Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

01

When Jesus said,
"I will be with you always
to the end of the age,"
He was stating what had always
been the case.

He meant that his spirit 
is One with our spirit
throughout the ages.
from beginning to end forever.

The spirit of the Christ
is the spirit of our original nature,
spilling over, pouring out,
being true to itself
no matter what
through the ages--
reflected in the Buddha,
and Lao Tzu,
and Dolly Parton,
and Betty White,
and Helen Keller,
and FDR & Eleanor Roosevelt,
and all those like them 
in every generation
from the beginning
of time and action.

From the beginning 
of the right time
and of right action.

The right time
is the time of seeing and doing
the right thing,
in the right place,
in the right way.

The Christ within us--
the Christ we all are,
and always have been,
not because we believe anything in particular,
but because of who we are
and how we live our life--
seeing what needs to be done
and doing it the way it needs to be done
when and where it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
moment by moment,
day by day,
time after time,
always and forever,
because it needs to be done,
with no thought of gain or merit
beyond the joy of doing it
and the delight/satisfaction 
of having done it.

That was Jesus when 
he was being the Christ.
It is me when I am being the Christ.
It is you when you are being the Christ.
It is being aligned with the Tao,
and living in accord with the Way,
in all times and places,
everyday.

That is the Christ 
that will be with us always,
in all times and places,
in every here and now,
always and forever.

The Christ is with us
to the extent that 
we are with the Christ,
being the Christ,
doing the Christ,
by seeing and doing 
what needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
here and now
throughout the time left for living.

–0–

02

Knowing what is meaningful to us
and doing it
is the track to take
in living the life that is ours to live,
in sync with,
aligned with,
in accord with our original nature,
within the context and circumstances
of the here and now of the everyday.

To not do that is to betray ourselves
in the deepest way,
and fail the destiny 
that is ours to live,
and wander in the wasteland
of our discontent,
having never been who we are,
having never done what is ours to do.

–0–

01

We all are victims
of false advertising,
empty promises,
scams,
cons,
come-on's
and lies--
wanting, 
as we do,
what we have no business having,
looking for
fortune and glory,
smooth and easy,
in one sure thing.

It takes a lifetime of living,
or two,
to know what's what,
and what matters most,
and what needs doing,
and how things ought to be.

No one can tell us anything
we need to hear.
Because everyone is still
searching for it themselves.

What does
"Sit down, shut up,
be still and quiet,"
do for you?

There has to be more to it
than that.

What has being quiet
ever done for anybody?

The silence is the source
of all that is.
Everything we have produced
came out of the silence
of someone's imagination/realization.

Even the scams, cons,
come-on's and lies.

Knowing what is good
and being right about it
depends on experience
beyond imagining,
producing things we would 
never think of
sitting still,
being quiet.

The field of action
is the proving ground
of all our dreams.

Does it work?
Under what conditions?
For how long?
With what side-effects,
by-products
and unintended consequences?

Back-and-forth we go,
improvising and perfecting,
taking a lifetime of living,
or two,
to figure it out.

–0–

02

In the beginning,
we are all in the same boat,
starting out with our original nature
and the luck of the time and place
of our living
to work with
in finding our way through
what becomes of our life.

We could all use more help
and better choices.
Our place 
is to see to it
that the best we can do
under the circumstances,
is really the best we can do.

It starts with listening to our heart,
our body--
our symptoms,
and what we know "in our bones,"
and our "gut feelings"--
and our dreams
(Our dreams always show us
how it is in our life,
and ask what we are going to do about it,
as a way of assisting us
in restoring our balance and harmony,
and finding our way).

It helps to keep our happiness
and desire 
from running "the show,"
and to stay away from
the extremes of greed/hatred/anger,
and in the mid-range between
our opposites/polarities/contradictions,
moving the balance-point
as necessary to maintain our harmony
and accord with our original nature
and the requirements of our circumstances
all the way to our last breath.

There needs to be a lot of awareness
going on at all times.

And "all we ever wanted was smooth and easy"
(Ogi Overman).

–0–

03

Wait for the invitation!
Do not push your way into the moment!
Don't crash the party!
Don't force your way onto The Way!
Do not act out of time!
Wait for the door to open
before walking through!

One time is not as good as another.
Every time is the right time for something.
Most likely, waiting.
We wait for the time to be right,
for the time to be fulfilled,
"at hand."

The propitious time,
the favorable time,
the opportune time, 
the appointed time,
is the time to act.

Wait, watching.
You will know it
when it comes upon you
like labor pains,
or time to go to the loo.

In the meantime,
seek out what needs to be done
here and now--
and do it as it needs to be done.

Doing the right thing,
in the right way,
at the right time
is always appropriate
and timely.

–0–

01

Dedication to the task
is the foundational requirement
for a life well-lived.

The task being what needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
when and where it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what,
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction/delight in having done it,
all our life long--
regardless of what we want
of whether we feel like it.

That is all there is to it.

(PS. Find the Pied-billed Grebe in the photo)

–0–

02

Here we are. 
Now what?

We need a reset.
A Do-Over.
Things have gotten out of hand.

"The center cannot hold,
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world...
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity...
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?"
(William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming").

Find/create/return to your Inner Circle
of people who have proven themselves to be
a safe place,
and settle in with them--
though you may not be physically present
with any--
to ride out these times
which weigh heavy upon us all.

Where do you find warmth
and light
and life?
In what do you draw comfort?
Take refuge?
Where do you turn in times of trouble?

I dreamed last night of soup
and Mexican cornbread.
I'm going to start there,
and see what comes after that.

–0–

03

Be Jesus the way only you can be Jesus.
Live from your center,
from your heart,
grounded in your own authority,
expressing/exhibiting/bringing forth
your original nature
to meet the moment that is at hand
in each situation as it arises,
doing what you know needs to be done
because you know it needs to be done,
the way only you can do it.

Let your actions guide your acting,
direct your living,
change your mind.

Learn how to do what needs to be done
by doing what you think needs to be done
and allowing your experience
to shape your life.

The trick to making good soup
is making a lot of bad soup
with your eyes open.

Adjustment and alteration, Kid.
Adjustment and alteration.

That's how Jesus did it.
Living out of his own sense of direction,
and going where he felt he needed to be,
never-minding the instructions
of parents,
peers,
culture and tradition.

You do you the way Jesus did Jesus.
And let the outcome be the outcome.
The way Jesus did.
In an "Okay, this," kind of way.

–0–

01

The tasks of life cannot be ignored.
They must be served
with our life--
our way with life--
all our life long.

The five most important relationships
are with ourselves,
with our work,
(which is not the work we are paid to do,
but the work we are born to do,
the work we are equipped to do),
with one another
and with our life
(Which is the life
that is our life to live),
and with dying.

What I am telling you 
with these little soliloquies 
is not something someone told me,
though it is a compilation
of what a lot of people have said,
with my own spin on most of it,
particularly on the implications of it,
and what we are to do about it,
but it is all available to each one of us,
bubbling up constantly beneath the surface
of us all--
as that "wellspring of living water" 
that is the source of all we say and do.

None of you could be here now reading this
if it were not corresponding,
resonating,
with something already there in you,
which stirs to life in hearing
what I have to say,
and carries us into the company of all
who are saying what we need to hear.

We know the truth when we hear it.
Which means, of course, that
we know bullshit when we hear that,
and a lot of people read what I write
and say, "That's bullshit," and quit reading.

I say that those people are out of touch
with themselves
and haven't had an original thought
in years,
and everything they think
they get from someone else,
someone who is their guru in the worst
sense of the word.

Joseph Campbell, who is one of my gurus
in the best sense of the word,
talks about the Official Gurus in India
being, so to speak, "a clear pane of glass"
through which their disciples can see
back through long generations of gurus
to the very first guru
who was such a source of truth
that he didn't need a guru,
and all they say is what has always been said
in a dharma-is-the-way-things-are-and-ought-to-be
kind of way.

Which is not to say that there is not
a way things are and ought to be,
but to say those things cannot be told/said,
only realized/recognized,
in the way of Martin Palmer's translation
of the Tao Te Ching's "The Tao that can be said
is not the eternal Tao" line:
"A path that can be discerned as a path
is not a reliable path."

We have to feel our way along reliable paths.
No guru can tell us where to step.
But there is a path,
the way things are and ought to be,
and we each have to find it for ourselves,
and become like beggars 
telling one another where they have found food
(But not like Gurus telling their disciples
what food to eat and how to prepare it).

But I ramble.
And rambling is essential.
One thing leads to another.
Just as "one book opens another,"
as the old alchemists liked to say.
And rambling takes us where we are going,
guiding our boat on its path through the sea
(And as Campbell said, "We have to know 
what our boat is and paddle/row/sail it!")

Our boat is our work.
Campbell's work/boat/yoga was "underlining passages,"
mine is that as well,
and saying (to anyone who will listen) 
what the passages mean,
how they all come together 
what they are saying, 
and what they are calling us all to do,
which is to know what our boat is
that will get us there
and paddle/row/sail it with conscious intention
and awareness.
With me, that means rambling.

Without losing sight of where we have been.

One of the tasks of life
is not losing sight of where we have been.

The tasks of life are general and particular,
corporate and individual,
universal and personal.
Dedication to the tasks of life
is immediate and eternal.

The immediate task of life 
is what needs to be done here and now.
What needs to be done next.
What needs us to do it.
Whether we want to or not.

Being happy and doing what we want 
are the first things
that have to go.
The Hero's Journey cannot be lived around
what we want and what will make us happy.
We have to know (And be right about)
what needs to be done and do it,
in each situation as it arises.

And we also have to know and be right about
the tasks that have to be completed
in each stage of life,
tasks that are common to us all,
and are placed on us by life itself,
and by the culture in which we live.
Which have to do with adapting ourselves
to the requirements of living
(Life eats life, for instance),
and what we have to do to make a living,
and how we come to terms with losing
our abilities and having to die.

We live our life around the tasks of life.
And there are certain rituals
that are naturally evoked by those tasks,
so our life becomes a collection of rituals,
and we live according to a particular pattern,
which is uniquely our own
and is generally found among all people everywhere
throughout time.

So be attentive to your tasks of life,
and dedicate yourself to them,
and take care of them regularly.
They can be counted on to get you there.

Happy trails!
Fair winds and following seas!
Mind how you go!
May we travel together
as companions on the Journey always,
whether we ever "lay eyes on one another"
or not--
just because we know what the other knows!
Amen! May it be so! 

–0–

02

All theology is bad theology.
All theology-based religion is bad religion.
Religion that is true religion
is grounded/founded on the truth
of awe and wonder,
and the realization of more than words can say,
confounded/enthralled by the mystical nature
of the heart of life and being.

Good religion cannot be passed along
any more than an affinity for art and music
can be passed along,
and so the saying, 
"God has no grandchildren").

We wake up on our own.
We stumble into wonder on our own.
We look forever unseeing,
and then, like that, we see,
and the world is indescribably alive
with numinous, ineffable, truth/reality,
and our heart beats in sync
with the heart of the universe,
and we are "one with everything."

The best I can do in telling someone
how to find what I am talking about
is to say "See what you look at,
and be right about what needs to be done
here and now,
and do it to the extent that it can be done,
with the gifts/daemon/genius/etc.
that are your natural/original self,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
in each situation as it arises
all your life long,
and allow that kind of doing
lead you to the kind of being
that does the right thing,
in the right place,
at the right time,
in the right way,
in sync with the flow of time and place
always and forever.

And letting that be that."

Being happy, 
and doing what we want,
and having our way
does not fit into this scheme of things
anywhere,
at all.

We hear that and say, "Uh-oh."

That is the story of humankind.
And, here we are.

–0–

03

There is nothing to it.
Really.
There is only the boat 
that is ours to paddle/row/sail
on its path through the endless sea,
and the realization 
that "the farther shore"
is right here, right now,
with the paddling/rowing/sailing,
and there is nothing to it
"but to do it,"
as Maya Angelou would say.

Tell Jesus that he was wasting his time,
that the world is going to be worse
in 2,000 years than it is in his life,
and that nothing he says or doe
is going to make any difference
in the way people think and live over time,
and he would say,
"Oh, well," and get back to work
saying and doing what was his to say and do--
no matter what!

That is all there is to it.

Paddling/rowing/sailing our boat
is a waste of time.
And it makes all the difference.
Doing our work--
doing what is ours to do--
doing what only we can do
the way we can do it--
is essential,
not only to us,
but also to the basic framework of life.
It matters how we live, 
that we live,
doing our thing,
being who we are.

Nothing is more necessary than that.
And, there is nothing to it.

Just "get in there and do your thing!"
Is what Joseph Campbell said
is the summation of the Bhagavad Gita,
the oldest religious treatise of all time,
and let that be that,
in an "Oh well, nothing is going to stop me" kind of way.

This is the easiest thing there is,
and the hardest, most difficult,
most absurd thing there is.

There is nothing to it,
and nothing can make us do it.

It is up to us all the way.

Are you coming, or not?

–0–

01

We find the harmony,
and it finds us.
But, we don't go looking for it.
We open our eyes
and there it is,
looking for us.
Waiting on us.

It is there all along,
waiting.
For us to open our eyes
in just the right way,
on just the right day,
And there we are.
Asking, "Where have you been?"

Maintaining the harmony
is also tricky. 
We do it by trusting the harmony
and trusting ourselves,
and dancing with what life brings us,
with what we find in our path,
with what the day delivers.

Chasing after,
and running from,
are equally not recommended.

Just waiting.
Just watching.
Just listening.
Letting curiosity lead us 
along the way.
Looking closer at what catches our eye.
Listening attentively to what sounds
interestingly intriguing,
and perhaps like something 
we have heard before.

Missed chances
and ignored opportunities
tend to circle back around
wearing different clothes,
wondering if we have what it takes
yet.
And hoping we do.

Our place is to keep coming back
ourselves,
until we see/hear what is there at last.
And move on to the next thing,
and the one after that...

There is always more to realize,
more to hear/see,
more to know,
more to do,
more to be.

The boundaries of the soul, you know,
are so deep and wide,
eternity is not long enough to explore it all.
And that is what eternity is for.

Making connections.
Drawing conclusions.
Redrawing conclusions.
Playing hunches.
Waking up.
Waking up some more.
Again.
And again...
All the way.

Better get a move on,
by sitting still,
and being quiet, 
and empty in the right kind of way.

There is no time to waste.
And no time like now to begin.

–0–

02

The wrong kind of emptiness
is filled with arrogance,
and terror,
and self-assurance,
and certainty,
and conviction
and hopelessness,
and futility,
and meaninglessness,
and loneliness,
and on and on like that...

The wrong kind of emptiness
isn't empty at all.
And has to truly empty itself
of everything.
Absolutely everything.

Beliefs,
faith,
hope,
charity,
fear,
hate,
greed...

The right kind of emptiness
is as empty 
as the pause between breaths,
which, if you haven't been with me here
for long,
you get to on about the third breath,
if you take three full breaths,
extending your stomach on a slow inhale
to full lung capacity,
exhaling slowly expelling all the air
by drawing your stomach in toward your spine,
and pausing for a count of ten
before repeating with a slow inhale.

By the time you get to the third breath,
the pause between breaths
will be empty of everything 
but counting.

Be there, still, silent, empty
until some form of noise intrude
and snatches you back to the world
of normal, apparent, reality.

The right kind of emptiness
is as empty as the space between breaths
without noise of any kind.

Practice increasing that time
until you can just be empty
by not thinking about anything.

That kind of emptiness is the fulcrum,
the pivot point,
the place of power,
"the still point of the turning world"
(T.S. Eliot),
"the Axis Mundi,"
where it all begins,
the silent stillness before the beginning...

Being that empty is where it always begins.

At the end of your rope
be that empty,
and wait,
watching,
for something to stir
that you are not responsible for,
and trust yourself to it,
exploring,
reflecting,
wondering,
seeing where it leads.

The right kind of emptiness
is the hope of the world.
And it is the last place
anyone would think to go.

–0–

03

We get ahead of ourselves,
lose our place,
drift away,
wander off,
forget what we are doing,
and have to call ourselves back
to here and now
all of the time,
forcing ourselves to recall
who we are and what we are about
and getting back in the game.

Being clearly focused,
present and accounted for,
is not what we do best.
Yet, it helps.

Knowing what's what
and what needs to be done about it,
and doing it
with the gifts/daemon/genius/etc.
we bring with us to the moment,
this moment,
right here,
right now,
is the key to everything that follows,
that flows from right here, right now.

What is happening?
What is called for?
What are we going to do in response?
The future hangs in the balance
in every moment,
waiting for us to be right
about what we are being asked to do,
and doing it.

Starting now.

–0–

04

See what you look at.

Ask all of the questions that beg to be asked.

Say all of the things that cry out to be said.

Know what you know.
And what you don't know.

Be empty, still and quiet in the right kind of way.

See what's happening in each situation as it arises.
Know what's what and what is called for
and offer what you have to contribute to it
out of the gifts/daemon/genius/etc.
that comes with you from the womb,
in doing what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
to the best of your ability,
no matter what,
for the joy of doing it,
and the satisfaction of having done it,
"without hope, without witness, without reward"
(Steven Moffat in Doctor Who),
and let that be that,
situation after situation 
all your life long.

Everything else is a distraction.

–0–

01

I think it is denial
to think that tough times
won't be with us for a while--
a longer while that we would wish for.

That leaves us with preparing 
for dark times and low spirits.

We could start by creating a sacred space,
not religious so much as a spiritual retreat,
an oasis for our soul,
a place for sustenance and restoration.

I'm thinking of an inside space
where you could collect meaningful objects
and symbols
that connect you with a source of strength
and encouragement,
life and well-being.

I have an Inuksuk in my retreat space,
a small stone-stacked human-shaped figure
that reminds me of our Shaman beginnings,
and connects me with my original nature,
comforting me along the path.

There is a photo of a dandelion
that I see as a mandala of a wild thing
that can grow through asphalt,
and is afraid of nothing.

I have a drum, a Tibetan singing bowl,
a platted riding crop
reminding me not to whip dead horses,
or waste my time with what is not worth my time.
A family of mushrooms, a stone egg
that doubles as an imaginary dragon egg,
suggesting that a new life 
will eat our old life alive.

An owl I carved out of a piece of driftwood,
books that mean the world to me,
a pine-needle basket woven by a 12-year-old
Coushatta Indian girl, connecting me
with the spirit of life alive in us all,
connecting us all as "one in the spirit of life."

Things like these serve as sources
of resolve and dedication
to the task of being what is needed
in spite of our chances--
because that is what it takes,
and it is who we are.   

Our sacred space can be a place 
that nourishes and nurtures our imagination,
and our relationship with our instincts
and intuition.

A place where we are free to roam
among questions and reflect upon experiences
with wonder and awe,
and serves as a doorway/threshold to 
the world of spirit and grace,
where we may receive insight and revelation,
find direction and guidance,
"recover from the past
and store up for the future."

It is a place for finding our way amid our circumstances,
experiencing/exploring the restorative power
of the right kind of emptiness, stillness and silence,
in regaining our balance and harmony,
and sustaining our resolve
"to get up and do what needs to be done."

Which will become increasingly necessary
through the days that lie ahead.

–0–

01

We keep waiting for things to fall into place.

It is not the place of things to fall into place.
Our place is to dance with the tilt-a-swirl
as it moves between the clashing rocks
and the crashing waves,
getting our timing down,
finding the rhythm of
the music of the spheres
clashing and colliding
through the eons
laughing at us
seeking smooth
and easy.

Nature's way is not smooth and easy.
Hermetically sealed,
thermostat controlled,
ordered and regular lives
are our idea
imposed upon a climate
that has its own system
for tides and seasons,
air purification
and disease confinement.

We fit into the flow,
we do not govern it.

We cannot move hills
and fill in valleys
without doing terrible
damage to migration patterns
and spawning practices.

It is not cool to mess with Mother Nature
is an inconvenient lesson
we have no time for.

"Fine," says The Mother.
"Have it your way, then."

Our way is doing what we want,
with no regard for what we ought to want.
And no capacity for what we do not want at all.
Refusing to see how what we want
comes with what we don't want attached
and ignored,
laughing at us seeking smooth
and easy.

–0–

01

Forget being happy.
Forget having your way.
Forget getting what you want.

Live to know what is called for,
to know what needs to be done,
here and now,
and do it
in every situation as it arises,
throughout the rest of your life.

Live to serve the moment,
this moment,
right now.

Moment by moment.
Situation by situation.
For as long as you live.

What is your life asking of you?
Be right about that and do it.
To the best of your ability,
with the gifts/genius/daemon/virtues/
talents/abilities/proclivities/shtick/
knacks/etc.
that came with you from the womb--
your original nature,
who you are and who you
are capable of being
if you would just get out of your way
and trust yourself to be enough
just as you are,
right now,
to be what is needed right now,
forever.

In order to get to this point,
you will have to learn some new tricks.

Emptiness being the most important one.
Stillness and silence being the next in line.
Waiting, listening, looking, reflecting,
hearing, seeing, knowing,
doing, being.
Balance and harmony,
integrity, sincerity and spontaneity,
spirit, energy, vitality.
And trusting yourself to know what to do
and when to do it
the way it needs to be done,
and doing it.

Getting the What? When? and How? down
and doing it
is all there is to it,
but.

In order for that to happen,
we have to get out of the way,
and stop interfering with the flow of life
by imposing our idea of how things ought to be
on how things are.

We hijack the natural way of life
and our way with life
in three ways.

Fear.
Greed.
Lethargy. 

When any or all of those come into play,
our ability to know What? When? How?
disappears,
and we may as well go to bed
for all the good we are going to be
for our life until fear, greed and lethargy
are shown the door and told to leave.

At this point in this little soliloquy, 
you have all you need to know
to do what needs to be done
when it needs to be done,
how it needs to be done.

And now it is up to you.
Mind how you go.
Fair winds and following seas.
Moment by moment.
Situation by situation.
Day by day.
All the way.

–0–

02

Look/listen,
listen/look,
the two are one,
enabling
see/hear,
hear/see,
producing
know/do
do/know.

And that's all there is to it.

The people who see,
see the same things.

The people who hear,
hear the same things.

The people who know,
know the same things.

The people who do,
do the same things.

And live out of the depths
of their own heart 
and soul
and mind
and strength--
grounded on their own adamantine 
connection with themselves
and their own authority
to size up a situation,
know what's what
and what needs to be done in response
and doing it
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
in each situation as it arises,
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it,
no matter what,
all their life long.

Live to be one of those people.

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03

How we look determines, or strongly influences,
what we see.

How we look itself 
is determined, or strongly influenced by
what has happened to us in the past
and what we have done in response
and how that has impacted us--
physically/emotionally/psychologically/philosophically--
and by the stake we have in,
and the importance we place on,
what we are looking at.

If we could see what we look at
without any stake in,
or attachment to,
what is before us,
we might not see it at all.

I can walk through an entire
department, or store, of women's shoes
and be unable to tell you anything
specific about what I "saw."

Put me in the Joseph Campbell section
of a bookstore
and I can tell you the titles 
of all the books there.

Our past evokes/dampens/shapes our interests,
and positions us to respond as we do
to our present circumstances.

How well-adjusted we are to our life experience
depends upon what that experience has been
up to now.

No one is free to look without prejudice
upon the present moment,
coming, as we do, upon the present
under the combined weight
of all our past moments,
and conditioned by all that has impacted us
to this point.

We cannot help seeing as we do,
given all we have seen
and how that has affected us.

It is a wonder 
that we are as balanced as we are,
given where we have been
and what has happened to us.

Squaring up to that
and making our peace with it,
enables us to see how that modifies 
how we see,
and seeing our seeing is as close
to objectivity as we can hope to be.

–0–

01

The way forward
is that of stepping into each situation
and taking care of
the What and the How.
When is now.
Where is here,
Why is generally irrelevant
or cloaked in mystery
too dark and deep
to waste time on,
and reveals itself in time,
if at all, ever
(I have never had a motive
I fully understood,
and, probably, the same is true with you),
so it is nothing we need to explore.

Who is you.

That leaves the What and the How.

Take care of them--
get them right--
and the situation 
will have what it needs
to be what is needed
by the times that are at hand.

Live like this through 
each day of the new year,
and it will be a new world
by year's end--
one day at a time.

Get the What and the How down
and it's a walk through the park
the rest the way.

–0–

02

What needs to be done,
here and now,
and How?

Get those two questions right
in each situation as it arises
and your life will be as complete
as any life has any business being.

What here?
What now?
How?

That's all there is to it.

And we get there best,
I think,
through the right kind of emptiness,
the right kind of stillness,
and the right kind of silence.

We do not go get it.
We wait for it to come to us.

What, here, now and how, that is.

When they brought
"the woman taken in adultery"
(What about the man???
Why do men get off free
as a new-born breeze???
This is a problem still today,
and it throws me up 
just thinking about it--
just so you know)
to Jesus and asked him,
"Do we stone her to death, or not?"
The story goes,
"And Jesus squatted on the ground
and drew lines in the sand,"
before he rose and delivered 
his utterly brilliant,
"Let the one who is sinless
cast the first stone" line.
And the crowd (Of men)
drifted away one by one.

Squatting on the ground,
aimlessly drawing in the sand
was Jesus' way of waiting
for What and How to come to him.

Being empty.
Being still.
Being silent.
Allowing the noise of the world
to drop away,
so the light might arise
on its own.

We assist the light
by getting out of the way,
"clearing a space,"
and waiting for clarity.

The words surprised Jesus
as much as anyone else.

When in doubt,
which, with me, 
is most of the time,
Be empty.
Be still.
Be quiet.
And wait for the path
to come to you.

Of the three,
emptiness is the hardest 
to achieve,
and takes the most practice
to perfect.

Empty is empty of everything.
Every.
Single.
Thing.
Including the desire to be empty.

If you think that is easy,
give it a spin.
You will find that it is a way of life
more than a momentary exit from life.
It is a way of being in the world,
apart from the world.

Tricky.

Takes practice.

–0–