Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

We know more than we know we know.
Let's spend the rest of our life
discovering what that is!

Curiosity leads the way!

Being curious about our nighttime dreams.

About the things that spontaneously occur to us,
or call us to action,
out of nowhere, for no apparent reason.

About questions that arise unbidden,
books that pique our interest,
movies and songs and photographs 
that draw our attention...

About our motives and incentives
and why we do what we do,
think what we think,
believe what we believe,
see the way we see,
say what we say...

About why we cry when we cry,
laugh when we laugh,
become angry when we become angry,
become sad when we are sad,
and happy when we are happy...

About what guides our boat 
on its path through the sea.

About how we know what to do when,
and why we care about what we care about
and don't care about what we don't care about...

About what we always say,
and never say,
and what we always do 
and never do...

About what we pay attention to,
and dismiss,
discount,
ignore...

Despise,
denounce,
detest...

Revere,
honor,
admire...

Get it?
Get with it!
And remain there,
curious,
inquisitive,
intrigued
with/about YOU!

We are always looking,
pleading,
for divine assistance,
when all the help we need
is "right there,"
right here,
right now.

We are born with what we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done
here/now.

And, we will not be abandoned
and left bereft. 

So, what's with all the empty eyes
and the woe-be-gone appearances?
They all belong to those who 
want more than they have any business having
and are eternally displeased
with things as they are.

All of the addictions
have their foundation
in attitudes that don't like
what they have to work with
and how things are.

In light of them,
I give you the fictional character Tevya
(from "The Fiddler on the Roof")
and the real life example of Helen Keller.
And I repeat:
We are born with what we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done.

All we are lacking is Anne Sullivan.

In her place we get Jimmy Swaggart
and Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, etc.
And the world is as it is 
because of the guides we embrace
and the ones we ignore--
and the responses we make
to the world as it is.

And what I have to offer
in response to that
are the right kinds 
of emptiness, stillness and silence.

The turn-a-round starts with taking stock,
with seeing the truth of how things are,
and offering,
"Okay, now what?"
to the emptiness, stillness and silence,
and waiting for what stirs to life,
arises,
emerges,
appears,
occurs to us
from within.

Without the equivalent of Anne Sullivan,
we turn to ourselves
and say, "Okay, let's see what we can do
about this."

And see what we can find within
our own original nature
and the virtues/characteristics
that come with us from the womb
to do what needs to be done
with what we have to work with here/now.

Which may have nothing to do 
with what we want.

The ability to do what needs to be done
regardless of what we want
is all that separates Adam and Eve in Eden
from Jesus in Gethsemane.

–0–

Believe whatever it takes
in order to do the right thing
at the right time
in the right place
in the right way
in each situation as it arises
all your life long
no matter what it means
for you personally.

That's what Jesus did,
and that's what Jesus calls us to do.

This nonsense about Jesus dying for us
so that we don't have to die
but can zip straight to Glory Land
when we die if we believe Jesus died for us, etc.,
completely denies and covers up
the truth of the significance of Jesus' death.

He died as an example to show us
what he had been talking about
all his life.

No one can die for us.
We each have to die for ourselves,
over and over again
until our actual, physical death.

This metaphorical dying is what Adam and Eve
(And all of us like them)
refused in the Garden of Eden,
in choosing to not do what they
most did not want to do,
and to do what they most wanted to do.

To not do what we most want to do,
and to do what we most do not want to do,
is like dying.
That is the death Jesus died
in the Garden of Gethsemane,
with his "Thy will, not mine be done."

That was him dying, again, metaphorically,
which, that time, meant dying actually, physically,
on the cross
which was arraigned by Joseph Caiaphas,
the High Priest of the Temple
during the life of Jesus,
with Pontius Pilate,
the Roman governor of Judea,
after Jesus turned over the tables 
of the money changers in the courtyard
of the Temple during the time of Passover.

Jesus knew the likelihood of that
in Gethsemane,
and died two deaths,
the metaphorical/symbolic death
of doing what was called for
that he most did not want to do,
and the actual/literal death on the cross.

Sometimes it works out that way,
but, usually, we just die metaphorically 
again and again until we actually die,
usually of natural causes.

This is also called "growing up."

Jesus' life and death were about growing up.
Doing what needs to be done--
doing what is called for--
in each situation as it arises
regardless of what it means
for us personally.

That was what Adam and Eve refused to do,
which lead to their "dying" long before
they were actually dead.

By refusing to "die," they "died."
Get it?

And "true life," "real life," "abundant life"
lies on the other side
of our metaphorical deaths.
Resurrection is about "rising to new life"
after every metaphorical "death."
Get it?

If you get it, good for you!
Now, go DO it!
Get it?

–0–

When the structures and systems
supporting society 
fail for lack of attention,
it is a mark against us all,
declaring that someone did not vote
for the right people.

When the right people do not hold
positions of responsibility, 
the rest of the people suffer.

Was it PT Barnum who said,
"No one ever got rich
betting on the intelligence
of American citizens."?

Trump and the MAGA's
are a lynch mob 
looking for a country to string up,
and, look! They found one!

Democracy depends upon the right people
holding office.
And that means the voting public
has to be discerning 
and choose wisely those it elects.

Jimmy Carter was probably the best man
to hold office in our life time,
and he lost to a movie star.

When clowns are elected to office,
even the circuses are in trouble.

It takes the right kind of people
to elect the right kind of people,
and that's where we come in.

A hard look in the mirror
at least twice a day
takes us to the heart of the matter.

Who are we?
What are we doing?
What do we think we are doing?
How do we know that what we think is so,
is so?
Who says so?
What makes us think they/we know what they/we
are talking about?

Time spent in silence
reflecting on these matters
is time well-spent.
Silence is the most important element
in all of our deliberations.

With enough silence in our life,
we all see better who we are
and who we are electing
to keep the right structures and systems
in place.

–0–

It's all a matter of chance.
What we do with it
is what matters.

What we do with the moment,
with the day,
with our life...

With what pilots our boat
on it path through the sea.

Having our way
and getting what we want
is one way to do it.

Seems to be the most popular
over time
through the ages. 

That's what got Adam and Eve
out of the Garden of Eden,
and it's been the driving force
behind kings and despots ever since.

What does wanting know?
Who cares?
We let wanting/willing/having to have
run the table,
and here we are.
Wondering what to want next--
as though wanting knows.

Wanting only knows what it wants to happen.
It has no time for what needs to happen.
And none of the discipline required
to do what needs to be done
at the expense of what it wants to do.

Unrestrained, unrestricted, wanting
is the end of the world.
Every world.
All worlds.

We have to learn to take No for an answer,
and to give No for an answer,
in the right place,
at the right time,
in the right way.

By listening in the silence,
and knowing what we know,
and doing what is called for
regardless of what we want,
or how we wish things were,
time after time.

Trusting the silence
to guide our boat
on its path through the sea
is optimal way 
of getting from here to there,
especially when 
we don't know where we are going.

Playing the Yes? No? Game 
with the silence
is one way of practicing
listening to the silence.

Since it's all a matter of chance,
why not take your chances with the silence?
And if the Yes? No? game 
gets you in a corner,
keep playing it to get
out or the corner!

–0–

Where do you spend your money?
Where do you spend your time?
There you are.

I wander among the exhibitions
of the natural world,
taking refuge in what it has to offer
as a buffer against the goings-on
in the world of normal, apparent, reality.

There is much there I don't like
and can do nothing about,
so, I turn to lotus flowers
and lily pads,etc.--
and reestablish through them
my connection with more than words can say,
taking solace in the presence 
of the transcendent wonders
of space and time
to offset the latest incursions
of hate/fear/greed
which disrupts my balance,
scatters my harmony,
and brings high-level noise
to demolish the silence
necessary for orientation and direction
in the here/now of the day.

Using the tools/weapons at our disposal
to maintain our perspective 
and sustain our attitude
through the circumstances
coursing tsunami-like
through our world
is daily fare 
in the times 
that are upon us.

And we have to do what it takes
to have what it takes
to do what needs us to do it
moment to moment,
without a break
every day. 

–0–

Perspective is the key.
It's all a matter 
of enlarging our perspective,
flipping our perspective,
changing our perspective
about what's important,
and getting up and doing
what needs to be done.

People who see the same things
in the same way over time
may as well be dead
for all the good they are doing
themselves and anyone else.

Spice things up!
Change your mind!
Particularly about what matters most!

When's the last time you did that?
Are you grumbling about today
the same things you were grumbling about
this time last year?

I live with an easy drive 
from a good Greek place,
two good Italian places,
a good Chinese place,
a good barbecue place,
a good hamburger place,
so I get to grumble about
no good seafood place all the time.a 

I changed my mind about that mattering,
and that made things better,
just like that (snaps fingers).

–0–

Comes a war, 
comes a hurricane,
comes an earthquake,
comes a baby...
goes the Tao
amid the dust and travail.

The Tao comes and goes.
That is the Way of Tao, 
of the Way.

We find our way back to the Way
through the right kind of emptiness,
stillness,
silence,
and waiting for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.

When the sister-in-law comes 
for a two-week visit,
it throws everything up in the air,
and it takes me a month
to get my grove back.

I am "ticky" in a lot of ways.
My balance and harmony are finely tuned.
When I lose The Silence,
I'm lost for a while.
And I have to wait,
knowing it will take time
for things to come back into focus
and for stability to reappear.

Restoring the Tao
is always a matter of time
spent in the right kind of way
for the right amount of time.

–0–

The Tao is doing the right thing,
at the right time,
in the right place,
in the right way.

Anything that assists that
is "in accord/sync with the Tao."
Anything that interferes with that
is "out of accord/sync with the Tao."

Balance and harmony flow with 
the requirements of Tao,
chaos and disruption clash with
the requirements of Tao.

All things will mesh with Tao in time,
but.
Within the harmonious smoothness 
of an asteroid's (Or a galaxy's) orbit,
the harmonious smoothness
of a Black Hole's orbit
intersect with an impact
that puts the clashing rocks
and the heaving waves
to shame.

And, that too, is in accord with Tao.

There are discordant harmonies
at work in the world,
with "Everything in its own time,"
and "What goes around, comes around,"
serving "All things work together for good,"
on the large scale eventually.

Which is to say that the Tao
does not lend itself to anyone's
efforts to contrive/scheme/co-opt/commandeer
for their own benefit/profit/advantage/interest
at the expense of the right thing,
at the right time,
in the right place,
in the right way,
of other interests and needs.

Whose interests and needs are supreme?
"The highest good of all concerned!"

The Black Holes hold all the cards.

–0–

All true religion is grounded
on knowing what to do when, where and how.

Those who know,
know the same things 
over time and space.

Here is a link to the way that happens:
https://ts2.shop/en/posts/your-consciousness-can-connect-with-the-whole-universe-scientists-say

Resonance, vibes, in-sync-ness, etc.
really is a matter of "being on the same wave-length"!
And the path to doing that 
seems to be spending time 
in the right kind of emptiness/stillness/silence
and waiting for realization/knowing 
to occur to us
"out of nowhere."

The right kind of emptiness/stillness/silence
is the adamantine foundation of all true religion.

Call it "prayer" if you want to.
Or "meditation."
Just know it has nothing to do with "faith"
or "believing,"
just knowing how to be empty, still, and silent
in the right way.

And we do that through practice, practice, practice.

–0–

It is the Adam and Eve Leaving Eden image
and the Garden of Gethsemane image
being played out in our lives everyday
that keeps things as they are
in the world.

The writer of the book of James (4:2) nailed it:
"You crave but do not have, 
so you kill. 
You covet but you cannot get what you want,
so you quarrel and fight." 

Having our way
and getting what we want
rule our lives
and guide our boat 
on its path through the sea.

Growing up and living to serve
different motives and goals
is like dying in Gethsemane/Golgotha.

And it is the only way
of harmonizing Yin and Yang,
balancing the contradictions,
reconciling the opposites
and living aligned with the Path,
and at one with way things are. 

It is not for everybody.
We have to be at a certain place
in our life
to be able to acquiesce to what 
is being asked of us,
and transcend our interests
in the service of a good greater 
than our own personal good.

We aren't old enough to do some things.
And that's the kink in the hose.
We have to grow up some more again today.

That is the tipping point between 
addiction and sobriety. 
Between lost and found.
Between being mostly dead and being fully alive.

Most of the world is too immature
for us to have any chance at 
"Liberty and Justice for All."
Leaving us to make out as best we can
with no choose-able choices
and no viable alternatives
to life as it is.

Making our peace with how things are
is the task of life,
and doing what must be done
anyway, nevertheless, even so,
because that's how things are,
is what is left to us
because we don't get the help and cooperation
we need 
to have a different/better world.

In order to find what we need
to do what needs to be done,
we fall back on the meditative exercise
encompassing emptiness/stillness/silence,
integrity/sincerity/spontaneity,
spirit/energy/vitality,
original nature/innate virtues/characteristics,
in seeing what's what
and what needs to be done in response to it
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

To adopt this way of responding to the world
we meet each day,
is to find the Invisible Path
and to make better what can be made better
by our manner of dealing with what must be dealt with
here and now.

And if we shave our head in protest,
laughing at the futility of protest,
who could blame us? 

(Laughter is the secret weapon
of those who know what they are up against
and don't care what their chances are)

–0–

Our primary concern needs to be
living as good stewards of our health.

Health is not to be taken for granted, 
as though we can live anyway we want
and eat anything we like
anytime we feel like it
and be healthy.

What changes do we need to make
in the way we live
to live a healthy life?

That has to be the first question
we answer correctly
in living the best life we are capable
of living.

Sit down with your health
and what you are willing to do
in order to improve it.

The discipline required to improve our health
is an example of the kind of discipline
we are going to be required to get our life
aligned with what is good for us
throughout the scale of daily acts and deeds.

Time spent with the right kinds of
emptiness,
stillness
and silence is on the list.

Time spent being aware of our
perceptions and perspectives
is also on the list.

Time spent developing our curiosity,
interests, 
our capacity for wonder and joy,
reverence and awe...

We have to consciously, 
deliberately, intentionally
place ourselves in the presence
of the kinds of people and things
that call forth the best that is in us,
and reduce the amount of time
spent with people and things 
that play to the worst that is in us.

Health is a matter of awareness
and discipline.
Knowing what is called for 
and doing it,
reliably, dependably, relentlessly
is the theme of life lived well,
lived abundantly.

No one can do that for us.
It is up to us all the way.

–0–