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?
Knife Edge — The Katahdin Range — Sandy Stream Pond, Baxter State Park, Maine
We have to be available.
What it means to be available is this: "Those who would be my disciple have to pick up their cross everyday and come with me."
Cross-bearing is making the routine sacrifice/practice of handing over what we want in the service of what needs to be done, when, where and how it needs to be done, in each situation as it arises, no matter what.
It is like this. People manifest their desires in hopes of producing what they want in their life and avoiding what they don't want.
Just like people pray to God to give them this and give them that and save them from that, and that, and that over there.
There is no giving, getting, being saved.
Manifesting anything is shaping ourselves to live in accordance with, aligned with, what is asked of us in each situation as it arises. It is not about us getting anything. It is about us doing whatever is necessary to serve the needs of the situation, where, when and how they are needed, never mind what that means for us personally.
We make ourselves available and do what is necessary.
Our life needs certain things of us in each situation as it arises. It is our place to meet the moment the way the moment needs to be met, whatever that means for us personally.
"Pick up your cross and follow me."
Jesus was all about aligning himself with the needs of his Psyche in each situation as it arose. He called it "doing his Father's will. His Father was his Psyche. Who spoke to him constantly. When Jesus said, "Pray always," he meant for us to understand that to be always be present with and in service to our Psyche in every moment of every day.
Being that close to our Psyche is not difficult. It only takes a shift in perspective to understand that our Psyche is in constant touch with us. Our intuition leads the way every day, but we have our eyes on what is in it for us, and on what we want to do and what we want to happen, and are mostly unaware of our Psyche's presence anywhere in the day.
But. If we sit down, shut up, be quiet, and listen, look, we will see and hear and be amazed at how the Tao (That is the Way of Psyche) is flowing along through every moment of every day--not for our personal benefit, but for the good of the whole, the good of the moment, the good of the day, every day.
Living in synch with the flow is how things work best, and we will benefit from that, but it will not be the kind of benefit we have in mind. Personal advancement to the point of having everything always just like we like is not in play. Being who we are doing what is ours to do all day long every day is that which is ours to do. That is our practice. Being who we are, doing what is ours to do, here, now.
Everything waits for that.
And why would we do that? For the simple joy of doing it and the satisfaction of having done it.
"For the joy that was set before him he endured the agone--the agony--of the way that was the way." Like Sisyphus pushing the rock up hill and trudging down hill to walk the rock up hill... Jesus had his rock, Sisyphus had his rock, we have our rock. No? And all it takes is flipping a switch to see it as the joy that is set before us and do what calls us to do it, where, when and how it calls us to do it, here and now, some more again today.
The View From Springer’s Point — Ocracoke Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Outer Banks, North Carolina
We are the source of everything that isn't a rock or a tree. Including God. We made it all up, right out of our own Psyche/imagination. We told ourselves stories that scared us into making up other stories to calm us down. Hate, anger, fear and greed are the origin of most of our problems with ourselves and each other. The gentle values, like compassion, empathy, sympathy and a noble heart help offset the violence and destructiveness we are capable of in the grip of emotions beyond our control. But it all is our responsibility, and due solely to being born without an instruction guide and nothing more than what we sense and tell ourselves to guide and direct us along the way.
The wisest/best ancestors I know of are the Taoist, Buddhist, Zen (And Zen is what happened when Taoism met Buddhism) Masters. Jewish/Christian theologians are brutal and ruthless, and their religion reflects that to the core.
Our Psyche is the true source of everything, with us projecting our experience with Psyche onto the outer world and finding Out There what we discover In Here. Awakening occurs when we put things together in an "Aha!" kind of way, but we are torn by wanting what we want when we want it, which is a problem because it clashes with what we also want, and has been a problem forever. Which is the real "Aha!" discovery at the heart of who and how we are.
We find relief from all that ails us simply dropping into the emptiness/stillness/silence and waiting for our questions to lead to realization/awareness over the course of the rest of our life, and guide us along the way.
Lake Haigler Fall 2017 — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, SC
We are all that stands between us and the Void.
That being the case, we might think we would be doing a better job laying a foundation with ourselves that will allow us to deal with what's coming up, instead of looking the other way and hoping for the best. If the best were in play, we wouldn't be here now.
So, here is my suggestion. Trust yourself to have what it takes to do what is necessary in rising to any occasion and taking care of business the way business needs to be taken care of in each situation as it arises throughout the time left for living.
Understanding clearly that in order for ourselves to have the cooperation we need from us, we have to practice deepening, expanding, enabling the development of our relationship with ourselves. More specifically, I am talking about our Psyche here.
Our Psyche has been with us from the start, and I mean from the start of life. And, yes, I am talking evolution here. We have evolved as psychic beings. Everything has. The Psyche is the invisible life force at work in all sentient beings throughout the Cosmos. And, with more cooperation, things would be much better for all of life, but that is another topic.
Today we are talking about improving our awareness of and our relationship with the Psychic side of ourselves--that would be all of the aspects of ourselves that we are unconscious of.
It would be right to think of our Psyche as our Unconscious, and also as our Soul. She has us covered from the standpoint of all invisible, easily ignored, aspects of life beyond our physical state of being.
Our Psyche is in charge of our dreamworld, and all of our dreams are her way of saying to us, "This is the way your life is right now. What are you going to do about it?" Every dream makes this statement and asks this question, and we blow right by them saying, "I dreamed the strangest dream last night," and it is gone by the time we get dressed for the day.
We have to improve the depth and degree of our attention that we give the Psychic world which exists just on the other side of our conscious awareness, and begin cooperating with that which knows best about what is called for here, now, in the service of the Tao and doing the right thing at the right time, in the right place and the right way, which is Psyche's speciality, forever and always.
We take up the practice of Dropping into the silence/stillness/emptiness, Tuning into Psyche's presence, and Turning on to doing what needs to be done here, now in each situation as it arises with "peaceful abiding" everlasting.
Sailboats at Sunset — Silver Lake, Ocracoke Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Outer Banks, North Carolina
We lived for a while with the fantasy of Galahad and his heart of nobility, purity and grace carrying us forth like Jesus from the grave as a goal for us to strive for, a human wonder for us to be, but.
There was always littleness, meanness, hatred, greed, wrath and fear shinning through, getting in the way, and, in the end, the truth prevailed.
More of us wanted to be like Donald Trump than like Jesus and Galahad. And if not actually more, close enough for it not to matter for the dream of Liberty! Justice! Equality! Truth! to become just another WOKE dream crashing into the reality of My Way Now No Matter What! hidden beneath the guise of MAGA! And its disdain for Democracy and its hope for how things ought to be.
How ought things be? Who says so? Who cares? Here we are! Now what? What guides our boat on its path through the sea? My choice is for Emptiness, Stillness, Silence to lead the way.
Sitting still enough long enough to see, hear, know, understand, what's what and what is called for and what needs to be done in its service no matter what, when, where and how it needs to be done, and rising to do the right thing at the right time in the right place and the right way here and now day by day forever, starting now, you and I together, all the way--may it be so, no?
The Buddha saw "Peaceful abiding, here, now," as the foundation of "having life and having it abundantly." I call it "Looking out the window."
When I sit, I sit looking out the window, at the focal point, the foundation, of "having life and having it abundantly."
Everywhere can be the vehicle/Portkey/threshold/doorway to "peaceful abiding, here, now," "having life and having it abundantly."
Depending entirely on our perspective and point of view. How we see things IS how things are, in the sense that how we see things is how we respond to things, is how/what we take things to be. We are the fulcrum, the pivot point, from where things are to how things need to be. How/what we see when we look at it determines what response we make to it and where things go from here, now to what's next.
We make the world we live in by the way we look at it and what we say about it.
What do you say about the photograph above? What do you say about your life? Why that and not something else instead?
We are the Portkey to our future, here, now. Our perspective, point of view, way of perceiving, shapes and forms our world. We hold the power of transformation just by being aware of what we see when we look at anything, everything. Why that and not something else instead?
How many different ways can we see things in a day? That's how many worlds we can live in in a day. No?
How many different ways can we see the photograph of hemlock islands in Penobscot Bay, taken from Deer Isle, Maine?
Marianne Moore said, and this is one of my favorite quotes, "Solitude is the sure cure for loneliness." We flip the switch on the photo above by seeing solitude or loneliness. No?
And so on, throughout the day, every day.
Of course, "seeing things as they are" is seeing things as they also are. Which is to say that nothing IS what it appears to be except in the eye of those to whom it appears to be that way. Which is to say that it is all a fiction, capable of being whatever we are in to mood for, or not in the mood for, in a particular time and place. Everything varies according to our "state of mind," whatever that means. It means that everything is a projection of ours onto whatever we are looking at here, now. We are making it all up all of the time. We can't help but make it all up all of the time. So that what we see is an extension of who we are at the time we see what we look at. Everything is a mirror reflecting us to us. When we start seeing us in the way we see everything around us, we will be on the right track at last, to realization, recognition, enlightenment, understanding, laughing, loving, being alive. No?
Riding the Railroad Through Canada — Jasper National Park, Alberta
I would like to live exactly where I am living, and be doing exactly what I am doing. I wouldn't change a thing. It's called "Having it made."
And, what does one do when one has it made? What is called for in each situation as it arises, day after day. Which may have nothing to do with what one would want to do.
Wanting does not know a thing. Wanting is not a reliable guide to having it made. I did not get here by wanting to. I got here by doing what was called for one situation at a time.
I know people who are plotting to be somewhere else. Their life has a better idea of where they need to be than they do. My best advice to them is to forget where you want to be and focus on doing what is called for here, now. One here, now after another.
I don't remember when this occurred to me. I know that I did not think it up and put it into place. I simply realized what I was doing, and had been doing. Looking back, I think it started in Seminary. I was taking Greek and Hebrew as though that was going to somehow help me in the ministry. Reading Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell would have helped me in the ministry--and did, when I stumbled upon them as a part of doing what was called for here, now.
Which started in Seminary with me doing Greek and Hebrew because that was what was called for here, now, no matter what I wanted to do. And it has been guiding the way ever since.
I call it "being lucky," and I remember that Alan Watts said that is what people say about people who are simply doing what is called for situation by situation--which is "enlightenment" as "habitual intuition." Sensing/doing what is called for one situation at a time. The Tao. Doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, in the right place. Not by thinking our way forward, rationally, intellectually, reasonably, but simply by knowing/sensing what was called for, what needed to be done, no matter what, one situation at a time.
It is the way that is not a way at all. Or, as Martin Palmer would say, "The path that appears to be a path is not a reliable path."
The path that is The Path is known only in hindsight. Doing Greek and Hebrew when they needed to be done led to doing Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell when they needed to be done. And here we are. Clueless about what's next, but trusting myself to know it when it calls my name.
Boone Fork Reflection — Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Nothing beats--and everything flows from--asking the questions that beg to be asked and saying the things that cry out to be said. Doing so paves the way for reflection that leads to realization. And that leads to seeing, hearing, knowing, doing, being what is called for in each situation as it arises--and no one can do better than that, or ask for more than that. No?
Sunwapta River and Falls — Jasper National Forest, Canadian Rockies, Alberta
Realization comes from our reflection on our experience. We make up the bullshit to suit ourselves. For instance, what makes dirty words dirty? And what makes white people superior? Where does experience end and projection/assumption/presumption begin?
We know so much that isn't so, who can keep track anymore? Bullies have taken over the world. Normal people are an endangered species. I am hereby prescribing 26 hours a day of emptiness, stillness and silence for everyone.
The right kind of silence is the cure to all of our problems. In the right kind of silence, we can ask all of the questions that beg to be asked of all of the things that cry out to be said. And things heal themselves as if by magic. Which is the reverse of how things got to be the way they are. Which is by talking, talking, talking about things they don't know anything about.
We have to sit down, shut up, be quiet and wait for the idiocy to pass. Nobody speaks until it is gone. Talking about things we know nothing about is the source of all of our problems today. Conspiracy theorists lead the way away from the way. Silence is the path to sanity.
Morant’s Curve — Banff National Park, Canadian Rockies, Banff National Park, Alberta
We do not suffer from a dearth of information. We suffer from an abundance of desire. We want everything. Stop wanting and everything falls into place. Then, we do what is called for and not what satisfies our current craving.
If we wanted emptiness, stillness and silence the way we want what we want, it would be a different world like that (snaps fingers).
Our problems are not solvable intellectually, rationally, logically. They are solved emotionally, psychically, by changing our mind about what is important.
We cannot continue wanting what we want and think things are going to be different when we get it.
We have to stop wanting what we want, and give ourselves to the service of doing what is called for whether we want to or not (But. We have to do it as though we want to).
We have to do what is called for here, now in such a way that we cannot tell ourselves whether we want to do it or not. AA calls this "faking it until we make it." We have to live as though we don't want a drink until we don't want a drink. We have to do live as though we want to do what is called for here, now, until we do what is called for here, now, spontaneously, automatically, naturally.
"There is nothing to it but to do it" (Maya Angelo).
Tethered. The boat is useless and in the way unless it is tethered to something throughout its life. The same thing applies to each of us. To what are we tethered? What anchors us? declares what we are about? To what do we belong? What is our business? Ours to do?
Our identity is wrapped up in what is ours to do. Who are we? What is ours to do? We live to know. To find out. To discover. That is the whole point of our life. I am here to look out the window and see where it goes. To do what is asked of me here, now in light of who I have been and what I have done up to this point. The way only I can do it.
Jesus was who he was, doing what was his to do. I am who I am, doing what is mine to do. You are who you are, doing what is. yours to do.
Our life shows us who we are. Reveals to us what is ours to do. We know that by looking back over our life and seeing who we have been, what we did, have done, with the life we have lived.
We show ourselves who we are by looking into the mirror of our past life. What signals, shouts out, who we are what is ours to do? There we are. Our future is in our past. Our place here, now is to embrace who we have been what we have done, and do that with intention, determination, awareness and zeal in the time left for living.
To be who Jesus was is to be who we have been. That is all Jesus ever did, be who he was. Doing what was his to do. In the way that only he could do it.
My photographs show me who I am. I am the boat. Alone. Yet tethered to what is mine to do. In each situation as it arises. As only I can do it. As long as life shall last.
They live around making a life at Peggy's Cove. We live detached from making a life. We make a life "at the office," or somewhere out of sight. Away from where our life is lived.
I like the idea of living being what we do wherever we are, by giving ourselves to what is called for in each moment.
Do not put off what is called for! I wish life worked like that. And it could work like that if we would just "get in the zone" of doing what is called for, where, when and how it is called for wherever, whenever, however we are.
It only takes a shift in attention to do it, and putting wanting in its place.
Wanting directs our living. We have to put wanting aside in order to see what's happening here, now, and what that calls for here, now, never mind what we want.
The story of the Garden of Eden is a metaphor about wanting. Wanting that gets in the way of doing what is called for is sin. The primary sin.
Doing what is called for here, now is the cross that is ours to bear.
Atonement and redemption are about getting back on track and making doing what is called for the most important thing, never mind what we want.
That is the practice--doing what is called for--we all are asked to take up and perfect throughout the time left for living, wherever, whenever we are.
The psychological mechanism of Projection turns a psychic reality into a spiritual being--projecting "out there, up there" what is "in here." I cannot be the first/only person to figure that out. So, why are we still awash in the hocus-pocus, "Bubba! Help me!" stuff?
Bubba is "in here"! WE are BUBBA! Psychic reality is all we have! It is all we need! It has gotten us where we are! It will get us the rest of the way!
Truth impacts us in one of two ways. In the presence of Truth we either laugh or cry. I'm rolling on the floor, laughing. The joke is on us. We are what we worship and adore. Pander and serve. "We are all we have. We are all we need."
We meet who we are in the emptiness, stillness, silence. We wake up, see, hear, know, understand, who we are, what we are about and what is called for in each situation as it arises, do that, and that is all there is to it.
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 