Finding our way to The Way one situation at a time. I don't know how great it will be, but I expect it will be interesting, and I look forward to it going on past all reason because wonder is just that way. Are you coming or not?
Cypress Pond 01 BW — Adams Mill Pond, Goodale State Park, Camden, South Carolina
We are paying the price for electing Donald Trump, and will be paying it for the rest of our life. This train wreck won't fix itself, put itself back on the tracks and chug along to glory in our life time. We are on our own. It is up to us to put our life together in the aftermath of the complete loss of everything.
We start with our attitude. Suffering is made worse by the way we bear our suffering. Meeting the basic cost of living for the duration will be out of the question for a lot of people, and some of the people are working on ways to help with that. Those of us who are able can donate cash to the helping agencies and tip better at the coffee shops and restaurants. Cash encourage-ment is important in keeping people going. I say that wondering how long my social security checks will keep coming and Medicare helping with my medical needs. It could get really dicey and quite out of hand in no time, and making it from day-to-day will be interesting for all of us.
We all have inner resources, sources of guidance, direction, encouragement and insight/realization/awareness/knowledge... We are all members of a species that has survived environmental catastrophes and hardship throughout time, and we all have a genetic core that can be trusted to be what we need to find what we need to do what needs to be done to respond appropriately to all of the "Here we are, now what's?" in our path. So, we start building our relationship with and our reliance upon our inner capacity to be for ourselves "a very present help in time of trouble."
Drop into the silence throughout the day, open to and present with what meets us there, and see where it goes throughout the times that are upon us and beyond.
Our personal authority extends to cover a wide range of matters, internal and external. A lot of us claim personal authority over how our hair is cut. I don't push into that area, and say, "Whatever you think I deserve, when sitting in the hair stalest's chair. There is generally some light-hearted back and forth, and we settle on "About an inch off all over." I have come out just fine over time.
We know what is right for us and what is wrong, where we belong and where we have no business being. And the Old Testament commandment that did not make the top ten but should be #1 in my book, "Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark," is sacrosanct and beyond challenge. Our neighbor, and each of us, know what's what regarding our neighbor and ourselves. And all of us need to recognize and honor that throughout time.
We know what we know, and, ideally, live in close communion with The Knower within, who guides and directs us throughout our life in knowing and doing what needs to be done in each situation as it arises. May we all realize that this is so and spend the necessary amount of time in emptiness, stillness and silence developing our relationship with our Knower and learning how to read the signs directing our way through the choices and decisions that fill each day. So that we might know, for example, when to pull over to the side of the road and take the picture that catches our eye in the moment of our seizure. Etc., and so forth throughout all of life.
Adams Mill Pond 12 Panorama BW— Goodale State Park, Camden, South Carolina
Living out of the silence (emptiness/stillness) enables us to be mindfully aware of the place of wanting and caring about the wrong things plays in our day-to-day, and how regularly our thinking revolves around things that have no connection at all with what the present situation is calling for and what would be the most appropriate response we could make to that here, now. We are lost in the dust of the world. Adrift in the churning confluence of things that count for little or nothing on the scale of What Matters Most. We are wasting our time, wasting our life, lost in the wasteland of discontent.
We turn things around by being centered and focused on who we are and what we are here for, and taking up the search for where our deep joy is found and living there, doing that. Being true to the truth of who we are and what we are about honors and serves our Original Nature, Innate Virtues (The things we do best and the things we enjoy doing most), Inherent Intuition, Intrinsic Imagination. In serving these things, we bring them forth and make them apart of our day-to-day life in doing what is called for when, where and how it is called for, and everything falls into place around that.
The Watchman and the Virgin 02 — Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah
Dropping into the silence to be present with what meets us there is a life-long strategy for living open to what's what, what's happening and what is called for here, now. In the silence over time, we avoid the distractions/diversions/smoke/dust/haze that prevents us from being here, now doing what needs to be done, when, where and how it needs to be done through all conditions, situations and circumstances that we meet along the way. And we are able to attend what needs our vital attention moment to moment in being who we are and doing what is ours to do--often what we do best and enjoy doing most--by being shanghaied or waylaid by the noise of the world.
In the silence, we see, hear, know and understand where we are and what needs to be done about it, and with practice we can do this with one breath walking wherever we are going. Simply inhale for a count of five, pause for a count of five and exhale for a count of five. You have take a Silent Break from your life and given yourself a count of fifty opportunity to shift your perspective, remember where you are and what you need to do about it here, now. And you might be amazed at what a lift this gives your life. Do it throughout each day and observe the difference it makes.
The Watchman and the Virgin — Zion National Park, Spring Dale, Utah
Our frame of mind makes all the difference. Fragility or stability hangs in the balance, depending upon our frame of mind. Change that and everything changes. We are as steady and confident as our point of view permits.
All of which is to say that the MAGA mind set is far from confident and self-assured. It is hanging by a thread, held in check only by the bluster of Donald Trump. Without his brash behavior and getting by with dancing on the edge, they are without foundation, and teeter on the brink of collapse and ruin. If he slips, the show is over, the lights go out, and great will be the fall of the House of Trump.
The line between “Reformer” and “Heretic” is too fine to be seen. It doesn’t exist. It all depends on how we see what we look at. Jesus was a reformer who was executed as a heretic by the Romans at the request of Caiphas, the High Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem. And the doctrines of Original Sin, Redemption, Atonement, Salvation, etc. were invented by the Church of Rome in the 400 years between the crucifixion and the closing of the Canon, with the Church declaring, “You are all going to hell for all eternity if you don’t believe what we say and do what we tell you to do.” Guaranteeing the survival of the Church, and all churches through the ages to here, now
Leaving us with the opportunity/responsibility of rethinking all we have ever been taught/told about God, which now can be understood to be “That Which Has Always Been Called ‘God'” and re-thought in ways that take all that we know into account.
Like the way balance and harmony, rhythm and flow can be experienced/known in the way conditions and situations unfold in a day, and how we can be “on the beam,” or “off it,” and “in the flow” or “out of it.”
Joseph Campbell said, “We know when we are on the beam and when we are off the beam.” And we do. What do we know when we know that? How do we know when we know that? This is the Mystery at the heart of existence.
We are one with the Mystery. We are the Mystery ourselves. All of this is Mystery. Mystery and “God” are the same thing. We say “God” and think we have said something, but not so. What we associate with the word “God” was invented by the Church of Rome in the 4 centuries between Jesus’ death and the closing of the Canon when no more ideas about God and Jesus were allowed to be in the Bible. All we know about “God” is what the Church of Rome wanted us to know. All we know is the Church of Rome’s idea of God. Who is to say whose idea is the truth of how things are? Who is the authority in these matters? Who says so? How do they know? They know the way we all know when we are on the beam and when we are off the beam.
Lao Tzu said in talking about the Tao, “Darkness within darkness, the gateway to Mystery!” We can think of the Tao as “God,” as “Mystery.” They all can be experienced but not understood. “The Tao that can be said/told/explained is not the eternal Tao.” We can know things we cannot talk about. How do we know? It is a mystery.
We have to become those who honor The Mystery of Life and Being and Knowing! And, in the words of Iris DeMent, “Let the Mystery be.”
Sculpture for Public Places 02 — Blakeney Town Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
We are back to where the old Taoists were with Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching in the neighborhood of 600 years BCE, with living to be in sync with, aligned with, in accord with the movement, the rhythm and flow, of life and being.
The fundamental/foundational recognition/understanding is that there is a right way and a wrong way, a good way and a bad way, to do everything. Where we, as a species, get off track is by thinking "right and wrong," "good and bad," have to do exclusively and especially with OUR good and Our bad, Our wants and Our want-nots, Our advantage and Our disadvantage, Our profit/benefit/gain and Our loss, deficit, dismay... We look at everything in terms of its impact upon us and our desires.
This has been our problem from the beginning. The story of the Garden of Eden addressed the matter of corrupt wanting/caring being the source of all out difficulties. It has been so and remains so throughout time--but it has nothing to do with Original Sin and our need for Redemption, Atonement, Salvation, and everything to do with our need to wake up, grow up, and align ourselves with the Tao, the rhythm and flow of doing what is called for here, now. With doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place, in the right way no matter what that means for us personally, with our gain or loss being of no importance whatsoever in doing what needs to be done in each situation as it arises for the sake of doing what is called for here, now alone in mind, time after time, without keeping score or wondering, even, when it is going to be our turn.
Look around and take stock. Everything is as it is because of improper wanting, caring, striving, seeking, to get our way in each situation as it arises no matter what. Call it "The Oh-No!"
So we have the Tao and the Oh-No existing together throughout time like Yin and Yang. Making a mess of everything. Destroying any hope of rhythm and flow. Keeping war and rumors of war foremost in each generation with everyone striving to have their way at the expense of everyone else's way.
And in each generation the background call to all people is to align themselves with the good of the here, now, doing what is called for here, now, regardless of its implications for each of us personally throughout the lifetimes of every person in every generation. Everyone doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, in the right place always and forever. Living aligned with the Tao all of the time everywhere. The fantasy at the heart of life and being.
Sculpture for Public Places 01 — Blakeney Shopping Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
When we toss theology and doctrine, all of which was invented by the Church of Rome during the 400 years between Jesus' crucifixion and the closing of the Canon, with the Church coming up with the catchy slogan, "This is what Jesus did for you and you are going straight to hell if you don't believe what we say and do what we tell you to do!" And when we toss that, we are left with That Which Has Always Been Called "God," without the theology and doctrine, to revere, honor, know and serve with all of our life and being--for the sheer joy of doing it and the satisfaction of having done it.
Theology and doctrine have always been grounded on our projection/imagination based on our experience with That Which Has Always Been Called "God," which is beyond which we cannot go in explaining the origin of life and being, and all of which we lump together as "God's will" in explaining everything we cannot otherwise begin to understand, coincidence, synchronicity, intuition, and the sense that everything seems to work together somehow to produce the lives we all are living as though they are part of some marvelous plan from the start.
Our experience takes us to the threshold of mystery, which we cannot leave alone, but must take apart, analyze, explain, define and duplicate in our own zeal to be in complete control of all things, and not at the mercy of "time and chance happening to us all."
Once we concede "time and chance happening to us all," we are free to explore our relationship with that which cannot be explained/understood/controlled to serve our ends and desires, we free to live without will and desire, simply doing what is called for when, where and how it is called for and, as Lao Tzu suggested around a thousand years before Jesus was born, "Let nature take its course."
On one hand this threatens us to the core to be at the mercy of nature taking its course, and on another hand, it is totally thrilling and delightful to not know what is going to happen next and what we will do about it in service to what is called for here, now in every situation as it arises throughout our life--in service to and relationship with the mystery at the heart of life and being.
Penobscot Bay in Morning Light — Stonington, Deer Isle, Maine
Tranquility/serenity/peaceful abiding here, now. Which is the gateway to seeing, hearing, knowing what’s what and what is called for and doing it when, where and how it needs to be done in every situation as it arises all our life long.
The older I get the less respect I have for theology and doctrine and the more I’m finding worth exploring in experience and our own inner knowing as the source of guidance and direction in knowing and doing what is called for in each situation as it arises.
And I think doing that is the only thing that matters. Doing the right thing in the right place at the right time in the right way was the Taoist idea of the Tao, or what is called for here, now. And having the innate capacity (Intuition) to know/trust that is my idea of faith at work in our life.
When we just sit down with what we know, it amounts to a lot. I think Jesus lived out of what he knew.
And the Church of Rome invented sin and salvation in the 400 years between Jesus’ death and the closing of the canon—the most brilliant and successful con in the history of scams! And I have a retirement pension to prove it!
Marsh Road Sunset 01-A — Ocracoke Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Outer Banks, North Carolina
When the President of the United States decimates and disregards Democracy, it is because the people who elected him no longer believe in Democracy themselves. When over 50% of the people who voted in the last election do not believe in Democracy–do not treasure, honor, esteem, venerate, serve and celebrate Democracy, we have become as a nation the shame of our founders and of all of those who have lived and died in the service of Liberty! Justice! Equality! Truth! for the 249 years we have been in existence.
We are a nation of traitors betraying the trust of all of those who have gone before us and failing to believe in and be devoted to the values the Founders found to be worth dying for. Donald Trump is just such a traitor, as are all the MAGA members of Congress, the Supreme Court, and citizens of the United States. And they deserve the fate reserved for traitors through all the years this country has been a Nation proud to be the Land of the Free and champions of human rights for all people everywhere.
Black Australian Swan Mirror — Swan Lake Iris Gardens, Sumter, South Carolina
The meaning of a thing, anything, everything, is what it means to someone, everyone. There is no intrinsic meaning anywhere in/to anything. It is all imposed, projected, imagined. When someone declares, “It’s all meaningless!”, they say it as though the meaninglessness of everything is very meaningful to them. It all cannot be meaningless if its lack of meaning is that meaningful. Even if its lack of meaning is its only meaning, that still makes everything meaningful.
Take note of the meaningful things in your life. They say something significant about you. The meaningful things are mirrors reflecting you to you. Emptiness, stillness, silence (One thing, not three) are probably the most meaningful thing to me. That and looking out the window, which has nothing to do with actually looking out an actual window. It is an expression that means, for me, the same thing as a meditation cushion means to a Zen master. I can “look out the window” anywhere, everywhere, just by dropping into the emptiness, stillness, silence and being there for as long as it takes to “get at” whatever it is that meets me in the silence.
I know when I need to drop into the silence/look out the window, and it is essential that I heed the need and check in with the silence to see what is there waiting on me to check in. I think we all are like that, or could be if we attended the silence and developed the sense of needing to look out the window at any point throughout the day, every day.
I’m saying meaning can be anywhere, though it is not necessarily everywhere, but it needs us to be alert to its presence so that we know meaning when we see it, when we sense it, and pay attention to what’s what and what’s happening and do what needs to be done about it. Throughout the day, every day.
Aspens at Muleshoe — Banff National Park, Alberta, Canadian Rockies
Getting our feet under us and stepping into each day as the day needs to be met is a simple matter of having the essential elements in place and following the routines of orienting ourselves in emptiness, stillness, silence to the point of peaceful abiding, here, now, and being clear about what’s what, what’s happening, what’s called for and what needs to be done about it, when, where and how–and allowing our life to flow spontaneously from there through all situations and circumstances as they arise. That is the daily game plan that flows into a life well lived. It is the way all the saints of all the nationalities of all the ages have done it and will continue to do it for as long as the days come and go.
It is not about having a plan to get what we want. It is a plan for living in response to the day’s deliveries in ways that honor the drift, rhythm and flow of each day and going where the day takes us, doing what the day needs of us, no matter what, day by day, and being fully content with whatever that means, which means having no agenda, no expectations, no requirements or demands for our own benefit, profit, gain, enjoyment beyond doing what we do best and enjoy doing most in serving the needs of the day, every day, allowing our direction and purpose to be subject to the drift, rhythm and flow of circumstances throughout our life.
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 