01

When the destabilizing forces
roll through your world,
how do you re-stabilize?

What do you do to restore
balance and harmony?

I wait to find the next thing
that needs to be done
and do it.

And then find the next thing
that needs to be done
and do it.

And on and on like that.

Doing the next thing
carries us past the last thing.
And when we are overwhelmed,
we can get our feet back under us
just doing the next thing that needs doing,
and the thing after that,
and letting our thinking be focused
on what we are doing,
and not on what's going to happen,
and what are we going to do...

The focus is just on what we are doing,
right here, right now.
And on what is the next thing.
This thing and the next thing
are all we need to worry about
right here, right now.

Restore our balance.
Regain our harmony.
Seek the consolation
of the inner guide,
the ministrations of soul/psyche,
the comfort of the communion
of our ancestors mediated
through the Collective Unconscious 
of our DNA.
Knowing we are not alone,
but carry the genetic makeup
of people who were slammed and stunned 
and found what they needed to carry on.

We belong to a great company
of those who were destabilized and undone
and figured out how to do it
and come through it.

Open to their presence and guidance,
wisdom and insight
flowing into and merging with our own
and finding that to be a source
of courage and strength
in the darkness waiting for the light.
In the silence listening for the sound
of goodness and life
coming to life again.
Even here.
Even now.
Even yet.
Even so.

–0–

02

Every scene is better
at one time than another.
The photographer's work
is waiting on the right time
and knowing it when they see it.

Not every time is the right time
to take a photograph.

Snapshooters don't know this,
and treat all times alike.

This is the only difference
between anybody with a camera
and a photographer with a camera.

Taking pictures out of the picture,
all times are the right time for something.

It is our place as Servants of The Way
to know what this time,
this moment,
this here and now,
is the right time for--
to know what needs to be done
here and now,
and to do it exactly when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
and do it no matter what,
time after time,
place after place,
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.

The right word,
the right act,
in the right place
and the right time
is a miracle of time and place.

As Servants of The Way,
we are Masters of the Miracle
of time and place.

What is it time for right here,
right now?

Do it!
Straight from the heart!
With complete sincerity and spontaneity!
And do not worry about the outcome!
Trust yourself to the moment!
And press the shutter button!

In this way,
you will be making miracles happen
all of the time.

–0–

03

If I were to do my life over
I would do it differently.

I would start with my parents
and my point of origin.

But, here I am.

Here we all are.
This is it.
This is what we have to work with.
Just as it is.
Just as we are.

Now what?

How we answer that question
makes all the difference,
day in and day out
for the rest of the time left for living.

Given the givens,
what can we imagine doing with them
right here, right now?

How we live right here, right now,
determines,
or at least,
strongly influences,
what happens next.
And that changes everything,

This moment, 
right here, right now,
is the fulcrum,
the pivot point,
levering our future into position.

Do. Not. Do. It. Like. You. Have. 
Always. Done. It.

You can transform what remains of your life
right here, right now.

Our parents and our point of origin
are our parents and our point of origin.
What we do with that,
and with all that lies between 
then and now,
is our call to make
from this moment going forward.

We are not bound to live here and now
like we have lived in all the moments
preceding this moment.
Here, now, is where we act
to transform our possibilities
and our likelihoods.

Here, now, is where we act
to reclaim our potential
and recast our chances
and our prospects.

What is this moment asking of us?
What future are we being called to,
right here and right now?

How we live here and now,
puts that future into motion,
and makes it more likely
than it was just a moment ago.

When you sit quietly,
in the silent stillness,
what can you feel/sense
stirring within,
hoping you will give it a chance
to show you what you can become
even now, even yet,
never mind where you came from,
or who your parents were?

Follow the drift of that movement!
Give your soul the opportunity
to twinkle and dance!

We all know what our past is?
Why allow the future to just be more of that?
Why not live to find out what the future
may yet be?

Live out of your own authority
toward what is struggling/hoping
to be born in you,
through you,
even now,
even yet, 
even so! 

–0–

04

How we meet the moment
determines everything that follows.

The way to proceed 
moment by moment
is to be right about what needs 
to happen there,
and serve that with our life.

Our liege loyalty
and filial devotion
has to be to what needs to happen
in each moment
of each situation as it arises.

To step aside from the needs of the moment
is to shirk our duty to the needs of life,
and open the way to chaos and disaster.
We had that tandem off
by rising to every occasion
and 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
in every situation as it arises
throughout our life.

To forsake the needs of the situation
in serving our own interests,
is to abandon our calling
and live lost to our wants and desires.
And, whoops, uh-oh, here we are.

We find our way back to the path
we were born to live
by the simple formula
of being right about what needs to be done
in each moment,
and serve it with our life.

And because it takes a certain knack
to know what is right,
we start with what seems/feels 
to be right 
and do that,
and read the outcome
to adjust our response
to the situation that arises.

And if it becomes apparent
that wasn't what needed to be done,
we reconsider the situation,
and do what seems/feels to be right,
and read the outcome
to adjust our response
to the situation that arises.

And, so on, until we are right
about what needs to happen
in the situation that has arisen--
and live to be right
about what needs to happen
in each situation that follows.

This is called,
"Living the adventure of our life." 

01

I recommend that you make a mandala
your personal symbol/reminder/guide
for achieving and maintaining 
balance and harmony--
which imply and include
sincerity, integrity,
spirit, energy and vitality. 

You are familiar, surely,
with the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Inventory.
It is a quick reference tool
for the opposites within us
that need to be consciously and conscientiously 
maintained in a fluid state of balance and harmony,
in order that we might respond
to our circumstances spontaneously and appropriately
in 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
in each situation as it arises.

Extraversion (E)
Introversion (I)

Sensing (S)
Intuition (N)

Thinking (T)
Feeling (F)

Judging (J)
Perceiving (P)

These are categories of preferences 
that we all are capable of
which we need to be able to call on
as needed by the time and place of our living.

Consciously working to balance our ability
to be comfortable using either pair of opposites
in each category
positions us to be ready to meet
whatever the day brings,
confident in our ability to respond
appropriately as needed--
without thinking, plotting or planning--
because we are naturally capable
of living from the center of all extremes
in the moment it is called for
upon the field of action.

This is not about getting our way,
but doing what needs to be done.
Being overly concerned for having our way,
shifts us from the center
and tilts us toward using any means
necessary to get what we want.

Balance and harmony go out the window,
and we are left to fight it out
with whatever we think will serve our purpose
at the moment.

Living from the center
will not serve our way
unless our way 
is to live from the center
and let the outcome be the outcome.

A mandala will not help accomplish
our goals
unless our goals 
are to live from the center
and let the outcome be the outcome.

There is living from our heart.
And there is living from the will to achieve/
acquire/possess/dominate/subjugate/and succeed.

First, we have to decide what is important
and how to know if we are right about it 
being important.

Then we can decide if a mandala is right for us.

–0–

02

If you have no affinity for mystery in your life,
there is nothing I can do for you,
and you are wasting your time here.

There is nothing anybody can do for you,
and you may as well be fitted for a casket,
and lie in it waiting for it to be time
for the dirt and a headstone,
for all the good walking around is going to do you.
You are already dead, waiting to die.

That is what having no affinity for mystery is good for.
"Absolutely nothing."
Same as war.

But, for you folks who enjoy your affinity for mystery,
you are awash in all that life has to offer!
Splash around in it!
Relish it!
Seek out the radiance and the wonder--

learn to see it everywhere,
at all times!

Everything reeks of mystery!
Speaks of mystery!
Resounds with mystery!
Confounds with mystery!

Learn to recognize it,
embrace it,
love it,
dance with it,
cuddle it,
coddle it,
laugh with it
and walk with it
throughout the time left for living!

You will be better off for it
in countless ways!

–0–

03

The Vision Quest,
The Hero's Journey,
and Coming of Age
all amount to the same thing:
Growing Up.

We put growing up off forever.
The culture encourages it.
Growing up is bad for the economy,
and the economy drives the culture.

The value of money 
depends upon the flow of money.
When a depression hits,
the wealthiest of the wealthy thrive,
but the merely wealthy
and the middle class
and the lower class
all suffer immense loss 
of status and comfort,
because money stopped flowing.

Growing up creates a depression-like impact
in that mature people 
don't spend money as their immature
look-a-likes do.
They don't need to.
They have no use of the diversions
money creates and sustains.

Growing up is not something
people stand in line to do,
and it doesn't take much 
of a glittering alternative
to hijack an entire culture
into terminal immaturity
for generations.

Our culture has been doing it from the start.
We create cultures to avoid growing up.
It is what we do best.

Nobody takes up a vision quest,
launches themselves on the hero's journey
or goes to the trouble of coming of age
because they recognize it as a good idea.
They do it because their life requires it
and they prefer that to their
drug-sex-and-alcohol-laced alternatives
(or as the only option left
after drugs, sex and alcohol
provides them with a near-death
wake-up-or-else experience).

Growing up is coming to terms
with what's what,
in a "This is the way things are,
and this is what we can do about it,
and that's that" kind of way--
with one of the things we can do about it
being growing up,
accepting not having/getting my way
and letting it be because it is
being all that is left,
and doing what can be done
with what's left 
after "my way" is taken off the table.

Growing up is living in ways
other than our own.

Everyone who grows up,
grows up against their will.
And does what they can
with what's left.

That is the vision quest,
the hero's journey,
and coming of age
reduced to their naked truth.

Good luck with your own version
of the process.

01

We can determine the degree
of our knowledge of God
by the quality of our balance and harmony,
sincerity and integrity,
spirit, energy and vitality.

These are the Seven Markers of Godliness.
The higher their quality within us,
the deeper our knowledge of, affinity for, God--
and the lower their quality within us,
the shallower and more deficient
our knowledge of and affinity for God is.

We improve our knowledge of and affinity for God
by improving our capacity for, 
and expression of,
balance and harmony,
sincerity and integrity.
spirit, energy and vitality.

These seven areas are where
God comes to life in our life,
and are where we experience and express
oneness with God.

If you don't have any idea regarding
the quality of these areas in your life,
ask those who know you best what they think,
and ask those who know you least what they think.
Then decide what you think
about what they think.

–0–

02

We have to know what our business is
and tend it.
And know what our business is not
and walk on by.

This is a twist on the old AA slogan,
"Take what you need and leave the rest behind."

"Do what is yours to do and leave the rest behind."

Knowing what is, and is not, ours to do
is knowing where to draw the line. 

Frasier Snowden said, 
"The only true philosophical question
is 'Where do you draw the line?'"

Knowing where we draw it is essential knowing.
Drawing it is essential doing.

We are the sole authority governing 
how we live our life.
And, of course, we have to be right about it,
about where we draw lines 
and all the rest
(But all the rest is really about drawing lines,
when and where and how.
That's all there is).

And this is not a problem, being right about it all,
that is.

It is only a matter of time.

We draw a line,
or see what needs to be done and do it,
and if we are wrong,
we draw another line,
and see what needs doing next time and do it.
And if we are wrong,
we just keep drawing and doing,
and over time,
we get better at it.

So start exercising your authority
over your own life.
Draw lines where you think
lines need to be drawn.
Do what you think needs to be done.
And make adjustments as necessary
for as long as adjustments are necessary.

"Nothing to it,
but to do it"
(Maya Angelou).

–0–

03

Jesus' core message was
"You Can't Kill The Truth!"

That is what he meant when he said,
"You shall know the truth,
and the truth shall set you free."

"Because truth cannot die!"

Servants die in the service of truth
knowing truth cannot die.
And they pass it on,
knowing it lives on
through those who do so.

We are here to pass it on,
knowing that in so doing,
we are participating in 
the sacred act of transmission--
taking our place in the company
of all of those who have 
taken up the cause of truth
and been strong in its service
through the eons and ages
of its unfolding and coming forth.

And this is the weak link in the chain.

Truth dies when we turn away.
Are bought off,
are afraid of what will happen to us,
and live contriving a life
as though life is what matters.

Truth is what matters.

Living truthfully is the only thing.

Truth lives on in those who live truthfully.

If we do not live as though it is so,
truth dies in our hands
and blows away 
like dust in the wind.

We are living in windy times.

How we live in here, now,
makes all the difference.

Truth lives on
through those who die
in the service of truth.

In the service of the truth
of what matters most.

Do we know what that is?
Are we right about it?
Will we die for it?

What matters most?

–0–

04

Surround yourself with people
who are doing it the way
it needs to be done.

Hang out with the right kind of people.
The kind of people who see for themselves
what's what,
and what's to be done about it,
and do it,
on their own authority,
no matter what everybody else
is seeing and doing.

How many people do you know
who are like that?
Buddy-up to them.
If they will have you around.

You might have to practice being
one of those people 
in order to be recognized as one,
and allowed into their company.

You could do worse.

A lot worse.

–0–

05

The foundation of existence is "as if/as though."

The ground beneath us is not solid/sure/certain.
We are in free-fall pretending to be 
on solid rock.

We live as if/as though it all makes sense.

Life eats life!
How much sense does that make?
It doesn't matter if it makes sense or not.
We have to do what we have to do--
if that means a burger and fries,
then a burger and fries it is.

While we talk about the meaning of life,
which requires the death of something
in order to continue living.
And nobody says, "Huh?"
Everybody keeps chewing.

"Just keep chewing!" is the order of the day.
It all hangs on our not-saying,
not-asking,
not-knowing the obvious.
This. Does. Not. Make. Any. Sense. What. So. Ever.

The economy runs the show.
We have doctors and dentists and the entire health industry
working to keep people living longer
so the economy will be sound,
but they don't want us being so healthy
that we quit drinking, smoking, doing drugs,
and start eating wisely and being healthy.

Healthy lifestyles are bad for the economy.
It would be better to die early
than to live long and healthily. 

"Just keep chewing!"

Religion falls into the 
Makes No Sense category as well,
but it makes no sense to go there.
Yet, while we are here, 
I will mention just one tiny "Huh?"
in passing:

You've heard of unconditional love,
I'm sure. 
God loves us unconditionally. Got it?
And just in case that doesn't to it
and turn everyone to God in prayer
of joy and thanksgiving,
God has Hell waiting in the wings.
How unconditionally loving is that?

"Just keep chewing!"

Just live "as if/as though" it makes
all the sense in the world.

"As if/as though" is the wind beneath our wings.

And that is good 
in that it frees us
to live with abandon,
and allows us to experiment
with our life,
doing what we think needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
without having to check the rules
to see if it is allowed.

There. Are. No. Rules.
Other than the provisional ones
we make up among ourselves
to smooth the way of social discourse
and ease our way in the world.

So, we do what we think is right
and see what happens,
and if the outcome calls for
adjustment and alteration,
we make the adjustments and alterations
that seem good to us,
and see what happens,
and so on
throughout our time upon the earth,
figuring things out as we go,
and making what sense of things we can,
all the way.

It is a great way to live,
"as if/as though."
It is like learning to fly,
with "as if/as though"
as the wind beneath our wings!

01

Our life is built around 
and flows from
the things the express,
exhibit,
reveal,
disclose
our original nature
and declare who we are.

"What I do is me,"
said Gerad Manley Hopkins,
speaking for all of us,
"for that I came."

We are to live to see to it
that this is so
in our own case.

What would you need to do differently
to make it so?

How much of what you do is you,
and how much is what you do
to get/keep what you want?
How much expresses your desire to have/get,
and how much expresses your need 
to be/express/do/exhibit/make real/bring forth/serve?

Keep your eye on what drives you to action,
and deliberately seek out 
what you need to do
to convey who you are--
and do it!

–0–

02

I do not know 
how to get people to be good.

The world is dying because of 
the absence of good people.

Really bad people are everywhere
it seems.

People have lost their direction
but are not anchored 
to their own core
and have drifted into a dead zone
where nothing is alive 
to the wonder of its own being,
and everything wants to be happy
without paying the price of happiness,
so you can imagine how that's going,
or maybe you don't have to imagine it.

This is life in the wasteland
where all is wasting away,
and the life force has long since
disappeared.

People think money is a substitute,
but it is a sign of utter lifelessness
when money is used as a stand-in for life.
Money cannot buy life.
Life is a by-product of living
in the service of meaning,
and purpose, 
spirit, energy and vitality.

How long has it been?
What was the last thing we did
that provided us with
meaning and purpose,
spirit, energy and vitality?

Can you remember?

Too many people have never had
anything like that in their life.
They have been always dead,
looking for money to give them
something to live for,
waiting for some coroner to make it official.

How do we resurrect the living?
How do we resurrect ourselves?
Sit still, be quiet,
look for the source of life within.
Wait for something to stir to life,
to catch your eye,
and perhaps disappear in a flash,
so that you wonder if you saw something,
or only almost did.

Wait for it to flash you again.
So that you catch a sense of what it is,
and give chase,
bringing it to life in your life
in an actual, tangible, concrete way.

Work it into your life.
Live your life around it.
The sillier and more ridiculous it is
the better. 
You are learning how to play.
We have to play our way back to life.

So play with whatever comes to you 
in the silence
as a gift from the source,
and allow it to show you the way to life,
and living, and being alive.

And, in so doing, you will be learning
to be good for yourself.
We can't be good for others
until we can be good for ourselves,
and we play ourselves back
to the goodness of life. 

–0–

03

Ask people what they want--
No, ask yourself what you want,
and listen for the answer.

What do you want?
Is it some version of
"Enough money to do anything I want!"?
If so, you haven't answered the question.
I asked you what do you want,
and you said, more or less, "Anything I want."
Which I translate into, "Everything I want."

I expect you will get that from
everyone you ask what they want.

"I want what I want!"

Sounds like a two-year old's answer
to the same question.

Says something about the maturation level
of everyone in the world.

We never get beyond wanting what we want
right NOW!!!

MY WAY NOW!
Is the American Dream.

Put the pin to it,
to the American Dream balloon,
by asking, to yourself, and anyone else,
"What do you want right now?"
and you will get the usual list:
"To travel (To go anywhere I want)."
"To buy a house on a hill 
in a safe neighborhood close to 
good shopping."
(What are you going to buy?
"Anything I want!").

The "anything I want" theme
is not going away.
So let's pin that balloon:
What does wanting know?

You will get, "What do you mean?"
You will say,
"When has wanting gotten what you want,
for how long?"
(All of our wanting is time-limited.
How long did your first marriage last?
How long did anything last that you wanted
with all your heart?
What does wanting know about anything
other than wanting?
What does wanting know about satisfaction?
Contentment?
Desirelessness?
Peace?
Serenity?
Tranquility?
Endless Bliss?
The end of wanting?

What does wanting want?
Nothing that it doesn't want
is all that wanting knows.

There is always something else to 
want not,
and always something else to want.

Wanting is the best we can do.
"Anything I want" is the best we can imagine.

Imagine a life not driven by wants.
What would that be?
What would you do?
How would you entertain yourself?
What would you be good for?

What are you good for?
Right now?
What is your shtick?
Your specialty?
Your "thing"?

How often do you do it?
How long can you keep it up?
What brings it to an end?
How long has it been
since the last time you did it?

What is its relationship
to wanting?
Did you want it into existence,
or has it always just been there?
Do you want to do more of it
than you can work into your life?
What is stopping you from doing more of it?
How much would it take
before you didn't want to do it?
Before you wanted it not?

This writing I do, you know?
I cannot imagine not doing it,
and I don't do it because I want to,
or am in the mood for it.

And seeing things to photograph?
I can't stop it.
I can't help it.
It has nothing to do with what I want,
or don't want.
It is just "there."
It has always been "there."

What's like that in your life?
How "owned" by it are you?
What keeps you from being "possessed"?
"Completely possessed"?

What has always been "there" for you?

What are you doing about it?

–0–

01

When The Way is not trusted,
duty comes to the fore.
Dharma tells us how to act.
Should's
Must's
Ought's
replace our natural,
intuitive,
instinctive
sense of what is called for
moment-to-moment
in each situation as it arises.

We begin to live by the book
instead of living from the heart.

The way of the child,
before Should/Ought/Must
bear down upon her (him),
is to respond sincerely
and honestly to the moment
in doing what she (he)
feels needs to be done there.

Our task is to get back to the child,
to "the face that was ours before we were born,"
and to live in our moments
as those who are open to each one,
and free to respond instinctively/intuitively 
to what is happening there--
just doing what needs to be done,
just being what is called for there.

Allowing the circumstances
to elicit our natural response,
without artificially imposing
our idea of what should be done--
spontaneously offering the right thing,
without thinking about what we are doing.

Can we do that?
Can we just watch what we do
without meddling with the moment?
Without thinking about what we ought to do?
Without imposing The Rules?
Just allowing our heart to lead us
in the dance with time and place?

–0–

02

Living tactfully, artfully,
moment to moment
is paying attention
to the time and place of our living,
without contrivance,
or agendas,
or designs,
or schemes,
or plans,
or intentions,
or goals,
or ambitions,
or ideas
squeezing the life out of the moment
in ways that might be beneficial to us.

Living tactfully, artfully,
moment to moment 
is seeing the moment,
hearing the moment,
knowing what is happening there
and sensing what is being called for,
and speaking/acting
in light of what the moment needs
from us,
and not in light of what we stand to gain
from the moment.

With nothing to gain,
nothing to lose,
and nothing at stake,
everything is possible
in any moment.

The good lies in being who we are
and letting things fall into place
around that.

No contrivance, just being.

Doing flows from being
in response to what needs to happen.

The identity of water--
water being water--
is its blessing.

All things find their place
just by being what they are.

No wanting, no seeking,
no striving to have, 
to attain, to gain...

Agendas and ideologies,
ambition and aspiration,
wanting and desiring and
having to have
are at odds with the way
of the moment at hand
and what needs to happen here and now,
and spontaneously serving it
in each situation as it arises.

See clearly.
Respond appropriately.
The key to life.

–0–

03

Being prepared for anything
is being grounded in,
anchored upon,
our original nature.

We are born with everything we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done
in any situation that arises,
in a "Here we are, now what?"
kind of way.

We don't know what is coming,
but we can know who we are,
and trust ourselves to bring forth
from our own depths
what is needed
to find what is needed
to do what needs to be done.

The Mystery is what to do
about what needs to be done.
We do not think our way there.
We simply wait to see what we do
in response to the situation at hand,
without forcing anything.

It is like giving birth
when we didn't know we were pregnant.

–0–

04

The mysterious power arising within
is not a function of willful,
deliberate, striving,
but of being in accord with The Way
of time and place meeting opportunity
in the field of action,
with our only responsibility being that
of being present and being open
to the situation at hand
in a "Here we are, now what?" kind of way.

Reading the context and circumstances,
aware of what is happening
and alert to what is being called for,
standing aside
and allowing our response
to be evoked by the occasion
in ways appropriate to the occasion,
achieves miracles
while doing nothing miraculous at all.

–0–

05

Noise,
clatter and chatter,
complexity and complication,
trauma and drama,
diversion and distraction
disrupt our focus and concentration,
and prevent us from simply 
being present with what is present
with us,
here and now,
as servants of instinct and intuition,
urges, nudges, hunches, whims, inklings,
inspirations, revelations, realizations, etc.
in putting what needs to be done
together with how it needs to be done
to create a response appropriate to the occasion,
in each situation as it arises.

Stillness and silence are the operative requirements
for seeing/hearing/understanding/knowing/being/doing.
The louder we live,
and the more fragmented and disarrayed we are, 
the less likely we will be able
to offer what is called for,
when it is called for,
the way it is called for
in the time and place that is at hand.

Being anchored to our original nature,
with balance and harmony between that and
the context and circumstances of our life,
is the key to being who we are where we are.

And that is the essential requirement
for being fully alive in the time and place
of our living.

So diminish the noise, etc.
and increase the silence and stillness
for the work that is to be done.

01

In every now
we have no idea
of what is next.

In trying to arrange
what's next,
we step out of the flow
of the now,
which is the flow of time (kairos)
and place (dharma),
upset the natural expression of grace,
and operate as a rogue
predator in the here and now
of our living.

Better to live aligned 
with ourselves 
and with the moment,
and wait for the time to act
in the service
of what needs us to do it
with the gifts 
of our original nature
to serve and share,
in each situation 
as it arises. 

–0–

02

There are so many ways of not seeing
what we are looking at,
and misinterpreting what we are seeing,
and being wrong about 
what needs to be done in response,
and repeating all of the errors
in judgment and behavior,
in each situation that flows from
each moment,
that it is a wonder things are
as stable as they are.

We need to spend more time
sitting still,
being quiet,
reducing reactivity,
complexity
and noise,
and being compassionately,
non-judgmentally,
aware of every single thing
in each moment that is now,
seeing what is happening,
and being right about what is called for,
doing it
and being aware of the next moment
as it develops from this one.

That would transform our life,
and the world as we know it,
in about 2.5 moments.

Just try it.
See what a difference you can make
in practically no time at all,
just by responding appropriately
to what's happening now.

Moment-by-moment.

–0–

03

We have to see what we look at
and hear what we are listening to,
and interpret it correctly.

That is on us.

We are on our own here.

No one can tell us how to know what's what
in each situation as it arises.

We have to be right about what is important
and what needs to be done about it,
and do it,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
no matter what.
All our life long.

I say this a lot
because this is all that 
needs to be said.
And understood.
And done.
And no one can do it for us.
So all I can do 
is say it,
and say it,
and say it.

And when you hear it with understanding,
you get to say it,
and say it,
and say it,
because that is all you can do
to pass it along.
You can't make anybody hear it.

The idea of "making disciples"
is completely ridiculous.
We cannot make anyone see
what they are looking at.

See?

We can only say what we see.
And say it.
And say it.
And say it.

While working to see better
what we think we see.
And do better
what we think needs to be done about it.
All our life long.

No getting tired and quitting.
We are Sisyphus,
pushing his rock up the hill,
following it down the hill
(Or racing it to the bottom--
or hopping on and riding it down
like a logger might "ride" a log),
and rolling it back up the hill.

We say what we have to say
and do what we have to do,
on and on and on and on...
smiling, laughing and having
a good time with it all,
because, why not?

–0–

04

Tact is displaying just the right touch,
or saying just the right word,
in just the right way,
at just the right time. 

There is no better demonstration
of the Tao in action
than tactfulness being exercised
in the here and now of our experience.

Live tactfully!
Moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises.

That is the sine-qua-non
of a life well-lived.

–0–

01

I have only one favorite Zen story
(Zen is what happened when Buddhism met Taoism).
and I tell it frequently,
so if you have been with me a while,
bear with me here...

A Zen master and his disciple
were walking over a bridge
when the disciple asked,
"What is Zen?"

Whereupon the master picked up
the disciple and hurled him into
the river.

"There," shouted the master,
"That is water! 
Swim in it.
Bathe in it.
Drink it.
Or drown!
But DO NOT TALK ABOUT IT!
Because to talk about water
is to not know water!"

Nails it.

To talk about the Tao 
is to not know the Tao.

To talk about God
is to not know God.

To talk about love
is to not know love.

...religion,
...enlightenment,
...meditation,
...life,
...

Do not talk.
Do.

Start with the next thing
that needs to be done.
Don't talk about it.
Do it.
When it needs to be done.
The way it needs to be done.
Because it needs to be done.

And then do the next thing 
that needs to be done after that.

And so on.

For as long as you live.

That is all you need to do.
That is all there is to it.

No drama.
No talking.
Doing.

–0–

02

Instability and disharmony
have to be counter-balanced
with stability and harmony.

The Taoists of 500 BCE
put balance and harmony
at the top of the list,
along with living out of
our original nature.

They are our salvation
and "a very present help
in time of trouble."

We don't just make up
balance and harmony
out of the air.
They belong to
certain places and activities.

We have to go there,
do that.
We cannot just think them up,
or wish them into place.
We have to actively seek them out,
and place ourselves in their presence,
in their service,
doing the things that create peace
and produce balance and harmony,
in sync with our original nature.

What are the things 
that are most true to who we are?
That express us most accurately?
That exhibit us most clearly?
They exude balance and harmony
(Along with spirit, energy and vitality!).

Returning to them is 
returning to the core,
restoring our relationship
with the source.

Live from there,
in accord with that,
and it will be well with us
throughout our days,
no matter what is going on around us
that is out of our control
and beyond belief.

–0–

03

What keeps us going?

Where do we turn when we have no place to turn?

What is our ground,
our heart's deepest allegiance
and truest loyalty?

What would we do--
and keep on doing--
"without hope,
without witness,
without reward,"
(Doctor Who/Steven Moffat)?

Hold that close
and don't let it go.

Keep it before you 
as a guide
and true companion
through the deepest night.

Let it be for you
the driving force
behind your making 
Ulysses' words your own:
"I will persist and endure!
And when the heaving sea
has shaken my raft to pieces,
then I will swim!"

–0–

01

We divert ourselves 
from the truth of our life
by adding complexity and noise
in the form of diversions,
distractions,
entertainment,
busy-ness,
and immersion in the 10,000 things.

Interesting complexity
is still a diversion.
Beautiful noise
remains a distraction.
Interfering with our real business
of experiencing our experience,
engaging the silence,
exploring the drift of our soul,
the pull of our heart,
the interests of our mind,
the reality of our life
having a life of its own
and needing us to live it.

There are worlds within us
calling us to seek the treasures
they have waiting to be found.

In every situation 
and all circumstances,
inner space has more to offer
than outer space can begin to match--
and can match all of the chaos,
anguish, fear, grief, loss, sorrow,
and "the clashing rocks,"
and "the heaving waves of the wine-dark sea"
of the outer world,
with calming reassurance,
consoling presence,
guiding grace,
peaceful confidence,
grounding direction,
anchoring purpose
and the constant balancing
of a nuclear powered gyroscope
keeping us centered and focused on 
simply doing what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done
the way it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what,
day by day by day,
throughout the upheaval,
trauma and drama of our life.

With all that going for it,
you might think that
establishing and maintaining 
our relationship with our inner world
would be at the tip top of our list
of things that have to be done now.

When, in truth, it is the first thing that goes,
and the last thing we think of.

What a loss that is.
And so easily avoided and averted.

"Of all sad words of tongue or pen..."

–0–

02

We cannot establish and maintain
a salvific relationship
with the inner world
without adjusting/transforming
our relationship with the outer world.
Which isn't going to happen
until our outer world experience
becomes intolerable and undo-able.

People do not attend AA meetings
because they are fun and entertaining.

We have to reach the end of our rope
before we can change our mind 
about what is important--
and change the way we live
to incorporate it into our life.

If the work to enter/engage the inner world
doesn't interest you today,
keep it in mind.
Things are always changing.
"Shift happens."
And the inner world will be there
when you need it,
if you aren't hijacked by the easier escapes
offered by drugs and alcohol--
which provide additional incentive
to seek out the inner world
and commit to its requirements
for life and being.

The doorway/threshold/portal/portkey
is always with us,
right here, right now.
And is as easy as remembering your breathing
while being still and quiet.

You can do that in a crowd
or in the privacy of your own room.
On a park bench
or walking along a stretch of beach.

We can make anywhere we are still and quiet
just by attending our breathing
and closing off the world.

The world comes immediately to mind.
No place is as noisy as the inside of your mind.
The preferred response is straight out of
Rumi's "The Guesthouse" (Google it),
welcoming all of the clatter and banging
without engaging any of it--
without emotional response to it--
just watching,
just seeing,
just knowing,
but not being swept away by it,
anchored by your breathing 
to what you are doing here and now,
waiting for "the mud to settle
and the water to clear."

Patience here is the key.
We cannot hurry the process
of settling the mud and clearing the water.
We only wait, watching.

The waiting and watching 
may be extended over time.
You may have to leave the stillness and silence
and return to it again and again
waiting for the mud to settle and the water to clear.
Your task is to do that,
watching, waiting and breathing.

Eventually "shift happens,"
and you begin to notice things--
ideas, images, realizations--
arising/emerging/occurring/appearing
out of the silence
with a special/unique value.
These are the "strange attractors"
that "catch your eye"
and invite exploration.

If you were on a vision quest,
these would be the "visitors"
offering guidance and direction
at this particular time and place in your life,
and calling you to see where they lead,
like the white rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland,"
winking at you and flashing around a corner
or down the rabbit hole.

You have to be attuned to the difference
between the normal noise and clutter
that occupies the silence,
and these sudden appearances
of messengers from "out of the blue."

Knowing when to "follow,"
and when to return to your breathing,
is essential knowing,
and is the tipping point
between more of the same old same old,
and the wild adventure of being alive.

This is the initial evidence
of there being something to
this inner world business,
and encouragement for you
to devote time and attention 
to other areas of engagement/interface
with the inner world.

Those areas include you nighttime dreams
and your daytime flights of fancy/fantasy,
your moods,
your intuition, instincts, imagination,
your obsessions and compulsions,
your recurring memories, thoughts, ideas,
etc.

Become aware of all of your mental activity
as a treasure-trove of avenues to exploration
and adventure.

Do not discount/dismiss/disregard/ignore anything--
and catch yourself doing it when you are tempted to,
and listen there,
look there,
poke around there...

"The stone the builders reject," you know,
"becomes the chief cornerstone."

Notice everything.
See what it has to offer,
and how you respond
to what you think it might be saying.

"Everything is grist for the mill,"
and we are milling ourselves here--
our relationship with ourselves.
And the future hangs in the balance,
with everything at stake
on how attuned we are,
and how attentive we can be
to what is going on 
on all levels/frequencies of awareness,
moment by moment,
day by day.

–0–

03

We are responsible for our own
balance and harmony,
sincerity and integrity,
spirit, energy, vitality.

But no one explains this to us,
and very few prepare us to be so,
by modeling for us
what these terms mean and appear.

From the beginning we all 
are unable to undertake,
an much less, achieve,
the fundamental characteristics/qualities
of human being-hood.

And the world is the mess it is
because of it.

How many people do you know,
or know of,
who dependably exhibits
balance and harmony,
sincerity and integrity,
spirit, energy, vitality?

Helen Keller, comes to mind for me.
And Eleanor Roosevelt
under the "know of" category.
There are 26 in the "know" column,
and I won't embarrass them by naming them
(I will say more than half are women,
and I am not related to any.

We are on our own
in figuring out the basics
and working them into our life.
"Good luck,"
as they say,
"with that!"

It comes down to what we do
and how we do it,
with what is in it for us
not even coming into the picture.

We live without an eye on 
what is in it for us.

Jesus proclaims that with every word and deed.

And it is the primary focus of life in the world.
In this world,
it is all about what's in it for us--
for every living thing.

It is to be different with human beings.
We are equipped to have what we need
to find what we need,
but we are not designed to sock it in
and store it away.

We all have to live out of 
the basic awareness of what
constitutes enough,
and keep one eye on that
as we move on the scale 
between not enough and too much,
and with the time not spent
on making our "ends meet,"
we devote ourselves to the task
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
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what.

With balance and harmony,
sincerity and integrity,
spirit, energy and vitality,
in each situation as it rises,
all our life long.

–0–

01

The phrase, 
"a meeting of the minds"
suggests the possibility of
a communion of comprehension,
realization, recognition,
understanding, oneness,
wholeness, confirmation, 
union, goodwill... 

Which hinges on trust,
openness and willingness
to receive well the other--
with no agenda for the other--
but with a common agenda
of mutual benevolence,
respect, kindness, 
compassion and generosity.

AA meetings and sports teams
create atmospheres where
meetings of the minds can 
take place on a regular,
recurring basis,
built around common goals
and mutual trust,
and the communal experience
often stays with the participants
long after their time together ends.

Friendships, family connections
and psychotherapy relationships
can foster this sense of mutuality
and oneness,
and it exists as a possibility
for all of us who are able 
to be present, open and receptive
to others--
without anything to gain or lose,
and with an interest in sharing 
our interests 
and exploring those of someone else.

How long has it been?
How long must it be?

–0–

02

"Where do you turn 
when you have nowhere to turn?"
Joseph Campbell said the answer
to that question tells you
what your grounding/center/core myth is.

I go to the silence.
Into the silence.
And wait for instructions.
For guidance.
For direction.

I believe in the silence.
I hail from the silence,
and am headed back to the silence.
The silence is home.
Home for my soul.
Home of my soul.
I am a child of the silence.

These words?
They are gifts from the silence.

The silence is all we need.
Is everything we need.
It is with us always,
to the end of our days,
and beyond.

If you ever miss me,
you can find me in the silence.
It's all there,
waiting.

It's all the consolation I know of.
All the comfort I need.
We all find our way there eventually--
and we take our place in the company
of our kin,
our kind,
the bearers of grace and mercy
everlasting,
at the heart of life and being,
the source of all that is,
or has been, 
or will be.

–0–

03

We cannot hurry growing up,
but we can postpone it indefinitely,
and by doing so,
we fail to live our life.

We only go through the motions of living,
creating pain by avoiding pain.
That's the way it works with pain.
"We meet our pain
on the road we take to escape it."

Following the age-old Law of Life
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,
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what
will grow us up as quickly
as we can grow up--
but the journey is never finished,
and old people feel as though
they are only beginning the process.

Our life is geared to growing us up,
and each stage of the developmental process
has its own way of highlighting 
the insufficiencies in our perspective
and attitude
in calling us to take the next step
along the way.

So, we stand ourselves up
and step ourselves forward
to meet what is coming through the door--
without expectation or opinion--
in doing what the moment calls for
with the gifts/daemon/virtues/specialties
that are ours to serve and to share
throughout each day
to the end of our days. 

01

Carl Jung was the Shaman/Hustler/Hokum-master of his age.
He created an entire psyche-scam,
an artifice composed of little more than
smoke and mirrors
to distract the attention
of those seeking his help
away from the simple secret source
of their escape from their
so-called "neurosis"
back to "the face that was theirs
before they were born."

Jung developed an entire lexicon
of terms that have no meaning whatsoever
apart from the meaning he said they had--
and no one could ever quite understand
what he meant by the words 
or his definitions/explanations

("Neurosis" "Archetypes" "complex"
"individuation" "mysterium coniunctionis"
"anima" "animus" "shadow" "alchemy," etc.)
which kept everyone's attention diverted 
from the central feature of Jung's therapy:
reconnecting people with their own heart;
redirecting them to their own life.

Jung found that reuniting people
with their own spirit/energy/vitality
restored their own sense of balance and harmony,
which was the key in returning them
to the joy and satisfaction
of the life that was theirs to live.

But he knew no one would go there directly.
They had to be sent on a mysterious voyage
to the truth if they were ever to buy into it.
So he led them on a merry search for themselves
through a dreamworld of their own making.

And it worked wonders for those who were prone
to wonderment,
and it did not work at all
for those who were not.

Here are a few statements straight
from the heart of the Master:

“Follow that will and that way which experience confirms to be your own.” 

“Trust that which gives you meaning and accept it as your guide.” 

“We only gain merit and psychological development by accepting ourselves as we are, and by being serious enough to live the life we are entrusted with.” 

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” 

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”

“In the final analysis, we count for something only because of the essential that we embody. If we do not embody that, life is wasted.”

“At bottom, there is only one striving, namely the striving after your own being.”  

“Particular care and attention must be given to that delicate plant ‘individuality’ if it is to grow and develop.” 

And on and on like that...

From antiquity,
all of the stories that matter to us
are about the return to what matters to us.

All of the great quests of lore
are quests for the heart of who we are.

All of the central themes of literature
through the ages 
are the same themes in every age:

Death and resurrection.
Turning and becoming.
Sin and repentance.
Betrayal and atonement. 
From bondage to freedom.
From being lost to being found.
From sickness to health.
From darkness to light.
Etc.

These are the themes that run through
our own life.
They speak directly to our heart/soul/psyche.
We are what we seek.
And we don't have to go anywhere
to make the journey to healing and wholeness.
We only have to open ourselves
here and now
to the truth of our own being,
and become who we are
within the context and circumstances
of the time and place of our living.

–0–

02

Chang Ling (AKA Chang Tao Ling, etc.) was born
in the beginning of the Common Era
in the province of Szechwan, China,
and laid the foundation
for the transformation of the world.

He created a "Savior Mystique,"
and organized a religious following
regimenting life around a core belief
in the resilient harmony at the heart
of one's own self
and the spirit of right relationship
with one's neighbors and all sentient beings.

His method of healing (According to Martin Palmer,
in his book "The Elements of Taoism") 
consisted of having "the person seeking healing...
to write out all of their sins and failures...and
holding the paper (containing the list)
above their head wade out into a river (where 
they submerged themselves under the water
and let go of the paper,
allowing the river to carry it away,
then stand up and return to shore) cleansed
of all of their failures and shortcomings
and (healed) of their illness."

Create the proper environment
so that people are psychologically prepared
to be saved,
and they will be saved.
All of the great healers heal in this way.
It is the placebo effect applied/experienced
on a mass level 
(which makes it all the more effective).

And, once we understand the basis
of our own restoration,
we can apply it to ourselves
without getting wet,
simply by letting go of our attachment
to our sins and failures
and allowing ourselves to live
at one with the truth of our own being--
with "the face that was ours
before we were born,"
no matter what.

We will sacrifice ourselves
in the service of something.
It would be wise (and healing)
to sacrifice ourselves
in the service of our own true self
at the heart of who we are.

–0–

03

It all comes down to,
and flows from,
sincerity and integrity. 

What these words attempt to express
constitutes the foundation--
the adamantine core--
of life and being,
both individually and collectively.

The most important thing we can do,
for ourselves and the larger community
(communities) of which we are a part,
is to live consciously,
with mindful, 
compassionate,
awareness,
in the service of sincerity and integrity,
moment by moment,
day by day,
in each situation as it arises,
our entire life long.

In conjunction with sincerity and integrity,
we need to be intently and intentionally,
consciously, mindfully, aware 
of the state of our balance and harmony,
and the quality of our spirit, energy and vitality.

These are the seven markers
indicating/expressing/exhibiting 
our degree of wellness
and the quality of our life.

To know how well we are doing,
we only have to take a reading 
of these seven areas of our experience.

Simply give yourself a number 
between 0 and 10,
with 10 being complete perfection,
and 0 being a total void,
and plot yourself throughout the day/week.

Commune silently with yourself
on a regular basis
to see how you might alter your life
to raise your numbers--
not thinking/planning as is our wont, 
but simply watching in the silence
for what emerges/arises/appears/occurs
to lead you along the way
toward the wholeness that is recognized
through balance, harmony, sincerity,
integrity, spirit, energy, vitality
flowing through our life
and transforming the way we live
in each situation as it arises.

Your life will change
without you doing anything
to make change happen.
Of itself.

And you will find that you are
as the Buddha,
One Thus Come.

All because you sat quietly
in the silence,
as the Buddha did
(And as Jesus did,
and as all have done
who share The Way of Life and Being).

–0–

04

Do not have to know "Why?"!

Start with "Why anything?,"
and keep asking, "Why?" of every answer,
and you will eventually get to, "I don't know?"

At the bottom of every "Why?" is "I don't know."

"What?" and "How?" are operative questions.
Ask them.

"What?" is a heart question.

"How?" is a head question.

"What?" is a feeling question.

"How?" is a thinking question.

We feel our way to "What?"
We think our way to "How?"
And we have to ask "Why?"
until we get to "I don't know."

Sit in the silence with "I don't know,"
until something occurs/arises/emerges
unbidden, un-thought, simply realized,
and carry that with you in your awareness
until something shifts within,
and your perspective changes
automatically,
without you doing anything
to make it happen.

This is called 
"Growing yourself up over time."

–0–

05

01

The work, the task,
the hero's journey,
in every age for everyone
is the same
across time and space.

It comes down to this:
Being true to ourselves--
exhibiting, expressing, serving
our original nature,
with the gifts/daemon/virtues/
specialties/knacks/preferences/
genius/etc.
that come with us from the womb--
within the circumstances
of the times and place of our living.

If you think that is easy,
climb into the ring with it,
and see if you can last 
three minutes
of the opening round.

The good news is that
it doesn't ever get
more difficult than
taking you in one hand,
and your circumstances 
in the other hand,
and getting the two hands together
over the course of your life.

It may help to think about 
how this might work for someone else
instead of yourself,
because it might be easier to see
someone else's gifts and original nature
than your own.

Let's take Tevya, for example,
from The Fiddler on the Roof.
How does Tevya work out
being true to himself
within the circumstances
of the concrete and steel 
of New York City?

It would be easier 
if he could keep walking
to the Catskills or the Adirondacks,
and by a small farm
with a cow and some chickens.

But, confine him to NYC,
and his task might become 
insurmountable.
Particularly if you reduce his income
to what he might earn selling newspapers
on some street corner.

He would need someone to talk to then,
someone to listen to him,
and help him sort things out,
identify the nature of his problem
with crystal clarity,
and think through how to be who he is
even there.

Let's say that someone is you.
How would you help Tevya
find himself
and be who he is
in New York City?

You are Tevya's muse
and his oracle.
Take it from here...

–0–

02

A rock has no trouble 
being its natural self.
Nor, does a lion,
or an eagle,
or a humpback whale.
They have no choice in the matter,
for one thing.

And, for another, 
they have no one telling them
not to do it the way they are doing it,
but to do it some other way instead.

They don't even have someone asking them,
"Who do you want to be when you grow up?"

They have it made.

Not so much you and I.

It is our place to realize,
bring forth
and serve our distinctiveness,
our style,
our "thing"
within the times and circumstances of our living.

In that work, it helps to be attuned to
our natural drifts and propensities,
our inclinations and our bents.

I have never liked to get my hands dirty.
My mother laughed telling everyone
throughout her life
that I made mud pies with two sticks.

My fifth-grade teacher, Ms. Unglesby,
told my mom one parent's day,
"Jimmy spends a lot of time 
looking out the window."
I still do.

There are things that are
characteristically "us"
that identify and define us
from the beginning.

It is ours to find them,
honor them,
and work them into our life,
perhaps building our life around them,
centered on them,
grounded in them,
proud to be who and how we are!

–0–

03

Doing what needs to be done here and now,
moment to moment,
keeps us focused on what's happening
and what can be done about it,
assisting it,
resisting it,
responding to it--
and helping us to remain immune
to being emotionally hijacked by it.

"This is how things are,
and this is what can be done about it,
and that's that,"
is a wonderful reminder of our limitations
and vulnerabilities.

Being as vulnerable as we are--
without being overwhelmed and undone
by the facts limiting our living--
is the fulcrum
that pivots the "is"
into the "will be."

Sounds crazy, but.
That's because it IS crazy.
Crazy sane.

This is how it works:
Starting with how things are
(Hopeless, pointless, futile and absurd)
lifts us to the vantage point of release
and freedom
through the simple response of,
"So what? Who cares? What difference does that make?"
Which connects us to the under-girding realization
that we are here to do what can be done,
and if nothing can be done,
that pivots us to doing what can be done
about nothing being able to be done.

Now, we have a different problem,
and one that we can do something about.
We can shift our attitude from being helplessly
unable to do anything about our situation,
into being very potent and capable
of adopting an attitude,
perspective,
frame of mind
that renders us immune to being immobolized
and despondent
by refusing to let it "get us down,"
and determining to go right on being who we are,
offering what is ours to serve and share,
"Anyway, Nevertheless, Even so!"

Even in situations in which nothing can be done,
something needs to be done that can be done.

In a prisoner of war camp,
with no hope of escape or rescue,
the prisoners can still be of help to one another,
can still dress as sharply as they can,
can still stand defiantly at attention,
can still carry out their duties and responsibilities
to themselves and each other,
etc.
"Anyway, Nevertheless, Even so!"

Our demeanor and our attitude is always our call.
And it still matters how we live
when nothing seems to matter at all.
If we are going to take anything on faith,
take it on faith
that it matters how we live,
and live as though it matters how we live,
trusting that to make all the difference,
all the way to our very last breath.

And it will!

And if it doesn't, so what?
It made all the difference in our life,
all the way to the end.

–0–

04

If we can have a way
without having to have our way,
we will pave the way
for the way
and transform the world.

Having to have our way
is the way
that prevents the way
from being realized
in the time and place
of our living,
and leads to the wasteland
of our discontent
and the loss of vitality
and radiance
worldwide.

Placing ourselves 
in the service
of that which needs to be done
regardless of its implications
for us personally,
frees us to be what the situation
calls for
and enables is to rise
to any occasion
without being hampered
by thought of advantage or gain,
and allows us to respond
with sincerity and spontaneity
to the moment at hand,
opening the way
for things to be exactly 
what they should be,
as blessing and grace
upon all concerned.

All because we said, "Yes," 
to what was happening
and assisted its happening,
with nothing in mind
and no idea of what we were doing--
as a child might say
exactly the right thing
in exactly the right way
in turning the moment
into a brush with mystery
and wonder,
causing our souls 
to leap, and twinkle, and dance.

01

When we are not instigating,
not contriving,
not exploiting,
not manipulating,
not setting things up,
not arranging for something to happen,
not striving,
not pushing,
not forcing,
not straining,
not stressing out,
but are simply being present
in the moment
and allowing things to just happen,
everything happens as it should.

Try it sometimes.
Participate in some moment
without trying to get something 
to happen there.

Just be present,
attentive,
engaged,
but not in charge, 
not in control,
not directing,
just watching,
letting things take 
their own course,
noticing how things just happen
of their own accord,
when no one has ambitions,
and no one exercises power
and authority.

It's magical.

The occasion seems
to have a mind of its own.
Things happen as they should
and no one makes it so.

We can be forgiven for thinking
that Carl Jung might be right 
when he said, “Our life is not made by ourselves. 
The main bulk of it is brought 
into existence by forces that are hidden to us.” 

And when we operate our life
with a light touch,
giving "the hidden forces"
room to operate,
things tend to happen of themselves,
exactly as they should.

And no one knows what to make of it.

–0–

02

I have a friend who was always
playing around with drawing
and lettering.

In jr. high, he noticed the lettering
on school buses was chipping off
and wearing away,
so he would climb over the fence
at the bus yard and touch up the letters.
The authorities caught him doing it,
and paid him to do it.

He grew up,
graduated from college
started his own sign company,
and has made a comfortable living
drawing and lettering.

This is letting your life 
guide you through your life.

During college and somewhat afterwards,
he took up sailing,
and told me,
"I became a sailor
the day I realized
the sea was out to get me."

He learned to read the sea
and live within the boundaries 
the sea set,
knowing what he could get by with,
and what he had no business
doing.
Knowing "the sea was out to get me"
had meaning on two different levels,
and if he ignored one,
the other would not be lenient or forgiving.

It was the same knack 
he used with his life.
His life was out to get him,
and when he lived out of that 
understanding,
he was well served.
And when he tried to force his way
onto his life,
compelling it to be what he wanted it to be,
thought it ought to be
(He tried playing basketball for a while),
his life banged him around
like the sea would
when he tried sailing against
the prevailing wisdom of the wind and waves.

The lesson here is see what you look at,
by taking the time to really look at it
and know what it is telling you,
and what doors are open,
and what doors are shut,
and walk through the open doors.

Letting our life have its way with us
is an art to be learned by living,
just as sailing is to be learned by sailing,
knowing what is called for
and what has no business being.

Your life is out to get you.
Know what that means,
and adjust your living accordingly.

–0–

03

We are all on our own,
with only our sense of what is working
and what is not
to guide us.

Working in terms of what?

The question is ours to answer.
And we have to be right about it.

Our life teaches us to be right about it.
Which means we have to be open
to changing our mind
about what it means 
for something to work/not work.

To refuse to change our mind
about what is important,
is to bang away at what 
we have no business having/doing
our entire life long,
hellbent and determined
to have our way or die trying.

Cemeteries are filled with people
who died trying,
or quit trying and died without a clue.

Life and living are for finding out 
what is important
and serving it with filial devotion
and liege loyalty.

What does it mean for our life to be working?
For our life to not be working?
Working in terms of what?
Working in light of what?
What matters most?
What is guiding our boat
on its path through the sea?
What are we trying to have
that isn't worth having?
How are we being asked
to change our mind
about what is important?

Those who can change their mind
when their mind needs to be changed,
live a lot better life
than those who cannot.

–0–

04

Sitting with our life
in stillness and silence,
listening,
looking,
waiting to see, hear
what is waiting to be seen, heard,
is the ground 
of all that follows.

The path to the path of life and being.
The path to the path
to the mystery of life and being.

We never know what is going on,
or what it means,
or where its going,
or what it will lead to.
It's all a mystery
unfolding into mystery and wonder.

We go "Aha!" all the time,
as though that means something.
It just indicates a connection
has been made with what has gone before,
in a "That meant THIS!" kind of way--
but we have no idea of what THIS may mean,
or lead to,
or what we are being asked to do now,
so we are always being asked
to sit in the stillness and silence,
listening, looking...

We can never rush ahead,
thinking we have it now at last,
and know what's what
and where its going 
and what we need to do
to make it happen.

Whenever we make something happen,
the wrong thing happens,
and we have to return to the stillness
and the silence,
and allow the mystery to unfold
into mystery and wonder.

–0–

05

"To bide our time"
means waiting for the time to be right to act.

How do we know?

What is the difference between "not now"
and "now"?

How often do we say "not now"
when we mean "never"?

All photographs are better in some times
than in others.
This could mean a time for better lighting.
Or a better sky.
Or no wind.
Or no people.
Or more people.
Etc.
Depending on what the photographer's
desired outcome for the photograph is.

The right time depends upon what needs to happen,
and whether this is the most propitious time
for it to happen,
with "favorable" meaning "desirable."

Ah, but, that supposes we know what to desire.
That is one thing with a photograph,
and another thing with abstract things
like whom to marry,
what career to pursue,
where to live,
what "success" means,
or "happiness",
etc.

What is desirable here?
What are we waiting on to know and to act?

We step into darkness and foreboding like that
(Snaps fingers).
We don't know what we are doing,
or what to do
or when to do it
about most of the things that matter.

Where are we better off?
How can we tell?
How do we know?
Better in terms of what?

It helps if we listen to our hearts,
and to our stomachs,
and to our bones,
and to our balance and harmony,
and to our spirit, energy, vitality,
and to our nighttime dreams.

Our body knows.
Let your body be your guide.
And choose your friends wisely.
Hang with those
who listen to their body,
and are friends with stillness and silence.
Be like them in those respects.

You could do a lot worse.

–0–