Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

I think all governments,
and certainly the U.S.
(The fascists are ridiculously without restraint
and gleefully racist/sexist/obscene),
needs to do more to regulate,
oversee,
enforce
human rights throughout the land,
all lands.

Basic decency is not too much to ask/require.

But how we get there is beyond any plan of action
I can come up with.

The people who elect the fascists
are fascist themselves.

How do we make it uncool to be fascist
when it has become the coolest thing imaginable,
hooting and showboating
during the State of the Union address
becomes hooting and showboating
on main street
and in homerooms
in school districts nationwide.

Fascists egging on fascists,
upping the ante,
destroying the social bonds
that hold the country together
because they can.

I am ashamed of all of those
who feel no shame.

Who is going to stop the incivility?
Call it out?
Disappear it entirely?
And how are we going to instill respect
and honor for the common good?

We do it with each of us doing what we can,
when and where and how we are able,
Against all odds.
Not caring what our chances are.
And not stopping until things turn around,
and people treat people with compassion,
kindness
and generosity
from the heart
for the true good of all concerned.

–0–

Our perspective is a superpower
capable of transforming the world!

Perspective is influenced/impacted
by the 10,000 things,
including where we have been,
what has happened to us,
what has failed to happen to us,
and how we responded to it--
which is a function of perspective!

So, perspective forms/shapes/creates
perspective!

The key with perspective
is to be aware of it
and what influences/impacts it.

Who would be happy that we see things 
as we do?
Who would be unhappy?
Who do we strive to please?
Displease?

Our degree of consciousness/awareness
governs our response to our circumstances
and the things our original nature
and innate virtues/traits 
seek to express/exhbit
in and through the response we make.

We communicate who we are--
and how awake we are--
through everything we do,
and the way we do it.

–0–

I find this scene to be a beautiful rendition
of a point of contact with the numinous/ineffable/radiance/etc.
of life being aware of itself,
and consider it to be a still life worthy of the term.

I have watched deer and elk grazing in the late hours
of the day,
look up at the sunset
and gaze upon its descent,
and I imagined myself being
one with them in being impacted
by the radiance of existence
breaking in upon us 
during the humdrum,
same old, same old,
everydayness of the day.

We look up
and are transported
to another level of reality.
To another reality.

Radiance.
Numinousity.
Ineffability.
Booms us out of this world
into that world,
just like that,
out of nowhere,
unexpected,
without warning,
and then it's gone,
leaving us with the memory 
of its passing,
and the dream 
of its hoped-for return.

–0–

That Which Has Always Been Called God
is more akin to the flow of time and life
than a being eternal in the heavens.

All things have a flow about them,
and participate in the flow of time and life
that carries them along from birth to death.

There is movement to life and being.
There is no steady state,
rigid and unchanging,
enlightenment,
perfection.

It is enlightenment,
perfection,
to realize this,
and let it be
because it is.

It is all in flux--in flow.

The seasons,
the tides,
the circadian rhythms
that keep pace and time
and know what time it is
and what it is time for...

And all of this is built 
into the nature of how things are.
When we are at one with our nature--
with the nature of how we are--
aligned with what is right for us
and is right that we do here/now,
we are balanced 
and in harmony with the AUMMmmm of being,
of life.
The "sweet spot" of the universe.
"At one with all things."

We find our way there
simply by "being here/now."
At one with ourselves here/now
is at one with everything,
in the flow with everything.

Not striving,
not contriving,
just being content to be
here/now.

This is what those who know, know.
And practice.
Simply by being here/now.

–0–

The way forward--
the way to the way--
is built upon each individual
developing their own practice
around mindful awareness,
being present here/now
with what is present with us
(With what is happening
and with what is called for
in response to what is happening).

In conjunction with that aspect 
of our practice,
we also work to become proficient
in two areas:

1) Relaxing into the emptiness/stillness/silence,
attuned to what arises/emerges/appears there
and how we might incorporate that into our life.

2) Exploring our own make up by examining
our original/essential nature 
and our innate virtues/graces/traits/characteristics,
in order to bring them out/forth intentionally
in response to the situations/circumstances
of the moment,
moment-to-moment.

Then, it is a matter of putting this in motion
each day,
seeing what is happening
and what is called for,
knowing and doing what needs to be done,
when, where and how,
throughout the day,
every day.

There is nothing to this,
and nothing is more essential.

What keeps it from happening?

–0–

Religion is solely a matter of opinion.

People say they have faith in God.
They have faith in their opinion of God--
in their opinion of what someone says about God.

All the religions have different
opinions of God.

Some of the people say their faith
is based on the Bible.
Their faith is based on their opinion
of the Bible--on their opinion
of what someone says about the Bible.

Opinion rules.

I've heard it said
that reasonable people
can look at the same facts
and have different opinions
(Some would say "interpretations")--
and draw different conclusions--
about the same facts.

We like to say, "Facts are facts,"
but facts can be interpreted differently.
So can the Bible.

And who is to say whose interpretation/opinion
is the right one?
And it would only be their opinion
as to which one was the right one.

Opinion reigns.

Look around.
What you see is your opinion
of what's there.

Opinion is all there is.

Which is my opinion.

And, what you are thinking about it
is your opinion.

Opinion is all we have.

We make up our minds one day,
and change them the next.

And if you haven't changed your mind
in a while,
it is only a matter of time,
and living long enough.

–0–