Finding our way to The Way one situation at a time. I don't know how great it will be, but I expect it will be interesting, and I look forward to it going on past all reason because wonder is just that way. Are you coming or not?
Moonset 10-17-2016 Oil Paint Rendered — Price Lake, Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Courage is a function
of what needs to be done.
Our life calls us forth.
We are here to do the bidding
of time and circumstance,
time and place,
here and now.
Too many of us spend our time
trying to set things up,
get things in place,
to have it made.
We think what we want
is what needs to be done.
What we want is as much interference
as it is guidance,
as much misdirection
as it is direction.
What does wanting know?
Between what we want to happen
and what needs to happen
which do we serve?
Where do we stand?
Whose side are we on?
How do we decide what to do?
I need to be quiet.
I need to be free from intrusions.
I need to reduce complexity
and avoid noise.
Or, is it that I want those things?
I do not know where wanting stops
and needing starts in these matters.
I know that between walking around
a still pond with a camera in the evening
and a cocktail party,
it is the pond for me every time.
I will do the pond without the camera
to avoid the party.
I gravitate away from people,
not toward people.
Introversion and extroversion
are needs, not wants.
We cannot help some things about ourselves.
And it helps to know what those things are.
And draw the lines that need to be drawn,
whether we want to or not.
And see what we do with what's left--
with curiosity about,
and interest in,
why we do what we find ourselves doing.
–0–
02
Around Bass Lake 11 10/16/2016 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
There is experience,
and there is interpretation of experience.
The way we interpret experience
determines the meaning
the experience has for us,
determines what we learn
from the experience,
determines what we do
about the experience.
Interpretation of the past swings the future.
The way we see things
becomes how we say things are,
becomes how things are
for us and those like us--
but.
How are things apart from our interpretation of them?
How are things "just come"?
How are things "in themselves"?
We have no idea.
We do not see things as they are.
We see things as we interpret them to be.
As we say they are.
We are born into an interpretive view of the world--
into a culture that views the world
in ways it has been taught--and the way it teaches--
the world is.
We grow up with those who see the world
as it has been interpreted to them
from birth.
We ratify what we have been told
with our own experience,
which we can only experience
through our "inherited" interpretation
of experience,
which is to say,
through the "experience"
of those who have gone before us.
How the world is apart from our
interpretive heritage,
we have no idea.
We can only see how we have been told to see,
which is how we see.
Seeing new things
happens when we meet people
with a different interpretive heritage.
And when we sit quietly
in reflective openness,
and imagine a world other than it "is."
How many ways are there to see a light bulb,
or God?
That's how many light bulbs and gods there are.
Interpretation of reality
shapes/forms reality.
How do we see what is there
without projecting onto what we look at
what we have always seen?
How do we see
without seeing our interpretations
before we see what we are looking at?
How do we see what we look at
in ways that take the way we see
into account?
Perspective determines perception.
How we see what we look at
determines what we see.
How do we get outside of our eyes to see?
How can we see until we do?
Bass Lake Trail 06/21/2018 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
When we care about everything,
when it all is important,
we are lost--
as lost as we would be
if we did not care about anything,
if we thought nothing mattered.
The trick is to know what is important,
what matters most--
to care about the things that are primary,
that are essential.
And to tend those things
at the expense of everything else.
Or, as Jesus would say,
"Let the dead bury the dead."
Our place is to know
which stone among all the rubble
is the cornerstone.
Which pearl among the others
in the costume jewelry bin
at the flea market
is the pearl of great price,
and which ones are the cheap imitations.
Which field among all the fields
contains the treasure worth
our complete devotion.
Our place is to know what's what,
and what's not.
What's your center and ground?
The source from which
everything flows?
What is your adamantine foundation?
The unmovable rock
that anchors your life?
What is your still point,
the axis mundi,
the World Axis between the celestial poles,
from which you allow the mud to clear
and the water to settle--
because you are clear about that?
What is your North Star
which guides you through the darkness,
provides direction,
and keeps your boat centered and true
on its path through the sea?
"Well. I like to snowboard."
Won't do it.
Our place is to know what will do it,
and live from there
in all that we do.
What will do it,
for you?
What has proven itself to be
worthy of you
over the course of your life?
Not because someone else
tells you it should be,
but because you know it is?
What do you turn to in time of trouble?
When everything you thought was trustworthy
dissolves and disappears,
what remains?
What do you turn to
when you have nowhere else to turn?
What stabilizes you,
secures you,
focuses you,
guards and guides you?
That is what is important.
Guard that.
Tend that.
Serve that.
Let everything else
fall into place around that.
Live from your heart,
your center,
your ground and foundation,
at "the still point of the turning world"
(T.S. Eliot).
And, if you have no idea what/where that is,
sit with the question
in the silence,
until the shift happens,
and something emerges,
occurs,
arises,
appears,
that you know to be
your guiding principle,
and "a very present help
in time of trouble."
Renew acquaintances.
And live from the center.
From now on.
–0–
02
Chemung County Barn 05 09/25/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Elmira, New York
"That's a terrible idea,
and we are not going to do it!"
Can we say that and mean it
when and where it needs to be said?
To ourselves
and to others
as the case may be?
Do we know a "terrible idea"
when we have one/hear one?
Can we respond to it
as it needs to be responded to?
Can we say, "NO!"?
Can we take, "NO!" for an answer?
Can we be trusted
to know what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
and do it--
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
as often and as long as it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
with what we have to work with,
no matter what,
all our life long?
If so, then carry on!
If not, why not?
–0–
03
Cypress Swamp 03 06/14/2019 — Santee National Wildlife Refuge, Summerton, South Carolina
The most important things
have to be taken on faith.
They are beyond facts,
which themselves can be denied,
even though demonstrable
(e.g., global warming,
evolution).
Which makes the most important things
as ephemeral as they are ineffable,
and subject to derision and ridicule,
and capable of being "laughed out of town,"
dismissed,
disregarded,
denounced
and ignored,
like the stone the builders reject,
and the pearl of great price,
overlooked forever in the costume jewelry bin
at the flea market on the side
of the road not taken
by anyone who knows what they are doing.
"Know Thyself" was inscribed on the entrance
of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi
(Along with "Nothing to Excess,"
and "Surety Brings Ruin").
"To Thine Own Self Be True," was penned
by Shakespeare in Hamlet,
and makes a fit couplet to the Delphic advice.
Both have to be taken on faith,
and revered as worthy of both faith and practice.
We have to believe they are so,
and live as though they are--
because we know their value
without being able to prove their worth.
How do we know what we know?
We have to take that on faith as well.
Carl Jung said, "There is within each of us,
another, whom we do not know."
How do we know that is so?
It is true, or not?
We take it on faith, or not.
And that is the choice that tells the tale.
The tale being the life we live,
and how and why.
I believe there is indeed another within,
to whom we owe allegiance and loyalty,
troth and faithful service.
I believe we owe it to ourselves
to be who we are,
where we are,
when we are,
how we are,
why we are,
for the good of the whole self
and the benefit of all sentient beings.
And, I believe there will be a reckoning.
I believe we will have to answer
for the life we live,
for the things we embrace and affirm
and the things we denounce and ignore.
I believe it matters how we live.
And that time will tell
whether I'm right or not.
We only have ourselves to please.
But, why not be pleasing?
Why not strive to seek and to know
what is pleasing,
and what is not pleasing,
to our own Self?
Why not live to Know Thy Self--
and To Thine Own Self Be True?
Why think there is something better than that
to do with our time?
–0–
04
Goodale 29 11/07/2016 Oil Paint Rendered — Goodale State Park, Adams Mill Pond, Camden, South Carolina
Evaluate your balance and harmony.
This is the balance between The You
and The Also-You,
or, if you like, the conscious you
and the unconscious you
(Though the conscious you
is really the unconscious you,
and the unconscious you,
is really the super-conscious you,
if you know what I mean).
Harmony is a measure of the degree
of alignment/resonance/in-tune-ness/
at-one-ment
between the life you are living
and the life that is yours to live,
the life you were born to live,
the life you were "cut out for"
before you were born.
So, how's your balance and harmony?
That is the on-going, regularly recurring,
quality of life reading.
The better your balance and harmony,
the higher the quality of your life.
You can take a quick reading of that
by noting the number and frequency
of your addictive/distractive behaviors.
We begin with balance and harmony,
working to be aware of those,
and what we are doing to assist/resist
their development.
At the same time,
we are keeping an eye on our
spirit,
energy,
vitality.
How alive are we are
in the way we go about our life
is an indicator of spirit, energy and vitality.
The lower that is over time,
the more attention we need to give
to what is draining and what is restorative,
and counterbalance the former
with an increase of the latter.
The other eye has to be on
our degree of contrivance
and our pursuit of personal advantage,
benefit,
gain
and profit--
and how often we do something
for the pure joy of doing it
and the gladness and satisfaction
of having done it.
Here, sincerity and spontaneity
are the prime indicators
of doing it the way it needs to be done.
Packaging all of this into
our daily routine
will transform the way we live
and impact our part of the world
for the better
instantaneously.
So, why put it off?
What's worth our time?
We live to find out.
By now (This is my 77th June),
I have ruled out a lot of things.
Articulating the truth of the moment
remains high on the list.
Saying what's what,
and looking for what needs to be done about it,
is my favorite thing.
It's been my shtick for years.
I'm taken by how many people prefer movies,
sports,
sit-coms
and best sellers--
board games,
quiz shows,
ice cream
and pizza.
If you can get a Jungian analyst
to talk about themselves--
what they like to do,
what their nighttime dreams
are saying to them,
where they think
their life might be taking them--
you could pick up some tips
for how you might approach
your own life.
It will come down to paying attention,
connecting the dots,
seeing how this is related to that,
and where that over there came from
and putting 2 and 2 together.
Few of us are that curious
about ourselves
and how we amassed the assorted
collection of things
that constitute our life,
but it is great path
to what we could do
with what remains of our time.
The clues are everywhere
for those who think there must be more to it
than whiskey and picking up dog poop
three time a day.
–0–
02
Goldenrod 10/22/2020 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
If we aren't spending our time
consciously/intentionally/persistently/deliberately
being who we are,
doing it the way we would do it,
we are wasting our time,
and throwing away opportunities
to bring ourselves forth
in the time left for living.
How would you live the rest
of what is left of this moment
in a way that is true to who you are?
Do that,
and repeat it in all of the moments
that follow this one.
To do that,
you have to have a good sense
of who you are and who you are not,
of what is you and what is not-you.
If you don't have that by now,
now is a great time to begin
getting to the bottom of you.
Awareness! Awareness! Awareness!
How do you play out
what remains of your life
in ways that are true to you?
Sit quietly and imagine your options,
try all of the imaginable combinations
of potential actions and reactions
until you find some that could work.
Maybe you don't get a divorce
and quit your job as your first move
toward you.
Maybe you start with practicing
becoming courageous
in small,
inconsequential ways,
until you get the hang of it.
A lack of courage has you where you are,
the practice of courage
will take you along the path
to where you need to be.
One step at a time.
See what beckons as a reasonable
first step,
and start walking.
–0–
03
Francis Beidler Forest 11/22/2019 Oil Paint Rendered — Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary, Dorchester County, South Carolina
The fundamental conflict
is the conflict between the Garden of Eden
and the Garden of Gethsemane--
between the call of the world
and the call of our soul.
We want what will kill us.
W.B. Yeats saw this as the conflict
between the Primary Mask and the Antithetical Mask.
The Primary Mask is given to us at birth.
It is who we are to be
as parents/family/culture/church/society
would have us be.
This is the Knowledge of Good and Evil,
of the Rules and Ways of Being
that will get us what we want
in the world of space and time.
The Antithetical Mask is given to us before birth.
It is our own sense of
what is right for us and what is wrong fort us
as our heart and soul (Psyche) determine
what fits us and what does not.
The life that is ours to live
comes with us from the womb,
and at birth we meet the life
the culture has waiting for us
in a "Here, put this on,
fresh from the rack," kind of way.
It does not fit us but there are perks
and fringe benefits aplenty,
so off we go,
out of the Garden,
to seek our fortune
among the flashing lights
and hypnotic sounds of Gay Paree
(Or its local manifestation).
Well, the world has its way of
doing business and measuring success,
and our soul has its way of
doing business and measuring success,
and life in one sphere of existence
is death in the other,
and which will we listen to
and which will we ignore?
What will guide our boat on its path through the sea?
Jesus points the way in the Garden of Gethsemane,
but it is the way of dying to the world's
way of reckoning success
and living to the soul's way of valuing and being.
"Thy will, not mine, be done,"
means we are to be as Jesus was,
liege servants serving our soul
with filial devotion and loyalty.
And so it is said
that the path back to Eden
winds through the heart of Gethsemane
and across the face of Golgotha.
And we all bear the marks of the cross
in our own bodies
as we wrestle for our life
within the tension the world's way
of doing things
and our soul's call for faithful obedience
to our oath in the Garden, not Eden, but Gethsemane.
And we work this out again and again,
finding the Middle Way
between World and Soul
throughout our life,
dying and being resurrected
to die and be resurrected
with each choice
in each situation as it arises.
The Middle way
is the slippery slope,
the dangerous path,
like a razor's edge,
between the Primary and the Antithetical Mask,
the world and the soul,
how we serve which to what extent,
and what guides our boat on its path through the sea.
Negotiation and compromise, Kid.
Negotiation and compromise.
Death and Resurrection, Kid.
Death and Resurrection.
Bog River Falls 01 09/29/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Adirondack Park, Tupper Lake, New York
Companions of The Way
understand that the way back to Eden
winds through the heart of Gethsemane
and across the face of Golgotha,
and requires them to die to their idea
of how their life should be
in order to be born into the realization
of how their life is to be.
Companions of The Way
know what is important--
and are right about it
in each situation as it arises.
See what needs to be done
and do it when it needs to be done
the way it needs to be done
because it needs to be done
out of the gifts, specialties,
daemon (sounds like "diamond"),
talents, shtick, virtues,
abilities, proclivities, knacks
and aptitudes, etc.,
that comes with them from the womb--
from one situation to the next,
all their life long.
With compassion and grace,
but without contrivance
or thought of gain, benefit or advantage,
Because that is who they are
and that is how they do it.
If you feel like this is your kind of place to be,
you have all it takes to be a Companion of The Way!
Welcome, and safe travels
through all that lies ahead!
What would you do
that you got nothing from doing it
beyond the joy of doing it
and the gladness/satisfaction
of having done it?
Find those things,
and do them!
–0–
03
22-Acre Woods 09 10/20/2020 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
Frasier Snowden said,
"The only true philosophical question
is 'Where do you draw the line?'"
It is the only true moral question.
The only true ethical question.
The only true religious question.
The only true psychological question...
It is the only question that matters.
Where we draw the line
is where we declare ourselves
to be who we are.
"This is where I stand.
This is where if fall.
This is who I am."
No one can draw our lines for us,
else they are not our lines.
We have to draw our own lines,
and in doing so,
we bring ourselves forth.
We define ourselves.
We expose ourselves.
We make ourselves known
by saying/showing who we are.
Every polarity,
every dichotomy,
every contradiction,
every contrary,
every opposite,
every duality...
forces choice upon us.
We bear the tension of opposition,
draw a line,
work things out.
Time after time all of the time.
There is pushing, forcing, insisting, demanding...
and there is being resilient and resolute and determined, and unrelenting.
Where do the lines lie?
There is being inquisitive and curious and investigative and searching,
and there is being nosy and meddling and intrusive and snooping.
And where do the lines lie?
Opposites are everywhere,
extremes are on every side,
and we position ourselves somewhere between them all,
on a floating scale with too much on one side
and not enough on the other.
Where do we stand?
Where do we draw the line?
How do we know what to do?
How do we decide what to do?
What guides our boat
on its path through the sea?
Sometimes we do it this way,
and sometimes we do it that way,
and often we make the same choice
differently at different times,
not knowing why we do it this way
and not that way.
Are we right?
How do we know?
Often, only time will tell.
We can't put too much importance
on being right,
on doing it right,
and have to grant ourselves room--
and permission--
to learn as we go,
and hope to improve our score over time
in knowing where to draw the line.
It is an experiential thing,
knowing where to draw the line.
It is not a rational thing,
a logical thing,
a mechanical thing,
an inorganic thing.
We feel our way into doing what needs to be done.
We do not think our way there.
There are no recipes.
No formulas.
No dictums, decrees or directives.
There is only what's what
and what needs to be done about it,
and where we draw the line
is important,
but we can't take it seriously.
It is only a line,
and we can draw it somewhere else
next time.
Buddha Fish 02 Oil Paint Rendered — Pike Nursery, Charlotte, North Carolina
Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Lament"
is a poem for all times
throughout time.
"Life must go on
though good men die.
Anne, eat your breakfast.
Dan, take your medicine.
Life must go on.
I forget just why."
Poets are truth-bearers,
and the burden is heavy--
too heavy,
and good poets die
under the weight of truth
too much to bear,
too much to say,
and keep saying.
Truth, it seems,
offers two choices:
Absurdity or denial.
It is absurd to not choose denial.
But denial is just another absurdity.
The two choices are one.
And that's the truth.
The truth is absurdity.
Absurdity is truth.
"Life must go on,
(we) forget just why."
It is our dharma/duty to press on with it.
To pass it on.
Though, we forget just why.
It doesn't matter why.
Life is another absurdity,
perhaps the ultimate absurdity,
living on under all circumstances
for the hell of it.
Who cares why?
Life eating life.
How absurd is that?
Life living on life.
Even trees and plants live on
the carbon dioxide expelled by
other life forms.
Cannibals everywhere we look.
Looking at each other
with a gleam in their eye.
Why play the game?
It is who we are.
It is what we do.
Why do otherwise?
What makes death preferable to life?
We will die soon enough.
Why not live while we can
under any circumstances,
for the lack of anything better to do?
Why not live for the hell of it,
if we can't do better than that?
If we are going to live--
and why not?--
let's agree to live looking life
in its ugly red gleaming eye,
saying, Come on!
Show me what you got!"
And taking what it throws at us
without pausing to complain,
dealing with it all with grace and compassion
in a "This too, this too, so what?" kind of way.
Living as fragments in search of the whole,
we attract others to us
by exhibiting balance and harmony,
spirit, energy, vitality,
and living from our center
on a trajectory all our own,
as though we know what we are doing.
We are doing what is ours to do
as though it matters
because it matters to us.
So first, find what matters to you
and do it--relentlessly.
Anyway, nevertheless, even so,
no matter what.
Let that be your center,
your guardian and your guide.
Balancing you,
securing you,
anchoring you
to the work of being you,
creating harmony,
with spirit, energy, vitality,
for the hell of it
in each situation as it arises
all your life long.
Because, why not?
–0–
02
Catawba Trestle 05B 12/21/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — River Walk Park, Rock Hill, South Carolina
A photograph is a segment of life
selected and framed and set apart
as a way of saying,
"Stop! Look! Listen!"
The complexity and noise of life
close us off from the beauty and truth
of being.
Art counter-balances that tendency of life
to shut us away from the balancing,
harmonizing, centering, focusing, restoring,
reorienting
connection with the ground and foundation--
the grounding foundation--
of what's what and what needs to be done about it
here and now
with the gifts we are here to serve and share,
as a testimony to the value of seeing, hearing,
knowing, understanding, doing, being,
for no reason beyond
"This is who we are, and this is what we do."
Art calls us to life in the midst of the noise,
clutter, complexity of life,
in a "This too, this too, be still, be aware,
be you, be you, here and now,
because why not?" kind of way.
Grandfather Mountain 09-10 Panorama 10/17/2016 — Grandfather Mountain State Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina
Where are we better off?
What do we want?
How can we maximize our profits
and minimize our losses?
What's in it for us?
These are not the questions.
What is happening here and now?
What needs to happen in response?
What does this situation call for?
What can we do about that
with the specialties,
gifts,
virtues,
and shtick
we have to offer?
What do we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done?
These are the questions.
Asking the wrong questions
has us where we are.
Asking the right questions
is our path to where we need to be.
Enough said.
–0–
02
Georgia Barn in the Spring Oil Paint Rendered — White County, Georgia, April 14, 2015
Carl Jung said the world is in the mess
it is in
because people don't have anyone
to listen to them.
We cannot hear what we have to say
if we aren't saying it,
and we don't say it
if no one is listening.
Unless we write it out as I do here
constantly,
all of the time,
whenever something needs to be said,
whether anyone is listening
or not.
Knowing when something needs to be said
and saying it
whether anyone is listening or not
is the best thing I do for myself.
It keeps me grounded,
centered,
focused,
balanced,
in harmony with myself
and my context.
The problem, or one of them,
is that no one asks me
questions for clarification,
and I am not pushed/invited
to say more than I've said
about what I'm saying,
so I am constantly leaving things
unsaid that need to be said,
which I would do less of
if this were a genuine conversation.
How many genuine conversations do you have?
Probably about as many as I have.
They are hard to come by.
Because no one is listening to us,
to what we have to say.
Two things flow from this:
We all need a sounding board.
A sounding board is all we need.
How to find the sounding board we need
is the best trick in the encyclopedia of tricks.
But.
The next best thing is being the sounding board
that other people need.
Being what we need is the surest way
of finding what we need.
Start listening to people--
and learning how to listen is also a good trick--
and that will lead you into the company
of people who can listen to you.
And that is all we need.
Seriously.
–0–
03
Reelfoot Lake 20 11/04/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Reelfoot Lake State Park, Tiptonville, Tennessee
Reduce complexity
(Also known as "Simplify. Simplify, Simplify).
Avoid noise.
Make room for silence.
Silence takes a lot of getting used to.
It is essential that we get used to it.
That we make friends with it.
That we learn to listen to it,
and hear what all it has to say.
We have to bear the pain of the silence
if we are to find the way
and walk the path
through complexity and noise
to the life that is our life to live.
That path is the path
from the Garden of Eden
to the Garden of Gethsemane.
The Garden of Gethsemane
is the doorway/threshold
to resurrection and new life--
the joy of doing what needs to be done,
and the gladness of having done it,
but the price we pay
is the death of our hopes and dreams
and the life we wish were our life to live.
The path between gardens is called Growing Up.
The silence carries us along the way.
To refuse/fail to bear the pain of the silence
is to refuse/fail to grow up.
The silence asks hard things of us
and provides us with all we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done.
But we have to trust that this is so
and risk everything
in opening ourselves to the silence
and facing what must be faced
in doing what must be done.
It isn't called "The Hero's Journey"
for no reason.
The silence is the source of everything we need
to find what we need,
but,
it is also the wasteland of missed opportunities
and lost chances,
a horror world of regrets and losses,
fear, anger, insecurity and truth.
The Jon Kabat-Zinn YouTube videos
(shortest ones first)
offer direction and guidance into the silence,
and recommend awareness without engagement
regarding what we find there--
just tucking it into our awareness,
and returning to the silence
to find what is helpful and grounding.
However we do it,
the silence beckons and waits.
And, we can only find our way
to The Way
by transforming our relationship
with The Silence.
Capitalized, The Silence becomes
an entity in itself,
a reality that is a synonym
for the Psyche/Soul within each of us,
and the connection with "the guardians and guides,"
"the wisdom of the ages,"
that Jung called "the Collective Unconscious,"
that is both immanent and transcendent,
and accessible through The Silence
at the Heart of life and Being.
This is a different way of thinking about
That Which Has Always Been Called God,
and it puts us in the position of
partners/collaborators/servants
of the Numen,
the ineffable Other within/beyond us all.
And makes what remains of
the time left for living,
present and available for
the adventure of a lifetime--
if only we will be present
with what is present with us
in a "Let's see what we can do"
kind of way.
–0–
04
Fenced In Oil Paint Rendered — Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia
Being quiet.
Hearing what is being said.
Seeing what needs to be done
and doing it
with the gift that are ours
to serve and share,
sounds, to our ears,
like the most boring kind of fare.
But.
From the other side,
it seems to be adventure
at every turn.
Life, it would seem,
is an optical illusion.
We see what we say is there.
Just saying it in a different language
brings novelty to the fore.
How different can you make things
just by saying what is there
in five different languages?
In ten?
Try looking at something
with no words at all coming to mind.
Draw it with no verbalization of any kind.
Go outside and walk a short distance
with no words coming to mind.
We cannot see without saying.
Our saying biases our seeing.
We think about God
with the language we have been
taught to use in thinking about God.
The language prejudices our view of God.
No one "sees," "perceives," "meets" God
as God is.
God is always who God is expected to be.
An encounter with the numinous is quickly lost
in the words we use to describe
"the encounter with God."
The raw experience itself is beyond words.
We destroy any association with it
when we attempt to talk about it.
Stop talking.
Open yourself to the experience of your experience
without saying anything about it.
When you eat your oatmeal,
just eat your oatmeal.
No internal dialogue.
No mental drifting about.
Just you and your oatmeal.
Start with one spoon at a time.
Like a baby might do it.
Or a mouse.
It will change your life.
Along NY Hwy 30 09/28/2014 05 Oil Paint Rendered — Adirondack Park, Tupper Lake, New York
We can organize our life
mathematically,
logically,
reasonably,
rationally,
inorganically,
imposing order from the top down
and from the outside in.
And, we can organize our life
inorganically,
irrationally,
unreasonably,
naturally,
following the order
from the bottom up
and from the inside out.
We can lay out our life
by the book.
Setting goals and achieving them,
deciding this and not that
from the position of a chess master
moving pieces
in light of a desired end,
making sure that everything
is done right,
on schedule
exactly as we decree
it is supposed to be.
And, we can live our life as it comes,
as a stream finds its way to the sea,
not knowing where it is going
or why we are doing it like this
and not like that,
and being surprised and amazed
by everything that happens,
unplanned and unexpected
all along the way,
arriving at the sea
in a "Wow! I never imagined all This!"
kind of realization,
stunned at how it all came together
to produce what it became.
We can have a plan for our life
that has nothing to do
with our life's desire for itself.
We can force,
compel,
and contrive
our way to where we think
we ought to be.
And we can listen and watch,
and respond to what needs to happen,
when it needs to happen,
the way it needs to happen,
and wait to see
where we are going
and how we are going to get there.
How we do it tells the tale.
What is guiding our boat
on its path through the sea?
The Way has a mind of its own.
It calls us to respond faithfully
to its direction and drift,
its current and flow,
moment-to-moment
in each situation as it arises--
doing what is needed,
when it is needed,
the way it is needed,
because it is needed,
and then moving on
to what is needed now...
"The Spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will."
The Spirit is like a man
"reaping where he did not sow,
and gathering where he did not scatter seed."
Who knows what is next
with The Way of the Spirit
calling us to respond faithfully
to its direction and drift,
its current and flow,
moment-to-moment
in each situation as it arises?
To live like that is to
sit loose in the saddle
and be light on our feet,
ready for anything at any time,
free of all doctrine and dogma,
theology, dharma, expectation,
conjecture, inference, presumption
and opinion.
Like a bird on the wing,
a feather in the wind,
a cork on the water,
a bee in a field of flowers--
knowing what's now,
with no idea of what's next,
waiting,
watching,
listening
to see.
To live like that
is to live meditatively,
prayerfully,
attentively,
mindfully aware
of what is happening now
and what needs to happen in response,
moment-by-moment,
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.
–0–
03
Bog River Falls 02 09/24/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Adirondack Park, Tupper Lake, New York
We have to do what is good
whether it does any good or not--
and go on doing it,
moment by moment,
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.
This is the Sisyphean Task
that all of us are given at birth.
We roll this rock up and down the hill
our livelong life.
A good life is the result of
right seeing,
right hearing,
right knowing,
right understanding,
right doing and
right being--
in each situation as it arises
for as long
as there are situations to arise.
With no times-out
and no days off.
All that is in it for us
is the joy of doing it
and the gladness of having done it.
The only thing keeping us from doing it
is wanting something else,
something different,
something better,
something more.
This is the story of Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden.
Eden's redemption
is the story of Jesus
in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Our role is to move from Adam and Eve
to Jesus
in our lifetime.
To redeem Eden
by way of Gethsemane.
Living each moment the way it needs to be lived,
for the joy of doing it
and the gladness of having done it.
That is all there is to it.
Chemung County Barn 03 09/23/2015 Oil Paint Rendered, New York
When have you heard anything
from the church--any church--
that you haven't heard before?
The old Taoists knew 4,000 years ago
that playing favorites
and holding grudges
is no way to be godly.
Why would anyone think it would be heavenly
to hang out with a god like that?
Why does God have to be pleased?
Or else?
Every church's spiel
is grounded upon the presumption
of Original Sin.
That happened in the Garden of Eden.
Which had no historical,
factual,
actual existence.
And has to be "taken on faith."
Because the Bible says so.
Why?
Because you will go to hell
if you don't.
Because the Bible says so.
We have to believe the Bible is so
because the Bible says so,
and we will go to hell if we don't
because the Bible says so.
And the church has been getting
away with this for two thousand years.
Because we are insecure
and afraid.
And don't want to take any chances
on what may happen when we die,
and what do we have to lose
if we do what the church--any church--
tells us to do?
The church--every church--exists
on the strength of its ability
to scare people
into doing/believing what it says to do/believe.
That alone invalidates the existence
of the church.
The church is a Ponzi scheme promising
an eternal payoff in heaven
for the price of a small investment,
say 10% of our income, here and now.
"Why take a chance?"
is all the church--any church--has to say.
"Why take a lie on faith?"
"Because it may be true."
Is all the church--every church--comes down to.
Playing on the fear and insecurity
of the people
by telling them they are sinners
and will go to hell
if they don't come back next week
and hear they are sinners
and will go to hell
if they don't come back...
Ponzi couldn't do it better than that.
And we could find better ways
to spend our time
if we weren't afraid
of going to hell when we die.
The church--every church--depends
on our being afraid
of going to hell when we die.
It comes down to this:
Would we pay any price
to live the life that is ours to live
here and now?
Or would we give away our chance at life
before death
on the promise of a better life
after death?
Satan wants to know.
–0–
02
Buddha Fish Oil Paint Rendered — Pike Nursery, Charlotte, North Carolina
Integrity leads the way
to The Way.
We cannot find,
and live aligned with,
The Way
if we are unbalanced
and out of harmonious accord
with ourselves and our life.
Balance and harmony are synonymous
with integrity--
and are the adamantine foundation
of life at one with The Way.
The Way is simply knowing what's what
and doing what needs to be done about it
moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises.
What is it time for right here, right now?
Being right about that,
and doing what is called for in response to it
is living aligned with The Way.
We part from The Way
when we introduce self-interest
into the equation.
Then, our problem becomes,
"What is called for here and now,
and how can I play that to my advantage?"
Personal gain is incompatible with The Way.
We are here to serve The Way
in all times and places--
To serve, not to be served,
in a "Thy will, not mine, be done,"
kind of way.
How well we are able to do that
over the course of our life
tells the tale.
And what tale would that be?
The tale of integrity--
balance and harmony--
in the service of
spirit, energy and vitality
all our life long.
What would you put forth
as a better outcome
of our time on the earth?
What do you want
to have to show
for having lived?
I want to have experienced life
to the point of being able
to know what's what,
and what is called for in response,
being right about it,
and doing it--
like, say, a relief pitcher
coming into the game in the ninth inning,
to get three outs
and go home.
I want to be able to step into
each situation as it arises,
like a relief pitcher
coming into a game
with everything on the line,
even when it seems as though
nothing is on the line.
It is all useless,
pointless,
hopeless,
meaningless,
futile,
stupid
and absurd--
and coming to a very bad end:
We all are going to die!
And.
How we live in the meantime
makes all the difference.
Our place is to shoulder
the burden of the truth
of our situation
and bear it in the strength
of the truth of who we are.
We square up to the truth
of how things are
grounded in the truth
of how things also are.
Life is suffering.
So what?
Who cares?
What difference does that make?
We are not going to let that stop us--
or even slow us down.
We dismiss,
discount,
disregard,
discard,
and ignore
the truth of how things are
in light of the truth
of how things also are:
We are here to do what is ours to do
by doing what needs to be done--
what needs us to do it--
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
for as long as it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
and then do the next thing
that needs to be done--
that needs us to do it--
when it needs to be done...
etc. ad nauseam,
throughout the time left for living.
There is the way things are,
and there is the way things also are,
and that is the way things are.
"It is the way" (Mandalorian).
The way is doing what needs to be done
when it needs to be done
the way it needs to be done
because it needs to be done
with the gifts,
talents,
daemon (sounds like "diamond"),
specialties,
proclivities,
knacks,
shtick,
virtues,
etc.,
that came with us from the womb,
anyway,
nevertheless,
even so
as long as life shall last.
This is the foundational truth that sustains us
in the face of every other truth.
We can handle any truth
on the basis of the foundational truth.
Ours is the Sisyphean task
of being who we are,
where we are,
when we are,
how we are,
anyway,
nevertheless,
even so,
because that is who we are
and nothing is going to stop us--
or even slow us down.
It is the way.
You can call it anything you want.
I call it the way.
It is the way of doing what needs to be done
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
by being who we are
and using what is ours to give
as long as life shall last.
Regardless of how useless,
pointless,
hopeless,
etc., it is.
Who cares how useless, etc., it is?
So what, how useless, etc., it is?
It is nothing but the Cyclops
standing in our way!
And "it took the Cyclops
to bring out the hero in Ulysses"
(Joseph Campbell).
So--SO WHAT???
We have work to do!
It is the Sisyphean task of being who we are,
where we are,
when we are,
how we are,
for no other reason than
because that is just the way we are!
It is the way.
Are you coming or not?
–0–
02
Sumac 05 10/21/2020 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
Courage is all it takes.
Facing what must be faced,
doing what must be done,
is a matter of courage.
Resolve.
Will.
Heart.
Determination.
You know, like that.
Heart is the easiest thing to lose,
and the hardest thing to find.
We only have to do what is hard.
And go on doing it.
Through all that comes our way.
For as long as it takes
to get the job done.
All it takes
is making up our mind
that we are going to do it,
no matter what,
all our life long.
Ours is the Sisyphean task
of doing what needs to be done.
Cut out if you want to,
but that just leaves more
for the rest of us to do.
"Doing our bit" means doing
what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
for as long as it needs to be done,
whether we want to or not.
We all have to hang in there together,
encouraging one another for the work
that is ours to do.
Jesus nailed it with his,
"The work is plentiful
and the laborers are few."
We need all the help we can get,
and we can only get it from one another.
We are shoulder to shoulder here,
in the work to do what needs to be done,
and it is our part
to do what is ours to do,
all our life long.
Just because it needs us to do it.
Whether we feel like it or not.
All it takes is standing up
and doing what needs to be done.
When it needs to be done.
The way it needs to be done.
Just like Sisyphus pushing his rock.
He had his work to do,
and we have ours to do.
And it comes down to the same work:
Doing what needs to be done.
Every day.
For the rest of time.
Ferry 10/30/2010 Oil Paint Rendered — Silver Lake/Pamlico Sound, Ocracoke Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina
"Judge not" doesn't mean "Don't know what's what."
It means "Don't find fault."
"Don't demean,
condemn,
belittle,
dismiss,
reject,
abhor..."
Distinguishing,
recognizing,
discerning...
are necessary
aspects
of finding our way.
If one house is as good as another
who knows where they would sleep at night,
or take shelter,
or shut out the world?
If one book were as good as another...
You see the problem.
Seeing what we look at
is seeing how things are different
and how they are alike.
Emphasizing the differences
or the similarities
makes for a one-sided world
divided between us and them.
Do not judge
means
do not create sides.
Do not play favorites.
Do not create divisions.
Seek the good of everyone equally.
Equality is the given.
To disparage equality
is to make things worse for some,
and the goal is
to make things better for all.
If you aren't here for that,
you are doing terrible damage.
and if you don't care about that,
you are someone no one can trust,
creating disruption and chaos
wherever you go.
And so, we have Juneteenth.
Living in the moment
is making the moment
the best it can be,
by doing what needs to be done there,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done--
knowing that we are the one
who says what that is,
and striving to be right about it
by looking and listening
to the point of
seeing and hearing,
and allowing that to guide us
into knowing what's what,
and what is being called for
and trusting ourselves
to respond appropriately--
sincerely and spontaneously--
with the gifts,
genius,
daemon (sounds like "diamond"),
specialties,
etc.
that are a part of our original nature.
Living this way moment-to-moment,
makes wherever we are a good place to be
for everyone in each moment.
If you can do better than that, do so!
–0–
03
Day Lily 04 06/05/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
Taking stock includes assessing
our degree of balance and harmony,
which includes our peace and contentment,
and the presence/absence of
destabilizing influences.
A related area for examination/exploration
is the degree to which
our life-as-we-live-it allows/permits
the free expression of our original nature,
so that we are able to relate to other people
in ways that are natural to us,
responding to situations as they arise
with sincerity and spontaneity,
and living authentically engaged
with what is called for
in light of the good of the situation as a whole.
How free are we to be who we are
within the circumstances
of our life every day?
How fully do we belong
to the life we are living?
How comfortably do we fit
what we are doing?
In what ways are our spirit, vitality,
élan vital and
joie de vie enhanced or diminished
by the nature of the life we live?
What can we do differently
to be more in sync with ourselves
and aligned with the way that is
truly our way
in each situation as it arises
day by day?
A Walk in the Woods 17 Panorama 11/17/2016 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
The Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump crowd
cannot tolerate anyone who doesn't see/think
the way they do.
They have only contempt, ridicule and disdain
for those not like them.
And that is the one characteristic preventing
the realization and implementation
of mutually beneficial ways of living together.
They cannot enjoy life
thinking that there are those
Not Like Them who are also enjoying life.
It is people like those not like them
who make people like them
abhor/hate/despise/demolish/destroy
people not like them.
The anti-abortion crowd can only abhor/etc.
women who cannot carry their pregnancy to term.
They cannot hold those women
in their compassion,
honor their position
and allow them to have a necessary/essential abortion.
Their position is that there are no necessary/essential abortions.
This is called the exclusion of opposites
and opposition.
White supremacists will not, cannot, allow
the existence of anyone not like they are.
They exist to exterminate everyone
they declare to be different,
and will not rest until the entire population
of the planet walks lock-step with them
toward goals and ways of living
they admire and esteem.
If you are outside of their range of acceptability,
you must die.
If you look different,
you are different,
good-bye, good-bye, good-bye.
How do we all live together
in ways conducive to the life
of all of us?
When one of us lives to make
life for the other impossible,
how do we live together at all?
We need some ground of being together
that does not exist.
If I had the power,
I would arrange the world in such a way
that made our breathing
contingent upon our compassion for one another,
so that as our hatred for the other increased,
our ability to breathe decreased.
We would be forced to work sincerely together
for the good of each of us individually.
If the world had been that way from the start,
it would be way different by now
from the way it is.
As it is,
we are stuck with keeping ourselves safe
from those who just want us dead.
If this is the best God could do,
God should be fired.
If this is not the best God could do,
God should be fired.
A God who lets things play out
until everyone who is different is dead
is a God whose breathing
needs to be linked with compassion.
That is a link
that would solve a lot of problems.
–0–
02
Carolina Lakes 23 10/31/2019 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
Our original nature expresses/exhibits itself
in what is naturally right for us,
in the things we do spontaneously
out of our center
in responding to the moments of our day.
We have natural propensities and predispositions
that show themselves
in what we are drawn to
and what we are repelled by.
Our natural way of life
is how we would live
if it were up to us.
How far apart is the life you are living
from the life you would be living
if it were up to you?
That disparity is reflected in
your emotional response to your life.
What is your predominant emotion?
If you could change your life in a way
that would better reflect who you naturally are,
your predominant emotion would change
in response to the change in your life.
We are here to guide our living
toward our natural bent and drift.
We have to be intent on serving
our original nature
in the decisions and choices
that are ours to make.
We negotiate compromise solutions
between what is required of us to pay the bills
and what we are paying the bills to do.
We have to bring our life to life
in the life that we live.
That is our role and our dharma/duty
to ourselves.
We are the steward of our life,
and if we aren't taking care
of our original nature,
and working into our life
the things that are naturally ours to do,
we are paying a price,
and need to rethink what we are doing,
and how we might change what we are doing
in order to work ourselves back into our life
as we were at the beginning.
There are three things that matter:
Our original nature.
Our balance.
Our harmony.
We live to balance our original nature
with the conditions and circumstances
of our life,
and to live in harmony with
both our nature and our circumstances.
We make the peace.
We negotiate the conflicts and opposition.
We are the champion of our original nature
within the inorganic demands of daily life.
That is our part in this framework.
It matters how we live
within the choices that we get to make.
Our place is to bring us to life
within the life we are living.
We are to live in order to be alive.
Be good to you.
–0–
03
In The Marsh 08/26/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Beaufort, South Carolina
No one can give us our path.
We discern that for ourselves
using "the eyes of the heart."
Only we know what is right for us
and what is wrong,
what resonates with us
and what grates our soul
and sets our teeth on edge.
We do not trust other people
to order off the menu for us,
or tell us when we have had enough to eat.
Our life is up to us
to live for ourselves.
There are no black foot prints to follow.
No one-size fits all pattern
for each of us
on the way to the realization
of what we are capable of.
Our quest is for the authenticity
of our own original nature.
It is an individual quest
for a life lived out of our own center--
a life that is true to ourselves,
a natural outpouring of who we are
in the world of concrete and steel,
rocks and trees and buzzing honey bees.
Listen to the silence
and attend what arises there
to call, compel, entice, and excite.
And summon the courage
to follow what beckons
along a path that appears
as you start walking,
into all that awaits
along the way.
Reelfoot Lake 63 11/04/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Reelfoot Lake State Park, Tiptonville, Tennessee
Each of us has our own talents,
interests,
specialties,
daemon (sounds like "diamond"),
gifts,
genius,
knacks,
shtick,
proclivities,
nature,
virtues,
trajectory,
path,
etc.
and our adventure
is finding and being
who we are.
The culture and social order
are allied against us
with their "Thou Shalts"
and "Thou Shalt Nots,"
and we have to grow up into
being our own authority
in recognizing who we are
and what we are being called to do
with our life.
Living within the tension between
who society/culture says we must/must not be,
and who we know who we must/must not be,
is the dangerous path,
the slippery slope,
like a razor's edge--
and how well we negotiate the passage
is the tale our life tells
in the living of it.
The mystery we serve
is the unfolding of our own unique nature,
the living of the life that is right for us,
and no one can tell us how to do this.
We are the only one who knows
what is IT for us,
what fits for us,
what resonates with us,
what IS us.
We find the way that is our way,
by taking our clues where we stumble upon them
to the unveiling of ourselves.
This is our work.
It is the work of our psychological/spiritual
transformation/illumination.
This is the gold of spiritual realization
and fulfillment.
We are the Philosophers Stone,
turning our base physical body into
the precious metal that is hidden away
within our own heart and spirit.
We transform ourselves
by bringing out who we are capable of being
over the full course of our life,
and not resting until we are done.
You are it.
I am it.
We are that which we seek.
It's been right here with us
all along!
Hiding out in you and me!
Now it is up to us to bring it forth,
and "let our little light shine,"
wondering in amazement
how this could be us.
–0–
02
Cades Cove Loop 10/22/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Townsend, Tennessee
The true church has no theology.
Real religion has nothing to say.
If you understand this,
you have all you need
to find what you need
to do what needs to be done
at the right time,
in the right place
and the right way,
because it needs to be done.
And that is all you need to do
throughout the time left for living.
–0–
03
Lake Haigler 04 08/22/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
Heinrich Zimmer said,
"The best things can't be told,
and the second-best things are misunderstood,
and the third-best things are the facts
like news, weather and sports."
The best things are experiences
with the Numen,
with the numinous,
with the ineffable,
the sublime.
The second-best things are
the Bhagavad gita,
the Tao te Ching
and the Sermon on the Mount.
We spend our time with
the third-best things
because it is easier that way.
And so, the importance
of asking all of the questions
that beg to be asked,
and saying all of the things
that cry out to be said.
Anyway,
nevertheless,
even so.
Do not be quiet
just because no one gets it,
or is interested!
Someone is listening.
Someone cares.
Say what needs to be said
to those who need to hear.
Without pause,
without letup,
without ceasing,
without end.
–0–
04
Closed Gate 02/09/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Mission San Jose, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, San Antonio, Texas
Carl Jung said the world is in the mess it is in
because people do not have a place to tell their stories.
Who listens to what you have to say?
How much do you say in a week
that is not a repetition
of something you have said that week?
How many new things do you say in a week?
How many new thoughts do you think?
How many new ideas do you have?
How many realizations come to you?
Where do you go to be heard?
We do not know what we have to say
if we do not have a place to be heard.
We have our best chance of being heard
by working to create an environment
in which it is safe to say
what needs to be said.
We do that by listening
to what others are saying to us.
We do that by listening
to what we are saying
in response to what is being said to us.
We cannot listen to others
without hearing ourselves.
As we begin to hear ourselves,
we will attract others
who can hear themselves,
and, therefore, can listen to us.
We create places to say what we have to say
by listening to what others have to say.
And everyone is better off
because we started listening
to ourselves
listening to others.
Be what you seek.
It's the oldest wisdom in the book of wisdom.
–0–
05
Geese on the Wing 02 Oil Paint Rendered — Guilford County Wetlands, Greensboro, North Carolina
All the Bible we need consists of:
The Sermon on the Mount,
The parables of the Prodigal Son
and the Good Samaritan,
and the bit about
"Inasmuch as you have done it,
or failed/refused to do it,
to the least of humanity,
you have done it,
or failed/refused to do it,
unto me."
That's it.
No theology.
No doctrines.
No dogma.
Just straight out
and to the point:
"This is the way it is,
and that is all there is to it.
What you do about it
is up to you."
There is no discussion.
There is no debating.
There is no believing or not believing.
There is only doing or not doing.
What's it going to be?
Here is one thing we have to come to terms with:
All religion has a mystical center
beyond theology.
"The path that can be discerned
is not a reliable path"
(Martin Palmer).
"The Tao that can be said/told,
is not the eternal Tao"
(Lao Tzu).
The more you say about God,
the less you know about God.
The Mystery/The Mystical is the heart of religion.
And our task is to associate ourselves with it--
to collaborate with The Mystery
at the heart of Life and Being.
We have to enter the mystery
in order to relate to the mystery.
We have to be open to the mystical
in order to recognize and perceive the mystical.
Meister Eckhart said,
"The final leave-taking
is leaving God for God."
Leaving the God of Theology and the Bible,
for the Mystery at the Heart of Life and Being.
Which is at the very center of each one of us.
WE are the Mystery!
And the deeper into us we go,
the less of us we know!
And the kind of knowing we are moving into
is a "knowing knowing,"
and not a "thinking knowing."
We move from a "thinking knowing"
when we are learning to play tennis,
or the piano,etc.,
into a "knowing knowing" as we master
the game or the instrument, etc.
Moving into The Mystery is like this.
First we think our way forward,
and then we move beyond "thinking knowing"
into "knowing knowing."
Oneness with The Mystery is a "knowing knowing" thing.
Joseph Campbell often referred to The Mystery
as "the Transcendent,"
and said that we are to "move into the Transcendent."
That is what we are doing
when we "leave God for God."
And Campbell said,
"That entails leaving the life you had planned on having,
in order to have the life that is waiting on you."
Discovering that life is finding the Mystery,
and entering the Transcendent.
And that is the adventure of a lifetime!
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 