03

We must talk to the world,
and the world must talk to us.
Though "commune" is more to the point
than "talk,"
for with "commune,"
the emphasis is on listening
and not on what is to be said.

How do we position ourselves--
intentionally/deliberately--
to commune with the world?

Sit quietly.
Tune in.
Wait for the shift to happen.
The shift in perspective
that lends itself
to seeing/hearing/understanding/
comprehending
what is being said to us 
in the silence,
and what is being called for
within the circumstances of our life.

Meditation 
is a way of opening ourselves
to the world,
not of shutting ourselves off
from the world.
Contemplation and reflection
are required for realization
and discernment.

When we do this,
what happens?
And what happens next?

If our life were a book
what would the title be?

What movie or myth
best represents our life?

What song or poem
best expresses how it is
to be who we are?

It helps to be fluent in metaphor,
and to be able to grasp
what the symbols are referencing
in order to turn the world
and the events of the day
into a mirror reflecting
the inner depths of ourselves.

We see ourselves looking at us--
for us--
when we take the time to listen
to what is going on.

We are speaking to ourselves all the time,
but no one is listening.
The world is speaking to us all the time,
but no one is listening.

We have to know how to read the signs,
to interpret our nighttime dreams
(They all are saying:
"This is how it is with you right now!"
How is it with us right now?)

We have to relate ourselves properly--
appropriately and authentically--
to the environment in which we are living
day-to-day.

Religion that does not connect us 
to the here-and-now
is worse than worthless.
Religion that talks to us of the then and there,
or of the not yet but one day,
separates us from the only time that matters:
the present moment of our knowing,
or knowing-not,
what is called for
and what is to be done about it.

This what our communion with the world
will do for us,
open us to the time and place of our living
and provide us with the awareness
and the wherewithal
to trust ourselves to the impulse of our nature
in responding to the need of the moment,
moment-by-moment
all our life long.

And that is all that is ever needed
in any time and place.

–0–

02

Seeing each situation as it is
and responding to it
out of the spontaneous
impulse of our nature
is the foundation
of balance,
harmony
and flow, 
and evidence
of a heart 
that is noble,
gentle
and kind.

If we allow our concern
for the thoughts/opinions 
of others,
or the Thou Shalts
of parents or culture,
or the zeal for personal gain
or financial reward
to inhibit our following
the spontaneous act of compassion
and grace,
we will "leave the path,
turn aside from the way,"
and wander through the wilderness
of malcontent
and dissatisfaction
all our days.

To serve the moment,
we abandon thoughts of gain,
and seek only to know
how we might be of help
to the time and place of our living
with the gifts that come with us
from the womb--
the spirit,
vitality,
life
and virtues/character
which are ours to incarnate,
integrate,
and share.

Meeting the situation as it is
as one "Thus Come,"
offering what we have to give
to what is being called for,
is all anyone need do
through all the time 
that is ours upon the earth.

No one could do more.

–0–

01

Everybody is looking for something.
Ask them what,
and it comes down to,
"MY WAY NOW!"

The maturity level of the species
hovers around 2.5 years of age.

From the beginning to right here right now,
no one has ever been able
to grow someone else up.

Growing up is our responsibility.

And we all grow up--
those of us who do--
against our will!

We grow up--
those of us who do--
against our will
by accommodation,
adjustment
and acquiescence.

It is called 
"Coming to terms 
with how things are."

It is also known as
"Taking 'NO!' for an answer."

How well do you do that?
On a scale of ten,
with ten being great
and one being not at all?

Ask three friends
you can trust to be honest
to rank you as well.

Make it your goal
to grow toward
accommodation,
adjustment
and acquiescence
throughout the time
left for living.

Rank yourself
at the end of the day
every day.

Ask your friends to rank you
every three months.

Starting today.

02

My beef with Buddhism is its 
not-caring solution to suffering.
The Buddha's big idea
was to not-care.
To call suffering an illusion,
and have nothing to do with it.

I much prefer Jesus' solution to suffering,
which is to suffer!
To bear the pain of caring
and to care even if it kills you.
That's more like it, I say.

Both Jesus and the Buddha
would be quick to say
that it is easy to care too much
about the wrong things,
and that it is easy to care
about the right things
in the wrong way.

Caring is tricky,
and that's what I like best about it.
Life is tricky.
I love that about life.
There is no formula for living.
No recipe for getting it right.
Now we have it,
now we don't.

We keep getting up
and going back at it,
hoping to do better this time
than last time,
or the time before last.

I love that about us.

The thing I love best about us
is completely out of our control.
It is an unconscious,
spiritual, thing:
Our ability to resonate with some things.
We can fall in love.
We can see eye-to-eye with others.
We can sing in tune and on key.
We can harmonize.
We can vocalize.
It is magical.
We are magical.
I love it!

And I can't get the Buddha's 
not-caring about any of this!
If you are not going to love deeply
what is to be loved about life,
WHAT???

You are wasting your life!

We have to embrace life totally!
The wins and the losses,
the suffering and the celebrations,
shouting YES! to it all!
Bearing the pain of it joyfully!
Relishing the honor of being able
to love something with all our heart
and soul,
and mind,
and strength--
to love it enough to die for it!
To go to hell for it!
That's living!
Why hold yourself back?
Why hold anything back?
This is our one chance at living life
the way it needs to be lived!

Get in there and do your thing,
and don't let anything stop you,
or even slow you down!
"If you meet the Buddha on the road,
kill him!"

–0–

01

Where does your fear thrive?

Where are you forcing things to be
what you want them to be?

Where are you willing your way
through your life?

Where are you meeting opposition?

Where is there conflict?

Where are the contradictions
most apparent?

What are your symptoms?

What are your dreams telling you?

How long has it been
since balance, harmony and flow
were companions in the journey
through your days?

What is more important:
Having your way,
or finding your way,
or taking the way 
that opens before you,
calling your name?

How long has it been
since you gave up your way
and followed the impulse
of your nature?

02

Wes Nesker said,
"Nature, like play,
has no purpose or consequence
other than itself."

What do we do that is like that?

Eating and sex might be it
for most of us.

Watching birds.
And clouds.
And sunrises and sets.

How long is your list?

How often do you do
something on it?

Work to increase the length
of the list,
and to work more things on it
into each day

Things you do for no reason
beyond the simple joy 
of doing them.

–0–

01

Wait for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.

Everything becomes clear in time.

Wait. 
Watching.
Looking.
Listening.
Trusting
the impulse of your nature
to know what action to take
when the time is right.

What's the hurry?
Why the rush?
Where are you going?
How do you know?

Master the art of not-doing.
Wu-wei is the Taoist term.
"Not forcing."
Waiting for the appropriate time
to do the appropriate thing.

I carry the camera
and wait for the picture
to appear before me.

I look 
and wait to see.
I listen
and wait to hear.
I cannot hurry seeing/hearing.
Neither can you.

No one can
"hurry up and be there,"
or even know where "there" is.

Is it better to win or to lose?
To be first or to be last,
or somewhere in between?

"Divinely superfluous beauty"
is Robinson Jeffers' phrase
for the wonder upholding the world.
It is everywhere,
all around.
It only takes looking to see.
It only takes listening to hear.
It only takes time to tell
what is essential to know.
Wu-wei.
Take the time to tell
what is called for,
where and when and how.

Wake up!
Be amazed!
By the wonder
of "divinely superfluous beauty"
everywhere.

05

For me, the pathos of "the human condition"
comes down to the choices we have.

Doing the best that can be done with them
still leaves us bound by them
limited to them,
and to the choices made by those
whose choosing impacted us and our choices.

We all could have done better--
could still do better--
with better choices.
But.
The choices we have 
are the only choices we have.

Choosing to do the best we can
with the choices we have to work with
is the best choice we can make
under the circumstances.

So.

Sit quietly. 
Breathe slowly and deeply.
Listen.
Look.
For what arises within.

This is called taking stock,
seeking the center,
and waiting for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.

This is the second-best choice we can make
under the circumstances.

It is the choice for mindful awareness
and self-transparency.

We can enhance this choice
by watching all of the Jon Kabat-Zinn
YouTube videos
on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
(The shortest ones first).

These videos will help us become
a student of the here and now.
There is much to learn 
by learning to be present
with what is present with us.

Being present in the present
is the way of learning to see the present,
to be aware of it,
to know what is happening,
to sense what needs to happen in response,
and to "get out of the way"
in allowing the impulse of our nature
to lead the way in responding
to what is being called for in the moment
with what we have to offer to the moment--
and that is the gate to the next moment,
where being present with that present
will lead to the next moment,
and so on
to all that will flow from
this present moment, 
right here,
right now,
one choice at a time.

–0–

04

Good and evil are not absolutes.
They are relative,
and change with the shift 
in perspective which depends upon
what side we are on.

Which depends upon the stake we have
in the outcome.
Any outcome.

Which depends upon how we feel
about the outcome.
Any outcome.

Which depends on what we like
and don't like.

I can be either the angel of the lord,
or the embodiment of Satin himself,
according to how you think about
what I do.

We can transform the way we relate
to the world
by modifying the views
and opinions
we have regarding 
what happens in the world.

Joseph Campbell said,
"The formula for the attainment of peace
is to act as one must,
but without attachment--
to abandon absolutely all concern
for the fruits of action,
whether in this world or the next,
but to enter fully into the action required
as action for its own sake,
without thought of gain or loss,
praise or blame."

Campbell fully comprehended
how difficult it is to participate fully
in life without being invested in the outcome.
He was a world-class distance runner 
in college,
and could not attend athletic events
later in life
because, as he said, 
"It aroused in me more emotion
than I wanted to have to control."

The emotion flowed from having
something at stake in the outcome.

To live as though something matters
without it actually mattering
is a trick for yoga masters,
who might be accused of cheating
because they don't actually live 
in the service of much that matters.
It is easy to be peaceful
with nothing on the line!

Having nothing on the line is the key.
We live as though we have everything
always on the line.
We need to examine that,
and see what we really stand
to gain or to lose
with the things we become embroiled over.

How important really are they?

Peace is to be found in backing off.
In caring less about all things,
and only about the things 
that are truly important.

The degree of our attachment to things,
the quality of our caring about them,
are reflected in our judgment and opinions
about them--
and we are responsible for determining
to what extent our investment 
is justified by the value of our commitments.

How important are the things
we declare to be important?

What will we go to hell for?
What business do we have 
in going to hell for that?

–0–

03

Sin is being wrong about what's important.

Sin is being wrong about what needs to be done.

Redemption and atonement are about
seeing things as they are,
knowing what is important
and needs to be done,
and doing it
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

Anything else is a distraction
and a diversion
designed to provide us with excuses
and justifications
for failing/refusing
to see what we look at,
know what needs to be done in response to it,
and doing it
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.

–0–

02

We have to come to terms with The Terms
of The Deal
our entire life long.

The Terms of The Deal
are always changing.

How things work today
may not be quite the way
they worked yesterday,
or will work tomorrow.

Adjustment, accommodation and acquiescence, Kid.
Adjustment, accommodation and acquiescence.

It helps to understand this 
as part of The Terms of the Deal,
with little in the way of opinion
and a lot in the way of compassion
and acceptance,
becoming like water 
in finding--not forcing--our way,
and making do as best we can
with what we have to work with
in doing what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
our entire life long.

–0–

01

Everybody should be in good hands.
Adults should have the right to live 
as they choose--
without interfering with other adults
living as they choose.

Children are stuck
with living as their parents choose
until they reach "the age of accountability."

All of this seems simple enough,
but.
It doesn't work.

Adults refuse to be accountable
long after the age of accountability.

Adults refuse to allow other adults
the right to their own life.

Money and power get in the way.

If you have enough money and power,
no rules apply to you,
and you can get by with doing 
whatever you want.

People with money and power
exist to perpetuate their ideals
and vision of the good
at the expense of everyone else.

Equality and Justice
Truth and Freedom
become words without referents,
with everything favoring money and power
to the detriment of everything else.

When hasn't money and power had the last word?
Where have we been free 
from the controlling influence
of money and power?

As R. D. Laing might have said,
we are playing a game 
of not playing a game,
and nothing is what we say it is,
but we don't talk about it
because everyone knows that
money and power run the game,
and nobody can do anything about it
beyond pretending it isn't so,
and that is what we do.

04

Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to God."

And, Jesus said, "Do not throw your pearls before swine."

And, Jesus said, "Judge not, that you may be not judged."

What would Jesus do?

Whatever Jesus would do,
it would likely be contradicted
by something else Jesus would do.

Like telling the story of the Prodigal Son,
and then cursing a fig tree
for not bearing fruit out of season!!!

So, what I'm saying about all of this is this:
Decide for yourself what you are going to do
in each situation as it arises,
and do it--
and use what happens then
as food for thought
in deciding what you are going to do
in the next situation as it arises.

Do not follow a recipe book of what to do when!
No maps! No maps!
No path! No path!
Each moment is a fresh start.
Decide what you are going to do there
based on your cumulative experience
with all the moments that have gone before!

Trust yourself to follow the impulse of your nature,
and let that be that.
Use the information you glean
from that experience to collect 
as grist for the mill
for the next moment.

We are milling awareness, here!
We are milling maturity!
We are milling grace and compassion--
for ourselves as much as for anyone else!

Living is the lesson, 
life is the teacher.

Do what you would do
and let that deepen, expand, enlarge
your response potential
in the next moment.

You be your own authority
in deciding how you live your life
and determining what to do in each situation.
Give it your best effort,
and make the necessary adjustments
to meet the next situation.

That is your life plan.
Beat it if you can.

–0–

03

Our role is not to choreograph life,
willing things into place,
pushing,
shoving,
insisting,
demanding,
ordering,
directing,
compelling,
threatening,
serving our way,
imposing our agenda...

Our role is to fold into life,
to merge with the current,
to become one with the flow,
to let things be
waiting for the right time
to act in doing what is called for,
and being a steady influence
over time.

Like water, finding its way,
not forcing it,
wearing rock away
to create the Grand Canyon
with its unrelenting presence,
moment-by-moment,
day-by-day.

In accord with the Tao,
integrating yin and yang,
transforming the landscape,
changing the world,
doing nothing
in the special way
water has
of being water.

–0–

02

We have to live the kind of life
that allows us to be who we are.

There has to be a close correspondence
between how we live
and who we are.
When there is too much dissonance,
we sacrifice our original nature,
our natural self,
for the sake of who our lived environment
requires us to be.

Too much "civilization"--
too many "Thou Shalts"--
and we are living in The Wasteland
of Lost Souls,
looking for a way back to Eden.

The way back to Eden
is the return to "the face that was ours
before we were born."

What is the impulse of our nature?
How are we restraining ourselves
in deference to our surroundings?
How is our life inhibiting our ability--
our freedom--
to live the life that is crying out
to be lived?

Everywhere there is striving and forcing,
contriving and conniving,
seeking and serving our way
in pursuit of what we want now!

Where do we simply sit,
waiting quietly
"in a perpetual state of centeredness
in undirected alertness,"
watching for things to open up
"of themselves,
according to their nature"
(Quotes from Joseph Campbell),
in order that we might act
in accordance with the rhythm
of time and place,
here and now,
with no concern for,
or attachment to,
the outcome?

Where do we merely look
to see where we might best
bring what we have to offer
in response to what is being called for
moment-by-moment?

Always, everywhere, there is only
doing this to get that,
or to keep from losing that.
Never just to act innocently,
nobly,
"not missing the moment of life,"
allowing "life to be lived of itself"
like dancers at one with the music,
disappearing into the moment,
stepping aside,
allowing the dance to be danced 
through them
(Quotes from Joseph Campbell).

The return to Eden
is the return to the innocence 
of the time before contrivance 
and expediency.

As Campbell said, "What is keeping us
out of the Garden (of Eden) is not
the jealousy or wrath of any god,
but our own instinctive attachment
to what we take to be our lives."

And as Jesus said, "Whoever seeks
to save their life will lose it,
but whoever loses their life
(in the service of what is called for
moment-by-moment)
will find it."

–0–

01

Sincerity and self-transparency
are the basic building blocks
of a true human being.

Which is to say that 
truth is fundamental and foundational
for a true human being.

Truth is integrity,
is integration,
is Yin/Yang,
is Tao
is living aligned with ourselves,
in accord with the Tao,
at one with who we are,
where we are,
when we are,
how we are,
here and now.

No duplicity.
No duality.
No denial.
No pretense.
No hidden agendas.
No ulterior motives.
No mixed signals.
No gaming.
No pretending.

Who we are is who we are.
Across all situations
and circumstances.
times and places.

We don't go 
were we aren't welcome
to be who we are.
Where appearances
don't express/exhibit realities.
Where the visible
conceals the invisible.
And the truth is not
how it is presented to be.

The life of a true human being
turns life as it is being lived
upside down.

Do we have what it takes 
to be who we are?

What would have to change
about our life
for us to be able to live in ways
that are true to ourselves?
That are in the flow?
That are on the beam?
That are integral exhibitions
and identical incarnations 
of the values and virtues,
vitality and spirit
of who we are?

04

The Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara 
practiced "benevolence without purpose"
(Joseph Campbell).

He wasn't in it for what 
he could get out of it.
Just being what was needed,
just doing what was called for,
just seeing what was happening
and knowing how to respond to it,
"participating in the nature of things"
for the good of all
in harmony with all,
balanced,
not stretching for this,
striving for that,
at one with the need of the moment,
ready to act spontaneously
when the time for action arises,
without attachment,
preference,
or opinion,
"from the impulse of one's nature"
(Campbell quotes from Myths to Live By).

Avalokiteśvara in the art of India
is always masculine,
but as the Chinese goddess of mercy,
she is Kuan-yin,
and Kwannon in Japan

Becoming the Bodhisattva,
becoming the Buddha,
becoming the Kuan-yin,
becoming the Kwannon,
becoming the Christ,
we participate in the moment, 
in each moment,
with nothing to gain or to lose,
but with something to offer,
for the sake of the moment,
like we might play a game
of keeping a beach ball in the air,
everyone participating as they are able,
doing their part to save the ball
from touching the ground,
with no concern for the fruits of the action,
just the joy of connecting
with all others
in the flight of the ball.

Enter life each day
as one would enter such a game,
freely, at ease, attentive, playfully,
alert and ready for anything,
all day.

–0–

03

To act as one must
without attachment
to the outcome of one's action
is to do what we have come to do
with nothing in it for us.

This is not impersonal,
robotic,
but highly personal--
our entire person is invested
in the act for which we have been born!
We are one with our action!

"What I do is me--
for that I came!"
declares the poet
(Gerard Manley Hopkins).

The poem is the poet!
The poet is the poem!
The dance is the dancer!
The dancer is the dance!

We are one with our life
when we live with our heart
thoroughly invested in what we do!

Ah, but, there's the problem.
Who is so invested these days?
What we do is out of boredom,
not out of a passionate investment
in the poem,
in the dance,
of pure being-in-the-world!

We don't know what that means.
Are we even interested in finding out?

We have this life,
the most precious gift
we could hope to receive,
and we leave it hanging in the closet
while we wile away the hours
in trivial pursuits
until the whistle blows
and the lights go out.

What are we doing with the time?
What are we doing with our life?

What is ours to do with the time?
What is ours to do with our life?

What are we missing?
What hints and guidance and directives
do we walk by unknowing every day?
What is our time screaming for us to do?
What is our life dying for us to live?
Why don't we care about that?
Why aren't we passionately intense
in our search for the truth
of who we are
and what is ours to do?

–0–

02

Focusing on what needs to be done
and doing it when it needs to be done,
where it needs to be done,
how it needs to be done
for as long as it needs to be done,
and then focusing on what needs to be done,
etc.
through all of the times and places
of our life
is the key to living a long 
and meaningful life.

If you don't know,
or can't decide,
what needs to be done,
sit down and wait
for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.

Soon enough you will
have to use the toilet. 
That will need to be done.
Do it,
and then wait to see
what needs to be done
after that.

What needs to be done
is a question of value,
of what matters,
of what is important,
of what is worth our time,
of how we are going to spend our life.

At the bottom,
this is a question of faith.
We believe this, or that, is important.
We take it on faith
that this, or that, is important.
We can't prove that it is,
but it is important to us,
here and now.
We believe it to be so,
and we are going to act as though it is.
And that is all the faith we need,
here and now,
moment to moment, 
day by day,
all our life long.

We keep faith with ourselves.
We live in good faith with one another.
Doing what we believe to be important.

What would we live for?
What would we die for?
What would we go to hell for?
We take all of this on faith.
We are faith based.
Everything we do is based
on our faith in it,
on our faith that it is worth doing,
because we say so.

On our faith in our own judgment.
In our own sense of what matters.
In our own sense of direction.
Our own sense of value.

At the bottom, we believe in ourselves.

And, even if we say, "Nothing matters!"
We take that on faith.
We believe in ourselves 
to believe that nothing is worth believing in.
We take our word for it.
And live as though we know 
what we are talking about.

We have no choice but to believe in ourselves,
to believe what we say.

That being the case,
why not say things that are helpful?
Why not not say things that are harmful?

Why not believe things
that are going to make a difference
for the good?

Why not make cookies?
Or pizza?
Or spaghetti?
Or bread pudding?
And invite someone over for lunch?

–0–

01

 I just dropped in to say it is very appropriate and proper to be overwhelmed when what you are dealing with is overwhelming! 
 
 It would also be appropriate and proper, to call time-out for fifteen minutes every hour for an overwhelmed break. 
 
 Sit down under a blanket and cry, or just stare at the wall, or the floor, for 15 minutes, and then get back to work in the midst of the overwhelming.
 
 And, in response to “So what? Why try? Who cares? Why good will it do? What difference does it make? What’s the use?” repeat this:
 
 It’s all useless, hopeless, pointless, insane, stupid, absurd and coming to a very bad end (Everyone dies in the end)—and, how we live in the meantime makes all the difference.
 
 We make all the difference in each other’s life, in the life of the world, by the way we live moment-to-moment, day-by-day, in each situation as it arises. 
 
 If you are going to take anything on faith, take this on faith, and live as though it is so, because it is!
 
 And, coming to life, coming alive, lighting up in the darkness is what we do best. 
 
 That’s where we come in to do our thing, anyway, nevertheless, even so!
 
 We do that by turning the tables on “So what? Why try? etc.” by saying so what? to So what? Why not try? to Why try? I’m going to do this whether it does any good or not! to why try?
 
 The people who say, “Nothing matters anymore!” say it in a way that suggests that it matters that nothing matters.  
 
 If nothing mattered, it wouldn’t matter that nothing mattered, and everyone would go right on with their life as though it mattered.
 
 So, we go right on with our life as though it matters. 
 
 So what (to “So what?”) if it doesn’t matter? 
 
 If we all live as though it matters, it may as well matter because we are going to live as though it does, anyway, nevertheless, even so!
 
 Besides that, to a child with an ice cream cone it would be ridiculous to suggest that nothing matters. The child is still going to enjoy the ice cream. So find what you enjoy whether it matters or not, and do that. 
 
 Matters to whom? Matters how, in what way? If it matters that nothing matters, then something matters, and if one thing matters, maybe two things matter, so find the other thing, and that will be two things, and maybe there is a third, and before you know it, a lot of things matter, and it doesn’t matter that some things don’t matter, so so what to “So what?”
 
 The blind Greek poet had Ulysses say in “The Odyssey,” “I will survive and endure! And when the heaving sea has shaken my raft to pieces, then I will SWIM!”
 
 So at the end of fifteen minutes, say to no one in particular, “Okay! Time’s up! Let’s go swimming!”
 
 And do it again, if need be, in 45 minutes.
 
 In the meantime, let’s go swimming!
 

02

We have to develop and maintain
our relationship with our core--
the old Taoists referred to it as
our original nature.
It's our essence,
our essential self,
who we are

–0–

01

We think in terms of freedom from all the things
that keep us from being free
to do what we want--
as though having what we want
is the solution to all of our problems ever.

Here is the irony:
We talk about "freedom from want,"
but we do not mean from wanting,
but from going without,
from being without the things we want!

We need to be free from wanting!

What does wanting know?
When has wanting ever been satisfied?
When has anyone ever been at the place
of having nothing else to want?

Wanting is insatiable,
voracious,
gluttonous,
greedy,
ravenous
unending
forever and always.

We can never have enough
to not want more.

We have it right,
though we do not know what we are saying.
We are desperately seeking
freedom from want!

We get their by being mindfully,
compassionately, aware
of our situation,
knowing what's what
and what needs to be done about it
and doing it.

What needs to be done about it
is shifting our perspective from
having/getting to
doing/being-
shifting our perspective from
freedom from to
freedom for.

Freedom is for 
(in the words of Joseph Campbell)
"For something--
something fresh and new:
a spontaneous act"!

The old Taoists have talked about this
from the beginning,
and have lived as models of what
they were talking about,
incarnating opposites
and exhibiting their original nature
in responding to what is called for
in the present moment,
moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises
all their life long.

They have danced before us
from 5,000 years before Christ,
who took up the dance 2,000 years ago,
calling us to be free for doing 
what is called for here and now,
no, here and now,
no, here and now...forever.

They all call us to do what is called for,
and live as children at play,
doing what the play requires
in the spirit of those who take
not being serious seriously
and give themselves to the part
they are playing in the play,
and play it to the hilt,
being what is called for,
doing what is needed,
moment-by-moment,
living spontaneously in response
to here and now,
no, here and now, 
no, here and now...
inventing new-and-appropriate responses
to fit every occasion,
without worrying about Thou Shalt
in doing what needs to be done,
anyway, nevertheless, even so,
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
forever.

Or, as Campbell put it:

"We are to carry the point of view and spirit of humans-the-players (Homo ludens) back into life--as in the play of children, where, undaunted by the banal actualities of life's meager possibilities, the spontaneous impulse of the spirit to identify itself with something other than itself for the sheer delight of play, transubstantiates the world, in which, actually, after all, things are not quite as real or permanent, terrible, important, or logical as they seem" (Primitive Mythology (The Masks of God, Book One).

If we live to get that down,
we will be the Christ,
the Buddha,
and all the Taoists before them,
and after them,
and what a world it will be then!

03

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT WE BELIEVE!!!
Believe it or not.
That doesn't matter either.

What matters is what we do.
What matters is how we live our life.

Believe anything you want
as long as it
enables you to do what is needed,
what is called for,
when it is needed,
where it is needed,
the way it is needed,
moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises
all your life long.

When people ask me if I'm a Christian,
I say, "Unconditionally!"
And go on to explain that by saying,
"That means no strings attached,
no conditions to be met,
no expectations to live up to,
in a word: No Theology!"

Of course, they protest:
"But you can't be a Christian 
without theology!"
And, of course, I reply,
"Of course you can.
Jesus didn't peddle theology.
He told people what to do:
Love your enemies.
Love your neighbor.
Love one another.
Love yourself.
No theology.
Believe whatever you feel like believing.
Just do what is called for,
when it is called for,
where it is called for,
the way it is called for,
and let that be that."

People like theology 
because they can talk about it
without doing anything.
But when something needs doing,
there is no talking about doing it.
There is only doing it or not doing it.

No talking allowed.

–0–

02

We are never more than
a slight perspective shift away
from seeing all things new.

It is all an optical illusion.

We are looking at it like this
and we need to look at it like that.

Whatever is is what we say it is.
What we say it is is a function
of how we are looking at it.

If we sit with it,
looking at it,
wondering what else is there,
how else we might see it,
what different ways of interpreting it
we can come up with...
we create cracks
in our construct
where the light can shine through.

We are thinking about it like this
and we need to think about it like that.

Write down how things are,
and ponder the list,
looking for ways a new hermeneutic 
can transform your world.

It is all right there,
waiting to be seen.
We have the eyes.
We only need to start 
using them differently.

–0–

01

What does wanting know?
It knows what it wants,
but it doesn't know what
it ought to want.

It knows how to want
what it wants,
but it doesn't know
how to want
what it ought to want.

It doesn't know
what is worth wanting.
What is worth dying for.
What is worth going to hell for.

Indiscriminate,
uneducated,
directionless,
pointless,
aimless,
unending,
everlasting
wanting
wanders through the wasteland
of emptiness
wanting everything,
certain that what it wants
is only one major purchase away.

Freedom from our bondage to wanting
is as simple as stopping it.

Replace wanting with needing.

What do you need to do
what needs you to do it?
What needs doing?
What is called for
in each situation as it arises?

What are your gifts?
Your specialties?
Your virtues?
Where are they needed?

What is your life asking of you?
What does your life need from you?
Begin making inquiries.

"What do you (your life) need from me
here, now?"
"How can I be of help to you,
here, now?"

Stop thinking about wants.
Start thinking about needs.

What needs to be done?
What do you need to do it?

A meaningful life is found
in answering those questions
throughout each day.

04

We are not free to want just anything.
We are bound to want what we want
whether we want to or not.

We live in bondage to our wants
as slaves to their master.

Freedom is found in freely doing what is called for
whether we want to or not.

Since we are already wanting what we want,
whether we want to or not,
doing what is called for
whether we want to or not,
is a simple matter of shifting loyalties.
Wanting to has nothing to do with anything.

If the baby's diaper needs to be changed,
we change the diaper.
If the dog needs to go out for walk,
we take the dog for a walk.
If it is raining,
we walk in the rain.

What does the situation require?
That is what we do.
In the right way.
At the right time.
Exactly as it ought to be done.

Forget what you want.
Begin looking for what
needs you to do it.
Want that,
whether you want it or not.
Do that.
And all that comes after that.

This is a shift that will
transform your life,
and change the world.

–0–

03

It comes down to meeting the moment
the way the moment needs to be met--
the way the moment needs us to meet it--
moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

We live to do right by the moment
we are living
in every moment.

Baseball teams that do that
more often than other baseball teams
tend to win the World Series.

The number of baseball teams
that don't do that
are a testimony to how difficult it is to do.
But, who needs a testimony?
We know how difficult it is to do!

How many moments are in a day?
How many of those do we do right by,
day after day?
What happens to keep that from happening
in every moment?

What interferes with our ability
to do right by the moment,
every moment?

Pay attention to your moments.
See what is stopping you 
from doing right by those
you fail to do right by.

–0–

02

We live in each moment
to redeem and atone for
the ways we have lived
in all previous moments.

And, if that is a bit of an overstatement,
it isn't too much of one.

Another way of stating the same thing
is to say, "We live to get better--
to do better-
to improve.
To become more like we need to be
than we are.
To be more of what the situation 
needs us to be
than we have been thus far."

Any way we say it,
it comes down to redemption and atonement.

Living redemptively 
is living consciously--
living mindfully,
compassionately,
aware of what is called for
here and now,
and how best to respond to 
what is needed,
moment-by-moment.

The redemptive, atoning, act
is spontaneous sincerity,
at one with the music of the moment.

We dance with each situation as it arises.
How well we do that tells the tale--
to that point--
and provides us with what we need
to do it better in the next situation as it arises,
day by day,
throughout our life.

–0–

01

Being right about what is called for
and doing it
in each situation as it arises
is all that it takes.

All it takes to do what it takes
is to enter each situation as it arises
without will,
desire,
preference,
or opinion
beyond seeing and doing 
what is called for,
regardless of the implications
for us personally.

The only thing standing between us
and being right about what is called for
and doing it
in each situation as it arises
is us.

What are we going to do about that?