May 03, 2023 – A

Camden Harbor Sunrise 09/23/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Camden, Maine
Meeting the day
without expectations,
agendas,
opinions,
intentions,
demands,
attitudes,
judgments,
plans,
designs,
programs,
and ideas for the way things should be,
is to be ready for anything,
except, perhaps, a test
on any of the above.

To walk unprepared into the day,
just as we are,
as ones thus come,
waiting to see what the day asks of us
and how we respond,
is to drop like Jesus
or the Buddha,
or Lao Tzu
into the day.

And the day will not know 
what to do with us.
It will likely look at us with side eyes,
walk around us,
suspicious of our intent,
of which we have none,
and sit down,
waiting to see what we do.

I suggest that we sit down as well,
and wait to see what the day does.

We could practice our breathing:
Inhale for a count of five, remember.
Exhale for a count of five,
pause for a count of five between breaths,
repeat for as many rounds
as it takes for the day to get bored
and start pestering us
just to see if we are alive.

And we can swing into action,
watching what is happening,
looking for what needs to be done
in response,
and we are off!
"The game is afoot!"

Matching wits with the day
is the greatest sport there is--
and the best thing about it is
no keeping score!

Just doing what is called for
in each situation as it arises,
through lunchtime,
dinner,
shower and bed,
dreaming of what tomorrow might hold.

What a life that would be, 
eh, Gibbs?
And quite the life for me!

–0–

May 02, 2023 – B

G
This figure represents for me the essential qualities we are each/all called to exhibit on our way along The Way. The meditative posture suggests emptiness, stillness and silence--essential preparation for standing up and meeting each situation as it arises. The golden color suggests "Om Mani Padme Hum," "The jewel is in the lotus" which spontaneously calls for the antiphonal response "And the lotus is in the slime at the bottom of the pond." The jewel is in the slime. The Jewel IS the slime! Buddha Mind is in everyone! There are no distinctions! Oneness is the way of The Way. 

Just so, gold not only represents ultimate value, but the cost of extracting gold is the cost of thousands of lives of indigenous peoples and the loss of their way of life. What is valuable is not worth the cost of possession/ownership, therefore, the Buddha-minded have to "flip the script" and know that supreme value is completely valueless on the level commonly understood in the world at large. Real value and apparent value have to be seen/known/understood, and enlightenment is the path to true value and away from what the world calls valuable.

Also, the image is unbounded, with the suggestion of unbounded darkness surrounding the seated Buddha-mind. We live as lights within the darkness, yet see the darkness as no threat, but just the place where we "do business." So, we are not to take it seriously, but live doing what needs to be done "Anyway! Nevertheless! Even So!" Embracing emptiness, stillness, silence, and rising to meet the moment in each situation as it arises.

And all of this is tucked into this image of the sitting Buddha.

–0–

May 02, 2023 – A

Grand Prismatic Spring Detail Oil Paint Rendered 06/29/2011 — Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
We make it up as we go,
dancing with what the day brings,
maintaining our balance and harmony
as best we can,
looking for what needs to be done
and doing it
using the gifts of our original nature
and our innate virtues/specialties/things we do best
and enjoy doing most,
guided by what resonates with us,
catches our eye,
sparks our interest,
calls our name.

Like a cinnamon roll
and a cup of coffee.

This is not hard,
and there are not enough days.

–0–

May 01, 2023 – B

Long Desert Highway Series from Mexican Hat to Monument Valley –The Forrest Gump Highway–Arizona
What's it mean?
What's it matter?
Who's to say?
How do they know?

It comes down to us and this moment,
here/now.

Are we going to rise to the occasion, or not?
Are we going to step into this moment
and do right by it, or not?

Why? does not matter.
Of all the things that do not matter,
Why? is at the top of the list.

We can have the worst motive in the world
for doing right by this moment,
and what matters is doing right by this moment,
and all the moments following this one.

Do that and let Why? go.

When the baby needs to be fed,
feed the baby!

It doesn't matter Why?

Trust things to work out on their own,
without anybody in charge,
overseeing,
directing,
ordering,
commanding,
demanding...

"Eat when hungry,
rest when tired."

When it is time for lunch,
do lunch.
Do not wander around in Why?
Just do lunch.

Here we are.
Now what?
What is called for here/now?
Do that.
It will lead to the next thing.
Do that.

If you don't now what is called for,
wait.
It will become clear with time.
Do it.
Where, when and how.
Don't worry about Why?

Why? Disrupts the flow.
Why ask Why?
What? is the question.
What needs to be done here/now?

Get that right every time,
and that's it.
No one could do more.

What's up?
Do it.
Where, when and how
it needs to be done.

That's all there is to it.

–0–

May 01, 2023 – A

Pines Panorama 08/13/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Ocean Isle, North Carolina
Circumstances are always coming along,
crashing into circumstances 
already in place,
creating new circumstances on the spot. 

Circumstances have been here from the start.
There never was a time
before circumstances.

Circumstances generate circumstances
as a perpetual motion machine,
never stopping,
always going,
spinning out more circumstances
at days end
than there were at the beginning.

Where do circumstances come from?
From circumstances!
And we will do well 
to stay out of their way,
as much as possible!

They have a life of their own,
coming and going,
like galaxies and planets,
animal species
and mountain ranges.

I could sit and watch them
for eons and ages,
looking out some window.

–0–

May, 2023

Lake Francis 02 10/31/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
The way we see things
has implications for
the life we live
and for the lives being lived
about us.

I recommend seeing the way we see things
and reflecting on that
in emptiness,
stillness
and silence,
and seeing how our seeing
impacts our seeing.

Bringing intentional reflection
to bear on anything
changes our relationship with it.

We change our relationship with ourselves
by being aware of it,
and in so doing,
we change ourselves
by the simple act
of being aware of ourselves.

We change the way we swing a tennis racket
merely by becoming aware 
of how we are swinging the racket.

Awareness transforms our life,
transforms our world,
the world,
and the impact it has on us,
and we on it.

The best thing you can do
for your life
is to be aware of it.

It is also the best thing
you can do for yourself.

–0–

April 30-B, 2023

Days End 01 10/31/2008 Oil Paint Rendered — Ocracoke Island, Pamlico Sound, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina
The fascists among us hate us
because we are not fascists.

The fascists feel safe 
only among other fascists.
Everybody else exists to serve them.
If they can be of no service,
they are fit for nothing other than death.
That is how fascists think.

The fascists are arranging things politically
so that they win every election.
Gerrymandering works that way.
It is a slick trick
for defeating democracy using the tools of democracy.

When the fascists own the polling places
and own the courts
they will own the country.

Our only hope is to vote in large numbers
in every election,
and to not vote for the fascists
in any of them.

Fascists call themselves "Republicans,"
thinking the rest of us
are too stupid to know the difference.

–0–

April 30-A, 2023

Goodale 11/07/2016 Oil Paint Rendered — Adams Mill Pond, Goodale State Park, Camden, South Carolina
Balance and harmony,
peace and tranquility
are the grounding qualities 
enabling the kind of reflection
that leads to realization
and right-action.

They are countered 
by noise and complexity
drama and trauma--
the destabilizing aspects
of our environment
our life too often encounters.

Thus requiring regular recurring retreats
to emptiness, stillness and silence
in order to return to the anchor stone
and avail ourselves of reflection
and realization.

Our life is a rhythmical flow
from stabilization to destabilization
back to stabilization.

From balance and harmony
to noise and complexity,
back to balance and harmony.

Practice recognizing your present state
and the routine required to maintain or 
return to the state required
for seeing/knowing/doing/being
in sync with the movement of vitality and life
through each situation as it arises.

A structuring practice smooths the flow
and leads the way through the heaving waves
and clashing rocks of the daily round.

–0–

April 29-B, 2023

Grayson Highlands 01 Oil Paint Rendered — Grayson Highlands State Park, Mouth of Wilson, Virginia
Grace is the foundation of the universe.
Grace is the Tao in action.
Grace is Transcendent beauty/wonder
coming to life in our lives.

Grace is another term for Synchronicity,
for the spontaneous--
of-the-moment--arising
of need meeting need met.

What we need,
when we need it,
where and how
we need it to be.

Arising of its own volition,
its innate will-to-be here/now,
because that is how Grace is.

Blessing us all with its glory--
for no reason beyond
that's what Grace is,
that's what Grace does.

The other term for Grace is Luck.
Pure, juicy, Luck-in-the-moment.

Who is in charge of dispensing Luck?
It is entirely of itself!
Rising to the occasion
as blessing and Grace,
occasion after occasion,
from the beginning to here/now.

We cannot count on it,
and we cannot dismiss the possibility
of it,
ever,
at any time.

That is the very nature of Grace,
Synchronicity,
and the very best of Luck ever.

Amen!
It is certainly--
and forever--
so!

April 29-A, 2023

Mattamuskeet Moon 12/04/2006, Oil Paint Rendered — Mattamuskeet, North Carolina
Each situation carries within it
the seeds of its own solution,
to be planted by those with eyes to see,
ears to hear,
and a heart that understands/comprehends/
realizes what's what
and what is to be done about it,
and does it,
with its own original nature
and innate virtues/specialties/what it is best at--
in the right time,
in the right way,
knowing intuitively 
when and what that is.

And the solution takes root
like that (Snaps fingers),
blooms and produces fruit,
leaving everyone amazed at the wonder produced
when at least one person 
is in sync with the rhythm and needs
of the here/now
and responds to it
out of their integrity/sincerity/spontaneity
in the service of the good of the whole,
transforming the world
one situation at a time,
all for nothing
save the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it--
and moving on to do it again
in the next situation that comes along.

Or, as Mary Poppins liked to say,
"Anything can happen if you let it."

And Mary Poppins is a perfect example
of how life can be done,
one situation at a time.

–0–

April 28-C, 2023

Lotus Flowers Oil Paint Rendered
It is said that 
the Buddha held up a Lotus flower
before a crowd
and said, "You can look at this flower,
and either see it,
or see it not."

Only Mahākāśyapa smiled.

Seeing is smiling. 
Is laughing.
Is rolling on the floor,
or the ground,
howling with delight and wonder,
amazement and joy.

And Jesus warned
that in the realization
of all that was missed
after death
there would be weeping
and gnashing of teeth--
not because of the sentence of hell,
but because of the unforgettable
knowledge of having lost the chance
of life.

"You can look at this flower--
at all of life--
and either see it,
or see it not."

What are we missing
about what we look at?

–0–