Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

Our place is to do what is ours to do,
what is at hand
and needs to be done.

"Anne, eat your breakfast,
Dan, take your medicine, 
Life goes on,
I forget just why"
(Edna St. Vincent Millay).

It is incumbent upon us 
to live out our roles,
to play our parts,
within the circumstances
that enfold us,
as though it matters.

This is our covenant with one another,
to treat each person,
and each moment,
as though they matter.

Play Frisbee with the dog,
rock the baby to sleep,
fold the clothes,
water the flowers...

Meet the circumstances
as they need to be met,
smiling,
glad to do it,
happy to be here,
a part of the daily routine
of meeting the day.

And when, at the point of death,
the bright light encompasses us,
we don't hold back!
But leap into the light 
with all our might!

Having done what was ours to do
with all our might,
holding nothing back,
we carry it forward
to meet the light!

A life well done
is done well all the way!

–0–

"When you meet an elephant on the trail, GET OFF THE TRAIL!!!"
is an old Taoist/Zen directive
that sets aside all of the "Rules to Live By,"
with the one, overriding, foundational, always pertinent guideline:

"Size things up and decide for yourself what is best/
what is called for in each situation as it arises
and do that,
without looking for permission to do so
from someone who is not there/then!

We are on our own in the day-to-day,
moment-to-moment whirl of life lived
between the clashing rocks
and the heaving waves of the wine dark sea,
and must make it up as we go,
listening to our "Karma Body,"
as SandyNC might say--
which is also our "Dharma Body,"--
that "felt sense" (As in the "Uh-Oh Feeling")
of what needs to be done here/now Right Now!
And being our own guide to what is right, Now!

In doing so,
we learn to trust ourselves over time,
and know how to read the signs,
so that we "get it" 
when we "meet an elephant on the path"
and Get Off The Path!
Or do whatever is appropriate to the situation
within the circumstances of the moment.

We decide what needs to be done,
when, where and how,
and do it,
time after time,
trusting that we will get better at it
as we practice reading the signs
and doing what is called for
all along the way.

–0–

There is nothing beyond contentment and peace,
being at one with circumstances just as they are,
to want,
or seek
or strive for.

What those who want,
and seek
and strive for
is to be content and at peace,
at one with circumstances just as they are.

What is preventing that,
interfering with that,
keeping that from happening?

How we see what we look at
makes all the difference.

–0–

Having plans doesn't factor
very much into my life.
Some day I will have the filter
changed in the HVAC system.
That is as close to a plan as I get.

I'll have something for the evening meal.
I plan not to have ice cream and blueberry pie.
I'm off added sugar,
and in seven days,
I will celebrate 9 years of sobriety.
But, I've never remembered to celebrate
that anniversary for the past 8 years.

What seems to motivate other people
doesn't move me.
The "eat when hungry, rest when tired,"
adage fits me well.

I'm moved by ideas,
realizations,
questions.

Religion as a way of controlling
what happens--
The "Prayer works!" declaration 
applied to everything we want or fear
as the legitimate basis for life
cannot compare to "Gravity works!"

If prayer worked like gravity,
what a world it would be.
Prayer wars would rage constantly.
The very idea is hilarious.
I can entertain myself endlessly
with thoughts like this.

It doesn't get the grass cut,
but we have an HOA for that, at last.

I entertain myself
with looking forward
to the next thought/realization/question,
with no clue as to what it might be,
or where it will lead.

–0–

Jesus' declaration,
"The spirit is like the wind that blows where it will,"
is the saving grace of Christianity.

Everything else about Christianity
is washed clean by the realization that
"Sometimes it is like that,
and sometimes it is like this!"

"Sometimes we do it this way,
and sometimes we do it that way."

"Sometimes it is up
and sometimes it is down."

"Sometimes it is left
and sometimes it is right."

"Sometimes it is yes,
and sometimes it is no."

"Sometimes it is Yin
and sometimes it is Yang."

What is it time for Here/Now?
is always the question.

Never mind how it was then/there,
or how it will be then/there.
What is called for Here/Now
is the question!

And, because "The spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will,"
we have carte blanche permission
to do whatever the situation calls for
in doing what needs to be done Here/Now
no matter what.

Now, with that as the foundation/ground/basis
of Christianity,
the entire world is changed, "like that"!

Throw out the doctrines, 
the dogma,
the catechisms,
the rules and regulations,
and simply do what is required 
by the circumstances at hand--
doing what needs to be done
when, where and how it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
all your life long!

What a beautifully freeing concept!
What a wonderfully appropriate response
to every moment of every day!
How completely exactly 
what we have always needed!
To do what is needed--
Here/Now
always and forever!

Let those who have ears hear!
Let those who have eyes see!
And step into the next moment
as those who have what it takes
to meet the moment as it needs to be met
and to do there what needs to be done,
when, where and how it needs to be done,
always and forever. Amen!  

–0–

When we merge with the flow
of what has life for us,
with where our joy is to be found,
and make that the path we follow
through the circumstances of existence,
things shift for us in substantial ways.

The way we structure our days changes.
The things we talk about
and read changes.
The questions we become interested in
are not the questions we once 
were interested in.

We say "No" more often.
Our life simplifies.
Quietens.
Softens.

And the wind of the spirit
that blows where it will
is always in our hair.

–0–

Life without theology and doctrine
is as spiritual as it gets.

Theology and doctrine are sidetracks,
wilderness bound.

Emptiness, stillness, silence and solitude
flow straight from the heart
of transcendence and life.

The essence of spirituality is flow and life.

We all have--and have had--experiences
with the flow of interest and enthusiasm
carrying us to vitality and life.

Joseph Campbell called it "following our bliss."
It is going where we are drawn,
being led,
carried,
directed,
guided,
and fed.

This is the quintessential religious experience,
where we know we are not our own,
but belong to more than we know,
to more than meets the eye,
and can trust ourselves to that
with all of our life and being.

"That" is central to us,
and always "right there,"
without theology or doctrine,
and is "more than words can say."

Which is what everyone who knows knows.

Lao Tzu and all the old Taoists said,
"The Tao that can be said/told/explained
is not the eternal Tao."
A phrase that is better translated by Martin Palmer as:
"A path that can be discerned as a path
is not a reliable path."

Jesus said as much with his,
"The spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will."

No catechism or Book of Doctrine
or Collection of Sermons,
can say anything,
for all their words,
about that which they speak.

We are much better off not saying,
but simply living out of 
the flow of life
as it leads us with the pull of life
to where we need to be
and away from where we have no business being.

Find the path that is life for you,
even though it cannot be discerned as a path,
and trust yourself to it,
bliss leading to bliss.

You may not make a lot of money,
but money cannot buy what you have.

–0–

Honoring our original nature
and our innate virtues/specialties
is finding our stride,
our flow--
the flow of life--
and being sensitive to 
what needs to happen
(And needs not to happen)
in each situation as it arises,
and waiting for the propitious moment
when the time is right for it to happen
(Or not happen),
so that we move with the circumstances
as they shift and change
throughout our day.

This is quite different 
from having a plan
and implementing it with precision
in order to do/achieve what we want
to happen
throughout the day,
with our lists of things to do
and a time table for getting it done.

The times themselves have priority
over our wants and needs.
Knowing what time it is
and what it is time for
are different things.

Divorcing ourselves from our 
day-timers 
and our schedules
is opening ourselves to 
the flow of life
and the requirements for life,
and the time to sense 
what life is asking of us
here/now,
moment-to-moment
throughout each day.

It is a different way of life,
and one we have to accommodate ourselves to
in learning to listen to our body
and see what is happening
on all levels of each situation
that comes our way,
and responding appropriately
to what is being called for
in the times as they unfold before us
from day to day.

–0–

Dharma is the way things are--
"The eternal and inherent nature of reality"--
and our place,
according to Hindu and Buddhist lore,
is to "allow all that obscures 
'the complete essence of everything'
to fall away,
and become aware of/familiar with
our own original nature."

"Our own original nature" shines through
in seeing/knowing what we do best,
and seeing/knowing what brings us to life
by being a source of vitality/enthusiasm/interest/motivation
for us.

What do you want/need to do to the point
of letting nothing stand in your way
or prevent you from doing it?

Don't know?
Nothing comes to mind?
Step into the silence,
open and curious,
and see what stirs to life,
emerges,
occurs to you,
becomes apparent.

Only the silence knows/reveals
the deepest things about us.
Go there often just to listen/see.

Joseph Campbell said,
"Most of our action is economically
and socially determined,
and does not flow out of our life,
from the vital instincts
that direct us to life
and call us forth into life."

He said, "The claims of the environment
upon us are so great that 
we hardly know who/where/when we are.
We are always doing something required of us.
We need a place that is sacred to us,
and spend time there
in order to sort it out.
Find what makes your heart sing,
and see what comes forth from that."

In the normal day-to-day of our life
we encounter one distraction after another.
This is "the noise of the 10,000 things."
In the midst of all this,
we have to engage the silence
in a way that leads us to the immovable center--
"the still point of the turning world" (Eliot)--
that grounds us and enables us 
to see past the distractions
and know the unshakeable truth
of our own inner nature
and to live outwardly in ways
that honor that,
bring that forth
with fealty,
liege loyalty,
filial devotion,
unwavering allegiance,
come what may.

When we live like this,
we have it made,
and know it.
Then, there is only 
being true to it
in every situation as it arises
for the rest of our time on earth.

–0–

We have what we need
to find what we need
to do what needs us to do it
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

We come out of the womb
knowing how to find a nipple,
knowing how to stretch
and how to yawn,
how to sneeze and hic-up,
and fill a diaper
all without being told a thing.

We are prepared to find our way.

But.

We are born into a culture
that talks all the time
and discourages us at every turn
from listing to ourselves
and knowing what we have to say.

The culture imposes itself upon us,
thinking, as it does, that it knows 
more than we do about who we need to be
and what we are supposed to do.

And so, the divide.

We live a long time learning 
to find our way back to ourselves,
back where we started,
and know what we know,
and trust ourselves to find what we need
to be who we are
and do what needs to be done
all the rest of the way.

May it turn out this way for all of us,
all the rest of the way!

–0–

What does wanting know?

What does wanting care?

Wanting only works as a guide to life,
through life,
if it knows what it ought to want,
and cares about doing it,
and does it where, when and how
it needs to be done
reliably,
dependably,
regularly,
relentlessly
over the full course of our life.

Can we be right about what ought to be done--
what needs to be done--
and do it where, when and how 
it needs to be done
whether we want to or not?

That is the only thing that matters.

If we do it for the money,
we are something money can buy.

A quick look around
will reveal what money knows,
cares about,
and does.
Money has created the world we live in.

Money only cares about making more money,
in a "Profit At Any Price" kind of way.

If money is all we want,
money will be all we have--
along with the sex, drugs, alcohol
and quality of life that goes with it.

And so, the adage,
"Be careful about what you want,
and know whether it is worth having,
before you sell yourself in its service."

And the other one,
"If you are going to want anything,
want what ought to be, needs to be, should be wanted.
In each situation as it arises.
Want what maintains, sustains, honors and serves
the flow of life and being
by doing what is called for
in each here/now that comes along--
no matter what."

What do we do "no matter what"?
How do we gauge whether it needs to be done?

What guides our boat on its path through the sea?

Is it wanting?

Or, wanting what ought to be/needs to be wanted--
and doing that no matter what?

–0–

Jesus' most profound saying is,
"The spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will."

That does what needs to be done,
when, where and how it needs to be done
because it needs to be done
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it,
in each situation as it arises
all your life long.

And what that will be
and what should be done about it
cannot be known in advance.
No one knows where the wind will blow next,
not even the wind.

Not even the spirit knows what it will be doing next.

We all have to be quiet
and see what stirs to life in the silence,
and see what emerges,
appears,
comes calling.

How quiet can you be,
for how long,
for how often
during a day?

I invite you to take up the practice--
the daily practice--
of being quiet
and see what occurs to you in the silence.

And see what shows up with a pressing urgency.

And see what you do in response.

Following/obeying/serving
the wind that blows where it will,
that flows where it is needed,
doing what needs to be done.

–0–