Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

No one can tell another what they should/must believe,
how they must live/what they must do.

Jesus was killed for Blasphemy,
or, more to the point, for turning over the tables
of the moneychangers in the Temple.

That's telling another what they better not believe/do.

And Jesus called his followers to "Pick up your cross
and follow me!" 

As if to say, "Don't worry about those who can crucify you!
Think your own thoughts and do what you know is called for!
No matter what!"

How can anyone claim to be a Christian
who is not being persecuted for heresy?

This is a question that goes to the heart of what we are about.

Are we capable of thinking for ourselves no matter what 
that stirs up, and doing what we know to be the right thing for us to do, or, do we toe the line and believe/do what we are told?

And who can be said to be carrying "their own cross"
if they are but doing what they are told?

Who is the authority for what we believe, say and do?

Donald Trump will be synonymous with ruthlessness and brutality whose rule will be remembered as a blight upon humanity worldwide. 

He wants a missile parade on his birthday in June.
Missiles are weapons of war and destruction. Trump wants to relish the power he holds with a parade of missiles so that everyone might know who he is and what he is capable of.

Who doesn't know who he is and what he is capable of? Only the people who voted for him, it seems. Who cannot see him because their fantasies of him keep getting in the way. But the truth will out in time and the wailing will not end when the truth is realized and can no longer be denied. All will rue the day when denial no longer works. Ah, but. The dogs are let loose upon the world and there is no calling them back. Viscousness is unleashed, gleefully without restraint. "I told you I was a snake when you let me in."

No pushing, no shoving, no forcing, no striving, 
no pretending that we know the way!
Wanting something to happen
has nothing to do with what needs to happen.

Stop. Look. Listen.

Give intuition a chance.

Assume intuition is our connection
with what is called for and needs to happen
in each situation as it arises,
and give way, stand aside,
give intuition the ball
and let her show you what she can do.

Start with what you are going to wear each day.
Allow your intuition to make the choice.
Look over your options and see what calls your name.

Do the same thing with where to go for lunch,
and what to order.

Practice letting intuition take the lead.
Be sensitive to intuition's play calling 
in circumstances as they develop and see how she does--
and if she has a preference for "the gender thing."

The following is being republished here from my co-Wordpress site “From Twitter to Here” because it is worth reading twice at least.

Science knows the world is not divided
into spheres of  physical/material and spiritual/numinous,
but that the world is a three layer cake after all,
with the third layer being Psychoid Reality
outside both physical and spiritual,
binding them together,
and bringing aspects of each together in both,
so that imprinting happens in birds
and cannot be explained in any way other than
"There is more going on here than meets the eye."
And, the deeper we go into the physical,
the more spiritual/numinous it becomes.

The experiences we all have with what we call "Intuition"
are all experiences with the "WooHoo, WooHoo."
Intuition is an area of life experience with numinous reality.
What we call "psyche" exists exactly where?
Etc.

The physical and the metaphysical merge to the point
of not knowing where one ends and the other begins.
And it is time that we started knowing what we know
and changing the way we live to take all that we know
into account. 

No?

We are always coming from, going to, somewhere. What bridges the gap for us, here, now? Where have we been? Where are we going? We are transitioning from where to where?

I'm waiting in the silence between realizations, watching for what arises, emerges, appears to point the way. The future is unfolding according to its own good pleasure. Pushing and shoving only muddies the water and conceals the way. Waiting is the bridge for many of us these days. Time will tell. For now,there is recovery and restoration, and meeting the day as the day needs to be met.

How do we keep ourselves from interfering with our life?
What is interference and what is assistance?
What is in the way and what is out of the way?
These would be my nominees for things worth knowing.

And no one can tell us because no one knows.
                    But.
       A world of people think they do.

Living will take the life right out of you.
If you live with your eyes open, taking things in,
seeing what you look at,
knowing what you know.

If you pay attention,
you are going to need
a place to recover,
regain your balance,
restore your harmony,
seek consolation and courage
for the future.

Emptiness, stillness and silence
are my very present help in time of trouble.

Emptiness is the emptiness between breaths.

Inhale for a count of five,
exhale for a count of five,
for a round of five,
on the sixth exhale,
hold your breath for a count of ten.

The emptiness you seek is what you experience
counting to ten.

Repeating this exercise several times a day
will send you into emptiness
simply by breathing in for a count of ten
after a day or two.

I call this "Dropping into emptiness, stillness, silence."
Stay there for ten to twenty minutes, 
two or three times a day
and you will be able to drop into emptiness, etc.
whenever you need to wherever you are.

You can use the silence as an opportunity to 
open yourself to clarity about what is called for
with the gifts of your original nature,
your innate virtues (What you do best and enjoy doing most),
your inherent imagination,
and your intrinsic intuition,
in rising to do what is called for in the here, now at hand, 
and meeting life head on with the best you have to offer
from here on out.

We do what is called for in each situation as it arises
and drop into emptiness, stillness, silence between innings 
waiting for clarity, watching for what arises, emerges, appears
to catch our eye and compel us to action in the service of our
original nature, our innate virtues (What we do best and enjoy
doing most), our inherent imagination and our intrinsic intuition. Catching the rhythm and flow of time and place,
here and now, to live and to do in sync with the need of the moment and what we have to offer in the eternal dance of life and being.

Knowing what's what,
what's happening,
and what's called for,
and doing it when, where, and how
it is called for,
in each situation as it arises,
is all Jesus and the Buddha ever did.

No one can do more than that!

And the path to doing that
is the path of emptiness, stillness, silence,
and waiting for clarity,
or enlightenment, realization, awareness,
and allowing our intuitive impulse to action
to spontaneously respond appropriately to the
situation at hand,
seeing, hearing, knowing, doing as it always does
in fitting with kindness and common courtesy
throughout social situations worldwide.

This scene is crammed with insects, snakes, leeches, mammals and ultraviolet rays that could make our life a living hell in no time at all. The stuff we overlook, dismiss, discount, ignore in making our judgments and forming our opinions about what we see is never taken into account when we decide how we feel about a place. We don't see more than we do see regarding everything we look at. And we know that but we refuse to think about it. We do not acknowledge it, and blithely stride through each day. We live unaware of the time and place of our living every moment all the time. It is a wonder that we get along as well as we do.  

We ignore what we don't want to know. Here's what we do about that: Spend 20 minutes a day in emptiness, stillness, silence and see what comes calling. Do not shut yourself off from any of it. Simply see it and welcome it into your life. Let your life take it from there. Trust your intuition to override your fear/desire in making the adjustments that take your Also Life into account. And see where it goes.

The intuitive guides are reliable standards
of faith and practice.
We only have to be tuned into 
what is present with us throughout
the days of our lives.

Resonance/resonation are "Yes!"
Enthusiasm/vitality/energy/exuberance are "Yes!"

repulsive/revolting/disgusting/obnoxious are "No!"
disquieting/apprehension/discontent are "No!"

Once we get "Yes!" and "No!" down
everything else falls into place around that.

Being alert to what we are dismissing, discounting,
denying/ignoring will go a long way toward keeping us
centered on the beam and true to the path.