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?
Great Blue Heron 06 08/24/2019 Oil Paint Rendered — Swan Lake Iris Gardens, Sumter, South Carolina
Jesus raised the dead
and left the dead
to bury the dead.
Jesus cursed an innocent fig tree
for not having fruit out of season,
and forgave a woman guilty
of adultery.
Jesus said, "Come to me
all who are heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest."
And he said, "Depart from me!
I never knew you evildoers!"
Jesus said, "Blessed are you
if you know what you are doing,
but if you don't know what you are doing,
you are accursed and a transgressor
of the Law."
And he said, "Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do!"
Jesus is like the spirit,
who is like the wind,
that blows where it will.
We never can tell what Jesus
will say, or do, next.
May it be so said of us all!
May we all be as free as Jesus was
to do what the situation requires,
never mind what we did in the
last situation,
or will do in the next one.
Consistency and predictability
are not required,
and are hindrances and restraints
when it comes to the wind blowing where it will!
To be what each situation needs
is to be open to what is happening there,
and to what is called for there,
and to act spontaneously,
compassionately,
to do what is called for,
exactly as called for,
regardless of what that is,
in season and out of season
throughout the time left for living!
–0–
02
Blue Ridge Pastoral 04/03/2005 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
What needs to be done here and now,
in this moment,
in this situation?
Start with that.
Do it as it needs to be done.
Then, move on to the next thing
that needs to be done.
And so on,
throughout the day.
Do it again tomorrow.
And the day after that.
For as long as there are days.
–0–
03
Peach Orchard Road 01/14/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
"Turning the light around"
is an old Taoist phrase,
emphasizing the need to
stop looking outside,
"out there"
for what is found only inside,
"in here."
"The path that can be discerned
as a path,
is not a reliable path" (Martin Palmer).
"They shall not say, 'Lo here!'
or 'Lo, There!' for what you seek
lies within you" (Jesus of Nazareth).
"The darkness is the cradle of the light"
(Rumi).
"What you seek lies far in the back,
in the darkest corner,
of the cave you most don't want to enter"
(Joseph Campbell).
"The stone the builders reject
is the chief cornerstone" (Jesus of Nazareth).
"Why don't you judge for yourselves
what is right?" (Jesus of Nazareth).
We have to empty ourselves of all we
think we know,
in order to know all that is worth knowing.
The Silence is the source of all that is.
No one can tell you what you know.
You have to realize that for yourself.
Sit still.
Be quiet.
Pay attention
to what arises in the silence
that catches your eye,
that calls your name.
See what comes up
to guide your boat
on its path through the sea.
–0–
04
Cherry Blossoms 02 03/25/2016 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
Sit still.
Be quiet.
Be present, here, now.
Be open.
Alert.
Aware.
Attentive.
Wait.
Watch.
Available for what needs
an audience with you.
Regularly.
Throughout each day.
For as much time
as you have available
to devote to the practice.
The Tree by the Road 02/11/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Union County, South Carolina
Balance and harmony
form the um-welt for,
and are the offspring of,
sincerity, spontaneity and integrity.
Living out of sincerity,
spontaneity and integrity
in the service of balance and harmony,
is to have nothing at stake
in the outcome.
It is to live from emptiness
in the companionship of silence,
doing what needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
and letting that be that.
No emotional investment.
Or involvement.
Nothing screws with balance and harmony
like emotional investment.
Like emotional involvement.
Like emotional reactivity.
Like having to have our way.
Doing what needs to be done
is not dependent upon the result
of our action.
It is itself the result
of our being called to action
by the situation which evokes
our response.
Doing what needs to be done
rests on us.
We have done our part
when we do that.
The outcome is beyond our control.
Or even our interest.
We do our work
and step back,
as Lao Tzu advised.
"And let nature take its course."
The recipe for balance and harmony.
–0–
02
Dawn Down East 11/06/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Down East, North Carolina
It isn't what we believe--
it is what we do,
in response to the situation
as it arises.
The Buddha is more like Jesus
than the people who rave about Jesus.
See what needs to be done
and do it.
Then, see what needs to be done
in response to what you did,
and do what needs to be done
about that...
For as long as situations arise.
It doesn't matter what you believe
as long as you do what needs to be done,
situation by situation.
If your beliefs assist that, fine.
If your beliefs interfere with that,
or prevent it,
you need to change your beliefs
and do what else needs to be done.
We know what needs to be done
by seeing the situation as it is,
and by knowing what is called for there,
without prejudice
or predisposition,
and without imposing our will
for the situation
upon the situation.
What needs to be done in any situation
is unique to the situation,
organic to the situation,
arising from the situation,
and evokes our response
in a spontaneous, sincere,
at-one-with-the-moment
kind of way.
The way a change in tempo
elicits a change in motion
from the dancers dancing
to the music.
–0–
Swan Lake 09/13/2019 Oil Paint Rendered — Swan Lake Iris Gardens, Sumter, South Carolina
It is easy to know right from wrong,
but greed and self-interest get in the way
and lead to bad judgment
in the service of unrestrained desire.
What we want to happen
can be confused with what needs to happen,
and the path can be obscured
by the noise of competing goods.
When we empty ourselves of preferences
and inclinations,
and see the situation as it is
"thus come,"
right action is evoked naturally
like the way of a stream
encountering an obstruction.
Emptiness is the way to the way,
and is, therefore, the way.
The water of life
flows from an empty well.
Drink deeply from the empty bucket,
and all will be well.
Around Bass Lake 03 10/16/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
The silence has to be filtered,
mined,
for its gold,
but if something is missed,
it cycles back around.
Waiting and watching
are all it takes
to see and hear,
realize and understand,
know and do
and be aligned
with the truth
of our life
at last.
We can speed things up
by having the right attitude
from the start.
Openness,
playfulness
and wonder
make all the difference.
We live on the playground
of magic
and miracle,
and are only one slight
perspective shift away
from the threshold
to laughter and amazement
and "singing and dancing
in the rain."
–0–
02
Pelican Silhouette 02 Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, Everyday, All The Time
The Dalai Lama is the model
for how to do it.
For how to deal with our life.
When the Chinese invaded Tibet,
destroying Buddhist temples
and killing 1.2 million monks
and civilians,
the Dalai Lama escaped to Pakistan,
and has lived in exile there since 1950.
And he has always exhibited graciousness,
kindness and compassion in his way
through the world,
with no bitterness, rancor, or resentment
evident in his words or manner.
He continues to do now
what needs to be done now,
the way it needs to be done,
responding to each moment
in ways appropriate to that moment,
as though nothing is big enough
to cast a pall
over all that remains
of life and being.
Nothing is big enough
to cast a pall
over all that remains
of life and being.
Great Blue Heron 01 04/20/2014 Oil Paint Rendered, Black and White — Audubon Swamp Garden, Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, South Carolina
The way of integrity
is the way of being in tune
the way a harp
or a piano
is in tune,
and in character
the way Groucho Marx,
and Betty White,
were always in character.
Just being who we are,
when we are,
where we are,
how we are,
within the context
and circumstances
of our life--
being what the moment needs us to be
and remaining in tune
and staying in character
within the time and place of our living.
Without an eye on what's in it for us,
or caring about what we stand to gain
or lose,
or thinking about how to take advantage
of the situation,
or reaping benefits,
or making the most of our opportunity...
Just remaining in tune,
just staying in character,
and doing what is called for
in each moment
throughout each day.
Meeting the day
on the day's terms
in our way,
day by day.
Incredibly difficult.
Absolutely essential.
Completely dependent
upon mindful awareness
and a working relationship
with the Ten Guides:
Emptiness and Silence,
Balance and Harmony,
Sincerity, Spontaneity and Integrity,
Spirit, Energy, and Vitality.
Get all those in place
and keep them there
through regular observation
loyalty, devotion and adjustment,
and the Tao will be your Mother
throughout your days
upon the earth.
–0–
02
White Egret 02/08/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Lake Martin Swamp, Beaux Bridge, Louisiana
Our balance and harmony
are the early warning signs
letting us know
that we have moved away
from living in accord
with the Tao of life and being.
(The reality of the Tao at work
throughout the cosmos
is easily experienced in the regularity
--and inconsistency!--
of the tides and seasons,
and in the steadiness of gravity.
It is the way things work together
for the good of the whole.
When we are minding our business
and doing what needs to be done,
things hum right along.
When we don't,
things don't.
And we need to bring ourselves back
into alignment/accord with
the Tao of life and being.)
Finding and maintaining our balance and harmony--
which is done in right relationship
with the Ten Guides--
is our responsibility,
and requires our loyalty and devotion
to regular routine maintenance practice
of awareness and adjustment
throughout our life.
We think it is about making lots of money,
socking it away
and coasting through our life
from one entertaining pastime to another
all our life long.
How's that balance and harmony?
Dunes 10/26/2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Outer Banks, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
Everything depends upon
and flows from
emptiness and silence.
Until we can be empty
even of the desire to be empty,
we do not have what it takes
to live with balance and harmony.
And, without balance and harmony,
sincerity, spontaneity and integrity
have no entry point into our life.
And, without sincerity, spontaneity and integrity,
spirit, energy and vitality
are at such low levels within us
that we have to draw on our emotions
just to feel alive,
and to live from our emotions
is to live grounded
in noise, complexity, drama
and the force of will
in the service of what we want--
and it all goes to hell just like that
(snaps fingers).
Having an agenda and a plan,
or having one without the other,
is but a step away
from having an ulcer,
a drinking problem,
and a host of other symptoms
vying with one another
for control of our life.
And we are that close
(holds up Thumpkin and Pointer
squeezed together)
to being tossed about
by the heaving seas
and clashing rocks
of life without meaning,
purpose, point or direction.
And that is no place to be.
So.
Sit down.
Shut up.
Pay attention.
To what arises in the silence,
emerges from the silence,
occurs to you with the blessings
of the silence--
waiting for a particular quality
of movement within you
that indicates the stirring of interest
and attraction,
and amounts to a call
to look closer at what it might mean
for you
and be about.
Look closer.
Make inquiries.
See where The Gift Of The Silence leads.
Trusting yourself to Mythos
and moving Logos out of the center
of your life,
so that instinct, intuition and imagination
become as much a part of your life
as logic, reason, intellect and analytic.
Always returning to emptiness and silence
to provide what you need
to find what you need
to live in accord with The Way
and dance with your life,
knowing that "there is only the dance"
(T.S. Eliot).
–0–
02
Cheraw State Park 01 04/18/2014 Black and White Oil Paint Rendered — Cheraw, South Carolina
Our life is grounded in,
rests upon,
grows out of,
becomes what it is through,
chance.
It all hangs by a thread
and turns on a dime,
and nothing has to be what it is.
Everything depends on something else.
If this had not happened
exactly when it happened,
where it happened,
how it happened,
that would not have happened,
or that, or that, or that,
and we would be somewhere else entirely,
if at all.
If the plane hadn't been late,
we would never have been standing
in the coffee line,
behind the man,
in front of the woman,
who became our husband
or our wife...
Like that.
Forever.
It all hinges on chance.
It is all a matter of chance.
We all are just lucky to be here.
And if purpose and control
are your things,
ask yourself,
which is the greater miracle:
A) That all of this is the result
of some intricately designed,
and carefully arranged
Eternal Plan,
or that,
B) None of it is?
That it all just happened this way?
What are the chances?
That's what I"m saying.
What are the chances that your mother
would go on a blind date,
at the last minute,
with the guy who became your father?
Etc., all the way to right here, right now?
It is all a matter of chance,
the luck of the draw,
and the roll of the dice.
Can we say "YES!" to it is the question.
Will we is the other question.
Do we is the other question.
Where do we go from here is the other question...
All awaiting our reply.
–0–
01
Foggy Rocks in Jordon Pond 04/24/2004 Oil Paint Rendered — Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine
If you want to be happy,
give up being greedy.
Greed is fueling climate change
and enabling the corporate ownership
of Congress and the Supreme Court.
Everybody wants to be rich,
but being rich is just a phase
on the way to being richer.
Infinitely richer without end.
A life that is being lived
toward that end
is not a life that is being lived.
Lives that are lived
are lived in open, joyous,
participation in the moment
of our living
for the pure wonder of being alive.
How long has it been?
How long has it been since
you experienced a cup of coffee,
or a scoop of ice cream?
Or the joy of a conversation
with a child?
Or a quiet moment with your
heart's true love,
which might be a violin solo,
or a book?
Open, joyous, participation
in the moment of being alive
is a possibility every moment.
Why let another one go by
unnoticed?
Unlived?
Lake Martin Cypress 07-B 02/04/2014 Oil Paint Rendered–Beaux Bridge, Louisiana
It does not matter how we feel.
It matters what we do.
We are to do what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
where it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
regardless of how we feel.
"Feelings follow action,"
as the old therapy saw goes.
We cannot want what we do not want,
but we can do what we do not want to do.
The way it needs to be done, etc.
So do that
in each situation as it arises.
And stop bothering so much about
how we feel.
Don't allow our feelings
to impair our actions!
Feel any way we want to feel,
but do what is called for,
as it is called for, etc.
Step into each situation
as it presents itself,
and look around.
See what's happening
and what needs to be done
in response,
and do it.
All of our action
is situational,
elicited by what is going on
in the time and place of our living.
Live responsively,
and responsibly.
Feel however you feel like feeling.
But do what is asked of you
by the moment at hand.
Moment-by-moment-by-moment...
–0–
02
Catalooche Farmstead 01 03/02/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee, North Carolina
Those of you who deal
with a truly crazy person
know how easily they can
manipulate the truth
to tilt the Normal World
just a bit,
and transform it
into a place no one can live.
They seem balanced and sane,
and then say things like,
"I'm going to fly to San Francisco,
and ask the mayor to take me
on a tour of the city."
Republicans have this down to an art.
Their world is not the world
the rest of us live in.
They are drawn together
by their ability to see
things that are not there.
I don't know if they see the same things,
or just remarkably similar things,
but they are crazy as hell.
And they hold powerful positions
of leadership and responsibility.
The Cuckoo’s Nest is rapidly
taking over the world.
And the media-world is relating
to them as though they are normal human beings.
Which amplifies crazy
and creates an environment
in which civilization is devolving
as we watch.
If you have a fix for this situation,
I hope you apply it immediately.
Allowing it to play itself out
will be the end of the world as we know it.
Everybody thinks the way they see things
is the way things are.
Everybody thinks the way they think
things ought to be
is the way things ought to be.
Yet, hardly anybody sees things
the way anybody else sees things
(For instance, we talk about "Christianity"
as though there is common agreement
about what is and is not Christian.
When, in fact, there is wide-spread disagreement.
And getting consensus,
or even a majority,
on how things ought to be is very iffy.
And we walk around in a fog of assumed
eye-to-eye-ness that is totally fabricated,
and completely unreal.
The bough-ha-ha over masks and vaccines
is an example of how far apart we are
over many of the things that are essential
to our life together.
Racism is a problem because close to half
of this country are proud to be racist.
Etc. down a long list of other issues.
Community and commonality are rare indeed.
Because "the center fails to hold."
Civility, consideration and graciousness
are in short supply,
and people are all into
"My way is the ONLY WAY!"
I have no idea of how to fix the dichotomy
without the willing participation of all people.
And how we pull that off
when Fox News and talk show radicals,
QAnon and, well the list is forever,
of people pumping people up to be against everything,
looks to me to be hopeless.
It is a solitary commitment to the core
that remains the only viable alternative
to division and discord.
One made by individuals determined
to live from the center
in doing what needs to be done
from their heart
in situation after situation,
no matter what.
I hope you will join me in the cause.
Cabin in the Snow 03 02/11/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Faires/Coltharp cabin, Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
What is the present situation asking of us?
That is all we need to know.
And do.
We know it by being aware
of the time and place of our living.
We can do that by emptying ourselves
of our opinions,
our judgments/evaluations,
our expectations,
our disappointments,
our fear/anxiety/worry,
our wants/desires
(Even our desire to be empty),
our aspirations,
our frustrations,
our anger,
our drives and ambitions,
our motives and incentives,
our beliefs and assumptions,
our inferences and convictions,
our... (All that is in the way
of The Way)
And simply being here, now--
the place where we are
between breaths.
(Try that--
being in the place between breaths:
Breathe more slowly than normal,
deeper than normal,
taking a slow abdominal breath,
by pushing your stomach out
as you inhale
to fill your lungs
to their capacity,
and exhaling slowly
through your nose,
concentrating on the flow
of air as it leaves
your nostrils,
and pausing for a count of 5
before inhaling as you just did.
Do this for three breaths,
and on the third breath,
as you exhale and count,
notice how empty you are
of all the things that
normally drive you [crazy].
That is the place between breaths).
By doing this breathing-with-awareness
throughout your day,
you can empty yourself momentarily
of all the BS you carry with you
that keeps you from being where you are
when you are ever.
Being empty transports us to the silence,
and in the silence
we can be aware of the present moment,
and of what is called for there,
what is being asked of us there,
and respond to the moment
spontaneously/sincerely
with the gifts that are ours to give
in the service of the needs/requirements
of the moment.
Doing this moment to moment
moves us to living differently,
to changing/transforming
our relationship with our life--
and that makes all the difference.
And all you did
was live out of the place
between breaths,
without trying to impose
your will on anything.
–0–
02
Black-crowned Night Heron 04-22-2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Audubon Swamp Garden, Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, South Carolina
Original Sin from a Taoist perspective
is The Profit Motive.
Always wanting more than we have.
Never being satisfied with anything as it is.
Wondering incessantly what's in it for us.
Being endlessly driven to have/get our way...
You know, like that.
That is the one thing
that separates us from
what matters most.
And What Matters Most
from a Taoist perspective
has nothing to do
with keeping some god happy with us,
but with integrating the opposites
at work in our life
moment-to-mnoment
in each situation as it arises.
Our conflicts and contradictions
keep us from being who we are,
where we are,
when we are,
how we are,
why we are,
ever.
We are always wrestling
with how things are,
striving to have this
and avoid that,
and serving our way now
at the expense of all other
possible ways ever.
We have an adversarial
relationship with our life,
or a totally submissive relationship,
or somewhere in between.
Our rage is evident
of things not going our way.
As is our depression.
And our anxiety.
And our addictions.
And our absent-mindedness.
The list is long
of maladaptive behaviors,
which are actually get-my-way behaviors,
or acting out because
we are not getting our way behaviors...
This is the profit motive
at work in our life.
Driving our life.
Preventing us from ever being alive.
Taoism nailed all of this 500 years,
or more,
before Jesus was born.
And Taoism has worked out
what to do about our conflicts of interest
and how to integrate our opposites/contradictions
in the service of doing what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
with nothing in it for us
beyond the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it,
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.
We do that by collaborating with
the Ten Guides
which lead us into/through
seeing/hearing/knowing/understanding/
doing/being who we are
in relation to what's what
in each situation as it arises,
walking two paths at the same time,
and being who we are--
true to our Original Nature
("The face that was ours
before we were born")--
AND doing what needs to be done here and now.
The Ten Guides are:
Emptiness and Silence,
Balance and Harmony,
Sincerity, Spontaneity and Integrity,
Spirit, Energy and Vitality.
Central to living in accord with Tao
is living in the presence of Silence.
Silence is the Source and Origin
of all that is.
Everything comes from the Silence
and returns to the Silence,
and we live best
when we live out of the Silence.
Sitting still
and being quiet
are the essence of Taoist practice,
and the path to The Path,
which, of course, is The Path.
Simple.
Essential.
Neglected.
Sigh.
–0–
03
Great Blue Heron 02 04/22/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Audubon Swamp Garden, Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, South Carolina
Meet the moment on the moment's terms,
and do what needs to be done.
Do not force your will on the situation.
Offer what is needed to the situation--
doing the right thing,
at the right time,
in the right way,
moment by moment,
situation by situation,
without looking for what's in it for you,
or seeking to manipulate your way
into being.
Live for the moment--
to be what the moment needs you to be--
for the joy of doing what is called for,
and the satisfaction of having done it.
And let your life fall into place
around that.
Starting right now.
There is the way things are,
and there is the way
we want things to be.
And therein lies the rub.
How do we work out the conflict?
Manage the contradiction?
Denial seems to be the most popular choice.
How many ways are there
of disappearing the problem?
Which creates multiple spin-off problems,
until we are awash and drowning in
a tumultuous sea of difficulties--
replete with clashing rocks and heaving waves--
just because we refuse to face the fact
of facts that invalidate our preferences
and terminate our dreams and wishes
in mid-production.
Did someone just mention global warming
and the fossil fuel connection?
Amazing sense of timing on that one!
The old Tao recognition of the harmonization
of Yin and Yang
being at the heart of life and being
is brought into sharp focus
in every situation as it arises.
The integration of opposites
is where we come in--
and that includes bearing the pain
of the tension
produced by irreconciliable
and mutually exclusive
polarities.
We are often
"damned if we do
and damned if we don't."
And we live with that,
fully aware of the agony
of having to choose
the unchooseable choice,
yet again--
by choosing to be damned
and be done with it--
once again.
This is the path way
to maturity and grace,
and the catch is
that the prerequsite
for walking the path
is maturity and grace.
We grow up against our will,
one painful choice at a time.
Lake Louise 01 09/24/2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Banfff National Park, Alberta
Thin places are everywhere all the time.
The invisible world
is the foundation
of the visible world,
the grounding source
of all that is.
And doorways/thresholds/portkeys
from this world to that world
are as close
as sitting still,
being quiet.
Mythos predates logos
by ten million years.
Instinct.
Intuition.
Imagination.
Symbol.
Metaphor.
The Numen.
The ineffable.
The inexpressibly real.
The heart of life and being...
At our fingertips.
"Well within our reach,
yet, far exceeding our grasp."
Because we like it that way.
We like reason, logic and analytical thinking.
We don't like mystery and mystic
and things we can't nail down.
Sheldon Kopp puts us in our place
with his,
"Some things can be experienced,
but not understood.
And some things can be understood,
but not explained."
And mythos goes where logos dare not tread.
The thin places are accessible
to the companions of mythos.
The champions of logos,
not so much.
The way is clear to those with eyes to see,
and always has been.
The trouble is
that those who don't see,
don't want anybody seeing.
Or even looking.
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02
Cades Cove Methodist Church 02/28/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Townsend, Tennessee
There is how things are,
and there is how things ought to be.
Who decides these things?
Who makes how things are
the way things are?
Who says things ought to be
some way other than how they are?
Who determines what is good
and what is not?
Who makes the rules
and enforces them?
Who enables or disables the enforcers?
And what part does Big Money play
in all of this?
Big Money says
"We are going to put
regular people in space."
And does it.
Big Money does not say,
"We are going to pay everyone
a livable wage."
And people work for poverty wages.
Big Money serves its values
at the expense of the entire world.
Big Money does not say,
"We are going to disappear dependence
on fossil fuels in ten years."
Big Money says,
"We are going to make as much money
as we can
for as long as we possibly can."
"Profit At Any Price Forever!"
is Capitalism's (Big Money's) mantra.
And Capitalism/Big Money runs the world.
Politics is the tool Capitalism/Big Money uses
to wield its will in the US
and around the world.
People will do anything for money.
Everything is for sale.
Nothing but money is sacred.
This is how things are.
How do you think things ought to be?
What means can you imagine
for making it happen?
I think it will take the complete
internal collapse of things as they are,
for anything to be different-enough
to make a difference,
because money is at the heart
of how things are,
and money is self-serving
at the expense of all things.
Greed cannot serve anything
beyond itself.
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03
Chimney Weather 02/11/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Faires-Colthrap Cabin, Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
Guidance and direction are internal affairs.
How do we know when to trust ourselves
to what someone tells us,
and when to say, "Nope. I'm not going there, doing that"?
We lead ourselves throughout our life,
saying "Yes," to this and "No," to that--
as though we know what we are doing.
But, how do we know
that this is yes and that is no?
Where do likes and dislikes come from?
Wants and don't-wants?
Good and bad?
Where do good and bad come from?
Why do we call good what we call good?
And not-good what we call not-good?
What pilots our boat on its path through the sea?
What picks our destinations,
and chooses our ports and our harbors?
How analytically to we actually live?
How intuitively, instinctively?
Where does our guidance come from?
How does it know what it is doing?
What makes us so sure our "right"
is really right?
And our "wrong" is all that wrong?
The Neighbor’s Tree 12/22/2008 — Greensboro, North Carolina
Our place in "the great scheme of things"
is to recognize and maintain
the proper working/living distance
between ourselves and our life.
This is to say
that we are to take everything
with the degree of seriousness
that it deserves--
and it deserves
that which is warranted
by the situation as it arises.
What now?
is always an appropriate question
to answer as is warranted
by the situation.
We have to learn to read
the situation.
We have to know what's what.
We have to see what's happening.
We have to hear what is
being called for.
We have to be empty
and quiet.
How long has it been
since you have been
empty and quiet?
How do you go about being,
and remaining,
empty and quiet?
How can you hope to see
what you look at
without being empty and quiet?
We cannot expect to live well
without being empty and quiet.
We have to keep a running tally
going in the background
at all times,
weighing,
measuring,
gauging,
adjusting,
optimizing,
the Nine Priorities
(Also called "The Nine Guides"):
Emptiness and Silence.
Balance and Harmony.
Sincerity and Integrity.
Spirit, Energy and Vitality.
With these in place,
everything flows.
We see, hear, understand,
know, do, and are in accord with
the Tao of Life and Being.
Until then,
it is pretty much what we have,
just as it is,
every day.
Everything changes
when we take stock
and get to work,
being and remaining,
empty and quiet,
etc.
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02
Grace’s Tiger 08-23-2018 — Grace is one of our granddaughters, and was 15 when the photo was taken
Jesus said,
"You have heard it said,
but I say unto you..."
"Who do you say that I am?"
"Why don't you judge for yourselves
what is right?"
Jesus is saying:
Stand on your own two feet!
Live out of your own authority!
Listen to your own heart!
Do what you say is right!
If you make a mistake,
it will become clear in time.
When it does, stop doing it!
Do something else instead--
whatever you determine needs to be done!
If you are wrong about that,
stop doing it!
Do something else instead--
whatever you determine needs to be done!
Got it?
Do it!
There are no steady states of being.
There is no static state of life.
Movement is the rhythm of the cosmos.
What is right in some circumstances
is wrong in different circumstances--
and the circumstances are always changing.
What we do in response to the circumstances
must change in response to the circumstances.
Nothing is suitable for all occasions.
We dance with the music of NOW!
We do what is called for HERE!
Who is to say what that is?
WE are!
We say what needs to be done,
here and now--
and we have to be right about it!
How do we know what is right?
We do something and see what happens,
and adjust what we do according to the outcomes
of what we are doing.
And we determine what to do here and now
by seeing what we look at
and listening to what is being said
on all levels--
particularly the level of our heart
and our body.
Let your heart and your body be your guides,
and you will never stray far from the path.
Listen to your heart and to your body
as much as you listen to your head.
Our heart and your body are co-collaborators
with our head in determining
WHAT needs to be done,
Where,
When,
Why
and How
They come alive
in emptiness and silence,
and come together
to shape our life and guide the way.
Logos is good for analytical thinking.
Mythos is good for instinctive and intuitive feeling.
Integrating mythos and logos is what
knowing and doing what is right
consists of,
allowing for the changes and adjustments
required by the time and place of our living,
over the full course of our life.
Got it?
Do it!
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03
Yellowstone River Canyon 03 06/30/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
My recommendation is that we die
with cookies in the oven
and crumbs on the plate.
Live all the way to the end!
Die in mid-sentence!
In mid-book!
In mid-stride!
Doing what you love to do!
Why spend one non-work-related minute
doing what we take no pleasure in?
Which means finding the pleasure
in the chores and tasks of life,
and doing them as they need to be done.
Which means getting our attitude
turned around!
This is the hidden element in
doing what needs to be done
the way it needs to be done!
We don't do that without
an attitude adjustment!
The AA slogan,
"Fake it 'til you make it!"
fits in here.
Act like you like it
whether you like it or not!
And play the part so well
not even you can tell that
you don't like it!
Deserve the Academy Award
every time you step into action!
You will make the world a better place
just by stopping all of the complaining
and pouting!
Sunset at Morton’s Overlook 06/06/2002 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
It is our place
to be sure that our actions
are in the service of balance and harmony,
and not in the service
of the forces of destabilization.
Sex, drugs and alcohol
are the top three most popular choices
in the service of destabilization
in the name of seeking balance and harmony.
"Just a little more,"
can become all there is
in short order,
and there is nothing then
to remove the massive degree
of destabilization we achieve thereby.
And, thus, the saying,
"We meet our fate
on the road we take
to escape it" (Carl Jung).
The solution is to meet--
and bear--
the pain at the start.
To stand up to the forces
of destabilization
before they build up momentum
and create karma.
We have to say, "No!" early on,
while those forces are young and malleable
Changing our relationship with our life then,
stops what is causing instability
in the early stages of imbalance.
We can't wait until they eat our life
for breakfast,
and begin looking around for lunch.
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02
Fall Woods 03 10/27/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
By acting out daily
in full view of the entire world,
Donald Trump--
as President of the United States,
no less--
called forth the dark side
lying latent in the immature
and unbalanced
throughout the land,
every land.
Everybody has something
to be angry about.
Masks and vaccinations for COVID19
became overnight symbols
of resistance and opposition
to all that is proper and appropriate
about life together.
Look at it as adolescents rebelling
against the necessity of accommodating
themselves to the requirements
of adulthood.
Trump is the eternal child--
the Puer aeternus--refusing to grow up,
and drawing to himself all those like him
in his infantile insistence
that how he wants things to be
is how things ought to be.
We all grow up against our will--
or remain an eternal child forever.
Growing up is an inside job,
accomplished only by those
who have the inner resolve
to do what needs to be done
whether they want to or not:
Wear a mask!
Be fully vaccinated!
Etc. ad nauseam.
Trump laughs at the idea,
and says, "First I want
you to do me a favor..."
"I want" is the unending refrain
of those who will not grow up.
Growing up is the capacity
to do what needs to be done--
and to go on doing it--
when there is nothing in it for us.
Flash back to the Garden of Eden,
Adam and Eve,
Original Sin.
The original sin is not eating
the forbidden fruit.
The original sin is The Profit Motive!
"If we eat this,
the world will be ours!"
Or, as it is written,
"The fruit of the tree was good for food
and pleasing to the eye,
and also desirable for gaining wisdom,"
which, as everyone knows,
was the path to happiness and glory everlasting.
"First, I want a favor..."
"I want. I WANT!"
"I don't want. I DON'T WANT!!!"
The "old, old, story," is being acted out today,
with "acting out" being
the primary mode of transmission.
Refusing to grow up is the bane
of human existence.
And dealing with those
who refuse to grow up
was the agony of Jesus,
who shouted,
"How long must I bear with you?
How long must I put up with you?"
We know exactly what he meant.
And if Jesus could not solve
the problem of terminal immaturity,
what chance have we?
Our place is to understand
that Jesus IS the solution
to terminal immaturity--
that the way back to Eden--
the way to the Promised Land--
is death to our dreams of having our way.
“We must be willing to let go of the life
we have planned
so as to have the life
that is waiting for us” (Joseph Campbell).
And "But first, I want a favor,"
has no place in this deal.
There is only doing or doing not
what waits to be done,
namely, living our life on our life's terms--
As though it were our idea from the start.
And if we do not die the death required
to do that,
we die the death of the eternal child
living in the service of "I WANT!!!"
all the way.
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03
Fall Woods 02 10/31/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
The Original Sin from a Taoist perspective
is The Profit Motive--
the idea of what's in it for us.
Taoism would say emptying ourselves
of even the desire to be empty
is the primary ground of being.
That from the emptiness comes the silence
that is the source of all than needs to be.
And that what we get out of being still
and quiet,
and listening to the silence
is the opportunity to serve
our original nature
in the eternal (Sisyphean) work
of doing what needs to be done,
where it needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
no matter what,
with nothing in it for us
beyond the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction
of having done it,
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.
Doing that is having it made
from a Taoist point of view.
It is being one with the heart
of life and being--
and that is all there is to be.
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04
Fall Woods 01 10/29/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
In The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell said:
"(It is) a matter of being able to accept chance.
The ultimate backing of life is chance—
the chance that your parents met, for example!
Chance, or what might seem to be chance,
is the means trough which life is realized.
The problem is not to blame,
or explain, but to handle the life that arises.
The best advice is to take it all
as if it had been of your intention—
with that,
you invoke the participation of your will.
Thinking in mythological terms
helps to put you in accord with
the inevitabilities of this vale of tears.
You learn to recognize the positive values
in what appear to be
the negative moments and aspects of your life.
The big question is whether
you are going to be able to say
a hearty yes to your adventure—
the adventure of being alive.
You’ve got to say yes
to this miracle of life as it is,
not on the condition that it follow your rules."
"The adventure of being alive,"
is the path of growing up.
Of taking things as they are,
and doing what we can imagine
to do with them.
To take what happens
and work with it
to produce what it might become--
who we might become,
as we are brought forth
in our work with what happens to us
day-to-day
along the way.
It is magical,
it is miraculous,
it is amazing,
and it all waits for us
to give our ascent
and full cooperation
to the task that is before us:
being who we are (our original nature),
where we are,
when we are,
how we are,
doing what needs to be done,
where it needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
no matter what,
with nothing in it for us
but the joy of doing it,
and the satisfaction
of having done it,
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.
Migration 01 Oil Paint Rendered — Pamlico Sound, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
When it is time to go,
everyone knows it,
and everyone goes.
How do they know it?
We will never get to the bottom of it.
We don't know how we know what we know.
Know it. Do it.
That's the rule.
When we know something needs to be done,
and don't do it,
it cycles around again and again,
until we do it.
Once we break the cycle by doing it,
then we are in the cycle of doing it
every time it comes around,
like the tides
and the seasons.
We are one with the rhythm,
moving with the motion,
swimming with the current,
a part of the flow,
of life and being.
Like migrating birds,
and butterflies,
and salmon.
Everything is a part
of the movement of life.
Everything knows when it is time
and what it is time for.
All of it knows without knowing
how it knows,
or caring.
Know. Do.
That's all there is.
Why? Just slows things down.
And why do that?
There is mythos
and there is logos.
Unconscious knowing,
and conscious knowing.
Reason and logic belong
to conscious knowing.
Instinct and intuition
belong to unconscious knowing.
Integrating mythos and logos
is a superpower,
allowing us to live on two levels
at once.
Knowing and doing
without worrying about why.
Or how.
Know what it's time for
and do it.
If you are wrong,
it cycles back around.
Keep practicing until you get it down.
Knowing. Doing.
That's all there is.
Like birds on a wire.
Or returning to Capistrano.
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02
Fall Woods 06 11/03/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
Who enjoys the benefits
of your protection?
The comfort of your
benevolent presence
regardless of the intervening distance?
This is the company
of your companionship
I'm talking about.
Who are your traveling companions?
No matter how far apart you are?
What does the protection
of your presence mean
however far away you are?
Do you keep each other safe
in your thoughts
and kind regard?
Do you guard each other
in your tender mercy?
How tender is your mercy?
And theirs?
How extensive and encompassing
is your protection and compassion?
And theirs?
When you extend to someone
the companionship
of your caring presence--
or withdraw it--
can they tell?
How safe are they in your presence,
whether present or distant?
How safe are you in theirs?
In what ways is your presence--
and theirs--
a blessing and a grace?
Mock companionship
is no companionship at all.
What shift has to take place
in your perception and orientation,
intention and execution,
for your companionship
to be actual and real,
tangible and true?
For you to be a worthy companion,
in season and out of season,
through all the seasons
and times of life?
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03
Fall Woods 03 10/29/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
The nature of the journey
makes/requires companions.
We have to be capable of companionship
to make it all along the way.
We do not--cannot--travel alone.
We are comforted,
guided,
protected,
kept safe
by those who have gone before us,
come after us,
travel with us,
from start to finish--
if there is a finish,
which I doubt.
I see us as going on forever
on a trek that has no end,
but is, itself,
that which we all seek,
and produce by looking,
searching,
inquiring,
observing,
seeing,
hearing,
understanding,
knowing,
doing,
being...
without end.
Amen.
Monument Valley Dawn 09/25/2007 — Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona
We feel our way along.
Our body leads us,
in cahoots with our original nature
and its instincts and intuition.
We arrive with what we are born with,
and what we pick up on the way.
The "Uh-oh Feeling" is everybody's
go-to pitch coming out of the pen.
When that is working for us,
we can afford mistakes,
and still get out of the inning
every time.
With, "Wait! What?"
and "What did you just say?"
in our repertoire,
we have all it takes
to find what it takes
to go all the way.
And, if we drift away
from the way,
it's a simple matter
of sitting still,
being quiet,
paying attention
and being aware
of what we are feeling,
sensing,
intuiting,
knowing
to get back on track
and on the beam,
allowing realization
and comprehension
to carry us home.
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02
Fall Woods 10/27/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
"Who am I?"
"What am I about?"
Are the grounding,
centering,
focusing
questions
putting us back in touch
with our own two feet
and a heart thoroughly capable
of leading the way.
Being clear about what matters most
flowing from
balance and harmony,
emptiness and silence,
spirit, energy and vitality
is all the direction we need
to be back in the saddle
in the center of the path
only we can see
by feeling our way along,
one step at a time,
moment to moment
in each situation as it arises,
sensing what's happening
and what needs to happen in response
here and now
all the way.
"Nothing to it but to do it,"
as Maya Angelou would say.
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03
Fall Woods 02 10/27/2006 Oil Paint Rendered–Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
When we live to express
our original nature
in ways that are appropriate
to the occasion,
we trust ourselves to ourselves,
and allow the outcome be the outcome.
The problem is that we want to
control/manage our outcomes
in the effort to achieve ends
that matter to us
more than our original nature does.
Whoops! Who just lost the way?
Not our original nature!
Our original nature knows the way,
and if we lose the way
it is because we have lost connection
with our original nature,
thinking we know more about the way
than our original nature knows.
There is no way that could happen!
Our original nature is built for the way,
and all we have to do is get out of the way
for the way to be central and foremost
every day,
as we feel the right response
to what is called for
in each moment
of every situation as it arises.
The catch is we can't be manipulating moments
in the service of what we take to be
our gain,
our advantage,
our profit,
our best interest,
and our way.
Our way has to be staying out of the way,
and allowing our original nature
to show the way
by doing what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
no matter what,
all the way.
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04
Linville Cove Viaduct Panorama 10/12/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina, On the Flank of Grandfather Mountain
Angels of light are angels of death
in a different light.
Good angels are bad angels,
depending on how good our idea of the good is.
If our idea of the good is not so good,
it will be a bad angel that we deal with.
How good is the good we call good?
The answer to that one tells the tale.
"Sways the future" as the old song says.
Caiphas was the High Priest of Jerusalem
at the time of Jesus' death.
You would think being high
would make him close to God,
but not so much.
He was politician to the hilt,
playing the odds to insure the best
came his way.
How good was Caiaphas' idea of the best?
It was very good for him.
That's the way our idea of the good
generally runs.
It is our good we think of
when we think of good.
Good for us is what we mean
when we call something "good."
We hardly ever, make it never,
think it applies to their good--
the good of those people.
Over there.
What are we going to do with us?
Sit down with us,
I hope.
And look together at how things are.
I mean Really Are.
In a what's what
and what are we going to do about it?
Kind of way.
What do we mean calling good
what we call good?
Serving our good
at the expense of everyone else's good?
How good is the good we call good?
We should sit down with ourselves
and that question,
and figure out how different we are
from, say, Caiaphas.
And what to do about it.
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 