a species over time,
we should be ashamed.

And disgusted.
And humiliated.
Etc.
At the very idea
that this is it--
that "this is all there is"!

The very idea!

Who couldn't look at the human scene
and fail to see how it could be better
in 10,000 ways?

At any point in time!

We have settled for less
than we are capable of!
We have failed, even, 
to live in protest!

The least we can do 
is acknowledged the situation as it is,
and live in protest!
Ashamed!
Humiliated!
Etc.!

We have created the arts
as compensation,
as distraction,
as amens
as atonement
for our failure to do better/more--
as if to say, "Here's this..."

We have created the arts in protest.
As witness!
Anyway!
Nevertheless!
Even so!

And the arts become balm,
solace,
consolation...

We produced The Blues!
Etc.!

What form does your art take?
There is your protest!
There is your offering!
There is your witness!

At least, there is that!
Of that, we can be proud!
Carry on!
Carry on!

–0–

December 08-C, 2022

Davidson River 03 10/12/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Pisgah National Forest, Brevard, North Carolina
Understanding the Bible metaphorically, symbolically,
means finding where the metaphors, the symbols,
come to life in our own life.

For instance, the two gardens are metaphorically
the same garden.

The Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane.
As Eden, Adam and Eve fail the test
of who was in control of their lives,
of where they were finding their guidance,
of what they were living in accord with.

This is the essential test.
Until we are living aligned with the right way,
it is all a wasteland.
The garden disappears,
and we are alone,
on our own,
and, as the story goes,
the Angel of Death guards
the way back to Eden,
and you only go back by dying.

Now, this is a metamorphic death,
a symbolic dying,
a dying to self and living to serve
the unconscious force directing our life.

As Gethsemane, Jesus recognizes 
what is being asked of him in the garden
(Which is the same thing that was asked
of Adam and Eve)
and submits to death
with his, "Thy will, not mine, be done,"
where the "Thy" represents the unconscious force
that knows what's what
and will, if we cooperate, 
direct our life along the way that is the way for us.

Jesus' death is a symbol to us all,
saying, "This is the way it's done!"
His "Come, follow me," was in invitation
to die to self and live aligned with 
the way that is the way,
doing what needs to be done,
when, where and how it needs to be done,
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what it may mean for us personally.

Our place is to recognize 
where the garden of choice 
comes to life in our life,
to know what is being asked of us,
and to submit to the unconscious force,
trusting ourselves to it
in a "Thy will be done" kind of way,
and "dying" symbolic to our own preferences,
desires
and wishes,
in doing what needs to be done,
what needs us to do it.

There have been several turning points
like this in my own life,
and I am certain they are to be found 
in your own life as well.
This is where the Bible as Metaphor
comes alive in the life we are living,
and when we read it
we know we are reading about ourselves
and not about the Middle East 
from 2,000 years Before The Common Era.

–0–

December 08-B, 2022

Ramsey Creek 02 11/07/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Greenbriar District, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cosby, Tennessee
My advice about what to do with Christianity
is to keep the metaphors and symbols
and throw away the theology.

God, for instance, is a metaphor,
not a fact.

A metaphor for "More than words can say."
Like the Tao, in that 
"The Tao that can be said/told/defined/explained,
is not the eternal Tao."

Or, perhaps a better translation of the Chinese,
"The path that can be discerned as a path
is not a reliable path." (Martin Palmer and Benjamin Hoff)

The metaphor for both God and the Tao
is an aspect of our unconscious,
which we call our interior universe/cosmos
because we are not--and cannot be--
conscious of it,
but, there is more to the interior
than there is to the exterior
(My personal theory,
but if you will spend some time 
exploring your interior,
you will know what I'm talking about).

All of the metaphors/symbols of Christianity
are perfectly charming
and are set to help us do the work of 
aligning ourselves with the invisible/unconscious world
that has always been understood as the ground,
the foundation,
the source,
of this world of visible, concrete, apparent reality.

But.
We have to understand them as such
and know how to read them in ways
that lead us along the way.

This is the appropriate place of the church
in our life,
but the church is as clueless as the rest of us
regarding how to work with metaphors and symbols,
and insists on facts, facts, facts,
when there are only metaphors
(And that is all we need).

So, we have to find our teachers
and learn what they have to show us.

Joseph Campbell is one of the best.
Classic Taoism is a wonderful source of insight.
Zen is what happened when Taoism met Buddhism,
so Zen apart from Buddhism is a helpful resource.
Both Zen and Taoism are grounded in metaphor
and have no theology,
nothing we have to believe,
just things we can do,
like emptiness, stillness and silence, for example.

Anything that connects us with the unconscious
and gets out of the way is helpful,
and Carl Jung has some things to offer here.

Jon Kabat-Zinn's early book, "Wherever You Go,
There You Are," is a good guide for tapping into
our unconscious.

Our task is to learn how to live symbolically,
metaphorically,
in waking up,
realizing what's what
and what needs to be done in response to it,
and to do it,
in each situation as it arises.

"In each situation as it arises"
is an early (That is to say, Classic) Taoism phrase
capturing the essence of what we are about.
Each situation is different from the last one
and unlike the next one,
and no system of theology/ethics/morality
can depict what is to be done there.

"The spirit is like the wind that blows where it will,"
and not even the spirit knows what it will be doing next.
It all depends on the situation
and on the circumstances impinging upon the situation.

We live moment-to-moment
and know what to do when, where and how
by being on the path that cannot be discerned as a path,
listening to "That Which Knows" within,
and responding spontaneously,
authentically,
with sincerity and integrity
to what is being asked of us
in each here/now of our existence.

Living light on our feet,
riding loose in the saddle,
ready for anything,
contriving nothing,
striving only to be aligned with,
in accord with,
the unconscious,
moving in conjunction with the mover,
and loving every minute of the life we live.

Amen! May it be so!

–0–

December 08-A, 2020

Mt Rundle 09/19/2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Vermillion Lakes, Banff National Park, Alberta
Being empty is the best way I know
to find your way through whatever
is in your way.

Overwhelmed is the end of the way.
Emptying ourselves of all that is overwhelming
is the beginning of the way.

No one ever found their way through overwhelmed
by being overwhelmed.
We find our way through overwhelmed
by emptying ourselves of the overwhelming,
which includes emptying ourselves of everything.

Try it, right now.
Take a deep breath,
exhale slowly,
and in the space between breaths,
empty yourself of everything.

Inhale normally,
exhale,
and in the space between breaths,
be aware of being empty of everything.

Do that for five more breaths.

That is all it takes to be empty of everything.
And that is to be open to all things.
Be empty and be open at the same time,
and wait there to see what arises
in the form of encouragement and hope
to comfort and sustain,
and see what may come of that.

In the silence between breaths,
we are not alone.
We only have to create a space
for encouragement and hope
to stir to life
and come to our aid.

In the silence between breaths,
we are helping our self,
our soul,
our heart, 
our unconscious...
help us,
presenting ourselves as the moved
to the mover,
being present to that which is present to us.

It is a different way of dealing
with being overwhelmed.
Breathing our way to doing what needs to be done
one moment at a time.

Empty and open.
Is the best way to be.

–0–