Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

We need more time!
If we only had more time!
Everything would become clear
with time!

That is the fundamental illusion.

Jesus perpetuated the folly
with his,
"Wisdom is known by her children" line,
and even if we extend the theory
to the level of the grandchildren,
or the great-grandchildren,
wisdom still lies unrecognized
by those who perpetuate racism, say,
or sexism,
or ignorance and stupidity, etc.,
forever through all of the ages and epochs
of time.

We do not grow up ever as a collective!
Only individuals attain the level of seeing
that makes a difference in their life,
and they cannot pass it along
even to their disciples.

Jesus' disciples wrecked what he handed to them
in their own lifetime.
The same can be said for the Buddha.
The old Taoists lasted the longest,
but even their understanding 
of how things are
and how to respond appropriately
disappeared over time,
and things returned to how they really are
all of the time--
which is how they are now,
if we only look around.

We see as individuals,
not as communities
or congregations,
and what is known as Revealed Truth
cannot be passed along
even to one's own children.

Those who know in any generation
can only seek out each other,
and enable the growth of one another
in small groups of two or three,
but rarely larger,
grasping and serving what they can
of the light
while they last,
encouraging one another as they are able
for the work
of seeing/hearing/knowing/doing/being
"transparent to transcendence,"
through the way they live,
and allowing that to be that
when they die.

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Photography is being where the photos live
and waiting for them to appear.

I stalk photographs
like a leopard stalks a warthog.

I troll for photographs
the way shrimpers troll for shrimp.

I get up early
to be in place before sunrise,
and stay out late 
to catch afterglow following sunset.

I wait, and wait, and wait,
for the wind to stop,
for the tourists to leave,
for the tide to come in
or withdraw.

Or did, before age caught up with me
and announced curfew.

My knees no longer allow
the airplane position,
which is also the driving/riding position,
and my yin for another moon rise
is supplanted by the desire
for an early dinner
and a book by the fireplace.

The idea of sunrise is met with
side-eyes and,
"Really? Another sunrise?"

I am soon to have a hammock hanging
in the back yard,
where inflammation in my joints
will appreciate my feet 
being above my heart,
with a camera resting in my lap
in case a bird comes to the feeder
or a rabbit hops into view,
or a deer strolls by,
or a wild turkey pays a call,
and I let the picture come to me.

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Wu Wei is action without effort,
doing without thinking,
without striving,
without trying.

"Do or do not!" said Yoda,
"There is no TRY!"

That is Wu Wei,
doing or doing not
as required by the moment,
by the here/now.

That is how we live in every moment.
Being wholly "of the moment"
as one "thus come"
right here,
right now,
as though we were "plopped"
into the moment with no warning,
without being briefed,
without rehearsing,
practicing,
or planning 
without knowing what's what,
just seeing/hearing here/now
and responding without knowing
what we are doing,
yet doing exactly what needs to be done,
"out of nowhere." 

Being so attuned to the moment
that our response to the moment
is like a shortstop fielding 
a hard grounder
and turning a double play.

The right action at the right time
in the right place in the right way,
"of itself."

We do things like that all of the time.
The dishwasher goes on
while we are taking a shower
and we automatically adjust
the hot water accordingly,
without thinking,
just doing the right thing
at the right time in the right way.

Spontaneously,
in response to the moment.

We can do it,
and we can trust ourselves 
to do it.

Time after time.

We are made that way.

But we have to be like the spirit
that is like the wind
blowing where it will.

No contrivance.
No scheming.
No agenda.

Just seeing/hearing/doing.

In each situation as it arises.

Adjusting the hot water automatically
throughout the day.

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On a large enough scale,
nothing we do matters,
and on a small enough scale,
everything we do matters.

I recommend living small.
Live on the level
where our next breath
counts for something!

Live on the level
where what we think
determines,
or, at least, strongly influences,
what we do,
and where what we do
determines,
or strongly influences,
what happens next,
and where what happens next
determines,
or strongly influences,
our our present circumstances
impact the development
of the conditions and circumstances
that flow naturally,
spontaneously,
from the present conditions and circumstances,
and "For the want of a nail,
a horse was lost,
and for the want of a horse,
a rider was lost,
and for the want of a rider 
the battle was lost,
and for the want of the battle,
the war was lost,
all for the want of a nail."
(13th century proverb)

It matters how we live,
what we think,
what we do,
who and how we are.

It matters that we live
as though we are a nail--
and to realize that 
we are much more than that
in terms of our significance
to every situation as it arises.

Our place is to live as though it matters
in each situation as it arises.

If we are going to take anything on faith,
let it be this!

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We live our way into the presence
of That Which Has Always Been Called God.

And no one can tell us exactly how to do that.
Those who know can tell us generally how to do it.
Joseph Campbell said,
"Follow your bliss."
That is as much as can be said.
Beyond that,
"The Tao that can be said/told/explained
is not the eternal Tao," (Lao Tzu).
"A path that can be discerned/designated
as The Path
is not a reliable path," (Martin Palmer).
"The path that is The Path/The Way
can only be recognized in hindsight," (Jim Dollar).

In other words,
we are on our own.
And,
"We get by with a little help
from our friends."

It helps to come together
with those who know what 
we are talking about
and talk of how it is going,
of what we know and don't know,
of what works for us 
and doesn't work for us,
etc.

A community of those seeking the way
can be helpful,
until someone thinks they know the way
and begins to tell others what they 
should be doing,
and should not be doing.

Those who know
know that they don't know.
And don't say more than,
"Try it and see what happens."

We are all different,
and we all have to live our way 
to the truth of who we are
and what is ours to do,
and no one can help us with that
beyond saying,
"I don't know your business!
Only you know your business!
Now empty yourself
and be still and quiet
until you know what you know!"

And I have a friend who likes
to say,
"Jim, I can't be empty/still/quiet
unless I'm playing the drums!"

We have to find our own way
even to emptiness, stillness and silence.

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If you want to keep up with my other probing of reality, I'm also to be found at:
04/13/2023 – A

and:
https://www.clickasnap.com/jim-dollar

–0–

The path to transcendence
is called the Tao.

It is that simple
and that complex.

Transcendence is the heart of the matter.
"The Tao that can be said 
is not the eternal Tao"
(Lao Tzu).

"The path that can be discerned as a path
is not a reliable path"
(Martin Palmer).

Which means that the path to transcendence/Tao
can only be discerned in hindsight
(Jim Dollar).

We cannot know beforehand
what we are doing,
we can only reflect 
on what we have done,
come to new realizations,
make adjustments and accommodations,
and press on
with our Sisyphean task
of making sense out of 
the entire experience of life,
in a "When I do this,
that happens," kind of way.

We do best, I think,
when we consciously take up
the path to transcendence/Tao
and live with our eyes open 
in each situation as it arises.

This living with our eyes open
is what the Buddha was talking about
with "Enlightenment."

Clarity,
realization,
awakening,
waking up,
turning the light around,
seeing/hearing/knowing/understanding,
etc.,
are all metaphors for the same experience.

And what we know when we know
what all who have known have known
is that we are walking the path
of transcendence/Tao.

It is an age-old path.
It has been around from the very first.
The Shamans of lore lead the way,
and their way was replaced by,
of course, the organized religion
of the day--
which was, of course, produced
by the organized priesthood 
of the day--
the same exact sequence of events
that were enacted between the death of Jesus
and the arising of the Holy Catholic Church,
with orthodoxy killing/burning at the stake/
torturing/hunting down/stamping out
the Gnostics with their gnosis  
which translates simply as
"the knowledge of spiritual mysteries" (Google),
not by way of theology,
but by way of the direct experience
of transcendence/Tao/The Holy/etc. in our life.

Orthodoxy cannot bear the competition
of Gnostics/gnosis/gnosticism 
because orthodoxy would have no basis
for existence
if everybody had the same access 
to direct transcendental experience,
and then what would the priests
do for a living?

The Gnostics/gnosis/gnosticism 
were driven underground,
where truth always goes
when the times are not safe for truth,
and here we are.

The times are calling for a resurrection
of gnosis/gnosticism
because of the failure of organized religion
(Orthodoxy) to provide anything substantive
to ground and direct us 
in our confrontation with the madness and insanity
of the day-to-day.

The path of transcendence/Tao
has been dealing in balance and harmony
from the first Shaman to right here, right now.
That's where life is to be found,
"New life, abundant life," as has been said,
"spilling over, pouring out, as living water
for all who are dying of thirst
for the grounding substance
for facing what is to be faced
and doing what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

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