01

What keeps us going 
is the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction
of having done it.

And if we can't say that,
it is because we have lost the WOW!!!
And have to get the WOW!!! back.

We lose the WOW!!! mostly because of
disappointed expectations.
There ought to be a rule:
No Expectations!

And another one:
No Agendas!

And one more:
No Opinions!

Instantly, the WOW!!! comes back.
Because this is simply the Greatest Show On Earth!
Everything is perfectly fine just as it is.
It only takes a slight shift in perspective
to see that it is so.

Stand apart from your expectations,
your agendas
and your opinions,
and it is one unbelievable wonder
after another!

And the WOW!!! is back!

Just like that! 

–0–

02

Where we go from here
is to be determined.

We wait to see what's next,
by looking for what's what
and what needs to be done about it.

The situation pulls us forth
by way of what is called for here/now,
no, here/now.
No, here/now.

The situation is always changing
for those with eyes to see.
For everyone else,
it is always 
"the same old, same old,"
and nothing is ever new under the sun.

Which say is it?
It is different ways
to different eyes,
to different ways of assessing "reality"
As if! 
As though there were a steady state of being
deemed to be Reality. 
"Deemed to be" says it all.

"Reality" is always what it is "deemed to be"
in all times and places,
and what it "means"
is subject to interpretation.

And interpretation depends upon 
what we have at stake
in the situation.

With noting at stake,
the situation is "meaningless."
Once we have something to gain or lose,
the situation becomes "meaningful"
in direct proportion 
to the value (to us)
of what we stand to gain or lose.

Living with nothing at stake
is total immunity to everything/anything
that happens.
When we don't care what happens
we are undisturbed by the impact
of whatever happens.

Then, everyone says we are 
"Out of touch with reality,"
when we are actually 
in touch with a different reality,
namely the meaninglessness
of what everyone else is calling reality.

Who is "right" 
depends upon the point of view
of whomever is making the call.

And where does that leave us?

Waiting to see what's next,
and what we do about it.

–0–

03

Consciousness is knowing what is going on
and what needs to be done about it here/now.

Until we know that,
we are unconscious.

Trees and flowers cannot see a thing,
but they know what is going on
from the standpoint of what matters to them--
from the standpoint of what 
they have at stake in the situation,
sunlight and water being two biggies.

They turn toward the sun,
and their roots (etc.) know what to do
with water
and the nutrients water provides.

They are conscious of the things that count,
and unconscious of everything else.

We are like trees and flowers.
We are conscious of the things that matter to us,
and unconscious of everything else.

"Expanding our consciousness"
is caring about an increasing number of things.

The more things we care about,
the more conscious we are.
The more we have at stake in a situation,
the more conscious we are of the situation.
The more things matter to us,
the more alive we are to the time and place
of our living.

Want to come alive?
Care deeply about a large number of things!
The fewer things you care about,
the less alive you are.

Live to have a stake in your life.
An ever-expanding stake.
Or an ever-deepening stake
in a few very important things.

Trees and flowers don't care about much,
but they care very much 
about the things they care about.

–0–

01

There are no shortcuts
to where we are going.
It's one day at a time all the way.

Of course, we can speed things up
by seeing what we look at,
hearing what we listen to,
being aware of what we are dismissing,
discounting,
ignoring,
knowing what we know,
knowing what's what,
knowing what needs to be done,
and doing it when and where and how 
it needs to be done.

Having no expectations,
no agenda,
no plans,
no opinions.

Spending the right amount of time
with the right kind of emptiness,
stillness
and silence.

Following the seven steps to what's next
in each situation as it arises:

1. See it!
2. Hear it!
3. Feel it!
4. Know it!
5. Trust it!
6. Do it!
7. Be true to your original nature
   and the innate virtues
   you are here to serve and share
   in each situation as it arises.

That's all there is to it.

–0–

02

We are here to bring ourselves forth
as we serve and share
what is ours to serve and share
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

We are here to serve and share
our original nature
and the innate virtues
that come with us from the womb.

No one can tell us what they are.
We live to discover them,
serve and share them
over the full course of our life.

Noise and complexity hinder that process.
The right kind of
emptiness,
stillness
and silence assist it.

Following our interests assist it.
And looking closer at the things that catch our eye.
And knowing what resonates with us,
attracts us,
expands is,
deepens us,
enlarges us...
assists us in the process of being who we are,
doing what is ours to do,
as we live to
"Get in there and do your thing,
and don't worry about the outcome!"
(Joseph Campbell on the gist 
of the Bhagavad Gita).

–0–

03

When we cooperate with the process
of serving and sharing
our original nature
and the innate virtues
that are ours from birth,
we are aligned with them
and with the Tao of life and being.

We are on the beam.
In the flow.
At one with our life,
and enjoying the wonder
of "fair winds and following seas."

This is as it was with Adam and Eve
before they had eyes for the Forbidden Fruit,
and big ideas about how Paradise
could be improved.

The moral of the Garden of Eden
has nothing to do about sin
and keeping God happy forever.
The story is entirely about
being true to our original nature
and the virtues that are ours from birth
in doing what needs to be done,
when, where and how,
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what
all our life long.

When we do that,
things fall into place
and life hums right along,
until someone who is not doing it
crashes into us,
destroys our balance and harmony,
and forces us to regain
our focus and direction
and find our way back to the way,
shake it off
and start over.

By avoiding noise and complexity
and spending the right amount of time
with the right kind of emptiness,
stillness
and silence
in the work of reorienting
and redirecting our life
and ourselves with our life.

Diversion,
distraction,
deception
and denial
all work against balance and harmony,
and we have to attend what's what
and what needs to be done about it
all of the time.

Or, before we know it,
like Adam and Eve,
we find ourselves slip-sliding away,
again.

–0–

01

There are people who do their jobs
the way they need to be done.
There are people who live their lives
the way they need to be lived.

Start looking for them.
There are more of them than you might think.

And don't forget to add yourself
to your running tally
of how many you spot in a day.

–0–

02

"Om mani padme hum" is a Buddhist chant
that can be translated, "The jewel is in the Lotus,"
with the implied second verse
always in the background
like an embarrassing uncle, 
"and the Lotus is in the slime."

That would be the slime
at the bottom of the pond.
suggested in the above image
by the lily pads well past prime.

The dichotomy is not to be missed,
on several levels.

There is the Buddhist denial of all dichotomy
in its insistence that all is one,
while being grounded in the very dichotomy
it despises.

"Life is suffering"
and suffering is the foundation
of the Buddhist rail against suffering
in the Four Noble Truths
and the Eight-Fold-Path.
Suffering doesn't exist as a duality to Nirvana, 
but where would we be without it?

The Jewel of Enlightenment 
and the Slime of Unknowing/Ignorance/Denial
are two partners in one dance
through time and space.

"The Jewel is in the Lotus"
is another way of saying,
"Life Eats Life,"
or "Yin/Yang,"
reminding us that what we seek
is grounded in who we are,
and we cannot escape ourselves
by being different from who we are.

We are one
because we are two.
Or more.

And because we are two, or more,
we seek a steady state
of the bliss of oneness.

The Jewel is in the Lotus
the way we are One Now,
by being conscious of who we are
and also are
and allowing that to be who we are.

Using the strengths of our "other sides"
to deepen/expand/enlarge us
and our capacity for compassion,
kindness
and grace
for all people
because we know "Thou Art That"
and therefore "Namaste,"
"I bow to you."
"All of me bows to all of you."

We are one,
and we all are one,
in our otherness.

Realizing it makes it so.
May it be so.

–0–

03

"The shortest way through
is the long way 'round,"
states the folk wisdom of the ages.

We know what we know
because we have lived it
and cannot deny it
because we know it to be so.

Theology and doctrine are opinions.
Folk wisdom is knowledge lodged in the body--
in our heart,
in our stomach,
in our bones.
Where there is no debate,
and no difference of opinion.

Carl Jung talks about "circumambulation"
as being the way of maturity and grace,
and represented it as an infinitely distant spiral,
circling the Anchor Stone of our self's true nature/virtues,
gradually coming to the realization of who we are
and what is ours to do
over the full course of our life
as our experience with life
brings us forth
and shows us who we are
by the way we respond to the events and circumstances
of the day-to-day.

Each situation as it arises
elicits our response.
How we respond over time
reveals who we are.

The shortest path to that truth
is the long way 'round.

–0–

01

The Mystery at the heart of life and being
Fis Life.

Life is The Mystery.

The source of life is life itself.

Life is eternal,
always,
never ending,
forever evolving,
generating new life forms
for any environment,
accommodating itself 
to space and time,
making merry,
dancing, 
dancing,
dancing,
through all times and places.

Death is life returning to life.

Coming,
going,
coming,
going,
the rhythm of life and being.

–0–

02

We have an internal guidance system
that is unfaltering in its accuracy
leading us along the way 
through pitfalls,
dead ends,
wrong turns
and our continuing refusal 
to pay attention
and trust ourselves
to what we are being told.

We have our own ideas, you know.
We think we know what's good for us,
in our best interest,
and "just what we always wanted."

Wanting is the problem.
What does wanting know?
We are where we are by way of wanting.
And not-wanting to hear what 
our inner compass has to say.

A compass is only as good 
as those who possess it 
trust themselves to it.
When they have better ideas,
they wind up in places
they truly have no business being.

Joseph Campbell said,
"That which you seek
lies far back in the darkest corner
of the cave you most do not want to enter."

The compass points into the cave.
We say, "Hell No! Not me!"
And here we are.

–0–

03

All we need is a little more cooperation.
Or, is it that all we need to be is a little more cooperative?
Which is it?

More cooperation would get us more 
of what we think we want.

We cannot want/wish our way
to where we need to be.

We know what we want
but we don't know what 
that will mean for us.

We know what we don't want,
but we don't know what
that will mean for us.

Getting what we want
can put us in places
we have no business being.

We know what we want
but we don't know what we ought to want,
and we wouldn't want it if we did.

Which gets us to the importance
of being more cooperative.

No expectations.
No agenda.
No plans.
No opinion.
Puts us on track
to taking what we have
and making the best of it--
doing what needs to be done
here/now
in each situation as it arises
the way it needs to be done,
and letting the outcome be the outcome,
where we continue the process
of doing what needs to be done,
when and how it needs to be done,
and letting the outcome be the outcome...
No matter what.

It is amazing where this process takes us
with us not having any idea of where we are going.

Cooperate with your life
instead of trying to get
your life to cooperate with you.

It's the kind of difference
that will make the biggest kind of difference
in the way your life is lived,
and in how things turn out.

–0–

01

We look at our lives 
with tired eyes,
and see the same old boring same old.

We don't believe anything will ever be new.
"There is nothing new under the sun,"
says the Old Testament.
We know what it is talking about.

The zest and hope have gone out of our lives.

We are spiraling downward,
walking around in circles,
going only where we have been forever,
in a wasteland without end.

We need an infusion of enthusiasm,
of joy,
of delight,
of wonder,
of amazement,
of WOW!!!

And we carry it with us
everywhere we go.

We are what we seek.
But not the us we have always known.
The us who never had a chance,
and still doesn't have a chance,
because we will not give her/him one.

It is time we stood aside
and invited him/her to take the lead.

How do we do that?
I was hoping someone would ask.

Emptiness.
Stillness.
Silence.

The kind of emptiness I'm talking about
is emptying yourself of everything.
No emotions.
No thinking.
No feeling.
No words.
Okay, one word, repeated over and over
with each exhalation.
And then repeated six times
before the next inhalation.

"One."

Nothing else is allowed.
Be the emptiness between breaths.

In the stillness
and the silence.

After ten breaths,
just sit quietly,
waiting
for something unbidden,
un-thought to emerge,
appear,
arise,
suddenly.
Out of nowhere.

Hold it in your awareness,
and see what occurs to you,
what calls you,
what invites you to action.

See where it goes,
as the moved
in response to the mover.

–0–

02

Just see what needs doing and do it--
when, where and how it needs to be done--
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what,
all your life long.

That is all there is to it.

Nothing to believe.
Nothing to think.
Nothing to memorize.
No theology.
No doctrine.
No dogma.
No catechisms.
No hoops to jump through.
Nobody's approval to earn and maintain.
...

Just See/Do!

And, if you like longer lists:

See!
Hear!
Know!
Trust!
Do!

And, your ability to do these five things
will be enhanced
with three more:

Emptiness!
Stillness!
Silence!

And two more:
Where we wait
for clarity.
Where we wait
for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.

That is it.

You don't have to go to school.
Read books.
Memorize definitions.
You don't have to leave home.
Travel to the High Himalayas.
Crawl through hot deserts.
Fast.
Pray.
Cut off fingers...

You only have to get up
and do what needs to be done.
Time after time.

"The Way,"
that people are always talking about,
is just the way
to the next thing 
that needs to be done.

And you don't have to 
go out of your way 
to find it.

You only have to open your eyes
and see what you look at
and do what needs to be done
in response to it.

You don't even have to be right about it.

If you are wrong about it,
that will become clear (see above) in time.
When it does, 
do then what needs to be done then.

There is nothing too hard about this.
Anybody can do it.
And everybody can be the first
in their family to do it.

Why does it take so long?
Don't waste time worrying about that.

Just see what needs to be done and do it.
In each situation as it arises.

See how much you can do
that needs to be done 
in a day.

And do not rule out taking naps.

No one has to agree with you 
that something needs to be done.
You will see things no one else sees,
and that no one else will think needs to be done.

You see it.
You do it.
When it's a nap,
take a nap.
Etc.

See?
Do! 

Oh, P.S.,
it helps to have 
No expectations.
No agenda.
No plan.
No opinions.
No fear.
No desire.

That's where emptiness comes in.

See? 
Do!

–0–

03

Our allegiance,
our loyalty,
our fealty,
our duty
are to our original nature
and the virtues that came with us from the womb.

We each are a unique mixture
of things that make us "us."
And we owe it to ourselves
to bring ourselves forth
in the time and place of our living
throughout our lifetime.

We live to be true to ourselves.
It is essential
that we keep troth with ourselves.
To betray ourselves
is the unpardonable sin.
How can we make that up?
We have from now until the time we die
to get it right.

What has gone before has gone.
We are left with the time that remains.
Make the most of it!
Live to be true to yourself
in the time left for living!

–0–

01

The most ignorant thing
is thinking that how we see things
is how things are.

How we see things is our interpretation of reality,
of how things are.

Alfred Korzybski and S.I. Hayakawa and others
have explored the differences
between our perceptions of reality
and reality "just as it is"
in their books on "General Semantics,"
which should be required reading
in all high schools worldwide.

What we make of the world
positions us to respond to the world
as though it is what we think it is.
We are boxing with shadows,
wrestling with ghosts,
and creating a hell of a mess of things thereby.

We have to step back,
sit down,
be quiet,
and observe ourselves thinking,
see ourselves seeing,
hear ourselves speaking,
feel ourselves feeling,
and just watch what is going on--
without becoming engaged by any of it,
beyond becoming curious
about the things that trigger
emotional responses in us.

Get to the bottom of it
without being hooked by it,
and develop a sense of the difference
between you and the things 
that make up your world.

"There is more to everything 
than meets the eye."

Get to know what that means.

–0–

02

When has peace ever been established
and maintained
without killing somebody
and/or threatening to kill somebody?

And how is ostracizing,
banishing,
barring,
expelling somebody
different from killing them
in societies where the tribe
is the foundation of life?

Why can't we live together
without the threat of death or abandonment?

When have compassion and goodwill 
ever been the foundation of lasting peace?

What does it take to live together
in ways that are good for everybody?

Why are there assholes who refuse
to abide by the rules governing the behavior
of everyone?

We have to have laws with execution attached
to deal with the Genghis Khan's 
and the Jeffery Dahmer's of the world
because they can't be trusted
to stay on their side of the line.

Rodney King nailed it with his,
"Why can't we just get along?"

Why can't we?

How would have Jesus 
imposed and maintained the peace?
The Buddha?
Gandhi?

We don't know,
and it is easy to imagine 
that they wouldn't have.
Jesus died refusing to take up arms
against the Romans.
The Buddha had an alliance 
with the princes/kings of his day
based on his promise of merit
and Nirvana.
Gandhi was assassinated
because he didn't have armed bodyguards.
And the Dalai Lama's bodyguards
carry automatic weapons
(Square that up with compassion
if you can).

Death, 
or the threat of it,
is the only basis of lasting peace.

This is a contrary equal to
life eating life--
to life depending on the death
of something.

Peace depends on the death of something.
Life depends on the death of something.
Death is the source/foundation of life.
And we have to make our peace with that.
How's that coming along for you?

We have to dance with the contradictions--
not deny them--
"Joyfully participating 
in the suffering/sorrows of the world"--
all our life long.
And then, we die,
and merge with the contradictions
at the heart of life.

Contradiction and compromise
all the way down.

–0–

03

We are never more than 
a slight perspective shift
away from having it made.

Having it made 
is being at peace
with our circumstances,
no matter what they are.

How long has it been?
Since we, individually,
collectively,
corporately,
as a person,
a nation,
as a world,
been at peace with our circumstances?

Know why?

Expectations.
Aspirations.
Greed.
Fear.
Agendas.
Opinions.

Know what it takes?

The right kind of emptiness,
stillness,
silence,
and the willingness/ability
to "Joyfully participate
in the suffering/sorrows
of the world"--
which is the willingness/ability
to say "YES!"
to life just as it is
(Joseph Campbell).

The trick of having/maintaining
the right kind of perspective
is a regular return
to the right kind of emptiness,
stillness,
silence,
in the right kind of way.

–0–

01

We have aspirations,
expectations,
desires,
which, 
when frustrated,
or delayed,
(which is often the same thing),
lead to anxiety and/or depression,
alcoholism,
drug addiction
and a long list of symptoms
associated with these types of responses
to our situation
which began as a combination
of aspirations,
expectations
and desires.

We would be better off
if we only had a bit of curiosity.
Like, "I wonder what I would enjoy doing?"
And see where that leads.

I can watch YouTube videos, say,
on DIY small engine repair,
or trench drain installation,
and know that isn't it.
I can rule out a lot of things
without ever getting my hands dirty.

If it involves getting my hands dirty,
it isn't for me.
And knitting isn't for me,
although my hands stay clean.

But I'm not wondering how to get wealthy.
I am wondering what I would love to do.
What can I do with all my heart?

Photography and writing pop to mind.
And getting to the bottom of things.
And seeing what's what in a situation...

Before I know it,
I am swimming in an ocean
of things I enjoy doing.
And it turns out that I could make enough money
doing some of them
to pay the bills,
and I paid the bills to do
some of the things that didn't make any money at all.

I'm hunching the same thing 
would apply to you.

Start with what you love to do
and see where it goes.

–0–

02

True belief and genuine faith
are encased in denial.

They are not only belief/faith IN something,
they are also belief/faith IN SPITE of something else,
namely a four-engine freight train
hauling car loads of solid evidence to the contrary.

Robb Elementary and Sandy Hook
and all the other stupid, senseless murders
and vicious acts of mayhem
are part of a forever train filled with examples
of how we would be as well off 
with a God who hated us
as we are with a God who reportedly loves us.

A God of love would have to do better than this,
or part with the brand.
And this is where that God
parts ways with The Mystery at the Heart of Life and Being.

Put all you have ever been told about God,
including what's in the Bible,
in the burning barrel 
and embrace The Mystery--
because all we can say about The Mystery
is that it is all Mystery,
and we don't have to say anything
to explain, defend, justify, excuse The Mystery
because it's all Mystery.

And along with embracing The Mystery,
embrace sincerity and integrity,
honesty and forthrightness.

Embrace your own original nature
and the virtues that come with you 
from the womb.

Embrace emptiness,
stillness
and silence.

Embrace The Sermon on the Mount,
the Parable of the Prodigal Son,
the Parable of the Good Samaritan,
and the bit in Matthew 25
about "Inasmuch as you have done it,
or failed to do it,
to the least of my brothers and sisters,
you have done it,
or failed to do it,
unto me."

And let these texts be your guiding lights
in determining how to conduct yourself
in relationship with yourself
and all sentient beings.

Believe that it matters how you live,
and live in ways that bring forth
your original nature and your innate virtues
in doing what needs to be done,
where, when and how it needs to be done,
in each situation as it arises
no matter what,
and let that be that.

Live how it suits you
in right relationship with The Mystery,
recognizing how we are all immersed 
in Mystery from birth to death and beyond,
and honor The Mystery
with all your life and being,
in all you say and do.

–0–

03

If we lived as though 
it is all up to us,
we would do it differently
than we do it waiting on God
to take care of us.

It is all up to us!

We are killing the environment.
We are killing each other
with "Guns for everybody!
Come get your guns!
You can't have enough guns!"

There is no divine intervention
to keep us from driving off the cliff
into oblivion.

It is all up to us!

If Republicans are elected
children will die from gunshot wounds.
People of all ages will die from gunshot wounds.
We elect Republicans.
We do it to ourselves.

It is all up to us!

What we do matters!
How we live matters!
The choices we make matters!

We cannot live as though 
someone is going to pick up after us,
or sweep the path before us.

How we live in our present
determines how our future will be.

It is all up to us!

–0–