01

Live to be good for nothing.

Live to do what is good
whether it does any good or not.

Live to be who Jesus was,
who, when he died,
left more evil in the world
than was there when he was born.

Who left more poor and hungry people
in the world 
than were there when he was born.

Who left more suffering and sorrow,
more pain and anguish,
more slavery,
more inhumanity,
more atrocity,
more anarchy,
more destruction and devastation,
more of everything
people need less of in their life
than was there before he was born.

And he knew it.
And he did not let it stop him.
Or even slow him down.

He died saying, "Listen to me!
See what needs to be done
right where you are
and do it!
When it needs to be done!
The way it needs to be done!
Because it needs to be done!
In each situation as it arises!
All your life long!
No matter what!
And do not pause living in the service
of the good
for anything!"

We are resistant to serving some good
that might do more harm than good
in the long run.

Joe Biden spends his time looking around
for a good that is Nothing But Good.
He won't end the filibuster
because it might make some things worse
in the future.

Well, name me something that doesn't 
carry with it that possibility!

Don't let the long term
keep you from serving 
the good of the sort term!

And do not,
whatever you do not do,
do not ever,
let the outcome
determine what good you do
or whether you do it!

"Get in there and do your thing--
and don't worry about the outcome!"
Was Joseph Campbell's summation
of the Bhagavad Gita.

Jesus would have said the same thing.
From the cross.

–0–

02

What keeps you going?
Force of habit?
Lack of anything better to do?
Inertia?

How long has it been
since you lived from the heart?
Since you were glad to be alive?
Since you leaped into the day
eager to see what it held
and what you could do with it?
Since you sang and danced,
winking and twinkling,
in the rain,
or whatever the day had in store?

What happened?

What took caring away from you?
And left you with going through the motions,
unaware of where you are,
or what you are doing,
or where you've been,
or where you're going?

Who ARE you?
What are you about?
What do you believe in?
What evidence is there
suggesting that you believe in anything?

Live as though it matters--
whether it matters or not!

If you are going to believe anything,
believe that it matters how we live,
and live like it!
In each situation as it arises!
Day by day!
All day long!

Doing what needs to be done
the way it needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
no matter what!

Live to see what you can do with the day--
every day!

Empty yourself of all the things
that keep that from happening,
and sit still, 
be quiet,
empty in the silence,
paying attention to what
arises in the silence,
looking for what has a spark
of energy,
of vitality,
of spirit about it,
winking at you,
calling your name.

Go with that into the field of action.
See where it leads.
Without caring how it looks
or what people will think
or how you can explain anything.

Trust yourself to the invisible forces
of the invisible world.

Let your heart tell you what,
and let your head figure out how.

And let every day be an adventure
in what now?
In what's next?
Living with the wind of the spirit
that blows where it will
forever in your hair!

01

There are things we need to do
without knowing why.

When those things come along
do them!

Don't delay looking for reasons!
Don't talk yourself out of doing them
because you can't explain doing them!

Having to give people "one good reason why"
you are doing what needs to be done
has kept more important things from being done
than I care to count
(I don't know why I don't care to count them).

Instinct and intuition
are the most underused and disvalued tools
in our psychic toolbox.

See what you can do about changing that.

Learn to feel what your body is feeling,
know what your body is knowing,
sense what your body is sensing,
do what your body is saying needs doing.

Allow your body to take the lead,
and see where things go from there.

It will be the smartest thing
your brain ever did,
getting out of the way.

–0–

02

"Om Mani Padme Hum" can be understood as
"The jewel is in the lotus."
The jewel can be understood as 
enlightenment/realization/light/understanding...
with the lotus representing two things,
the light/blossom of realization 
and the root/foundation in the slime
at the bottom of the pond.

I understand "Om Mani Padme Hum"
as being one part of an antiphony,
both parts of which are understood/implied
in the phrase "The jewel is in the lotus,"
with the other side being
"The lotus is in the slime 
(at the bottom of the pond)."

"The jewel is in the lotus/
the lotus is in the slime"
sums up nicely the antiphony,
the contradiction,
the yin/yang,
the juxtaposition,
the blend of opposites,
the oppositional nature of reality
at the very ground/foundation/heart
of reality.

Life Eats Life!
In order for us to live,
something has to die.

What kind of sense does that make?
Absolutely no sense at all!

The jewel is in the lotus,
the lotus is in the slime.

We live "between the hands":
"On the one hand this,
on the other hand that."

"Thou Art That"
and "Neti, Neti"
(Not this! Not That!)
(Neither this nor that!).

We are the "third way,"
the middle ground,
the synthesis
between thesis and antithesis.

We harmonize/balance/maintain the tension 
bear the pain between
the opposites,
the absurdity,
the craziness,
the agony/anguish
of life in the world.

And it is essential that we do so
in the spirit of Edna St. Vincent Millay's
realization:
"Life must go on/I forget just why."

"Why?" is the stopper--
if we allow it to be.
"Why?" has no reasonable/logical answer.
Life Eats Life--Why???
stops us if we let it.

Why let it stop us?
Life must go on/I don't know why
is as good as it gets.

We do not know why
we must bear the pain of opposites,
of contradiction,
of absurdity and suffering.

It is the essence of faith in the unknown.
Of trusting ourselves to absurdity,
because to refuse to do so
is also absurd.
Why not?

So, we take up the chant,
"Om Mani Padme Hum,"
fully aware of the antiphonal responses
"The Jewel is in the Lotus,
the Lotus is in the Slime."
"Life must go on/It doesn't matter why!"

Can you do it?
Is the question.
Will you do it?

Will you live life just as it it
right out of the box?
For what reason you do not know?

Will you do it?
Will you join me in doing it?
Companions in life all the way?
Because, why not?

–0–

03

The commitment to life just as it is
is the essential ingredient
in a life well-lived.

We have to say, "YES!" to life
without hesitation or qualification.

We have to know/understand/acknowledge/
assent to/acquiesce to/accept/embrace:
"This is the way things are,
and this is what can be done about it,
and that's that--
and that is the way things are!"
as the foundational agreement
we make with life 
upon exiting the womb.

We cannot live well shouting,
"NO! NOT THAT! NOT THAT! NOT THAT!...

We have to work with the givens
and do what can be done with them,
about them,
within the framework of what's what,
no matter how we feel about it.

We can feel however we feel about it,
but.
We have to do what is called for
in each situation as it arises
no matter how we feel about it
as our part in the process of life.

"The big fish eat the little fish
and the little fish swim through 
the mesh in the nets 
that haul the big fish to the cannery."
And that's how it is.

And we have to square ourselves up
with the disparity between 
how things are 
and how we want things to be/
wish they were.

We can imagine a better world
than we can live in.
We work in this world 
to make it as good as it can be,
knowing that it will never come up to
our vision/desire for it.

And, we have to say "YES!" to the deal,
because it is the deal,
the only deal there is,
and we don't get better choices
than the choices we have to make.

We could do better with better choices,
but.
Better choices are not a part of the deal.
The choices we have are the choices there are,
and we have to make the best 
of what we have to work with.

Say "YES!" to that,
and let's get to work!

–0–

04

I will say it again:

It is all useless, pointless, hopeless, futile and absurd--
and coming to a very bad end:
We all are going to die!
And.
How we live in the meantime 
makes all the difference.

This is the realization of contraries
that we dance with throughout our life.

On the one hand, it is stupid to go on with it.
And on the other hand, so what? Why not?

Every person in each generation
has to assent to going on with it.
It is the Human Contract that we make with life,
and with each other,
to go on with it.
And to do it with all our heart,
believing in what we are doing,
and doing it with spirit, energy, vitality,
sincerity and integrity--
balancing and harmonizing the contraries
as though nothing matters more,
because nothing matters more.

And so what if 
"we all are playing the game
of not playing a game"?

It is the only game in town.
In every town.
In all towns.

And we all depend on each other
playing the game as though it
doesn't matter that it is a game,
which is the best game there is to play,
playing it as though it makes all the difference
that we play it,
and that we play it well,
winking and laughing,
sparkling and twinkling,
all the way.

It is a great joke,
the greatest joke,
and who cares if it is on us?
Just to be a part of it, 
to be a part of the magic 
of pretending it isn't a joke,
and knowing that it is,
and not caring whether it is or not,
is the best part of the entire extravaganza.

So, "Get in there and do your thing--
and don't worry about the outcome!"
(Joseph Campbell's summation of the 
Bhagavad Gita)

01

We worry about 
what is going to happen to us
and those we love.
We hope for the best,
and fear the worst,
and lose the time that is at hand
wishing and dreading.

Now is the only time there is.

Now is the time to let ourselves
out of the box.
To open the doors of the prison,
and allow ourselves to walk free.

No matter what happens,
we are going to have to meet it
as it needs to be met.

To do that, we have to be at full strength.

We have to be able to respond 
to our life
using all of the resources
provided by our relationship
with the source/core/center/ground
of who we are--
out of our close association
with our original nature,
and the gifts/daemon/shtick/character/
specialties/virtues/knacks/tricks/
assets and forte
that came with us from the womb.

We practice doing this
by intentionally coming forth
to meet the moment,
here and now,
starting right now,
by sizing things up,
seeing what's what
and what needs to be done about it,
and doing it,
spontaneously,
sincerely,
without thinking about it,
planning it,
in light of what is good for us,
or what we stand to gain--
just seeing what needs to be done
and doing it--
moment by moment.

That is the practice that will build
the inner relationships with ourselves
that will enable us to meet whatever comes,
and doing what needs to be done about it.

It will also get us out of the rut
of hoping and fearing
and missing the moment as we live it.

Living this moment well
prepares us to meet any moment well.

Shift your focus.
Meet the moment
by stepping into each situation
as it arises
and being what is needed there,
day by day,
forever.

–0–

02

We live from the heart
in the moment.
What we want or don't want
doesn't have a place 
in what we do.

What we do flows directly
from what needs to be done,
regardless of what we want,
or think,
or feel.

See what's what.

Hear what is being called for
in response.

Do what needs to be done about it.

That's the process
for each situation as it arises,
and moment to moment
within the situation.

This is the Emergency Room Readiness Procedure.

It doesn't matter what you want,
what you think,
how you feel.
You meet whatever comes through 
the emergency room door
ready to deal with the situation
as it arises,
with no reaction
that fails to meet the moment head-on.

Treat everything in your life
as though it is coming through
some emergency room door.

Rise to meet every occasion
as it needs to be met
no matter how you feel about it.

Live as though you live 
in an emergency room.
Allow your action to be directed
by what needs to be done,
and not by what you want to do.

Everybody had rather be somewhere else,
doing something else.
No one is where they are
(Unless they work in an emergency room).

Break the trend.
Be. Where. You. Are.
Doing what needs to be done there.
With the resources you were born with
and your instinct and intuition
leading the way.

Responding spontaneously/sincerely
to what is called for
with the right thing
at the right time
in the right way,
moment by moment
throughout your day,
everyday.

Don't let how you feel about it
get in your way.

–0–

03

We respond to our life
with what is called for
in each situation as it arises
out of silence and emptiness.

The problem is
we are never silent or empty.

Being empty is being empty of everything.

No desire.
No fear.
No duty/obligation/responsibility/should/ought/must.
No opinion.
No concern.
No caring.
No preference.
No anxiety.
No motive.

Being empty even of the desire to be empty!

Understanding that we dance
with all of the contradictions,
and laugh at the idea of being empty of it all,
and be empty of the laughter
while laughing.

Emptiness and silence
are not steady states of being.

There are no steady states of being.

Emptiness and silence are stages
in the flow of life.
We move in and out of them
as part of the process of being alive.

We are not trying to be silent and empty,
we are offering ourselves 
to the experience of silence and emptiness
throughout each day,
coming and going with the flow of life,
moving with the tides of time and place.

Which will be a definite improvement
over where we are now.

Speaking of now,
look within right now.
See what is there.
Empty it out.

Keep it up until nothing is there.
See how long you can live like that.

That is the orientation 
enabling us to respond as needed
to the situation as it arises
without thinking first 
of what it means to us
and how we need to steer the outcome
to our benefit/advantage/pleasure/etc.

We need to do what needs to be done
without reference to ourselves.

In order to respond appropriately
to our life in each moment
with what is needed,
when it is needed,
the way it is needed,
because it is needed,
we have to get ourselves out of the way.

Our practice is being empty
in the silence
away from the hum of the 10,000 things.

To do that,
we have to become aware of the noise
we generate
in response to the 10,000 things.

And stop.

Which is really only a pause.
But a crucial one.

01

Where do you belong?
Where do you have 
no business being?

Where do you feel at home?
Where are you out of place?

How do you spend your time
in ways that are right for you?

How do you spend your time
in ways that are wrong for you?

Are you going with the flow here,
or swimming against the current?
Of your life?

What is your position 
with regard to yourself?
Are you mostly pro-self,
or mostly anti-self?

Would you be better off
with a different self?

Would you be worse off
with a different self?

If you could pick your ideal self
off a shelf,
what characteristics would you have,
and what characteristics would you not have?

How different would you be, ideally?

If you could divorce yourself,
would you?

Have you?
Divorced yourself?

Our relationship with ourselves
is our most important relationship.
If we aren't tending that,
nurturing that,
nourishing that,
we are violating a sacred trust,
and have the time left for living
to make amends.

The more time we take,
the less time we have. 

–0–

02

Everything is a mirror,
exposing us,
revealing us,
bringing us forth
for all to see
who know how to look.

We are "right here,"
as "one thus come,"
just like the Buddha
in all of our coming and going.

If you want to know who you are,
to see into your original nature
and behold "the face that was yours
before you--our your parents--
or your grandparents--
were born,
sit down with some readily visible 
aspect of yourself
and wonder about it,
playing with it,
turning it over,
digging into it,
exploring it,
inspecting it,
seeing it as though 
for the first time,
asking it to show you
what it has to say about you
and what you are about...

And see where it goes.

I've been revising all of my old images
by applying Photoshop's "Oil Paint" filter
from about the beginning 
of the pandemic
(And the worsening of the osteoarthritis
in my knees,
which reduces my ability 
to plunder the world
in searching for new images).

And I can easily reel off
all of the "reasons why."
--I can take a 72 ppi image
from my Flickr online gallery
apply the filter
and enlarge it to a 300 ppi image
with no pixelization.
--I can "save" marginally focused images.
--I can "re-up" old images
by turning them into "new" images.
--I like the effect...

I have recently come to realize
that it shows me who I am
and what I am about:
Taking the edge off of reality.
Softening "the world."
Making all things easier to take
as they are.
Applying the "Dollar--Dolor--Filter"
to life.

"Dolor" is a Scottish word 
meaning "depression, angst, pain,
sorrow, sadness, melancholy...
and it is pronounced "Dolla,"
Dollar without the "r."

There is an area in Scotland 
called "Dollar Glen"
near Campbell Castle
which gets its name,
as legend would have it,
from the broken-hearted suicide
of a beautiful young princess 
of the castle
over Lost Love,
and the pall her death cast
over the surrounding glen.

My ancestors would have
spelled their name "Dolor,"
pronouncing it "Dolla,"
coming to America,
and being ridiculed 
for "not knowing how to spell
their own name,"
saying, "Okay, what the hell?"
and adopting the Anglican-American spelling
and signing everything "Dollar"
to escape the pain/shame/humiliation
of "not knowing how to spell" their own name.

Perhaps this is an unnecessary embellishment
of the origin of "Dollar,"
but it suits my purposes
and expands my "story."

And allows me to adopt "the heritage"
of my ancestors in "explaining"
using the oil paint filter
to "take the edge off reality,"
and present a softer, gentler, kinder
view of "how things are,"
which is what I have been doing
throughout my life.

I was a "Preacher" by trade
and by craft.
Hermeneutics is my shtick, 
my "thing,"
my foundation and my core.

"Hermeneutics" comes from "Hermes"
(Also called "Mercury")
the "messenger of the gods."
Seeing and saying how things are.
Interpreting what was said
to clarify and express what was meant.
Turning reality into possibility.
Making the world better than it is.
Taking "dolor" and producing "dolla(r)."

Afterall, the "r" was already there.

01

Sit still.

Be quiet.

Pay attention.

To all that arises in the silence.

Be curious about what catches your eye.

See where it goes.

Every day.

Throughout the day.

You are getting to the bottom of it.

Of it all.

Especially of YOU.

The curiosity part is the best part.

If you are End-driven,

and looking for where it all is going,

so are the tides.

We are just along for the ride.

Allow curiosity to pilot your boat

on its path through the sea.

If you are obsessive/compulsive

and Have To Be There Now!

Be curious about that--

and everything else that would hijack

your boat and send it off

after red herrings and wild geese.

Also, remember to be curious about

whose good is served

by the good you call good.

And wonder, 

"What's so good about that?"

And, "Who says so?"

Who says that the good you call good is good?

How do they know?

Who told them?

We are here to see where it goes.

Start looking!

At everything!

Particularly the things

that catch your eye!

–0–

02

We are the treasure we seek.
The gold mine we hope to find.

If you are going to take something on faith,
let it be this,
and allow you to show you 
what you are capable of
even now, even yet, even so.

Jesus said these things all of the time:
"Beware of the blind leading the blind!"
"Leave the dead to bury the dead!"
"Why don't your judge for yourself what is right?"

It comes down to:
"How good is the good you call good?
What makes you think you are right about that?"

We all are locked into the service
of the good we call good.
How good is that?
What makes us think it is good at all?
Who is telling us how good it is?
What is in it for them?
How good is the good they call good?
Who says so?

We need to get to the bottom of these things.
Of what is good and how do we know.
Of what is good and who says so.
And why don't we decide for ourselves what is right,
and how we are to know when we are wrong,
and when we are right about being right.

That is all that is worth knowing--
when we are right about what is right,
and when we are wrong about what is right.

There is nothing else but that.

How do we know?

How often do we ask?

Whom do we ask?

Whose word for it do we take?

Why don't we judge for ourselves what is right?

And change our mind
when it becomes obvious
that we were wrong?

Let the evidence guide your boat on its path through the sea!

Keep asking the questions that beg to be asked!

Get to the bottom of everything!

And sail on! Sail on!

On the sea that has no end!

“Traveling on every path, 
you will not find the boundaries of soul by going; 
so deep is its measure.” -- Heraclitus

That is the sea we sail, looking for ourselves.

–0–

01

Prosperity is having what we need
to do what needs to be done. 

We think of prosperity 
as having more than we need
so that we do not have to do anything.

We think having it made
is not having to do anything
we don't want to do.

We think "being free"
is being able to go 
wherever our heart takes us.

It is bondage
to our own desires.

What changes more often
that our desires do?

Endlessly wanting is the curse
of wealth and privilege. 

What does wanting know?
How often does wanting want
what it has no business having?

Does wanting know what is right?

Does wanting know what it is time for?

Does wanting know the importance
of doing what needs to be done
whether we want to or not?

What is more important--
wanting what we want
or wanting what we ought to want?

What is more important--
having what we want
or wanting to be free of wanting?

Who has ever been free of wanting?

Why would we want to empty ourselves
of wanting?

Why wouldn't we want to empty ourselves
of wanting?

–0–

02

It all is going.
But, what's coming?
Will it be better?
Worse?
More of the same?

How long will this go on?
What are you 
going to do
with the time left for living?
What is worth your time
over the course of what remains of it?

I'm going to probe my interests,
consider my possibilities,
and see what needs to be done
using my skills and abilities--
doing what matters to me,
whether it means anything
to anybody else
or has any impact 
on the cosmos
or not.

This is called
"Doing my work
and stepping back,
letting nature take its course."

What matters to you?

What are you going to do about it?

–0–

03

The Way is not about thinking. 

The Way is not about believing. 

The Way is not about reason and logic or faith. 

The Way is about experiencing the truth 
of your original nature 
and bringing you forth 
within the context and circumstances 
of your life--
with balance and harmony 
all the way around.

The way to the Way
is the way of sitting still,
being quiet
and paying attention.

If you want guidance and assistance in this,
watch all of the Jon Kabat-Zinn
YouTube videos (The shortest ones first),
and enlist the services
of a same-sex as you Jungian analysist
for five sessions
in learning how to read the signs and clues/cues
coming from your inner self--
the source Carl Jung was talking about
when he said,
"There is in each of us
another
whom we do not know."

You can waste a lot of time in analysis
on a thinking/understanding/conceptual level.
All you need to know
is how to read the signs.

01

Everybody wants a better life.
That's where the similarity ends.

Everybody has a different idea
of what that means 
and how to achieve it.

Which results in the mess
everything is in.

A lot of people think having their way
would result in a better life.

A lot of people think having more money
would result in a better life.

A lot of people think having more sex
would result in a better life
(For then, but not necessarily
for their partners).

The list goes pretty much forever.

I think being aligned with,
living in accord with, the Tao
would result in a better life.

And, that how to achieve it
is by being still and quiet
and paying attention
in the right ways--
seeing what's what
and what needs to be done about it--
and doing the right thing,
at the right time,
in the right place,
in the right way,
no matter what,
for no reason other than
it needs to be done,
with nothing in it for us
beyond the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it.

I spend a lot of time talking about this
because I think it is the most important thing.
But I can only talk to people
who already feel the way I do.
I make no headway at all
with people who have different ideas
about what it means to live a better life.

And they make no headway with me.

We can only talk meaningfully with people
who see/think approximately the same as we do.
We have nothing at all to say
to most of the people we walk past in a day.

When I realized that,
I stopped talking to basically everybody,
and limited my conversations to business matters
and family members.

I write all I have to say here
and post it to the world,
and have less than a dozen readers a day,
probably the same people every day.

Writing it out enables me to hear/see 
what I have to say,
which creates balance and harmony,
and encourages sincerity and integrity,
in the service of energy, spirit, and vitality,
and I would do it if nobody read it.

Writing to me, from me, about me,
about how it is with me
and how I see things here and now,
is essential, I think, to living 
a better life.
That starts with knowing who we are,
how we are,
when we are,
where we are,
why we are,
and what we are about.

So, if you are reading this,
I advise getting to know yourself
in an on-going, regular, repetitive way.
Let it become your practice,
to be increasingly clear about what it means
to live a better life.
And put yourself deliberately on that path,
and walk it earnestly,
with loyalty and devotion,
every day.

And if this is a part of that work,
I am glad to be helping you 
to live a better life.
Thanks for being here, now.

–0–

02

Sitting still,
being quiet and attentive,
seeing what's what 
and what needs to be done about it,
opens us to ourselves--
when we are aware of being aware
we are aware of how it is with us,
of what we are feeling in our body.

And, if we sit with our body
and what our body is feeling,
understanding that is our body's way
of communing with us,
of communicating with us,
we realize that our body is talking to us
all of the time.

What our body is saying
is a matter of attending our body
and (This is the important part)
interpreting correctly
what our body is saying.

If you have a dog or a cat,
you have come to read what your dog or cat
is saying to you.
The same applies to your body.
Spending time with our body,
attending our body,
opens up a new world of communication
and awareness about our life
and its impact on our body.

This spills over into,
leads to,
expanded awareness of our mind/body connection,
and how our mind is impacting our body,
and how changing our mind--
being aware of our mind and its impact on our body--
shifts everything about our life.

By being aware of our mind and our body,
we change our relationship with our mind and our body,
and transform our life, like that (Snaps fingers).

Sit still.
Be quiet and attentive.
Seeing what's what
and what needs to be done about it.
And transform your life,
just by being aware of your body
and your mind.

In so doing,
you will be tuning into the Tao
of Mind-Body-Life.

The connection and flow of awareness
that shapes and forms our way of being here and now,
in every moment of every day,
leading us, guiding us, enabling us
to do the right thing,
at the right time,
in the right place,
in the right way,
no matter what,
because it needs to be done,
spontaneously, from the heart,
for no other reason 
than because it needs to be done,
with nothing in it for us
beyond the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it.

By sitting still with quiet attentiveness.
Seeing what's what
and what needs to be done about it.
Regularly, routinely, religiously.
Transforming your life,
and your world,
and the world.

One moment at a time.

–0–

03

Listening to the Tao
is listening to your life.

The Tao is our life's rhythm and movement.

It is the rhythm and movement of all of life and being,
of the cosmos,
of all that is
and has been
and will be.

It is the how of things.
The way of things.
The howness, whenness, whatness and thatness of things.
All things.

Our meeting place with the Tao is our life.

We live in harmony with the Tao
or out of harmony with the Tao.

In tune with the Tao
or out of tune with the Tao.

In accord with the Tao
or out of accord with the Tao.

The term "Tao" is meaningless in itself.
It can be understood as "Way," or "Path."

It is about rhythm and flow and movement,
of all of life and being,
and all things animate and inanimate.

There is a sense in which rocks and horseshoes
have life and being.
Everything does.
Everything changes.
Is in flux.
Is becoming something else.

How it does so is its Tao, its Way, its Path.

Unconscious things do so unconsciously.
They are the Tao.
They are one with the Tao.
They cannot help being so.

Conscious things have their own ideas
about how their life should be,
and compete/contend with the Tao
over who they are and what they are about
and how things ought to be in their life.

When there is disturbance in the flow,
the flow folds that into it's fluid nature,
takes that into account, 
and moves on.

But the individual life that is refusing
to cooperate with the flow
is a mess
and creates a larger mess in its vicinity
because it is disrupting the natural flow
and sequence of things.

"Smooth and easy" describes the natural flow
and sequence of things--the "regular order."

"Chaos and turmoil" describes things that are
out of sync, turbulent and disorderly.

It goes better for us when we are in accord
with the Tao,
and worse for us when we are at odds with the Tao.

But the Tao is not "God's will,"
and has no purpose in the sense of "divine intention."
It is simply how things are
and how things work together
within the harmonious arrangement of the whole.

Yet nothing can happen that is not incorporated
into that harmonious arrangement over time.

Hurricanes disrupt the regular ebb and flow of the tides,
but hurricanes are a part of a different ebb and flow
of weather patterns worldwide,
so the Tao can be opposed to the Tao and at one with the Tao
at the same time.

Contradiction--Yin/Yang--is very much a part  
of the harmony of the whole.
And being in accord with the Tao
means bearing the pain of our own contradictions
even as we enter the flow/flux of life and being.

When there is disruption and disharmony in the flow,
we wait it out,
emptying ourselves of wanting things
to be different than they are,
and allowing things to be as they are
for as long as it takes for "smooth and easy"
to return of their own accord.

Just being here and now,
without will or expectation,
desire, interest, or opinion,
seeing and doing what needs to be done,
moment to moment
in each situation as it arises,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done...
is our contribution to the flow
and our assistance in effecting
its return.

Equanimity and good faith
are our gift to the Tao,
and the Tao is our gift from the Cosmos.

And the flow goes on.
"It is the Way." 

01

Having expectations,
having desires,
having resentments,
having fears,
having anger,
having duties and responsibilities
keep us from being alive.

Being alive is
being being balanced
and in harmony
with ourselves,
our life,
and one another,
living with sincerity
and integrity,
having energy,
spirit
and vitality,
and acting in the service
of what needs to be done
in doing it
with the gifts, shtick, daemon,
interests, abilities, etc.
(that come with us from the womb
and constitute our original nature)
at the right time,
in the right way,
in each situation as it arises
all our life long--
the way emergency room personnel
meet everything that come through
their door every day.

With no expectations,
no desires,
no resentments
no fear
no anger
and serving only the duties
and responsibilities
of being who they are,
where they are,
when they are,
how they are,
in responding appropriately 
to what's what
in each situation
as it arises
all their life long.

01

As we reduce the noise
and the complexity
in our life,
we are likely to discover
there isn't much there.

Take away the drama
and what's left?

This is a stark realization
of how little we are doing
with the time left for living.

And, it is a call to spend it
with things and people 
that are meaningful to us.

No more meaningless chatter!
No more meaningless pastimes!
Where is the meaning in your life?
Dive into that!
Spend your time there!
Do that!

Reducing the noise, clutter
and complexity
brings meaning to the fore!
And if nothing means anything to us,
that is a call to get with remembering
the things that have been meaningful,
and may yet still be.

Recall what you did in childhood
that shut out the world,
and search for how that might
translate into this stage of your life.

Or what doors it might open
into related areas of interest.

Free yourself to imagine what you might love
and see where that might lead.

It would be a terrible thing to live meaninglessly
without making every effort 
to find what might spark a fire in your heart
that lights the rest of your way!

–0–

02

What are we doing
with the time 
that is our to live?

What are we being called to do?

What is our thing?

When Captain Jack Sparrow says,
"It's the pirate's life for me, Gibbs.
I have no say in the matter.
Savvy?"

Do we know what he means?

What is it for us
that was the pirate's life for him?

Do not die without knowing!

And doing!

What you have no say in the matter about!

Savvy?

01

To know what it is time for--
and not for--
is true knowing.

One time is not as good as another.

What is it time for here and now?

What is it not time for?

Teachers cannot teach us these things.
Books are of no help.
Videos and movies are useless.
Lectures and sermons, even worse.

The things we need to know
come from the heart
and from life experience.

Listen to the silence
in the midst of loud noise.
Know what you know
beyond being able to say
what you know,
or explain how you know it.

Knowing what is called for
is knowing what it is time for.
Knowing what is not called for
is knowing what it is not time for.

Be still.
Be empty.
Just listen.
Just look.
Just know.

The right action arises of itself,
without motive or intent.
Just knowing.
Just doing.
Seeing and hearing
what needs to be done,
and doing it.

Dancing with life
is a ballet with time and place.
Feeling the music
and moving with the flow
of the here and now.

–0–

02

Receive what the moment brings you
as the miracle it is
when you treat it as such,
seeing it as the very thing
you have been looking for,
waiting on,
even as you wonder
how best to bring forth its blessings
in the time and place of your living.

We do not think our way to the insight
that transforms our life.
We allow the answers to arise within
of themselves
in response to the experience of time and place.

The flow is dynamic.
The way is rhythm and movement,
balance and harmony.

Rigidity of expectation and stipulation
has to give way to intuition
and ingenuity
birthing what is needed in the moment 
it is needed,
in response to what is offered
and called for--
as the song sings the singer
and the dance dances the dancer
and the painting paints the painter...

Take what comes
and see what you can do with it,
which includes separating what is useful
from what is not
and leaving what is not behind.

01

We have to be empty
even of the desire to be empty.

That is the contradiction
at the heart of life and being.

Live the contradictions!
"If I contradict myself,
then I contradict myself!"
said Walt Whitman in Song of Myself.
Though that isn't the exact quote.

That's another thing,
trying to be exact is the wrong thing
to be/do.

Get the general idea in place
and the details will take 
care of themselves.

The general idea is to be empty,
even of the desire to be empty.
How that works out actually
is a matter of time and chance
happening to us all.

Don't worry about the details,
and dance with the contradictions!
Trying to be too fine,
too perfect,
too "who you are supposed to be,"
is like trying to outsmart fate.

Take the time to do the thing
that needs to be done,
even if it means missing the train
to glory land.

"We make our plans,
collect our pay,
think we are gliding down the highway,
when in fact,
we are slipping away." (Paul Simon)

Be ever sensitive
to what the moment calls for.
Answer the phone.
Do the thing that needs to be done.
Forget your plans.

The moment holds the key
to your future.
To THE future.
Trust yourself to the here and now.
Listen to the moment.

Everything hangs by
the most invisible of threads.
We think one thing
and its another.
So give up thinking.
Empty yourself of your thoughts.

Just be who you are
where you are
when you are
how you are
and see where it goes
from there.

Who does the moment need you to be?
What is the moment asking of you?
Do not allow your plans--
your idea of how things ought to be--
to interfere with what 
needs to be done here and now.

The moment is the portkey
to eternity.

We think we are here for one thing,
and we are here for another.
Who can be so smart?
We think we would be happy
with what we want.
We would be happy
if we wanted something else.
Who can be so smart?

Empty yourself of being smart,
and listen to what is being
asked of you in the here and now
of your living.

Adam and Eve new what they wanted.
The way back to Eden 
is being empty of what we want,
especially getting back to Eden.

Empty is empty.
Be that!
Here and now.
And see what happens.

In each situation as it arises.

If you can find better advice,
take it!

01

When we fall in love with someone,
we are falling in love with
the aspects of ourselves--
our ideal self--our original self--
that we see reflected 
in the other person.

They remind us of the us 
we don't know we are.

"I see a bit of me in you,
but that's not all I love,
I love the you that lets me see
the me I know not of."

We all are narcissistic, 
egocentric,
egotistical,
in this way.

We are born seeking ourselves,
and when we find the right mirror,
we think we have found the perfect other,
and conveniently ignore all that is Not Us
about them.

And when something of that appalling truth
shines through,
we react instantly with,
"That isn't who you are!"
But, it is exactly who they are.
It isn't who WE are!

It takes a while 
to sort out who's who
and what's what
and where do we go from here.

It would help if we knew from the start
that everything that arouses/sparks/ignites
an emotional response in us--
either positive or negative--
is a mirror reflecting some aspect of us
to us,
either as "That is who I want to be/wish I were,"
or "That is who I am afraid I am and do not want to be!"

Then we sit down with the mirror
in our imagination
and commune with the truth
of our own reflection,
until we can say,
"Oh, Peter/Priscilla! THERE you are!"

And see where things go from that point,
with us, and the Other.

–0–

02

Part (Perhaps the full scope) of our task
is communing with the symbols/people/places/things
that reflect us to us.

We see ourselves in everything
that catches our eye,
either positively or negatively.

Our place is to recognize that
and commune with the "Rosetta Stone,"
until it reveals to us its hidden truth
in a "Thou Art That" kind of way.

How are you like that?
How is that like you?
What are the connections?
The commonalities?

Sit in the silence 
of your imagination
with the person/place/thing
and "wait for the mud to settle
and the water to clear,"
and see what arises/appears/occurs to you
from within.

"Boom!" (As John Madden would say)
there you are.