Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

We can orient ourselves
in the service of what needs to be done 
here/now
by attending our breathing,
and finding the place 
of emptiness between breaths
and continuing to breathe
while waiting in the emptiness
for a felt (in our body)sense
of what is being called for
and moving in that direction
trusting our original nature
and our innate virtuosities
to respond naturally/spontaneously
to the situation as it is developing
around us.

Practice doing this in the safety
of your own bedroom
(maybe when it comes to what to wear)
until you become comfortable 
with the process and how it feels
to be listening/feeling the leanings,
or impulses,
within toward something
and away from something else.

With this exercise,
you will be learning to be aware of
and to trust your Right Brain
and to listen to/feel its guidance
in your body.

And watch a new world opening up.

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Letting come what's coming
and letting go what's going
is living with an appropriate degree
of "working distance"
between ourselves and our life,
enabling us "to do what needs to be done,"
as in shooting Old Yeller when the time comes.

As in "Holding them close and letting them go"
when our children reach the age
of being their own selves,
going their own way
in the service of what they need to do
the way they need to do it.

All that we "have" is held tenuously,
temporarily,
and if "they/it" doesn't leave us,
we will leave "them/it."

It is the way.

Recognizing what's what,
and letting it be
because it is
is the foundational duty/obligation
laid on each of us at our birth.

And recognizing this as being so
is the essence of growing up,
being who we are,
and doing what needs to be done,
when/where/how it needs to be done--
and that is all that can be asked of us
at any stage of our life.

How are you coming with that? 

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When Jesus said,
"You shall know the truth
and the truth shall make you free,"
he was talking about knowing
the truth of ourselves.

The truth of who we are
and what we are about.

The truth of our original nature
and of our innate virtuosities.

The truth of what's what with us.

The truth that we are born of God
with no original sin (What a con!)
anywhere around.

The truth that we are called to be as God
in each situation as it arises,
just as Jesus was.
And all the people who have known 
the truth of who they are.

The truth that we are called to be as close to God
as some people ever get,
just as Jesus was.
And all the people who have known
the truth of who they are.

The truth that we are all called to be--
and are capable of being--
who we are
in all times and places.

That is what Jesus came to live out before us,
and to say,
"Come, follow me."

So.
There's that.

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Finding what we need
to do what needs to be done
is always a matter 
of being quiet 
and waiting out the emotion of the moment
for clarity and peace.

We tend to default to the left hemisphere
with its rational structuring of life
to think our way through
whatever is threatening our balance and harmony,
but routine can be waylaid 
by the outlandish and unforeseen. 

Then the right hemisphere earns its keep
with its propensity for novel approaches
to practical matters.

Nighttime dreams and daytime reveries 
can right the boat
with reassuring reminders and suggestions
for responding to the situation at hand
that is completely out of hand.

It takes being quiet 
for clarity to find its way to us,
and quiet is the hardest thing to be
when its presence is most necessary.

So the old Taoists, Zen Masters
and Buddhist Monks relied on 
chanting and ceremony
to "calm troubled water"
and return to the perspective of peace.

YouTube is a great source 
for a variety of chants
to restore our connection to soul
(AKA The Right Hemisphere!)
if we have the wisdom to trust ourselves
to it with confidence and conviction.

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I'm no longer taking anything seriously, 
which I take to be the lesson 
of the Buddha under the Bodhi Tree,
remaining unmoved by desire/fear/anger
and being enlightened
by the realization of the power
inherent in treating everything
with a complete lack of seriousness.

The Buddha's followers, of course,
treated him with absolute seriousness,
and his insight was lost in
the rules and regulations of Buddhism
where everything has to be done in
strict accordance with the officially 
approved way of doing/thinking about everything,
and that was that.

And, in order to get back to the purity of
Buddha-mind,
we have to treat EVERYTHING 
with the complete absence of seriousness
it all deserves.

So, don't take me seriously
when I say, "Don't take anything--
including me--seriously!"

Just like you should listen to me
when I say, "DON'T LISTEN TO ME!
LISTEN TO YOU!!!"

Everything will go so much better 
for all of us
if we don't take anything seriously
and listen quite carefully 
to our own heart/soul/Right Brain.

From now until the end of time. 

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Heart.
Intensity.
Relentless.
Intention.
Anyway.
Nevertheless.
Even So.

Upstages

So What?
Who Cares?
Why Try?
What's The Use?
What's The Point?
What Difference Does It Make?

By way of the old Buddhist strategy of
"Turning the light around,"
and asking, So what? of So what?
Who cares if nobody cares?
Why not try?
Why let apparent uselessness
get in the way?
The point is doing what needs to be done,
when/where/how it needs to be done,
in the service of the best
we have to offer,
no matter what.
Whether it makes an immediate difference
or not.

For the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it,
through the dark nights of the soul
and all weather conditions
because we are not here to sit it out
and wait until like we feel like
meeting the day.
After day.
After day...

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We carry the secrets of our own destiny
tucked into our DNA
and accessed via our Right Brain 
through trance states,
meaningful coincidences,
nighttime dreams,
daytime visions,
powerful hunches,
nagging calls to attend absurd missions,
propitious accidents,
sudden compulsions,
and all other forms of guidance
at the disposal of our Other Side
in its effort to wake us up
to who we are
and what is ours to do
even now,
even yet,
even still,
if only we will be still
and give it free rein.

The Adventure awaits the traveler,
wondering when might be the time...

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We enter the silence
empty of emotion/agenda/expectation...
and wait for what will emerge/appear/arise 
of its own accord
for us to work with
in making associations and connections
and following where it leads
to realization/recognition/understanding--
the farther shore of reflection.

Propelling us onto the field of action
to will and to do according to the flow
of our understanding of what is called for
and asked of us in the time and place 
of our epiphany.

The quest and the deed,
back and forth,
throughout the time left for living
the adventure of being alive.

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Seeing what we look at
and knowing what's what
without opinion
or expectation, 
plans
or agendas,
but with clarity
and understanding,
balance and harmony--
and doing what is called for
in ways appropriate to the occasion
in each situation as it arises
no matter what
all our life long,
would do it I think.

May it be so for us all!
Always and forever!
Amen!
May it be so!

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We get up and meet the day 
as though it matters. 

Living with intensity 
and with intentionality 
anyway, nevertheless, even so 
is essential, 
and must be our lifetime commitment  
to each other 
and all others 
around the world. 

Caring  as though it matters 
that we care 
regardless of whether 
it matters or not is crucial. 

It’s as though we all 
are playing a part 
in a movie that requires us 
to act as though 
it matters who we are 
and what we do, 

and we pour ourselves into it 
every day 
with a performance worthy 
of an Academy Award. 

Every day. 

To love everyone in a way 
that they can’t tell 
whether we really love them or not. 

Every day. 

The world is dying for people 
who will do these things, 
reliably, 
consistently, 
deliberately, 
dependably. 

We owe it to ourselves 
and to each other 
to help the world out, 
whether it deserves it or not. 

My pledge to you. 

And, you?

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We wait for clarity and motivation,
and follow the inner drift
of the soul's delight.

As time goes by, 
I find myself thinking of "soul"
(and "heart")
as "Right Brain,"
and thinking of "ego"
as "Left Brain."

The duality of Right Brain/Left Brain
provides the foundation and clarity
of our life's work:
Establishing the balance and harmony
between the two hemispheres of our brain
which is exemplified 
in the quality and flow of our life.

We live to unify the opposites,
unite the polarities,
reconcile the disparities
and bring the two together,
aligned and in accord 
with the here and now of our living.

How we do that is through
the conscious awareness of what's what
and what needs to be done in response to it
in each situation as it arises,
dancing with the music of the moment,
bringing order out of chaos
and Yes out of No
through all of the circumstances of our days.

What is called for?
How can we meet that
with the gifts of our original nature
and innate virtuosities?

Take the questions into the silence
and see what comes to mind.

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The day has a mind of its own.
As does our life.
We wait to see what comes
and what we do with it,
and that tells the tale.

We get up,
get dressed,
open the door,
and the day,
our life,
takes it from there.

With a bevy of things
we would never have guessed.

Our place is to respond appropriately
to each thing that comes along,
and see where that takes us
and what we do about it
all the way to bed tonight,
and back at it again tomorrow.

No plans,
no agendas,
no knowing what's next
or caring,
just seeking the flow
and seeing what's called for,
understanding that the path
is revealed in hindsight,
and no one knows before hand
what is being staged
or how it will all merge together,
disparate parts
producing a whole
that is our life
one day at a time.

Epiphany!
Revelation!
Realization!
Enlightenment!
Surprise!

Waiting for us to get out of bed.

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