Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

Of all the ideas
that I am aware of
floating around
about the afterlife, 
the one that I am most 
enthralled by/attracted to
is the Buddhist formulation
of the Bodhisattva,
a person who has attained Nirvana
but opts out of the reward
for living the right kind of life
in order to return to an ordinary
existence in this world
and living to make things better here.

The Dalai Lama, for instance, 
is held to be a manifestation 
of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara,
living forever in the service of compassion
in this world.

I find that to be a great concept,
and one worthy of an eternal embrace.
We don't go to heaven (or hell)
when we die.

We don't die.
We smile and get back to work here.
If I have the option,
I'll be back.
Perennially, eternally,
literally, 
world without end. 
Amen.

–0–

There are no strategies for gaming the game.
There are only serendipity,
synchronicity,
and fortuity--
all put into play
in the old golfing mantra,
"The more I practice, the luckier I get."

In place of "practice"
we might say,
"The more I put myself in the service 
of my intuition, the luckier I get."

Intuition and the felt sense
(Or the "gut feeling")
are our inner guides
which only seem to come to life
when we come to life ourselves
in taking a chance in the field of action
in the service of what "feels"
like the right thing to do,
but it would take doing it to know.

So we do it and see what happens,
where it goes,
and what may great us as unexpected help
along the way.

It comes down to trusting ourselves
and doing what needs to be done,
and then doing what needs to be done
in response to having done what needs to be done,
in order to see what circumstances
are generated by our actions
in the service of what needs to be done.

But here is the catch.
We do what needs to be done 
for itself alone
and not to get any reward or payoff
for having done it.

We aren't in it for any kind of profit.
We are in it to do what needs to be done
and see where it goes--
which will to do do what needs to be done
about whatever arises from having done
what needs to be done.

The things that need doing
create their own karma
which upholds us and directs us,
sometimes against our will,
in the service of what continues
to need doing.

If we can get ourselves out of the way
and do the things that need to be done,
we will be sustained in the service
of doing what needs doing
in miraculous ways,
not so much as a blessing,
but as encouragement
to continue doing what needs to be done.

We live to do what needs to be done
and not to have it made.
If you can understand that
and do that,
you will have it made.

It helps to be a child of irony
and paradox.  

–0–

Here is a TED talk whose theme is “Habitual Intuition All The Way!” And, Alan Watts’ observation that “People who are habitually intuitive are thought of as being lucky by everyone who knows them or hears about them.”

It would be wrong of you to not watch it.

Ask any Native American you know,
and they will tell you straight-out
that you don't need any theology
whatsoever.

Ask all of the Taoists you know,
and they will tell you the same thing.

Ask all of the Buddhists you know--
particularly if they are Zen Buddhists
(In that Zen Buddhists
are actually Taoists and not Buddhists at all)--
and they will tell you the same thing.

No theology.
No dogma.
No doctrines.
No creeds.
No heaven.
No hell...

All you need is to know and to do
what needs to be done,
when, where, and how it needs to be done,
in each situation as it arises
throughout the time left for living.

Babies straight from the womb
can do as much.

All it takes is living as though
we are straight from the womb.

–0–

We live our life 
as it needs us to live it--
as it needs to be lived--
or we don't.

How much evidence can you accumulate
to justify your contention
that you are living your life
as it needs you to live it?

How often do you consult your life
in the matter?

How much time in a week, say,
do you spend communing with your life--
in communion with your life--
regarding what it has in mind from you,
and what it needs from you
in order to serve its ideas
for your life?

How often do you study your dreams
for directions from your life?

How often do you attend your body's
felt sense
for guidance in the choices you make
and the directions you go?

How often does your intuition take the lead
in your decision making?

How often do you take "No" for an answer,
and how often do you blow past all opposition?

What is guiding your boat
on its path through the sea?

–0–

Alan Watts said 
being completely engaged
in what you are doing
here/now
is the real secret of life.

And what is the secret
to being completely engaged
in what we are doing here/now?

Give our heart the reins!

How often do we do that?
For how long?

How long has it been
since we let our heart
have the day?

If we were going to let our heart
have tomorrow, say,
what do you think our heart would do?

Ask your heart
and listen for what your heart
has to say.

Your heart will like that
almost as much as doing it.

–0–

We impose our will 
for our life
upon our life
at our own risk.

This is the true nature
of the "Fall" in the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve decided
they knew what was good for them
and ignored the inner guidance
of their own hearts.

And, "Boom!", as John Madden might say,
here we are.

We have Big Ideas
about how we want our life to be.
And it takes a lifetime 
of regret and remorse
for us to see what we have done.

The good news is that we can
get out of the way
and link back up
with the source
of internal guidance and direction
at any point along the way.

But.
There is a catch.
We have to hand over
control of our life
to the inner source of life within.

Sounds spooky, I know, but.
This is Right Brain stuff,
and it doesn't follow
the rules of reason and logic.

Our place is that of learning
how to "talk" to our Right Brain.
That requires us to spend time
with emptiness/stillness/silence,
learning about
focusing/felt sense/intuition/dreams
in order to be equipped 
to find the way that is our way
through what remains 
of the time left for living.

–0–

Religion without theology 
requires each individual participant
of that religion
to be their own minister/priest
in opening themselves to the abiding presence
of numinous/ineffable reality,
aligning themselves with the
rhythm and flow of their life
and living in accord with their destiny
and their calling from the source
of life and being
to be true to themselves
in the ways they respond to what is happening
and to what is called for in the here/now
of each situation as it arises
all their life long
by living out of/expressing/exhibiting/serving
their original nature
and their innate virtuosities
(What they do best
and love/enjoy doing most)
moment-to-moment
through all of the circumstances of their life
in being who they are,
where/when/how they are
and doing what needs to be done
where/when/how it needs to be done
throughout the time left for living.

The foundation of their being able to do this
is a regular and recurring relationship
with emptiness, stillness and silence.

Stillness and silence are just that.
Being still and quiet.
Emptiness requires emptying ourselves of
Fear, Desire, and Duty
and of all of the accompanying 
thoughts, emotions, anxieties, concerns,
guilt, worries, etc.
that generate inner turmoil and distraction,
imbalance and disharmony.

Emptiness is returning to balance and harmony
by removing ourselves from the impact
of the destabilizing influences at work in our life.

The quickest way to this kind of emptiness
is to sit still and quiet,
inhale to a count of five,
exhale to a count of five,
and pause between breaths for a count of ten.

Repeat this round for three to five times,
and then return to breathing normally.

The kind of emptiness we seek
is found in the pause between breaths.
This is what we sustain
during our normal breathing,
by simply returning to this experience 
of nothing
whenever thoughts/emotions/feelings intrude.

In the emptiness, stillness and silence,
shift into a contemplative/meditative trance state
in which we consider one of the following terms
and explore how it applies to, and may be found in, our life:

Balance - Harmony - Integrity

Sincerity - Vitality - Spontaneity

Intuition - Felt Sense - Focusing - Dreams

(An internet search for "felt sense"
and "focusing" will provide a wealth
of resources for you to explore.
Another resource is "The Wisdom of your Dreams,"
by Jeremy Taylor).

At any point in this contemplative/meditative trance state
something may appear, emerge, occur
"out of nowhere" with an energy impulse all its own.
Pay attention to that.
Explore that.
Follow where it leads.
See where it goes, and what it may lead to,
and where that goes...

And end the trance state when it seems appropriate to do so.

Welcome to the experience 
of religion without theology.

–0–

Our felt sense,
habitual intuition
and nighttime dreams
will do their best
to keep us "on the beam,"
doing what we do best
and enjoy most,
in the service of our original nature
and innate virtuosities.

And, all we have to do 
is pay attention.

Paying attention is knowing what we know
and doing what needs to be done about it.

This is not hard.

It is merely paying attention.

Jon Kabat Zinn's Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
videos on YouTube
will help you pay attention
if you need help paying attention.

And daily practice with focus on
our felt sense,
intuition
and our nighttime dreams
will center in our life's need of us
through every situation as it arises,
all our life long.

–0–

Living from habitual intuition,
following our felt sense
into each situation as it arises,
seeing what's what there
and doing what needs to be done about it
with the gifts of our original nature
and our innate virtuosities
(The things we do best
and enjoy/love doing most),
is quite different
from living in the service
of avoiding what we don't want
and acquiring what we do want.

And that is the switch 
that needs to be made.

We may have to think about doing it
until it becomes spontaneous/automatic/natural.

It's worth the effort.

–0–

Finding the way
and the will to walk it
is a matter of being present
with all that is present with us--
in other words,
being here/now
without opinion,
without fear,
without desire,
without being bound by duty,
free to see, hear, understand,
know, do, be.

Do you know anyone who is that free?

That leaves it to us
to be who/what we need to be
out of our own heart and soul.

It may take a lot of sitting
with the silence
for that to happen.

–0–

The white response
to the black presence 
has been--
and continues to be--
atrocious, ridiculous and absurd.

If you are white or black,
you can't top this for a lasting 
source of grief,
mourning
and sorrow.

Something else to add to our
list of items
to bring before our Wailing Wall.

Racism has no place in our lives,
yet, it has prevented our lives
from being anything close 
to what they might have been with out it
for all of us everywhere.

And for what?

If there were a God keeping score,
white people would have to be consigned to hell
for their racism alone.

To present that to our healing heart
at the Wailing Wall
would be to put us in our place
in need of absolution, mercy and pardon--
and we are the ones who will have to
grant these things to ourselves!

I will be a long time squaring myself 
up with OUR racism.
Eternity may not be long enough.
I hope you know what I mean. 

–0–