Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

When the structures and systems
supporting society 
fail for lack of attention,
it is a mark against us all,
declaring that someone did not vote
for the right people.

When the right people do not hold
positions of responsibility, 
the rest of the people suffer.

Was it PT Barnum who said,
"No one ever got rich
betting on the intelligence
of American citizens."?

Trump and the MAGA's
are a lynch mob 
looking for a country to string up,
and, look! They found one!

Democracy depends upon the right people
holding office.
And that means the voting public
has to be discerning 
and choose wisely those it elects.

Jimmy Carter was probably the best man
to hold office in our life time,
and he lost to a movie star.

When clowns are elected to office,
even the circuses are in trouble.

It takes the right kind of people
to elect the right kind of people,
and that's where we come in.

A hard look in the mirror
at least twice a day
takes us to the heart of the matter.

Who are we?
What are we doing?
What do we think we are doing?
How do we know that what we think is so,
is so?
Who says so?
What makes us think they/we know what they/we
are talking about?

Time spent in silence
reflecting on these matters
is time well-spent.
Silence is the most important element
in all of our deliberations.

With enough silence in our life,
we all see better who we are
and who we are electing
to keep the right structures and systems
in place.

–0–

It's all a matter of chance.
What we do with it
is what matters.

What we do with the moment,
with the day,
with our life...

With what pilots our boat
on it path through the sea.

Having our way
and getting what we want
is one way to do it.

Seems to be the most popular
over time
through the ages. 

That's what got Adam and Eve
out of the Garden of Eden,
and it's been the driving force
behind kings and despots ever since.

What does wanting know?
Who cares?
We let wanting/willing/having to have
run the table,
and here we are.
Wondering what to want next--
as though wanting knows.

Wanting only knows what it wants to happen.
It has no time for what needs to happen.
And none of the discipline required
to do what needs to be done
at the expense of what it wants to do.

Unrestrained, unrestricted, wanting
is the end of the world.
Every world.
All worlds.

We have to learn to take No for an answer,
and to give No for an answer,
in the right place,
at the right time,
in the right way.

By listening in the silence,
and knowing what we know,
and doing what is called for
regardless of what we want,
or how we wish things were,
time after time.

Trusting the silence
to guide our boat
on its path through the sea
is optimal way 
of getting from here to there,
especially when 
we don't know where we are going.

Playing the Yes? No? Game 
with the silence
is one way of practicing
listening to the silence.

Since it's all a matter of chance,
why not take your chances with the silence?
And if the Yes? No? game 
gets you in a corner,
keep playing it to get
out or the corner!

–0–

Where do you spend your money?
Where do you spend your time?
There you are.

I wander among the exhibitions
of the natural world,
taking refuge in what it has to offer
as a buffer against the goings-on
in the world of normal, apparent, reality.

There is much there I don't like
and can do nothing about,
so, I turn to lotus flowers
and lily pads,etc.--
and reestablish through them
my connection with more than words can say,
taking solace in the presence 
of the transcendent wonders
of space and time
to offset the latest incursions
of hate/fear/greed
which disrupts my balance,
scatters my harmony,
and brings high-level noise
to demolish the silence
necessary for orientation and direction
in the here/now of the day.

Using the tools/weapons at our disposal
to maintain our perspective 
and sustain our attitude
through the circumstances
coursing tsunami-like
through our world
is daily fare 
in the times 
that are upon us.

And we have to do what it takes
to have what it takes
to do what needs us to do it
moment to moment,
without a break
every day. 

–0–

Perspective is the key.
It's all a matter 
of enlarging our perspective,
flipping our perspective,
changing our perspective
about what's important,
and getting up and doing
what needs to be done.

People who see the same things
in the same way over time
may as well be dead
for all the good they are doing
themselves and anyone else.

Spice things up!
Change your mind!
Particularly about what matters most!

When's the last time you did that?
Are you grumbling about today
the same things you were grumbling about
this time last year?

I live with an easy drive 
from a good Greek place,
two good Italian places,
a good Chinese place,
a good barbecue place,
a good hamburger place,
so I get to grumble about
no good seafood place all the time.a 

I changed my mind about that mattering,
and that made things better,
just like that (snaps fingers).

–0–

Comes a war, 
comes a hurricane,
comes an earthquake,
comes a baby...
goes the Tao
amid the dust and travail.

The Tao comes and goes.
That is the Way of Tao, 
of the Way.

We find our way back to the Way
through the right kind of emptiness,
stillness,
silence,
and waiting for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.

When the sister-in-law comes 
for a two-week visit,
it throws everything up in the air,
and it takes me a month
to get my grove back.

I am "ticky" in a lot of ways.
My balance and harmony are finely tuned.
When I lose The Silence,
I'm lost for a while.
And I have to wait,
knowing it will take time
for things to come back into focus
and for stability to reappear.

Restoring the Tao
is always a matter of time
spent in the right kind of way
for the right amount of time.

–0–

The Tao is doing the right thing,
at the right time,
in the right place,
in the right way.

Anything that assists that
is "in accord/sync with the Tao."
Anything that interferes with that
is "out of accord/sync with the Tao."

Balance and harmony flow with 
the requirements of Tao,
chaos and disruption clash with
the requirements of Tao.

All things will mesh with Tao in time,
but.
Within the harmonious smoothness 
of an asteroid's (Or a galaxy's) orbit,
the harmonious smoothness
of a Black Hole's orbit
intersect with an impact
that puts the clashing rocks
and the heaving waves
to shame.

And, that too, is in accord with Tao.

There are discordant harmonies
at work in the world,
with "Everything in its own time,"
and "What goes around, comes around,"
serving "All things work together for good,"
on the large scale eventually.

Which is to say that the Tao
does not lend itself to anyone's
efforts to contrive/scheme/co-opt/commandeer
for their own benefit/profit/advantage/interest
at the expense of the right thing,
at the right time,
in the right place,
in the right way,
of other interests and needs.

Whose interests and needs are supreme?
"The highest good of all concerned!"

The Black Holes hold all the cards.

–0–

All true religion is grounded
on knowing what to do when, where and how.

Those who know,
know the same things 
over time and space.

Here is a link to the way that happens:
https://ts2.shop/en/posts/your-consciousness-can-connect-with-the-whole-universe-scientists-say

Resonance, vibes, in-sync-ness, etc.
really is a matter of "being on the same wave-length"!
And the path to doing that 
seems to be spending time 
in the right kind of emptiness/stillness/silence
and waiting for realization/knowing 
to occur to us
"out of nowhere."

The right kind of emptiness/stillness/silence
is the adamantine foundation of all true religion.

Call it "prayer" if you want to.
Or "meditation."
Just know it has nothing to do with "faith"
or "believing,"
just knowing how to be empty, still, and silent
in the right way.

And we do that through practice, practice, practice.

–0–

It is the Adam and Eve Leaving Eden image
and the Garden of Gethsemane image
being played out in our lives everyday
that keeps things as they are
in the world.

The writer of the book of James (4:2) nailed it:
"You crave but do not have, 
so you kill. 
You covet but you cannot get what you want,
so you quarrel and fight." 

Having our way
and getting what we want
rule our lives
and guide our boat 
on its path through the sea.

Growing up and living to serve
different motives and goals
is like dying in Gethsemane/Golgotha.

And it is the only way
of harmonizing Yin and Yang,
balancing the contradictions,
reconciling the opposites
and living aligned with the Path,
and at one with way things are. 

It is not for everybody.
We have to be at a certain place
in our life
to be able to acquiesce to what 
is being asked of us,
and transcend our interests
in the service of a good greater 
than our own personal good.

We aren't old enough to do some things.
And that's the kink in the hose.
We have to grow up some more again today.

That is the tipping point between 
addiction and sobriety. 
Between lost and found.
Between being mostly dead and being fully alive.

Most of the world is too immature
for us to have any chance at 
"Liberty and Justice for All."
Leaving us to make out as best we can
with no choose-able choices
and no viable alternatives
to life as it is.

Making our peace with how things are
is the task of life,
and doing what must be done
anyway, nevertheless, even so,
because that's how things are,
is what is left to us
because we don't get the help and cooperation
we need 
to have a different/better world.

In order to find what we need
to do what needs to be done,
we fall back on the meditative exercise
encompassing emptiness/stillness/silence,
integrity/sincerity/spontaneity,
spirit/energy/vitality,
original nature/innate virtues/characteristics,
in seeing what's what
and what needs to be done in response to it
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

To adopt this way of responding to the world
we meet each day,
is to find the Invisible Path
and to make better what can be made better
by our manner of dealing with what must be dealt with
here and now.

And if we shave our head in protest,
laughing at the futility of protest,
who could blame us? 

(Laughter is the secret weapon
of those who know what they are up against
and don't care what their chances are)

–0–

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
to live a healthy life?

That has to be the first question
we answer correctly
in living the best life we are capable
of living.

Sit down with your health
and what you are willing to do
in order to improve it.

The discipline required to improve our health
is an example of the kind of discipline
we are going to be required to get our life
aligned with what is good for us
throughout the scale of daily acts and deeds.

Time spent with the right kinds of
emptiness,
stillness
and silence is on the list.

Time spent being aware of our
perceptions and perspectives
is also on the list.

Time spent developing our curiosity,
interests, 
our capacity for wonder and joy,
reverence and awe...

We have to consciously, 
deliberately, intentionally
place ourselves in the presence
of the kinds of people and things
that call forth the best that is in us,
and reduce the amount of time
spent with people and things 
that play to the worst that is in us.

Health is a matter of awareness
and discipline.
Knowing what is called for 
and doing it,
reliably, dependably, relentlessly
is the theme of life lived well,
lived abundantly.

No one can do that for us.
It is up to us all the way.

–0–

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...
As each of us understand these terms to be
in our own life.

We would gather to explore our original nature
and the virtues/specialties/characteristics
that come with us from the womb--
and how we are exhibiting/expressing/serving these
qualities 
in the here and now experiences of our life.

In so doing,
we would be balancing/harmonizing ourselves,
in our work to experience, 
engage,
explore
ways of better being ourselves 
in our daily engagements with our life.

The thrust would be how to better who we are
for the good of each situation as it arises,
and not how to have our way
and get what we want
as much, and as often, as possible
before we die.

The process would be more on the order
of a 12-Step group
that that of a religious service.

It would center on hearing what we have to say
rather being told something
someone thinks we need to hear.

We all could start a small group of this type,
with 3, 5, or 7 people,
and learn with experience what size is the optimal size
for everyone to be able to say
what they need to hear
in the time allotted for saying what needs to be said.

Additional accompaniments,
singing bowls, 
chants,
music,
readings,
silence,
etc.
could be experimented with
and worked out over time.  

No one is going to come along
and hand something like this 
out to us.
It will become a reality,
only by us doing it ourselves.

Namaste

–0–

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 go for a walk
with a camera.

Or write a piece about days gone by.

We have to ferret out 
what each day is offering to us,
asking of us,
and be the day's observant servant
in all things great and small.

We don't need any theology to do that,
or a doctorate in philosophy
or psychology.

We only have to have eyes that see
ears that hear,
hearts that know what's what,
what is needed,
what is to be done,
when,
where
and how it needs to be done,
and do it.

In all circumstances that come along
and in each situation that arises 
within all of them.

But lethargy and laziness
have a hard time finding a place
to prop up their feet.

Oh, look!
Another day is upon us!
Let's see what we can do with it!

–0–

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 
is up to us.

Our response-ability
to the here/now
of each situation as it arises
is what we say,
what we do.

And say-not,
do-not.

–0–