May 25-A, 2023

Last Light 11/18/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — Edisto Beach State Park, Edisto Island, South Carolina
The joy of now
just as it is
just as we are
is rarely mentioned,
rarely experienced.

We are striving to be 
somewhere else,
some way else,
some how different,
some place better.

This won't do.

The wonder of being here/now
is wasted on us.

I invite you to drop into here/now
from time to time,
and consider all the things
you don't like about it,
and all of the things
that are just fine about it.

We are always one slight
perspective shift 
away from being just fine
with things as they are.

Dissatisfaction is our own doing
most of the time.

Frame of mind is the best weapon
in our arsnel
for turning things around.
It is generally the first thing
that needs changing
about the way things are--
and the right frame of mind
is essential 
in making the other things 
that needs changing
more like they ought to be
than they are.

Which is the on-going task 
for everything/everyone--
assisting things in becoming
more like they ought to be 
than they are.

And knowing when to stop trying
to improve things
that are just fine 
exactly as they are.

A sleeping baby, for example.
Or, a puppy playing
with a red rubber ball.

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 24-A, 2023

Sea Oats Sunset 10/17/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
We see things differently 
and strive to impose
the way we see things
on each other
and all others.

It's crazy from the start.

Whose idea about how things are
and how things ought to be
is the correct idea?

How do we establish who is right
and who is wrong
about how things are
and what should be done about it?

How do we know what we are talking about?

Ties generally go to the bullies,
to the wealthy and powerful,
to the belligerent and vicious,
to the wealthy and powerful,
in a "might makes right,"
"law of the jungle"
kind of way. 

Civilization was supposed to even things out
in a "majority rule" kind of way,
but,
wealth and power twist the system
and make voting an empty step
in a dance on a tilted table,
with right still going to the highest bidder
or the craftiest player,
and wrong winning the day again.

The systems are controlled
by those whose gain lies
in controlling the systems.
And The People suffer the will of the wealthy
across time and place,
while corruption carries the day.

Leaving us to make out as well as we can
in a world of sham and appearance
while the band plays on
and everyone knows nothing changes over time.

What can we get by with is the question.
How true can we be to the way
of liberty and justice for all
in a world where corporate profits
trump individual rights
and "Profit At Any Price" rules all?

It is a test of our endurance and character,
will and determination,
to be a champion of how things ought to be
on a world of graft and deceit.

"Do your work and step back,"
advises the Lao Tzu.
"And let nature take its course."

Our life is the work that needs to be done
and needs us to do it,
regardless of the outcome,
no matter what our chances are,
anyway,
nevertheless,
even so.

A cup of cold water here,
a kind word there,
the spirit of grace and compassion
in all places at all times...

For the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 23-B, 2023

Side Street Blowing Rock 02 Oil Paint Rendered — Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Richard Bernabe writes 
in his "Creative Vision Newsletter" this month 
about the importance of expressing 
ourselves--the vital/vibrant/living/alive ME/YOU
in and through our life/art.

Our art is our life.
Our life is our art.

We bring ourselves forth
in the way we live,
in the things we do (our art)
to declare/show/exhibit/reveal/express
who we are.

We are not here to be a copy of someone else,
to do "it" like someone else does "it,"
like "it" ought to be done,
making someone else pleased with us,
happy with us,
repeating back to the professor
her/his views of history (etc.)
in order to have his/her approval
and a passing grade.

No one can grade our art!
How well does it exhibit who we are?
There is our "grade"!

We only have ourselves to listen to.
We only have ourselves to please.
Our original nature is dying to come out,
to shine through,
to be as it is in all that we do.

And we stuff it to please those
who know who we ought to be.
They should be ashamed of themselves
for thinking they know more about us
than we do,
and we should be ashamed of ourselves
for thinking they are right.

We all walk into a scene 
and see it differently.
There is no right way to see a scene.
Some of us weep it,
some of us laugh it,
some of us paint it,
some of us sing it,
some of us dance it,
some of us play it...

Being true to ourselves
is getting out of our way
and being who we are here/now
in each situation as it arises
all our life long,
by doing what we do 
in response to the moment
spontaneously,
naturally,
automatically,
sincerely,
from our heart
as a blessing
and a grace
upon the situation
and those who share it with us,
as our art
come forth in our life,
as our gift of being
to the wonder of existence.

What more could life have to offer
beyond the opportunity
to be who we are,
when and where we are--
doing "it" like we would do it,
like only we can do it,
here and now for as long as life lasts?

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 23-A, 2023

Skeleton Tree of Graveyard Beach 02 12/05/2017 Oil Paint Rendered — Charleston Harbor Sunset from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Meister Eckhart wrote this about a realization he had:

"It seemed to a man as in a dream--
it was a waking dream--
that he became pregnant
with Nothing, 
like a woman with child. 
And in the Nothing,
God was born: 
God was the fruit of Nothing."

Everything is "the fruit of Nothing."
Nothing is the source of all that is.
Empty yourself of all things
and there you will find what you need.

Being content with nothing
is having more than enough,
and God is born out of nothing,
like the stone the builders reject.

Out of scarcity comes the water of life,
spilling over,
pouring out.

Start with what you have--
with the nothing that you have--
and watch what comes of it.

Pick yourself up and step into the day,
and do there what needs to be done
out of your original nature
and the innate virtues/specialties/gifts
that are yours from birth.

And be amazed at the wonder
of what nothing can do.

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 22-B, 2023

The Tree on Roan Mountain 06-26-2009 — Pisgah National Forest, Roan Mountain State Park, Bakersville, North Carolina
Being natural,
being naturally who we are, 
how we are,
the way we are,
and doing "it"
the way we would do "it,"
whatever "it" may be,
connects us easily,
naturally,
with nature,
with the natural world.

And it works in reverse,
so that time spent in nature--
with nature--
connects us with our natural self,
with our original nature,
our true self.

The city takes that way from us.
Urban life is about playing games
(Particularly, "The game of not playing games,"
as R.D. Laing liked to say),
about not being who we are,
about living a lie,
one lie after another,
all our life long,
so that we have no idea who we are,
and no way of finding our way
back to our true self.

Lie in a hammock among the birds,
or walk by the sea,
or lie on your back watching the clouds,
or sit in a rocking chair,
looking out the window...

We are as close to ourselves--
our natural self--
as we are to the world of nature.

And vice-versa.

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 22-A, 2023

Sundown on Pamlico Sound Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island,. North Carolina
What is your idea  
of the ideal Life?

The model life?
The life that is the way
a life ought to be?

The Way that everybody is always
talking about
is the way things ought to be--
need to be--
must be to make it right
that we are here/now in this mess
of a world
needing to know what to do
to make right what can be made right
in the time left for living.

What can we do to make tomorrow right?
To make each situation as it rises right?

How do we need to live
in order to make the next situation
as it arises right?
To provide what it needs from us
to be what it can be--
even now,
even yet, 
anyway,
nevertheless,
even so?

Yesterday's long quote from Lao Tzu
included this:

"Original nature can intuit all happenings. In original nature there is the essence of true goodness. Be natural in your actions and you will always be still and pure."

What we all need to be is "natural."
Just naturally be who we are,
and let things fall into place around that.
Let all things flow forth from that.

Merely by being ourselves, naturally.

That would be ideal.
The model life.
The life that is the life
that is the way things ought to be.

The life that the entire world is waiting
for somebody at last to live--
not trying to get anything,
but just naturally responding to circumstances
and trusting nature to take its course,
to take it from there,
nature meeting nature being natural,
world without end. 
Amen.

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 21 – B, 2023

Sunrise, Swabacher Landing 06/23/2012 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Jackson, Wyoming
Lao Tzu said (In the Wen-Tzu):

"Although we speak of attaining the Tao, there is really nothing to attain, since we possess it from the very beginning. We arise from the Tao. The Tao resides in us. We cultivate ourselves from within."
"The origin of purity lies in impurity. When impurities settle in stillness, purity emerges. Movement is the foundation of stillness. When movement settles in stillness, purity arises."

"If people can be pure and still, heaven and earth will return to their places."

"If you are able to control desire, the mind will be still. Clear the mind and the spirit will be pure. Stop craving and your foundation will be stable. When the foundation is stable, the mind can be still."

"Regard the Void and it is empty. In emptiness there is nothing. Yet, in each there is stillness. Emptiness and nothing are filled with stillness and are found through stillness. Empty yourself and there is stillness. Still yourself and there is emptiness. And nothing. In absolute stillness, how can desire arise? When craving does not arise, this is true stillness."

"Original nature can intuit all happenings. In original nature there is the essence of true goodness. Be natural in your actions and you will always be still and pure."
"Abide in stillness and you will enter the true way. When you enter the true way, this is called receiving the Tao."

Children may be able to do this easier
than adults.

The trouble with this is
children are raised by adults.

Thus, adults must learn to be like children.

So, Jesus could say,
"Unless you turn and become as children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

We seek things out there
that can only be found in here.

Knowing where to look and how
is a matter of asking the questions 
that beg to be asked,
particularly of the answers,
and saying the things that cry out to be said,
particularly of the answers.
And listening within
to what arises in the emptiness/stillness/silence.

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 21 – A, 2023

The New Hammock Post Enables The Hammock To Hang
Hammock With Occupant
A hammock is my version of a Zazen cushion.
Zen purists will have none of it,
but.
A Zen purist is an anomaly.
A contradiction in terms.
Purists have no pace within light years of Zen.
They cannot accuse me of Zenlessness
without establishing their own Zenlessness as well.

Zen popularized the phrase,
"If you meet the Buddha on the road,
kill him!"
The same applies to Zen purists.

Zen is where you find it
and how you practice it.

Sitting Zazen came into vogue
as a way of controlling adolescent practitioners of Zen 
who were placed in monasteries 
along with a sizeable financial donation
by wealthy parents hoping the monks
would be better parents than they had time or desire for.

Now everybody thinks sitting Zazen is a thing
Zenites do,
when it is only a thing
people seeking emptiness/stillness/silence/solitude do.

And hammocks work well in that regard.

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 20-B, 2023

The Ghost Trees of Boneyard Beach 01/16/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Botany Bay Heritage Wildlife Preserve/Refuge,
Edisto Island, South Carolina
Jesus' question,
"Who do you say that I am?"
came immediately following,
"Who do others say that I am?"
And sets the seat of authority
squarely upon the individuals
he is addressing,
and not upon any self-proclaimed
contemporary authority, 
or any self-proclaimed "Orthodox"
authority that might appear
at any point in the future.

Jesus also left unasked the obvious
follow-up question,
"Who do you say you are?"
which is equal in every way to his,
"What do you think about me?" query.

We are the authority!
What we say about who Jesus is
and who we are
stands before us throughout our life
as the model guiding us 
through all situations/circumstances
in a "This is who I am,
and this is what I do,
and what I leave undone" kind of way.

Who Jesus is and who we are
are not far apart.
If Jesus can do it, we can do it.

We are the authority, remember.
If we decide to cast away sin,
and replace it with seeing,
so that realization becomes
more important than repentance and redemption,
we have the prerogative to do that.

And if we are challenged by orthodoxy
at any point along the way,
we can declare that we "Take it on faith"
that self-determination is as much our right
as it is a right of the orthodox
to determine what is proper and what is heresy--
not only for themselves but also for everyone else.

And if they call it heresy,
what of it?

We are in charge of our life
from birth to death.
To hand that position over
to someone else is a dereliction of duty,
and a failure to comply with the 
requirements of being a human being
at the deepest level.

We cannot be bullied into living
like someone--anyone--else
declares that we should live.

Be true to what is the inner you,
and live in sync with the guides within.

Who do you say that you are?
Live in light of that always,
in all matters great and small!

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 20-A, 2023

Swan Lake 07-05-2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Trumpeter Swan, Swan Lake Iris Gardens, Sumter, South Carolina
Faith is always faith in someone else's faith.
Belief is always believing what someone else
tells us to believe.

Bringing to mind Lao Tzu's observation
in 500 +/- BCE,
"A path that can be discerned as a path
is not a reliable path."

It is someone else's path.

And we have to find our own way
to the Holy Grail.
The Holy Grail represents
our own life--
what is true life for us
is that which brings us to life,
that which vitalizes and enraptures us alone,
which we alone recognize as worthy
of our devotion,
loyalty
and allegiance
and must do because we alone
are gifted/graced/prepared to do it.

And no one else can tell us what that is.

When Jesus said, "You shall know the truth
and the truth shall set you free,"
he was not talking about faith or belief.

The truth we know to be true
sets us free from the faith and beliefs
of all others,
and puts us on the path to our own bliss/rapture/amore,
which no one knows but us.

Our faith is in ourselves,
in what we know to be true for us
and in what we know ourselves
to be built for, capable of,
in a "Give me the ball!" kind of way.

And if this doesn't ring true for you,
"leave no stone unturned"
in your search for what does!

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 19-A, 2023

Great Blue Heron at Swan Lake Oil Paint Rendered — Swan Lake Iris Gardens, Sumter, South Carolina
I understand that there is
a direct relationship between
pancreatic cancer
and an elevated blood sugar count.

Googleit.

Reducing our sugar intake
reduces our chance of developing
pancreatic cancer.

You might think this information
would be more of a thing.

But what would that do to the economy?
Particularly the sugar industry,
and the soda industry,
and the wine industry,
and all of the industries 
sugar supports and sustains.

What would our life be if we quit sugar?
Maybe pancreatic cancer isn't so bad
after all. 

Oh, and then there is diabetes.

How much does sugar mean to you?
How addicted are you?
How addicted are your children?
Your grandchildren?
How addicted is the culture
to its sugar habit?
How addicted is the world?

What's important?
What matters most?
What do we serve with liege loyalty,
filial devotion,
unwavering allegiance,
all our life long?

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.

May 18-A, 2023

Smokies Sunset Panorama Oil Paint Rendered — Clingman’s Dome Parking Lot, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee, North Carolina
Coming to terms with the day--
with our life--
means seeing the day (our life)
just as it is,
and allowing that to be that
without any more emotional response
than that associated 
with letting a tree be the tree it is,
or letting a cloud be the cloud it is.

Seeing things as they are
and letting them be as they are
is enlightenment in its essential form.

Enlightenment is knowing what we know
and letting that be that--
and knowing what the implications are
and letting that be that.

The implications of anything
come down to the way we live
in light of the way things are.

It means what we do 
in response to things being as they are.

It means doing what needs to be done
in response to the way things are.

When it is cold outside,
we put on a coat.

Seeing/knowing/doing/being
is living an enlightened life.

Enlightenment has nothing to do
with wanting/getting/having/possessing/owning/wanting...

How much of our life do we spend
living to get what we want
and avoid what we don't want?

How much of our life do we spend
doing what needs to be done
regardless of what we want?

Can we even separate what the situation
is calling for--
what the situation needs to be done--
from what we want from the situation--
from what we want to be done within the situation?

Can we let things be what they need to be
no matter what we want?

Is what we want what we need?

Do we impose what we want upon the situation,
or live in the service of what needs to happen
in spite of what we want?

There is no difference between living 
an enlightened life
and growing up.

–0–

If you are a subscriber and get the photo associated with each blog entry but not the text, it is because there is a hitch in the code that causes text to appear as white on a white background. Until that is corrected, the work-a-round, suggested by sandync 28704, is to click on the date of the blog above the photograph and that should link you directly to the blog.