01

Our original nature
is the super hero
we have been hoping for
to deliver us.

We come forth from the womb
with everything we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
throughout our life.

Adam and Eve were Jesus of Nazareth
and turned away from the adventure
they were born to live
because it wasn't what they had in mind.

Story sound familiar?
It should.
It is our story.
Nope. Not that life.
We all said.
This life! This is the one I want!
And we cut ties with our original nature
and freelanced it into the far reaches
of the wasteland.

Look around.
If this isn't a wasteland,
I'm hallucinating,
because I see a wasteland
rolling out forever 
in all directions.

It's time to find our way back
to the face that was ours 
before we were born.

You have probably heard me say it before,
here it comes again:
The way back to Eden 
winds through the heart of Gethsemane
and across the face of Golgotha.

That means we have to die to the life 
we have in mind for ourselves,
in order to live the life our original nature
was born to live,
the life that still waits to be lived--
even now, even yet.

We have what remains of the time left for living
to reconcile ourselves with the life 
that is our life to live,
put ourselves in accord with The Way
that is our way out of the wasteland
into the land of promise
for those ready to do what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
using the gifts of our original nature,
for the joy of doing the work
that is ours to do,
and the satisfaction of having done it,
moment by moment,
through all the days that lie ahead--
beginning right here, right now.

We live in an emergency room
with exactly the gifts needed
by everything that comes through the door.
It only takes believing it,
and living as though it is so,
for it to be so
every day.

Stop thinking "original sin,"
and start thinking "original nature,"
and let yours start making the difference
that makes a difference 
in your life and in the world around you!

–0–

02

We find our way 
to the life that is ours to live
by paying attention
to what stirs our soul,
and to what nauseates us
at the very idea.

It is the Hot-And-Cold game
all the way to the grave.

Are we getting warmer or colder?

That is all we need to know.

To not know,
or to not care about knowing,
seals us into a lifetime
of rigor mortis
that is satisfied
with being dead long before our time--
and we become those
Jesus was talking about
when he advised 
leaving the dead to bury the dead.

We have from now 
until the time we actually die
to be alive in the time left for living--
by knowing what calls our name,
and living in its service
with each breath we take.

–0–

03

Developing our relationship
with our original nature
means developing our trust in ourselves
in giving rein to our spontaneous
sincerity and action.

Whatever is sincere--
without contrivance
or calculation,
and no idea of personal 
benefit, profit or gain--
and spontaneous,
is likely to arise
from deep within,
and is a reflection 
of our sense of what needs to be done
in the situation
that is unfolding before us.

As we trust ourselves to our inner sense
of what is called for,
we will be living from instinct,
intuition and grace,
without being able to explain
our motive or our reasoning
beyond saying,
"It felt like the right thing to do
at the time."

Living in the service of 
the right thing to do at the time
is the kind of life
that transforms the world.

–0–

04

Carl Jung said, “It is the individual’s task 
to differentiate themselves 
from all the others 
and stand on their own feet...
To do this,
they must first return 
to the fundamental facts 
of their own being--
irrespective of all authority and tradition--
and allow themselves 
to become conscious of their distinctiveness."

To do this is to unite 
with our original nature,
which is the heart of Taoist teaching
from 3,000 years BCE.

We live to become who we are
within the context and circumstances--
the authority and traditions--
of the time and place of our life.

The work is eternal and on-going
between the individual's responsiblity
to himself/herself,
and their responsibility
to the culture of which 
they are a part.

This is the tension between
"the primary mask"
and "the antithetical mask"
W.B. Yeats identified,
between who we are asked to be
by the culture into which we are born,
and who we are asked to be
by our original nature
that we are born to exhibit and express
within the culture.

We are born to the struggle
of giving birth to ourselves
within a hostile and restrictive
environment.

And so, Jung can say,
“The idea of a second birth 
is found at all times 
and in all places. 
In the earliest beginnings of medicine 
it was a magical means of healing; 
in many religions it is 
the central mystical experience; 
it is the key idea in medieval, 
occult philosophy.” 

And, “As a pioneer, 
you must be able 
to put some trust 
in your intuition 
and follow your feeling 
even at the risk of going wrong.”

And, “The acceptance of oneself 
is the essence 
of the whole moral problem 
and the epitome 
of a whole outlook on life.” 

And, I would add, the summation
of our struggle to be healed,
and whole,
and saved,
and well.

Jesus said, "Why don't you judge
for yourselves what is right?"

"We are the sculptor
and we are the stone,"
(Alex Carrel)--
our work is to carve out
who we are--
to live out our original nature--
within the culture
that supports our existence.

–0–

05

Martin Palmer translates the first
few verses of the Tao te Ching--
the ones normally rendered,
"The Tao that can be said/told/explained/defined
is not the Eternal Tao"--
in this way:
"The path that can be discerned as a path
is not a reliable path."

That is beautiful,
and puts me in mind 
of Jesus' statement,
"The spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will."

Not even the wind knows 
what it is doing next.
God's will is like the spirit
that is like the wind
that blows where it is called to go.

God's will is not some legal decree
set in stone through all of time,
the ten commandments not withstanding
(Jesus' "You have heard it said,
but I say unto you..." is evidence enough
of that).

God's will is born of the moment,
dancing with the time and place 
of its execution.
Now it is like this.
Then it was like that.
And in the future it will be something else.

And so, we have to be alert,
awake, aware,
because we do not know the time of our visitation,
or what will be asked of us then,
and in all times following.

What has been the case 
will not necessarily be the case.
We can't count on anything
but our sense of which way the wind is blowing,
our feel for what is being called for,
and our faith in our ability to dance 
to the tune of the here and now--
with Jesus' "Who do YOU say that I am?"
and his, "Blessed are you if you know what you are doing!"
ringing in our ears.

01

Religion exists by virtue of
extortion and bribery.

They both have temporal and eternal aspects.

Extortion's temporal expressions
take the form of shunning/banning/exclusion
and excommunication.
And its eternal expression 
is hell with its torture and anguish.

Bribery's temporal form is Baptism 
and Communion 
and their assurances of the blessings
of God's grace and forgiveness,
and the supportive presence 
of the Communion of the Saints.
And its eternal form is the promise
of the glories of heaven everlasting.

There is something to get from religion,
and something to avoid having.
That is why we should be religious.

Spirituality takes the AA path
of "attraction not promotion/coercion,"
and trusts the joy and satisfaction
of living out of our own original nature
to be enough to keep us involved 
with the tasks of spiritual practice.

"Sincerity and spontaneity, 
not contrivance/exploitation/manipulation"
is the anchoring orientation of spirituality,
which eschews theology, doctrine, and dogma
in favor of the personal experience
of numinous, ineffable, reality
through art, music, nature
and the right kind of relationships with other people,
as the means to find the support necessary
to sustain adherents path through life.

Believing that the way we live matters--to us
and to "The Way"--and having faith in oneself
to have what is needed to find what is needed
to do what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
lead to the realization 
that we already are spiritual beings.

Knowing that is to take up the work of being who we are--
finding and living our life--
the life that is our life to live,
by doing what has life for us
within the context and circumstances of our living.

Balancing the opposites,
integrating the contradictions,
bearing the pain of polarities and contraries,
in harmonizing the forces of good and bad,
right and wrong, etc.
within all the relationships t
hat define and limit our life.

Our spiritual practice comes down to
understanding that we all are Sisyphus
rolling his rock up the hill,
following it down the hill,
to roll it back up the hill,
and that the real work of being Sisyphus
is to develop an attitude and demeanor 
that allows us to accept our work
and find joy, satisfaction and purpose
in our life 
throughout the time left for living.

Saying, "YES!", to life just as it is
is the spiritual task of life,
and it is the simple secret
of being fully alive in the life 
that is ours to live,
in each situation as it arises.

–0–

02

The ground of happiness,
joy and satisfaction
is found in living 
to honor,
exhibit
and express our original nature
("the face that was ours
before we were born)
within the context and circumstances
of our life,
by serving and sharing
the gifts/daemon(sounds like "diamond")/
shtick/specialties/qualities/virtues/
knacks/interests/etc
that came with us from the womb
in each situation as it arises
all our life long--
by doing 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
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it,
moment by moment,
day by day,
forever.

If you can do better than that,
do it!

–0–

03

Blaise Pascal wrote (in 1654), 
“All of humanity's problems stem 
from man's inability to sit quietly 
in a room alone.” 

Adam and Eve were sure 
they could improve on Paradise,
and we have been at it ever since.

"Making Things Better"
could be the motto of every age.

All the wars,
and the genocide,
and the crusades,
and the heresy trials,
and the witch hunts, 
and the colonization,
and the planned conquest of space...
are all about Making Things Better.

For whom?
By when?

The questions are not asked.
The quest has its own momentum.
All we know is we need some relief.
Our Spirit, Energy, and Vitality
have gone flat.
Our Balance and Harmony 
are tangled and fighting it out.
Anything would be better than this.
And off we go.

Even if we only take our mind
off our misery,
it will be worth it for a while.

We can't stand being alone
with our own company.

Let's have ourselves a little war.
Take over some nation.
Get our mind off our troubles
by making trouble for someone else.

It's the best we can do.
If we could think of something better,
we would be on it.
"Like the white on mashed potatoes."

Blaise Pascal was talking about us.

We are a dissatisfied lot.
And need to be entertained,
distracted, cheered-up.
Continually.

Maybe, if we sought the Center,
we could find all the adventure
we can manage
stirring within.

Who is game?

The chase is on!

–0–

04

What's your shtick?
Your specialty?
Your "thing"?

What is "it" for you?
What makes your little heart sing
and your little toes dance?

What is  your deep joy
and the love of your life?

What, when you are engaged in it,
makes time stand still,
or makes the minutes fly by
so that you can't believe
how long you have been at it?

How do you build your life around it?
How do you blend it into your life?
How does your life harmonize
with your bliss
to create rapture and radiance,
wonder and beauty?

If you know what I am talking about,
keep doing what you are doing!

If you have no idea of what I am talking about,
ponder the matter of your soul's true joy,
and see where you are blocking the way,
turning aside from the path,
and refusing to follow the impulse
of your heart's true love.

And get with the program!

01

We keep looking for something
to make it easy to grow up,
while avoiding the matter
until we find what we are looking for.

All it takes is standing up
and doing what needs to be done.
Time after time.
Without emotional response.

We spill the milk.
We clean the milk up.
Period.
No remonstrating.
No drama.
No whining.
No moaning.
No complaining.
No rolling in the floor crying.

We look for solutions to problems
and go down the list
until we find what works
with all things considered.

Growing up is a matter of 
sizing things up
in each situation as it arises,
and doing what needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
moment by moment,
day by day.

This is also the central feature
of a life grounded in the present
and doing what is called for
by the context and circumstances
of this time and place.

It doesn't matter what we want
or how we feel
or what mood we are in
or what the implications 
are for us personally.

What matters is responding to the moment
the way the moment needs to be responded to.

Like emergency room personnel 
greeting whatever comes through the door.

We live in an emergency room.
What happens throughout each day
is ours to deal with
in ways appropriate to the occasion
in each situation as it arises.

All. Day. Long.

That will grow us up
in no time at all.

–0–

02

We have all we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done.

Always have,
always will.

What it takes 
to do what it takes
is the "Thy will not mine,
be done" mentallity
that is the hallmark
of the Garden of Gethsemane--
with the "Thy" understood to be
the situation at hand
and the Tao-Mind-Psyche-Awareness
that always has pace and timing
as its highest priority,
and knows beyond knowing
what is called for
in this time and place
for all times and places
there ever have been or will be.

If you are going to take anything on faith,
let it be this,
and get "Thy will not mine be done"
down, operational and in place
for all the times and places 
of your life.

–0–

03

Doing what needs to be done
with what we have to work with
in each situation as it arises
is always the challenge.

This is the choice of Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden
in each situation as it arises.

There is what needs to be done,
and what we want to do,
and what we have to work with,
and that's it.

It is never more difficult that this.

What are we going to do,
here and now?

The future hinges on the response we make
to the moment of our living,
moment-by-moment.

This is the choice of Jesus of Nazareth
in the Garden of Gethsemane
in each situation as it arises.

It is never more difficult than this.

What are we going to do,
here and now?

Everything hangs in the balance.

Waiting.

–0–

04

"Here we are, now what?"
is always the operative question,
in each situation as it arises.

It requires stopping, looking, listening,
to know what's what
and what needs to be done about it.

And the answer is always the same:
"The next thing."

The next thing, 
right here, right now.

Forget the overall response to the overall need.
Forget the general strategy necessary
for impacting The Situation As A Whole
nation-wide and world-wide.

Focus on the moment of our breathing,
of our being,
right here,
right now.

What is the next thing here and now?
Do that.

Without losing sight of the long term
and the bigger picture.

We walk two paths at the same time.
And the path to then and there
is also the path through the here and now.
Do not ignore the present moment,
absorbed in the ultimate and the absolute.

01

Psyche-Tao-Mind-God 
(And where do those lines lie?)
don't seem to have any idea
of what they are doing.

The old Shaman and Taoists,
who got it started
5,000 years or so BCE
had no idea of a point.

Their basic thrust was,
"Don't try to make the world better,
just sick to the Way
(And "the Way" was very much
here and now,
day by day).

"Eat when hungry,
rest when tired,"
and "chop wood, carry water,"
were their focus and goal.

"Do now what needs to be done now,"
and "let tomorrow's trouble
wait until tomorrow,"
was their guiding mantra.

It would be a different world
if Al Gore had won the election.
Winston Churchill made all the difference
over his term in office,
Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt
made all the difference
during theirs.

After Dwight Eisenhower,
money called the political shots
and everything--and I mean everything--
was done,
not to make a difference,
but to make a profit.

"Profit At Any Price!"
has been Capitalism's motto
ever since.

Socialism is feared by the Capitalists
because profits would go down
if the people started benefiting
from the goods and services 
of government--
and that will never do.

And, here we are,
now what?

Now, we know that a difference 
not only can be made,
but also will be made,
for good or ill, 
depending on who and what
are making the choices
and leading the way.

And The Way has no real say
in that matter.
Psyche-Tao-Mind-God seems to be content
with the particular
with no interest whatsoever
in the general or the overall.

Carl Jung thought Psyche's goal
is "individuation"--
the individual's task 
of being the best they can be,
and "letting the outcome be the outcome."

Which is the theme of the Bhagavad Gita--
from around 400 years BCE,
and is the sum of the Hindu idea
of where things are going.

Christianity doesn't care about
making a global difference,
"Just believe in Jesus,
keep your nose clean,
and it all will be made up to you
in the coming Kingdom of God."

In the meantime,
Money Rules!
And all Money cares about
is Making More Money!

We can individuate all we want,
but the environment is going to hell
and taking us with it.

And Money is buying the votes
of the people who could put a stop to it 
if they were individuated enough
to draw the right lines
consistently,
reliably,
over time.

Which takes focus, 
concentration,
awareness
and commitment to a cause
that will last longer 
than they will live.

Money is betting on that 
not happening.

And that looks like a safe bet to me.
And the end of the world as well.

–0–

02

The American Indians had it made
until the American Calvary road into their life.

It's always something.
To disrupt and scatter,
pillage, plunder, destroy.

We are always having to deal with something.
Something we don't like
and wish weren't there.

It's what we do best.
It's what we are built for.
It's our shtick. 

You might think we would have settled 
into it by now,
but noooooo.
We always act like it is the very first time.

We flounder, and flounce and wail
forever,
and then we get up and do
what needs to be done.

As a species, I'm talking about.
Individuals, not so much.
Individually, we have a hard time
getting past disappointment and dismay.

We could work on that.
It would give us focus and direction.

Managing our life and our attitude,
day-to-day,
actually, moment-to-moment,
would be an improvement.
We think things are going to be like this
and they are like that,
and we become undone
like that.

We start with squaring ourselves up
with the here and now,
the right here, right now--
with what is happening 
and what needs to be done about it,
and doing it the way it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises.

Without taking our eye off
the over-all situation regarding
our life in the world,
and what needs to happen there
for the good of the whole.

We have to walk two paths at the same time,
maintaining our balance and harmony
on both paths at all times.

It requires awareness/focus/attention.
And distance from emotional involvement
with what is going on on either path.

Emotional involvement is having a vested interest
in the outcome.
It is having an agenda.
A plan.
A way.
My Way.
Now!

My Way Now! is the source of all of our problems today
everyday.

Can't have a Way on The Way.

On The Way, 
it is always, "Okay, now what?"
And doing it as it needs to be done
in light of the situation as a whole.

Our will does not matter.
We have to set ourselves aside
in sincere service to the good of the situation
before us right here, right now.

We have such a hard time
with this simple concept.
Our Way Now means too much to us.
Growing up is getting over that.
And growing up is so very hard to do.
It is the hardest thing.
And the thing that matters most.
The thing upon which every other thing hinges.

If you are ever going to do anything,
let it be growing up!
Everything else will fall into place
around that.

–0–

03

My intentional focus
directing my life
through every situation that arises
is to see what I am looking at
and to do what needs to be done about it,
with the right attitude/spirit/frame of mind.

Noticing and being disappointed
in my failure to do this,
helps me be better at it.

It is like learning to make really good
chicken noodle soup
by making a lot of bad chicken noodle soup
and letting your mistakes and errors
guide and direct your choices and actions
the next time you make chicken noodle soup.

We are making chicken noodle soup here.
Compassionate,
non-judgmental,
awareness guides our way.
And recognizing mistakes and errors
is not to judge mistakes and errors
in such a way as to interfere
with your ability to live in light
of what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
but in such a way as it guides
each step along the path.

This reminds me of Jesus saying,
"Judge not that you may not be judged,"
in one minute,
and saying,
"Don't cast your pearls before swine,"
in the next.

Discernment carries us forward,
moment-by-moment,
day-by-day.

–0–

04

We are killing ourselves
and destroying the planet
in the unrelenting quest
for an ever-increasing standard of living
and an always larger bottom line.
Money wants more money all of the time.
There is no limit to our 
money-hunger
and it is killing us.

Greed at once runs and ruins the world.

If you want to fix something,
fix that.

There is no fix to that.
And, so, we have to turn
to a higher power.

We have to call on the Psyche
to help us stop ourselves.

It works the other way.
The Psyche is geared to helping us
stop ourselves
when it comes to ignoring our Original Nature
and merrily going our own way.

This is the story of the Garden of Eden,
which can be read as Psyche abandoning 
us to our insatiable desires,
and saying, in effect,
"Okay. Now see how you like having your way
all of the time!"

We have reached the limit of time allowed.
We are creating a world we cannot live in.
We are destroying, not only Eden,
but everything else as well.

The environment is gearing up
to bring an end to life on the planet,
and starting over
without the human element.

We need the Psyche to stop us
before we stop ourselves,
though it may be too late.
It has been calling to us
all these years.
Now it has to stop us altogether.

The COVID Variants may be the plan.

The Psyche has to become the active agent
in stopping the madness of Greed encroachment
into all aspects of life.

It could do so by restricting our swallowing
and limiting our breathing
until we change our mind about what is important,
and start living within limits acceptable to the planet
around the world.

Psyche ought to know where to draw the lines,
and we could learn to live within them,
if our ability to swallow and breathe
were severely hampered.

That would get our attention,
and require immediate action.
The way of Jungian analysis 
and individual adjustment
is taking too long,
and was globally ineffective
from the start.

We need a world-wide plague
starting right now.

If the Psyche cares about what is good for us
and the planet,
it will be bad for us
starting right now.

Well?

–0–

01

There is what we do to pay the bills,
and there is what we pay the bills to do.
Which is the most important?
Which is the easiest?

Everybody thinks money 
is the most important thing.
Few people have a clear understanding
of what money is for.
Of what bills are the right bills,
and what bills are the wrong bills.
Of what we need money 
in order to do.

We have to work this out 
for ourselves.

What are we paying the bills to do?
What MUST we do with our life?
What are we here to serve and to do?
What MUST we do?

"I have no say in the matter, Gibbs.
It's the pirate's life for me. 
Savvy?" (Captain Jack Sparrow)

What matter is it
that we have no say in?
What is the equivalent 
of the pirate's life for us?

Then comes the question
of how much money we will need
to do that,
and what can we do 
to make that much money.

And we cannot think our way
to the answers!

We feel our way there.
We live our way there.
We have to start paying attention.

What has always been "it" for you?
Start with that
and see what emerges,
arises,
appears,
occurs to you
as you circumambulate 
what has always been "it" for you,
waiting to see what comes to mind.

Carry this with you through each day,
wondering,
imagining,
woolgathering,
looking,
listening,
musing on
what for you is 
what a pirate's life was
for Captain Jack Sparrow.

That is the treasure you seek.
Everything falls into place
around that.

Don't stop questing 
until the deed is done!

–0–

02

Laughter and tears,
tears and laughter,
say it all.

As much as can be said.
As much as needs be said.

But.

They have to be the 
right kind of laughter,
and the right kind of tears.

That's the stipulation
that transforms the game.

It isn't just about laughing and crying.
It is about laughing and crying
from the right vantage point,
with the right perspective.

With the perspective
that sees rightly
and knows truly,
so that you have no alternative
but to burst forth
in laughter or tears
or both.

Laughter and tears 
go where words cannot follow.

"The Tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao."

"The path that can be discerned
is not a reliable path."

We have to live our way there,
with our eyes open.
Slip sliding all the way.

Which is, itself,
a fit occasion
for laughter and tears.

As all occasions are,

Because all occasions,
and every single thing,
are truth waiting to be seen
and received
with laughter
and with tears.

01

How do you maintain/restore 
your balance and harmony?

How do you serve/sustain
your spirit, energy, vitality?

These are the five indicators
of a life well-lived.
Without them in place,
you are faking it,
grinding it out,
looking for escape and refuge,
hoping for deliverance,
wishing you were dead,
or that somebody else was.

The times are always desperate
and the money is never enough
(Billionaires are always acting
as though they are just scraping by.
They worry about their money
more than poor people do.
It's Crazy-Stupid to the core).

Take a personal inventory
at least daily,
doing a check list
of the five markers:
___Balance
___Harmony
___Spirit
___Energy
___Vitality

And find what you need to do to
Serve
Sustain
Restore
Maintain
all five.

And do it.

At least daily.

–0–

02

All it takes 
is being right about 
what needs to be done
and doing it--
in each situation as it arises,
situation by situation,
day by day,
year by year.

Nothing to it.

The easiest way to be right
about what needs to be done
is to be wrong about it
with your eyes open.

Time will tell if it is right or wrong.

If it is right, great.
If it is wrong, great--
that means you stop doing it
and start doing what needs to be done now.
That means doing what you think is right
and needs to be done.

Time will tell.
If you are right this time, great.
If you are wrong again, great--
that means you stop doing it,
and start doing what needs to be done now...

It's like this all the way to being right at last!

Only it isn't at last.

Then, you have to be right about what needs to be done
in the next situation as it arises,
and repeat the process
until you are right again at last.

Only it isn't really last.

Get it?

Do it!

01

For forty years and six months
I talked to people about God
(I was a minister in the 
Presbyterian Church [USA]).
There was a problem.

Most of the people who paid me
to talk about God,
didn't want me to say anything
they hadn't already heard.

"Why don't you talk to us
about things we can understand?"
they said,
not realizing the paradox
they were proposing.

If I could explain to them
why I talked to them
about things they couldn't understand,
in a way that they could understand it,
there would not be a problem
with them understanding what I was saying.

However, not understanding applied to 
everything I said.

It isn't that I was speaking Babel.
It is that they were hearing Babel,
because what I was saying
was not what they were able to hear.

I cannot say anything to anyone 
who is not ready to hear what I'm talking about.
Who does not resonate with what I am saying,
and recognize the value of what they are hearing.
Our life cannot give us an adventure
we are not ready for.

The people have to be asking the questions
before the answers make sense.
I was giving them answers
to questions they were not asking.
And they were not interested in asking
the questions that needed to be asked.

For instance, "Who says so?"
That's the basic question.
Until we get "Who says so?" down,
we're wasting our time 
talking about God.
Or anything else.

The basics about God 
are "What does God want?"
("Who says so?")
"What is the point?"
("Who says so?")
"What is the place of the Bible
in getting us together with God?"
(Who says so?")
"What should we believe?"
(Who says so?")
"Who is the authority
in all matters pertaining to God?"
("Who says so?")

When we take "Who says so?" 
as the primary question to ask
of every statement about God/doctrine/the Bible/etc.,
and go through all of the answers,
asking "Who says that the people who say so
know what they are talking about?"
We get past the prophets and apostles,
the popes and the priests and the preachers,
all of Judaism and all of Christendom,
asking "Who says they know what they are talking about?"
to all of them,
we get down finally at the very end
to the declaration,
"I say so."
"I--I Am The One Who Says So!"

We say whomever we believe knows what they are talking about,
knows what they are talking about
because WE say so.

WE are the grounding authority
determining what is and is not the answer
to all of our questions.

WE are the ones who say so.

And we don't know.

Nobody knows.

If anyone knows what they are talking about.

The theology, doctrines, dogmas, catechisms, etc.,
are all held to be so
because of what somebody declares to be the authority,
but the authority is grounded upon
the people who say it is authoritative--
on the people saying it is authoritative,
because they (the people) say so.

The take it on faith.
And don't ask any more questions.
But, questions are the ground of being.

The people who advise taking it on faith 
because no one knows,
and not asking any questions,
do so because no one has the courage to say,
"We don't know."
"Nobody knows."
So they say, "We take it on faith,"
because that gets rid of the questions
and ignores the fact that no one knows
what's what about any of it.

People say "God said," but
how do we know they know
what they are talking about?
People saying, "God said,"
are just people saying, "God said."
But who knows?
All we know is what people say God said.

And, of course, they have the end-around to that.
They say, "Just believe and you will know
in your heart that it is so."

This is the ground of astrology, horoscopes,
fortune telling, superstition, voodoo, 
black magic, cons, frauds, and scams.

People believed witches into existence
and drowned them.
People believed heresy was demonic
and burned those they said were heretics
at the stake.

"Believe and you will know,"
is the heart of deception, trickery, 
falsehood and deceit. 

There is no ground to any of it.
That is what "Who says so?" reveals.

At that point, we are ready to throw
all theology/doctrine/dogma/etc.
into the burning barrel,
and look for what WE can say is valid,
real and true.

How does this strike you for that--
"It matters how we live our life."

"Who says so?"
Who would not say so?
It is obvious that how we live matters.
So, we don't sleep on railroad tracks,
and we don't jump off high buildings,
and we get the COVID 19 vaccines...
Because it makes a difference,
and it matters how we live!

Take "It matters how we live"
as the ground of true religion,
and ask, "How do we need to live?"
and we get, "In ways that are good for ourselves
one another, and the situation as a whole."

This is "Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you."

What is good for ourselves and others
is whatever needs to be done 
in each situation as it arises
in light of the true good 
of the situation as a whole.

Or, we could say, "In light of what is happening
and what is being called for in response,
here and now, in this moment!
What needs to happen?"

"Who says so?"
That would be each individual there, then.
How do they know?
"Only time will tell."
In the meantime,
we have to make our best guess.
And see where it goes.

If it goes badly, we will catch on to that,
and do what needs to be done
to correct things.

This is how it goes.
We decide what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
and we will either be right or wrong.

If we are right, fine.
if we are wrong,
we decide what needs to be done about it,
and do it.
We will either be right or wrong...

The situation is self-righting,
self-correcting,
if we respond to it in good faith
seeking what needs to be done 
then and there and doing it.

Good faith is the heart of true religion,
and a good faith commitment
to seeing and doing what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
where it needs to be done,
how it needs to be done
because it needs to be done,
in each situation as it arises
is all the faith anyone needs,
and everyone needs that. 

01

Your conflicts are killing you.

The typical way we deal with conflicts
is killing us.

We typically deny them,
run from them,
escape them,
ignore them,
pretend they don't exist,
and create conflicts
trying to get away from
our conflicts.

Conflicts multiply that way.
Pot and alcohol
are making things worse
by helping us feel better.

Feeling better is not getting better.

How long has it been since you
were conflict free?

Dead is conflict free.
Life, not so much.

Managing our conflicts
means reducing our conflicts
to a manageable level.

Means saying "No!"
Means drawing lines.
Oh, but "No!" and drawing lines
create such internal conflicts for us!

We have to deliberately create conflict
to reduce conflict.
We cannot run/hide/escape from conflict
and reduce conflict.
This is the first law of conflict reduction.

The first step in reducing conflict
is to take the first law of conflict reduction
to heart.
Grasp what it means,
and get to work.

Getting to work means sitting still,
being quiet.
Inviting all of your conflicts 
into your awareness.
You might want to make a list.
An actual list.

What are the sources of conflict
in your life?
Keep the list going over time.
Invite conflicts to present themselves
to you throughout your day,
Through your dreams at night
(They have been doing this for years,
but now you are going to start paying attention
to your dreams
and mining them for the conflicts
they reveal).

Catalog your conflicts.
Notice how one creates a multitude of others.
Notice how denying/hiding/escaping create
conflicts by the score.

Search for your easiest conflicts to resolve.
Start with them.
Use them as practice.

Your goal is to reduce the number of conflicts
in your life.
That means not adding any new ones,
and resolving current ones.

It won't take long to realize that
this means changing your behavior.
More specifically, it means
transforming your relationship 
with yourself,
your life,
other people,
particularly family members.

You might need a therapist
or a truly good friend
to help you with this
(Most "friends" are only interested in
using their relationship with you
to escape/avoid their own conflicts,
and are definitely not interested
in facing up to any of them, 
which means they cannot help you
face up to yours).

It takes courage, "true grit," 
and determination to see this through.
But it is the necessary first step
in reclaiming your life and living it
over what remains for the time left
for that kind of thing.

Your basic strategy is the 
"What needs to be done?" approach.
Here's the conflict,
what needs to be done?

Sit with the conflict and the question
in mind.

Do. Not. Try. To think your way to a solution!

Just with the conflict and the question,
and wait "for the mud to settle
and the water to clear."

You may have to get up and go on with your life,
but keep the conflict and the question with you
at all times.

Walk two paths at once.
Tend your business in "the world,"
and your business with the conflict and the question,
at the same time.

You are looking for realization to occur
of its own accord.
For something to stir to life,
arise, emerge, appear, as if by magic.

For a door to open where there was no door,
a path to appear where there was no path.

It may ask hard things of you.
Hard things are your new favorite thing.
Do what needs to be done.

Forever.

–0–

02

Carl Jung said,  “There is no balance, no system of self-regulation, without opposition. The psyche is just such a self-regulating system” 

I view the Psyche as an aspect of Mind.
And may constitute the whole of Mind,
so that Mind and Psyche are One.

It may also be that the old Chinese concept Tao
is one with Mind and with Psyche,
so that all three terms "mean" the same "thing."

I say "may" here because I cannot find a place
to draw lines between Tao and Mind and Psyche,
and all three terms seem to me
to be designations for our experience
with something other than ourselves--
something other than our ego-self.

And this "otherness" needs to be explored,
because I think it connects us with 
"all that has gone before."
And suggests a connection,
perhaps through DNA channels,
with instincts/intuition/knowing
that have a life of their own,
and is there for us all to partner with
in living our life aligned with,
in accord with,
The Way of the Whole.

Perhaps, there are no lines separating 
any of this,
and the Buddhists are right 
about all being One,
with us awash in a great
swirl of oneness,
where Psyche/Mind/Tao are experiencing
physical existence through us,
and are calling us to consciously/intentionally
place ourselves in accord with it/them
for the true good of the whole.

The Psyche/Mind/Tao are self-regulating systems
for producing in/through us
balance and harmony,
spirit, energy, vitality--
and it is our work to submit 
to the work of wholeness
in living lives of 
balance and harmony,
spirit, energy, vitality,
in and around,
above and beyond,
what we do day-to-day,
moment-by-moment.

Trusting ourselves to what we do not know,
for the lack of anything better to do--
and we have to wonder
what could possibly be better than this,
or more on the order of a Great Adventure
of a Lifetime?

We have to learn the Way of Alignment,
and find our way to the Beam of Life,
and stay on it (in it) forever no matter what!

–0–

03

My next-oldest sister, Diane, died yesterday. 
Went to take a shower,
died in the bathroom,
probably from an aneurysm,
but that is to be determined.

There were five siblings,
three sisters 
and two brothers.
Now there are four living siblings.

I think that if we took a vote among us,
Diane would be a unanimous choice
for the hands-down hero among us.
Her heroism comes from doing the most
against the greatest odds
any of us had to work with and against.

Diane was my own personal wonder
at what can be done with practically
nothing in the way of external resources.
She called it all up from within.

We all started out with a father
who made it difficult.
Soft and gentle,
kind and caring,
are not terms we would use
in talking about him.

Emotionally (and occasionally physically) abusive
would be the relevant phrase.
None of us had an ideal beginning,
and we all did what we could with it.

Diane produced a life that was admirable 
by any standard,
with little help to speak of.

Only Helen Keller did more with less in my mind.

So I lift this day to her memory--
as I will with all days following this one--
with respect and honor for her
and the life she lived,
and deep regret and sorrow
regarding the un-lived life she might have had
with a father worthy of her.

01

In any situation,
there is what needs to be done
and what needs not to be done.
All we have to do is 
be right about which is which,
and do what needs to be done,
without a thought
for what is in it for us.

Our place is to be what the situation
needs us to be
with no interest
in how we might manipulate/exploit 
the situation 
for our good/gain/profit/advantage.

Sincerity and spontaneity--
not contrivance and deceit--
make all the difference
in making where we are
a good place to be
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.

–0–

02

It does not matter what we think,
what we believe,
what we want,
what mood we are in,
how we feel,
whether it is a good time for us or not.

All that matters is 
that we do 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,
without caring about
what is in it for us,
or what we stand to gain or lose,
by doing it.

Get that down and we have it made,
and the world has it made as well.

–0–

03

Optimal is a range,
not a point.

It is a subjective range,
not an objective measurement.

It exists as an approximate,
and temporary,
location between less than optimal
and more than optimal--
for people who don't have much to do
beyond wondering about 
their present state of satisfaction
with their life,
or their degree of functioning/success
at what they are doing.

Reality is a similar range of subjectivity.
"Actual" and "apparent" and "illusion"
are words used in accessing reality
by those wondering how real something is.

How real something is
is how real we say it is.
A broken arm is more real than a broken heart,
though unless we experience both
at the same time,
we may be hard pressed
to determine which hurts the most.

Reality is more, or less, real
depending on how it is experienced
at any point in time.

Our experience of our experience
requires us to be present with our experience,
alert to our experience 
and aware of ourselves being aware
of our experience.

How often do we do that?
How long can we manage to maintain
that kind of focus and concentration?
For what purpose?
Who cares?

We drift through our life.
We hardly ever actually live it,
aware of what we are doing.

I sometimes look at my watch
without actually seeing what time it is.
Or eat lunch without tasting it,
unless it is really good or really bad.

Where are we when we are not here, now?
Why do we drift away?
Why do we live without knowing what we are doing?

How many years are we actually alive
in the life we are living?

How real are we really?
How real is "real life"?