Balance and Harmony,
serenity and tranquility, 
at peace with ourselves 
and our situation in life...

These are the conditions required 
to access our intuition
and align ourselves with it.

And they are concurrent with
emptiness, stillness and silence.

The right kind of emptiness 
is contingent upon the conditions
required for alignment with our intuition.

It all comes together to lead us along the way
of life everlasting--
which is the experience of life in its fullest,
most vibrant and vital encounter.

When then and there is experienced here and now,
that's it.
There is nothing beyond "to ask,
or seek, or imagine"--
just the continuation of the Eternal Now
of the bliss of being.

Which, of course is gone in a wink,
and we are left with "the memory of its passing
and the dream of its hoped-for return."

But we know it is there for the experiencing
when the conditions are favorable for the rest of life
and perhaps beyond.

Living intutionally puts us in the center
of the way that is the way,
and relieves us of the burden
of having to know what we are doing.

I have never known what I was doing.
And I am five months away from stepping into
my eighty-first year.

It feels as though I have been guided along
through the entire maize of choices
and possibilities. 

I read the signs and opt for the choice
that seems most obvious, given the alternatives.
I wouldn't take this system to Las Vegas
because I have nothing to do with places like Las Vegas,
beyond flying into and out of
on trips to Death Valley and Arches and Canyonlands,
back in the days of seeking out scenes to photograph.

It also takes emptiness, stillness and silence 
to sense the intuitive route,
and there is nothing quiet about Las Vegas.

There is nothing quiet about our life style,
and it has been getting louder, more chaotic
and ridiculous by each high tech spin machine.

Which is to say that we have to be intentionally
intuitive,
sitting still, 
being quiet,
waiting for the guiding realizations
emerging from considered reflections
regarding what's what and what is called for
in response to it.

It has been the path of the species
from then to now,
and is the route to the rest of the way
for those who learn how to use it.

I think we do it better
with more of the right kind of 
emptiness/stillness/silence,
conscious/mindful awareness
and intentional affiliation 
with our intrinsic intuition.

Abandoning achievement/acquisition/accomplishment/productivity/etc.
in favor of living aligned with,
in full accord with,
our intuition,
would work wonders "right out of the box."

I am confident that the Buddha and Jesus did it this way,
as have all those who have done/are doing it 
the way it needed/needs to be done throughout time.

Intuition is the way to the way,
which makes intuition the way
all the way.

Screws with our plans for ourselves
but the person/people who came up with the 
story of the Garden of Eden knew that was the case
all those years ago.  

The future is crammed with possibility,
and we have to be ready for it all,
though the likelihood of my being drafted
into some war is less likely every day.

I will take a piece of blueberry pie
with vanilla ice cream if one becomes available.
It is amazing how difficult it is to whip
one of those up.
Possibility is never what it could be,
which makes planning somewhat iffy.

Readiness in the surest sense of the word
revolves around emptiness/stillness/silence
and intuition.

With those in place,
we can read--or listen to--
the weather forecast
and be confident of at least
knowing what to wear tomorrow,
and probably the next day.

And with those in place, we will have 
what we need to do what needs to be done
in any contingency that may arise.

That leaves looking out the window and waiting
for what's on the way to arrive.

I like letting the future come to me.
Conserving my energy is my plan
for whatever the future holds.

Doing it the way you think
it ought to be done,
doesn't mean telling anyone else
what you are doing,
or telling them what you think
they ought to do beyond,
"Listen to your own heart,
and follow your own intuition."

If everyone listened to their own heart
and followed their own intuition,
the world would be a different place
overnight.

We do our part 
by listening to our own heart
and following our own intuition.

Pass the word.

We are--or eventually will be--awash in circumstances
which challenge our resources, will, and intellect
in rising to the occasion
and doing what needs to be done.

We can be swamped, in other words,
and at a loss as to what to do,
here, now, next.

The work is to empty ourselves
of all anxiety
and open ourselves to the stillness and silence
and to our intrinsic intuition,
our original nature,
and our inherent virtues--
the things we do best and enjoy doing most.

And wait in the silence for direction and guidance
to arise to lead the way
from this moment to the next one,
from these circumstances
to those that follow.

Our intuition,
our nature,
our virtues
are our "very present help
in time of trouble,"
which "will not abandon us
or leave us bereft."

It only takes trusting ourselves to them
to know it is so,
"One step at a time."

And listen to our dreams. 

I had a great one two nights ago.
I was walking with a black bear
on a leash.

"Well, now what?" I wondered.
"What am I going to do with 
a bear on a leash?"
"How hungry is it?"
How am I going to feed a bear?
How many beef roasts will it take?
How often?"

I was dealing with these questions
when I came upon an empty 18-wheeler trailer
with bars on the sides and top,
and I led the bear up the loading platform
into the trailer where I left it,
shutting the doors and securing them
while I pondered the matter of what to do.

That led me to two realizations:
1) Why/how is this MY problem?
2) In what way is this bear a symbol
of a burden that I am carrying in my own life?

The bear clearly was not my problem, 
and it was clearly a symbol of my life
in its entirety.

My responsibility for my life 
is exactly my responsibility for this bear--
the bear is my life.
In assuming my responsibility for my life,
I am relieved of my responsibility for the bear.

And I eased into wakefulness aware of the need
to be aware of my life
and of my need to serve it 
with my attentive presence--
as though it were a bear on a leash.

We wait for the right time to act,
in the right way
and the right place,
then we offer our best
in the service of what is called for.

How do we know what is right,
when, where and how?
Ah, that is where our intrinsic intuition comes in.

Our place is to invite/allow/permit
our intuition to guide our boat on its path
through the sea--
putting us in position to act in its service
when the time is right.

Our place is to stay out of the way
and let our intuition act through us
in a "It is not I who live,
but my intuition who lives through me!" kind of way.

We live and die as though we are individuals.
But
It gets all blurry and slushy
like a blenderized fruit medley
in death.

All our lines are erased.

We look around as single malt liquor might
in its curing barrel,
wondering if we just made up individually,
and if we didn't, how did it all disappear so quickly?

But really?

I have a 1 year old great granddaughter,
and a 29 year old oldest granddaughter.
Neither are anything like they were at birth,
and are nothing like they will be at eighty.
So, who/where/when is this "individual self"?

It's a fiction.
There are no individual selves.
We blink and we're different.
We are a lifetime of different selves
thinking we are one eternal, unchanging, self.

Then we meet the curing barrel and are stunned.

The whole self-thing was just a warm-up.
The after life extravaganza goes on forever,
with us forming new and different shapes
and patterns,
liquid and solid, light and sound,
spinning and flowing, 
through gravity and time.

Rainbows and northern lights,
Supernovas and dark matter...
The cosmos is our playground,
and we are just getting underway.

Until we die, 
heaven is the best we can do.
But what waits
is a completely different world
without end.
Amen!

Knowing the difference
between Stop - Go,
Yes - No
is important knowing.

Managing dualities
correctly,
not incorrectly
makes all the difference.

And dispensing with duality
in a cavalier,
"Enough of that,
it's only appearances" 
kind of way
leaves us in Limboland,
not sure if we are here or there,
or somewhere in-between--
neither here nor there,
both here and there.

What's for lunch?
Where is the checkbook
and the car keys?

Those who know
and those who don't know
unite in becoming everyone.

For what that's worth.

I'm waiting to see
what difference it makes.

What matters most?
Who says so?
In light of what do we live?
What guides our choosing?
What do we stand to gain?
What do we stand to lose?
Where are we better off?
What are the trade-offs?
The compromises?
What determines when we do what
and where we draw the line?
Do we think our way forward,
or wait to know?

"Those who know don't say.
Those who say don't know."

Which leaves us where?

I am for throwing out theology,
doctrine, dharma, dogma, creeds, beliefs
and opinions--
and devoting ourselves,
routinely and regularly,
to emptiness/stillness/silence,
opening ourselves to our intrinsic intuition,
our original nature,
and our innate virtues--
the things we do best
and enjoy/love doing most.

And seeing where it goes over time.

You will not find a better,
or more timely,
suggestion in the entire world of ideas
and talktalktalk.

What would be helpful?

This is one of the most timely
questions of the day every day. 
Here, Now.
All day long.

How can we be of help
to each situation as it arises?

If we knew the answer to that question,
it would be a different world,
here, now.

So, take the question as your own.
Ponder the question.
Offer tentative answers.
Learn as you go.
Seeking/doing what's helpful.
Here/now.

The waitress at the Glacier Diner
said, "Honey, if it isn't raining,
its burning.
And rain is a lot better."

So we took the rain with a smile,
happy it wasn't worse,
for a week of seven wet days
without a mountain top in sight.

We were regulars at the Glacier Pie Place,
with their "Pie for Courage" hats
and their menu with more pies
than I thought were possible,
making seconds an attractive option
with the rain coming down.

Going to the Sun Road was terrifying 
in the rain and fog,
with no guard rails
and an infinite number of drop-offs
into infinity,
so we took the long way around
on the return trip
and haven't regretted it yet.

But I do think about the pie from time to time,
and got the Courage connection with 
driving to the sun.
It's a definite requirement
for the trip.