Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

We are as close to Jesus and the Buddha
as some people will ever get.

We bring as much of God to life in our life
as some people will ever experience.

If we aren't doing it as it ought to be done
moment to moment
in each situation as it arises,
why not?

If we aren't doing the things that need to be done,
saying the things that need to be said,
asking the questions that need to be asked,
being whom the times need us to be,
why not?

What are we doing that is better than that?

Why waste our time on anything less than that?

–0–

When "the world is too much with us,
late and soon" (William Wordsworth),
or life is,
we need a place to go
to lay our burdens down.

I have arranged three landscape stones
on my book case
as an imaginary link to the Wailing Wall.

I take grief that is too much to bear
to my Wailing Wall Link and deposit it there
(All in my imagination)
to take its place with the grief and mourning
of the ages.

And when it is time for another round with it,
I go back to stand before my bookcase
and remember the losses and sorrows.
When I have had enough for a while,
I leave them there
to return again by and by.

The Wailing Wall and all of our links to it
bear all of the pain of the world--
of the cosmos,
and keeps it in good stead for us
until we are ready for another round 
of remembrance and agony.

A very present help in time of trouble,
enabling us to face what must be faced
in our own time and our own way,
and face it again,
in that it is always near at hand,
never to be out-grown or left behind.

–0–

Focusing's foundational question,
"Except for what is everything just fine?"
is trumped by the realization,
"It's all useless, hopeless, pointless, futile,
stupid, ludicrous and absurd--
and coming to a very bad end
(We are all going to die).
But other than that, it's all great."

Which itself is negated by the counter-realization,
"How do we know the end is actually the end
or all that bad? 
It could be the opening to wonders beyond imagining!"

And, "All of our reasons for giving up,
caving in, rolling over and calling it quits,
are themselves trumped by the simple shift in perspective
which asks, 
"So what if it is all useless, etc.?
What difference does it make if nothing makes a difference?
Who cares if nobody cares?
Why not give it our best effort,
even if it does no good?"

And, dedicating ourselves to the eternal service
of the good of the moment
beginning right here, right now,
doing what is called for,
when, where and how it is called for,
anyway, nevertheless, even so--
moment after moment,
time after time,
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it,
always and forever, Amen!

Fidelity to the good of the here/now,
with fealty, filial loyalty
and unwavering devotion,
is the solution to all of our troubles,
now and always.

And is the sacred ground
at the heart of Focusing
in all times and places.

Getting up and doing what needs to be done,
when, where and how it needs to be done,
no matter what,
forever,
restores us to our soul,
and our soul to us,
day after day.

It only takes doing it
to know that it is so.
 

–0–

Walter Brueggermann wrote The Prophetic Imagination,
in 1978 about the wonder of Old Testament prophets
being able to imagine a world 
different from the one they lived in,
and the courage they displayed
to call the people of Israel to live in that world.

"The prophetic imagination" is always calling us
beyond this here/now into the next here/now--
the one we are capable of living into existence
by following the lead of our imaginative intuition,
which is always on the cusp,
on the threshold of "The Old has passed away!
Behold the New has come!"

The new world beckons from beyond this world's 
ideas for itself,
directing us to find our way to it
by listening to our intuitive guide
and doing what is called for
in each situation as it arises,
allowing the simple act of doing what needs to be done,
when, where and how it needs to be done,
to lead us into "all things new"--
which we could not foresee,
but are able to bring forth,
just by doing what is called for
in each moment at hand.

If you are looking for a calling,
you cannot find a better one
than doing what is called for here/now
and allowing that to carry us into the next here/now
and all that are to come!

–0–

There is a psychic energy "feel"
to bars,
restaurants,
air ports,
school reunions,
etc.

Everywhere people gather
has its own "sense of being."
A DMV waiting room
has a special kind of 
"Get Me Out Of Here Now!"
feel to it'
because no one wants to be there,
especially the people who work there.

What is being emitted 
to create the "feel" of place?

How is it being received/known?

We know/sense if we belong
where we are,
if it is a "good fit,"
if we are "home."

Or not.

Whatever the "atmosphere,"
we know whether it is conducive to our spirit,
or not.

If the "vibes" aren't right,
we are better off being somewhere else.

The hermits/introverts among us
think we are better off being alone--
and make being alone 
a high-priority item
because we can be separated
from our own experiencing
by noise/complexity/drama/trauma,
lose our orientation
and our internal guidance
and be overwhelmed by the intrusion
a boisterous WE. 

–0–

Opinions, plans and adgendas
interfere with our ability 
to read the signs of the times,
know what's what
and what's called for in response
out of our original nature
and intrinsic virtues/virtuosites 
(The things we do best 
and love doing most),
when/where/how it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
no matter what
all our life long.

Which is to say that living in the service
of what we desire/want to happen
keeps us from living in the service
of what is called for here/now
and doing what needs to be done.

We prevent from happening 
what needs to happen
in living to serve
our opinions, plans and agendas.

We block our life from being
what it could by
insisting on what we desire/want
at the expense of all other things.

And we can turn things around
like that (snaps fingers),
just by changing our mind
about what's important.

–0–

My intuition seems to have
more than me in mind.

I find myself doing things 
without knowing why,
and never find out.
I take it to mean 
that I am filling someone else's need,
playing a supporting role
in someone else's life.

It isn't just about me,
or us.
We are part of the matrix
of life generally,
and our place has a larger impact
than our own concerns and interests.

The people who benefit from our being here
are many more than we are aware of.
We play a part in lives
we know nothing about.

Karma is interacting in lives
beyond counting every day.
I'm glad I don't have to keep 
up with it,
or keep track of it.

Our place in life,
and in the lives of others,
is larger than we can imagine
or comprehend.

The next time you find yourself
doing something you don't understand,
chalk it up to being a part
of someone else's web of life,
smile and go on.

We are a multitude in many ways.

–0–

Allowing our intrinsic intuition to guide us
is to step outside the authoritative framework
of our thinking brain
and its ideas of what is in our best interest,
and to remain inside the body/soul network
and its deep sense of our calling and orientation.

The thinking brain is late on the scene
of evolutionary development.
The Old Brain is used to gathering information
of a different sort
from the sensory organs of the body/soul
and applying that to the threats and choices
coming to us through our experience
in the external world.

How our two brains read the world
and apply that to leading us along the way
presents us with a choice to make
regarding which guide to follow when.

Our intuition is a Right Brain function.
Our rational/logical/reasoning process
is a Left Brain function.
The two brains have different ways of 
considering what is in our best interest,
and we have to decide for ourselves
in light of what do we live.

What is best for us in terms of our
body/soul connection,
may not at all be what is best for us
in terms of our early retirement
and bottom line concerns.

We have to manage our own conflicts of interest
and decide which side we are on
in choosing who is to guide our boat
on it's path through the sea,
in light of the destination we have in mind.

How our two brains read the world
and apply that to leading us along the way
presents us with a choice to make
regarding which guide to follow when.

We have to manage our own conflicts of interest
and decide which side we are on
in choosing who is to guide our boat
on it's path through the sea,
in light of the destination we have in mind.
But.
What makes us think it is worth having?

Right brain and left brain have different ideas
about what is worth our time and effort.
What do we say matters most?
Everything rides on our decision here.
And we are all on our own with this one.

Emptiness is emptying ourselves
of everything,
even the desire to be empty.

Emptiness is nothingness.
Mindlessness.

Emptiness is No Mind.
Buddha Mind is No Mind.
Not knowing it is No Mind.
Not knowing.

Dropping into the deepest sleep.
Beyond dreaming.
Past knowing.
Past seeing/hearing/thinking.

Just being here/now.
Cleansing the doorway of perception.
Being open,
being closed.
Not here, not there.

Been there?
Done that?
Why?
Why not?

What would we remember
if we have been there,
done that?

That is emptiness.

Anything else is just talk.

–0–

Tranquil scenes allow us to 
sink into the moment,
absorbing the rightness
of here/now,
and participating in the 
universal recognition of 
the importance of 
being present with what
is present with us
for the experience of oneness
with all of the cosmos--
like seeing the wonder of the ocean
in one drop of water,
or one grain of sand.

Presence is the wonder itself.
"The ability to be with anything
within our field of awareness,"
is the way Ann Weiser Cornell
thinks of Presence.

Present with, accepting of,
all there is, as it is,
right here, right now,
always and forever.

Why not?

"If the doors of perception 
were cleansed every thing 
would appear to (us) as it is, 
Infinite" (William Blake).

We participate in the act
of "cleansing the doors of perception"
by stopping to see the moment
and being present with everything
within or field of awareness."

Or, allowing ourselves to
be stopped by the moment,
as with this one.

–0–

Hitler captivated his audiances
and talked them into seeing 
the way he saw things.
He had a "hypnotic personality."
"Strong, forceful personalities"
can be that way.

Politicians and evangelical preachers
and "snake oil" salesmen thrive on
having "the gift."

The rest of us would do well
to spend our time away from their influence,
and happy to be at home
in emptiness, stillness and silence.

We are born with an original nature,
intrinsic virtues/virtuosities
(The things we do best and love to do most),
and an inherent intuition,
which is a built-in sense of direction,
intuiting "Yes and No" from birth.

And, we would do well to develop our relationship
with these things,
learning to know what we know
and how to trust our own innate sense of who we are
and what we need to do and to leave undone.

However, the inner signals 
can be jammed by powerful personalities,
and by parents who force their authority
upon us
and "training us in the way they think we should go"
from birth.

We meet a lot of resistance in our work
to be who we are,
and have to be resilient and determined
to follow our own heart
and live to be who we are,
no matter what.

May it be that way with us all!

–0–

Listening to ourselves,
hearing what is going on within,
knowing how we are being impacted
by the circumstances of our life,
and responding to that with 
a level of empathy and compassion
appropriate for the situation as a whole,
would be an important step
toward balance and harmony,
and a partnership with ourselves
based on mutual respect and encouragement
for the effort of meeting life as it comes
day to day.

We don't get enough help,
we don't have good-enough choices,
and we don't know where to turn
too much of the time.

Yet, we can always Buddy-up with ourselves
in a "Here we are, now what?" kind of way
whenever we need a hand with attitude adjustment
and squaring ourselves up
with how things are.

Our best invisible friend
is always right here
with a wink and a smile
when the times call for such,
and it would be wrong
to not look them up!

–0–