Finding our way to The Way one situation at a time. I don't know how great it will be, but I expect it will be interesting, and I look forward to it going on past all reason because wonder is just that way. Are you coming or not?
Sunset at Silver Lake Oil Paint Rendered 11/03/2003 — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
Circumstances give rise to circumstances,
and what will be flows from--
depends upon--
what is and what has been.
Karma/Flow/Momentum/Drift
and Timing give us Here/Now
the way earthquakes
are the accumulated expression
of stress and tension
built up over time,
or that flooding
is rainfall and the loss
of surface spongeing over time.
Here/now is the result of then/there
with nowhere else to go.
How things are is how things have been
for a while
waiting for the door to open--
always present to be seen
by all with eyes to see.
People tend to look for what they want
and how to get it
without noticing what's what,
what's happening
and what needs to be done about it.
What we plant today
we harvest in days to come,
or as the old saw goes,
"We reap what we sow."
Or,
"We sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind."
Tending,
seeing,
knowing,
taking care of
here/now
lays the foundation
for times unseen
and unimagined.
See what can be seen,
hear what can be heard,
know what can be known,
do what needs to be done,
by getting out of the way
of the way
in having a way
that must be done
today.
Silver Lake Still Life 10/30/2010 Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
I find this scene to be a beautiful rendition
of a point of contact with the numinous/ineffable/radiance/etc.
of life being aware of itself,
and consider it to be a still life worthy of the term.
I have watched deer and elk grazing in the late hours
of the day,
look up at the sunset
and gaze upon its descent,
and I imagined myself being
one with them in being impacted
by the radiance of existence
breaking in upon us
during the humdrum,
same old, same old,
everydayness of the day.
We look up
and are transported
to another level of reality.
To another reality.
Radiance.
Numinousity.
Ineffability.
Booms us out of this world
into that world,
just like that,
out of nowhere,
unexpected,
without warning,
and then it's gone,
leaving us with the memory
of its passing,
and the dream
of its hoped-for return.
After Sundown 10/07/2010 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, West Jefferson, North Carolina
Circumstances spawn/create/produce/beget/etc.
circumstances.
That's all there is
and ever has been.
That is all there ever will be.
We keep talking about "the beginning,"
and "the end."
There is no beginning!
There is no end!
There is no outcome!
One "outcome" leads to another set
of circumstances with another "outcome,"
ad nauseam.
The "outcome" of the discovery of America,
or of the Revolutionary War,
or of any war,
is still being realized,
and it will never be done.
The smallest event
making the tiniest impact
rolls on forever.
We say God has no beginning
but was eternal from the start.
Why not say the same thing about carbon atoms?
Or rocks?
Or light?
There was no creation.
It's all been here in some form or another
for always,
evolving,
destroying,
except for energy--
"energy can't be created or destroyed,
only converted from one form of energy
to another" (Law of conservation of energy),
coming and going
like the tides
through time.
And with circumstances spawning/creating/producing/
begetting/etc. circumstances
all the way.
The flow of circumstances is directed
by the Karma,
or the drift,
or the current...
out of which circumstances arise.
This system of circumstances creating circumstances
is all nicely self-contained,
self-generating
and self-perpetuating,
and if circumstances could reflect on themselves
and examine themselves,
and explain it to themselves,
as I am doing for them here/now,
it would be just another aspect of circumstances
being what they are.
As everything is.
Just another aspect of circumstances
being what they are.
It's all practice!
Why don't we have it down?
We get up each day
as though it is the first day--
as though we have learned nothing
through all of the other days.
We pursue the same ends
using the same means
in the same ways.
We think it is just a matter
of trying harder,
of being lucky,
of doing more
in the service of what did not work
yesterday,
or in any of the previous days.
Only with more drugs, sex, alcohol,
diversions,
distractions,
denial
thrown in
"just for good measure."
Any reasonable,
fairly intelligent 12-year-old
would look at us
and wonder why we haven't awakened,
wised-up,
seen what's what
and what we are doing in response,
turned the light around,
changed our mind about what's important
and grown up
by now.
It's a reasonable,
fairly intelligent
thing to wonder.
Herbert Bonner Bridge Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Nags Head, North Carolina
That Which Has Always Been Called God
is more akin to the flow of time and life
than a being eternal in the heavens.
All things have a flow about them,
and participate in the flow of time and life
that carries them along from birth to death.
There is movement to life and being.
There is no steady state,
rigid and unchanging,
enlightenment,
perfection.
It is enlightenment,
perfection,
to realize this,
and let it be
because it is.
It is all in flux--in flow.
The seasons,
the tides,
the circadian rhythms
that keep pace and time
and know what time it is
and what it is time for...
And all of this is built
into the nature of how things are.
When we are at one with our nature--
with the nature of how we are--
aligned with what is right for us
and is right that we do here/now,
we are balanced
and in harmony with the AUMMmmm of being,
of life.
The "sweet spot" of the universe.
"At one with all things."
We find our way there
simply by "being here/now."
At one with ourselves here/now
is at one with everything,
in the flow with everything.
Not striving,
not contriving,
just being content to be
here/now.
This is what those who know, know.
And practice.
Simply by being here/now.
Living out of our own center,
like a gyroscope maintaining its balance
through all situations
and circumstances,
stable and unperturbed
regardless of the conditions
within which we must live,
is out of the question
for most of us
all of the time.
We have to have things our way.
Yet, we all are capable
of acquiescence and accommodation.
Flexibility and adaptability.
The people of Ukraine
are surviving
the complete loss of everything.
The earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
are asking the same resiliency
of their populations.
We find the center,
the adamantine rock grounding
and anchoring us,
and do what needs to be done.
We rise to the occasion,
occasion after occasion.
We have done it throughout the history
of the species.
So don't come whining to me
about your way, your way.
Stand up and meet the day!
Crabtree Falls 05/21/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Little Switzerland, North Carolina
The way forward--
the way to the way--
is built upon each individual
developing their own practice
around mindful awareness,
being present here/now
with what is present with us
(With what is happening
and with what is called for
in response to what is happening).
In conjunction with that aspect
of our practice,
we also work to become proficient
in two areas:
1) Relaxing into the emptiness/stillness/silence,
attuned to what arises/emerges/appears there
and how we might incorporate that into our life.
2) Exploring our own make up by examining
our original/essential nature
and our innate virtues/graces/traits/characteristics,
in order to bring them out/forth intentionally
in response to the situations/circumstances
of the moment,
moment-to-moment.
Then, it is a matter of putting this in motion
each day,
seeing what is happening
and what is called for,
knowing and doing what needs to be done,
when, where and how,
throughout the day,
every day.
There is nothing to this,
and nothing is more essential.
What keeps it from happening?
Letting the Air Catch Me Again! Oil Paint Rendered — Tri-Colored Heron, The Bog Garden 09/09/2013, Greensboro, North Carolina
How do you strive to live your life?
How do you think your life should be lived?
What guides you through each day?
My fundamental orientation flows from
my original/essential nature.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator dependably
places me as an INF/TP,
which favors Introversion,
Intuition,
Feeling,
Thinking,
Perceiving.
Creativity/adventure/innovation/inquiry/
exploration/curiosity/asking/seeking/
searching... also play a big part
in making me who I am.
I live in the service of these things
within the terms/conditions/context/
circumstances of each day--
working toward balance and harmony
amid the various leanings/interests/
requirements of my life.
I do not like rigid order,
and prefer flexible/intuitive/of-the-moment
openness to "What now? What next?"
throughout the day.
I think of living as a hermit,
a recluse, an iconoclast, an artist/poet
might live.
And respond favorably to the idea
expressed by the lyric, "don't fence me in,"
while fencing myself into the life required
by not fencing myself in.
Balancing opposites,
living within the tension created
by contradiction/dichotomy/opposites/polarity...
bearing the pain of contraries
and working toward "the middle way,"
characterizes my path each day.
And, you?
Religion is solely a matter of opinion.
People say they have faith in God.
They have faith in their opinion of God--
in their opinion of what someone says about God.
All the religions have different
opinions of God.
Some of the people say their faith
is based on the Bible.
Their faith is based on their opinion
of the Bible--on their opinion
of what someone says about the Bible.
Opinion rules.
I've heard it said
that reasonable people
can look at the same facts
and have different opinions
(Some would say "interpretations")--
and draw different conclusions--
about the same facts.
We like to say, "Facts are facts,"
but facts can be interpreted differently.
So can the Bible.
And who is to say whose interpretation/opinion
is the right one?
And it would only be their opinion
as to which one was the right one.
Opinion reigns.
Look around.
What you see is your opinion
of what's there.
Opinion is all there is.
Which is my opinion.
And, what you are thinking about it
is your opinion.
Opinion is all we have.
We make up our minds one day,
and change them the next.
And if you haven't changed your mind
in a while,
it is only a matter of time,
and living long enough.
Yellow and Green on Blue Twice! Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina, July 08, 2015
Carl Jung had Philemon,
I have Jake,
as an alter-ego/ever-present companion/guide.
My role is to get out of the way
with my plans/agendas/goals/expectations/
knowledge/desires/timetables/wishes/wants/etc.
and let Jake do it
what/when/where/how it needs to be done.
"IT" is like grass growing,
flowers blooming,
fruit ripening,
chicks hatching,
birds migrating,
the tide coming and going...
Everything in the natural world
happens in its own time,
in its own way.
Jake is my contact point/person
with the natural world.
I didn't make Jake up.
Jake appeared in a dream,
laughing at me for taking things
so seriously.
Jesus and the Buddha
could have used Jake in their life.
They would have had a better outcome,
and laughed a lot more.
Jake is with me to remind me
to wait it out
in an "everything has its own time"
kind of way.
People take their own lives
because they don't believe in
waiting it out.
"Just relax into it," says Jake.
"Trust me to work it out,
when, where and how
it needs to be worked out."
I don't have any responsibility
in the matter
beyond relaxing into the present,
and no say in the matter at all.
I let Jake do it.
Now that you know about Jake and Philemon,
relax into your dreams
and see who meets you there,
smiling and laughing,
winking and saying,
"I'm here. I have you covered.
Let me do it."
Listen to her/him.
Relax and enjoy the wonder
of the ride.
A Place to Sit for a While 09/23/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Meadows of Dan, Virginia
Accommodation and acquiescence
increase our chances of balance, peace and harmony.
When applied in conjunction with respect for boundaries
and honoring lines,
they work to produce goodwill and well-being
with all but the ruthless, greedy and atrocious.
It takes an army to deal with Attila the Hun,
Genghis Khan
and those like them.
Diplomacy has to read the signs
and know when it is time to switch strategies.
This applies to parents and children,
lovers and friends.
If we don't have an army,
we pack up and move on,
or surrender and hope for the best.
And our primary responsibility
is to be reconciled to the choice
that is forced on us.
Peace is always with the circumstances.
When they are inevitable,
it is easy to make our peace with the facts
and do what needs to be done to make it work.
No one could do more.
The Search for the Holy Grail 02 04/22/2013 — Raven Rock Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
The search for the Holy Grail
is the search for the enlivening elixir
that will restore life to the land--
to the wasteland--
to the land of inauthenticy,
the land of sterility,
the land of pretension,
duplicity,
deception
and lie.
Joseph Campbell describes the wasteland as
"A land of people who do simply
what they are supposed to do,
or what is thought by the society
to be well to do--
people professing beliefs
because they have to,
holding jobs they have been handed,
not earned...
a land of zombies, you might say."
A land of people going through the motions,
doing what they think will make them happy,
yet nothing makes them happy,
or brings them to life,
or fills them with the radiance
and wonder of being alive.
To go on the search for the Holy Grail,
you have to not know what you are looking for,
to not know what you are doing,
and to take your clues and your cues
from your unconscious,
and chance happenings/encounters
along the way--
allowing the trail to unfold before you
a trail that is not a trail at all,
because that would be to go where someone else
has gone,
and to continue in the spirit of the wasteland,
but you have to go into the woods
where it is darkest and most uninviting,
following Campbell's directive:
"That which you seek lies far back
in the darkest corner
of the cave you most don't want to enter."
You are looking for your own identity,
for your own heart,
your own soul,
for the grounding,
anchoring,
realization
of who you are
and what you are about,
so that you can say,
along with Ulysses,
"I will persevere and endure!
And when the heaving sea
has shaken my raft to pieces,
then I will swim!"
(Homer, in The Odyssey).
What calls you forth in that way?
So that you know beyond doubt,
"This is who I am!
This is who I must be!
Here I stand and here I will fall!
'Without hope,
without witness,
without reward!' (Steven Moffat)."
There is the Grail!
The cup of life,
and light
and being.
It is the realization,
awakening,
enlightenment
of the Buddha
and the Christ,
requiring us to honor it
with fealty,
liege loyalty
and filial devotion
in doing what needs to be done
the way only we can do it,
when and where and how it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
throughout the time left for living.
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 