Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

How do we know what needs to be done
that is different from obsession/compulsion?
That flows spontaneously/naturally
from the situation that arises,
like "Bless you!" follows a sneeze?

How do we live so attuned to the moment,
so aware of ourselves
and what is happening,
that we are like a dancer
with the music,
or a tennis player with the ball?

How do we live with nothing at stake?
Free from contriving an outcome,
or turning the occasion to our advantage,
or getting what we want
where, when and how we want it?
How do we live free from
wanting what we want NOW!

This business about seeing what's happening,
knowing what is called for,
doing what needs to be done
at the right time,
in the right way,
in each situation as it arises
flips us into a different way of life!

Having our way
and getting what we want
no longer guide our boat
on its path through the sea!

Now, everything hangs on seeing/knowing
what's what
and what is called for--
not by thinking it out,
but simply knowing what response to make,
like a parent reading the cry of their child,
or the behavior patterns of their dog.

We develop a meditative approach to each day,
and carry looking/seeing,
knowing/doing, 
with us into each scene every day.

We become observers 
rather than arrangers.
Responders 
rather than directors.

And trust ourselves to know
what, when, where, how.
Through all of the circumstances
of our life.

–0–

Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, was actively 
persecuting Gnostics for their beliefs
around 150-180,
but there was no official bible
for the first 300 years, or so,
following Jesus' death.
The Old Testament was settled around 250
and the 27 books of the New Testament
were deemed to be authoritative by 363-397.

Which is to say,
it has been a mess
from the start,
and executions and assinations
were instrumental in securing agreement
as to what should and should not be believed.

Being right was a matter of opinion
all along the way.

If you could get by with burning people
at the stake,
or drowning them,
you could set the boundaries rather clearly,
otherwise they were vague and disputable.
And so it has been all the way to here/now.

We make it up to suit ourselves
as long as there are no heresy hunters
we have to suit.

Which gets us to the "freedom of religion"
the Founders though was important.
It was freedom FROM religion
they were after,
meaning "No heresy hunters allowed!"

And now we have heresy hunters
stalking the halls of Congress
working to have their views of Christianty
declared to be official 
and enforced by the Supreme Court
as the law of the land.

It is crazy beyond imagining,
yet, it comes straight from the imaginations
of those who proclaim themselves to be
the True Believers of the day.

And Democracy is always up for grabs
by those who can garner enough votes
to have their way imposed upon the Republic,
which gets us to the place of money
in buying influence,
and to the art of propaganda and persuasion,
which depends upon ceaseless repetition
and the constant proliferation of lies
to blur the lines and open the way
for anything goes.

When Trump can interpret the Constitution
as giving a sitting president 
the power to destroy the Constitution,
we have reached the point were anything goes
has to go.

Whether it will or not is the thread
upon which dangles the future 
twisting in the wind.

–0–

Belief is another word for opinion.
All beliefs are nothing more than strongly held opinions.
What kind of God is it
that has to be believed in
or we are going to hell
which we also have to believe in?

It is easier for us to believe in hell
than to believe in God,
so we are told if we don't believe in God
we are going to hell. 

It is all opinion.

We don't have to believe in gravity. 
Gravity is a fact that exists beyond belief
and opinion.

A fact is something that is there
whether we believe it or not,
and that is not my opinion.

God is not a fact.
Hell is not a fact.

The world as we know it is more opinion
than it is fact.
In my opinion.

If we could separate the facts from the opinions
it would be a better world
in my opinion.

Begin listening to the things you are saying
that sound like facts
but are, actually, opinions.

Start separating your world 
into facts and opinions.
And inviting those around you 
to do the same thing.

See how long it takes
before they get really pissed off.

–0–

We find meaning
in a haphazard universe
by the way we look at/see 
what is happening.

We find patterns,
or impose them
as though they were there
before we found them,
just like it is impossible to say
what Christianity, for instance, was
before it became Christianity.
Or to say what Buddhism was
before it became Buddhism.

Where are the patterns
before we impose them upon what we see?
They aren't there
until we say, "There they are!"
We create what we look at
just by looking.

And call it meaningful or meaningless,
and it becomes what we say it is.

And God, for instance, is who we say God is,
and does, or doesn't do, 
what we say God does, or doesn't do.

With all this power to determine what we look at
you  might think we would be more careful
about what we say and leave unsaid.
But, just by looking around,
we can clearly see that this is not the case.

As with all the other problems of existence,
silence is the solutions to all of our problems today.

Sit tight,
be still
and quiet,
and empty of all thoughts and feelings,
and wait in the silence
for something to stir to life
that you don't think into being.
Yes it can work like that!
Just prove it to you,
try this:

Imagine that you are standing on a beach
with your bare feet in the surf,
looking out at the ocean.
Hold that position until something happens
that you don't make happen.
It will surprise you what it might be.
And you are not surprising yourself.
Your self is surprising you.
Keep watching to see what happens next.

There are worlds in there waiting for you 
to sit down, shut up, and tune in.
It is time to start exploring
what you have been ignoring!
And to see where it goes!

–0–

We are on our own
in dealing with what's coming,
but we are not alone.

The silence connects us with one another
and all those 
who are wise to the silence
and trust themselves to it,
waiting,
watching,
listening
for what comes,
arises,
emerges,
appears,
occurs to us out of the silence
via our innate imagination
to provide what we need
to do what needs to be done here/now
in response to what is happening
and to what is called for
one here/now after another
in each situation as it arises
through all the days ahead.

So, we can take heart in the company
of one another in the silence that we share,
in the here/now that we share,
in the life we share,
in the world we share,
one here/now at time.

I'll keep an eye out for you.

Speaking of eyes, 
my second one (the one on the left)
was done yesterday via cataract removal,
and I'm doing well.
I am a week of being careful away
from being released back into my
normal and customary reality,
and seeing without glasses since the 70's
(Though I expect to make my way 
with a pair of "blue light" specs
to ward off UV rays and make this cataract surgery experience
my last one).

I'll keep two good eyes out for you! 

–0–