03

To eyes that see, 
ears that hear, 
and hearts that understand, 
our fate provides us with exactly what we need 
to fulfill our destiny. 

Joseph Campbell said, “Love your enemies 
and what you hate most about your life 
because they are instruments of your destiny.”

We are pulled forth, 
against our will, 
and thrust into the trials and ordeals 
that are necessary to produce and refine 
the character and qualities 
most needed to fulfill our destiny. 

Campbell said, 
“It took the Cyclops to bring out the hero in Ulysses.”

Lao Tzu asked, “Fame or integrity, which is more important? 
Money or happiness, which is more valuable? 
Success or failure, which is more destructive?” 

It is clear that it is not at all clear 
whether it is better to win or loose, 
to be right or to be wrong, 
to get what we want or to be saddled with 
what we cannot stand.

This leads Lao Tzu to ask, 
“Can you deal with the most vital matters 
by letting events take their course?” 
And, “Can you remain unmoving 
until the right action arises by itself?” 
And, to say, “A good traveler has no fixed plans 
and is not intent upon arriving. 
A good artist lets his intuition lead him 
wherever it wants. 
A good scientist has freed herself 
from concepts, and keeps her mind open to what is.”

Instead of railing against the way things are, 
we might simply have faith in the way things are, 
trusting that we are being led by 
That Which Knows along 
a curious and winding path 
straight to the heart of who we are, 
and into the service of what needs to be done—
and, in so doing, 
fulfill our destiny 
and compete the work 
that is ours to do.

–0–

02

For things to be better
we all have to grow up.

Growing up is the solution
to all of our problems today.
Every day.

Growing up is sacrificing our good
for the good of the whole.

More than that--
Growing up is sacrificing our idea of the good
for the good of the whole.

Our idea of the good
is the only thing standing in our way--
standing in the way--
keeping things from being better.

For things to be better,
we have to change our mind
about what's important.

Let me know when you are going to do that.
I want to watch you leave what's important
for what's important.

It happens all of the time--
never willingly.

Alcoholics give up what matters most
for what matters most.
But.
Not of their own accord.
Not because it is Tuesday morning
and they feel like a change.

People are always waking up
and exchanging their idea of the good
for the good.
Not because they want to.
Not because they are in the mood to do it.
Not because they feel like doing it.
Not because someone told them they should.
But because they have no choice in the matter.
It is forced on them
by the weight of their circumstances.

We have to get to the end of our rope
before we can change our mind 
about what's important.

The chances of all of us 
getting to the end of our rope
at the same time
are too faint to be calculated.
So faint as to be nonexistent. 

Things need to be better,
and we don't have what it takes
to make them better.

We need to grow up,
and we don't have what it takes
to grow up.
Except that we do.
But we can't access it
until we have to.

AA says, "Attraction, not promotion,"
because it knows
until the student is ready,
the teacher is wasting their time.

We are not in control
of the things required
for things to be more like they ought to be
than they are
around the table,
across the board.

The one thing we can do,
is sit quietly
until we realize that
and allow realization
to work its magic.

Knowing it
and realizing it
are different things.

–0–

01

It is amazing how bad it can get
just by moving away from the center
and imposing our will for the good
upon the situation--
any situation--
at whatever price,
no matter what.

When it is 
"Our way at all costs,
and you can go to hell!"
We all go to hell.

There are always hidden costs
we do not take into account
when we say, "At all costs!"

This is why greed and folly
are always connected.
Greed is folly!
And when it is our way no matter what,
that is merely greed dressed up
in the finest motives,
taking the moral high ground
straight to hell
and taking everyone with it.

Beware of those who know best
and must be pleased,
particularly when they look back at you
from the mirror.

Seek the center.
Live from there.
Bear the pain
of integrating the extremes.
Balance and harmony
serve the greatest good
of all concerned
with everything taken into account.

Every parent worthy of the title
understands this
and incorporates it daily
in their work
to make things work.

01

What is the nature of your pain?

What are you doing with your life?

I think one contributes to,
flows from,
the other.
Our pain forms our life,
our life shapes our pain.
We exist at the mercy of the two,
or as the meeting place of the two,
or as a collaborative partner with the two,
but the three of us are inseparable from birth to death.

Working out the details
of our relationship
with our pain and our life
is ours to do,
or not,
in the time left for living.

Why not?

I'm standing in complete darkness,
looking out at the sound of the surf.
The place has an underground feel to it,
if you can imagine infinity underground.

To my left is a rocky outcropping sloping down
to the water--
which I know without seeing.
I see only the sound of the surf.

I don't know if the tide is coming in or going out,
or what would happen if I stood there long enough
(I think nothing),
or where I would go and started walking
with the sound of the surf to my back
(I think I would just walk forever).
I'm simply there waiting, watching, listening.

This is the place I go when I enter the silence
and seek the Source.
I think of this place as the interface 
with my Psyche.
The water is my Unconscious.
I come there regularly
to receive "gifts from the sea."

My gifts are in the form of realizations,
awareness,
the things that occur to me,
arise within me,
come to my attention...

As I stand there,
I am also lying in bed at 3 AM,
or sitting in my recliner,
or somewhere equally pedestrian
and nondescript
where I left for the silence at the Source,
to check in
and see whatsup.

Whatsup last night/early this morning
were the two questions I started with,
about the nature of my pain
and what I'm doing with my life.

The nature of my pain at this point is
mostly about regret--
regret mostly about being unaware
of my life and my place in it.
And what I'm doing with my life at this point is
mostly about being aware
of what's happening 
and what I'm doing in response 
and what I might be doing in addition,
or instead.

Old age (I'm in the last month
of the third quarter
of my 76th year) for me
is mostly about reflection,
walk-a-bouts,
rumination,
in search of realization,
illumination, 
making connections,
seeing/hearing/understanding/knowing/doing/being,
growing up.
Some more/still/again.

I frequently return to the silence and the Source
to see Whatsup,
and enjoy the peace and restorative qualities
of the oasis within.

I regret that I haven't been doing it all my life,
and redeem that by doing it now.

What is the nature of your pain?
What are you doing with your life?

03

Our work is to respond appropriately
to what is called for
in each situation as it arises.

Each situation calls for something.
How we respond to that call 
makes all the difference.

When we are more concerned with
what we are asking for from the situation
than with what the situation is asking for from us,
there is a problem.

Our place is to live in accord with the rhythm of life
in the moment of our living,
in harmony with the ebbs and flows
of the tides of life.

What is it time for here and now?
What is proper for this occasion?
What is happening?
What needs to happen in response?

What we want is irrelevant to what is needed.
We may not want to take 
the terrible tasting medicine,
but if it is time to take our medicine,
that takes precedent over every other concern.

We may not want to go to work,
but if it is time to go to work,
that takes precedent over all of our wants and wishes.

Every situation has its needs.
Some of those situations allow for our wants
to be honored,
but not every situation.

Our place is to acquiesce to the needs of the situation
when that is required,
and to serve our own interests
when that is permitted
without damaging the situation.

We have to read the situation correctly
and respond as needed.
Our failure to do that
has things where they are
in all situations great and small
around the world.

As a species,
we are not reading situations correctly
or responding as needed
to what is happening
in each situation as it arises.

And here we are.

We could start turning things around
in the next situation that comes along.
How 'Bout we do? 

–0–

02

Wait. A. Minute!
I see what your problem is!
You want things to be different than they are!
If things were just what they ought to be,
you would be fine!

That's a problem.

We all live in the space 
between how things are
and how we wish they were.

We all have the same problem.
How well we deal with it
is a matter of our individual idiosyncrasies.
And a reflection of our degree
of personal awareness
of our situation,
and of the possibilities that exist for us,
and of our opinion of our choices.

How long are we willing to wait
for things to change?
What are we going to do in the meantime?

Is there anything we can do to make things better?
How soon can we expect our actions to have an impact?

"This is the way things are,
and this is what we can do about it,
and that's that!"

Coming to terms with our situation in life
and the options available to us
is the sine qua non of growing up.
Growing up is the Final Solution
to all of our problems ever.
When there is nothing we can do about it--
any of it--
any of the things that are Really Important--
we can always Grow Up Some More Again.
The Swiss Army Knife fix
for all that we don't like about our life
and life in general.

–0–

01

Alan Watts said, "When you want things 
to be different than they are,
you are wishing for your situation to be different than it is,
and thinking that it should be otherwise.
When that is the case,
shut out any thought
that your situation should be otherwise,
and stop ruining the experience 
you could be having
with your life just as it is.
Tell yourself:
'This is it! This is life! 
Look at it! Don't miss a thing!'"
(Or words to that effect)

Joseph Campbell would add:
"The psychological transformation (here)
would be that whatever was formerly endured
is now known,
loved,
and served."

Campbell goes on to point out:
"The aim of all religious exercises
is a psychological transformation."

The "psychological transformation"
Campbell and Watts are talking about
is the slight shift in perspective
that is required 
to see the optical illusion "click"
from the haggard old woman
to the beautiful young girl,
from the silhouette of a wine glass
to the silhouettes of two people facing each other.

Our life is an optical illusion.
What we see is a function of how we look--
of what we look for--
of what we expect to see,
of our opinion about what we do see.

Being fully With our life
in each situation as it arises,
moment-to-moment
is to know it is just so
and is asking for "just this" from us.

Why withhold what is being called for?
Why resist the moment
that is unfolding before us?
Why not take "NO!" for an answer to us 
from the moment,
instead of declaring "NO!" to the moment?

This doesn't mean lie down,
become a door mat,
allowing "the moment"
to walk all over us
and wipe its feet on us.
We can participate in the sorrows of the world,
in the agony of the moment
as we work to transform the world
and redeem the moment,
even as we do what is being called for
in any particular situation/moment.

This is dancing with the contradictions,
embracing the polarities,
integrating the opposites,
and bearing the pain of the world "thus come"
with the joy of doing "what is set before us"
in doing what must be done about things as they are.

Our work is the redemption and transformation of the world.
This doesn't mean demolishing and destroying 
the world "thus come."
It means saying to the world "thus come,"
"Sit with me and tell me your story,
and I will tell you mine..."

The work of redemption/transformation
is the work of participating in the sorrows 
of the world "thus come"
as we joyfully do what is called for
in loving that world into all it may yet be.

Our ability to do that
rides on our being capable
of not demanding that the world be otherwise right now!
That it not be different than it is instantly.

How soon things can change
and how quickly we want them to change
have to be seen for what they are.
We have to do what needs to be done
to enable things to be different than they are
without insisting that the world
be what we want it to be immediately.

The pain of transition must be borne consciously,
intentionally,
deliberately,
with awareness
and compassion.

How long has the world been as it is?
That is a lot of momentum!
A lot of inertia!
Do not despair that ours is the Sisyphusian task
of rolling the ball through time!
Put your shoulder to the wheel
and keep it turning!

Our work is to do the work 
that needs to be done!
In each situation as it arises!
Waking up those who can be awakened,
without thinking that our prospects should be otherwise
from moment-to-moment-to-moment.

04

This isn't  a competition.
No one is keeping score.
We are not being graded.
Our work is not
to do or be better than anyone else
at anything.

Our work is simply 
being as good as we can be
at being who we are.
At being ourselves.

Our work is developing
our relationship with ourselves.
Knowing who we are.
Living in accord with our Original Nature.
Being us.
Doing our life the way we would do it
if no one were watching.
What do we care who is watching?

What is our natural way of doing things
that we don't do
because it won't fit where we are?

What is so important about where we are
that ourself wouldn't be comfortable
if we brought him/her to meet our friends?

Whose side are we on?

–0–

03

The fundamental duality,
dichotomy,
koan,
conundrum,
continuum,
polarity,
contradiction
at the heart of humanity
throughout time
is contrivance/sincerity.

Even when we are sincere,
we think we ought to get something out of it.
Sincerity should be good for us in some way.
And we are always shocked and chagrined
to discover that sincerity
means being good for nothing.

Because that is who we are.

Yet, how many of us are that way?
Good for nothing?

Everything is a ploy with us.
A device. 
A means of getting something,
or somewhere,
or avoiding something,
of coming out ahead,
of getting what we want--
and what we want is never, ever,
being good for nothing,
for no reason,
"just because."

Just because that is who we are.

From as long ago as the Bhagavad Gita (200 years BCE)
has come the call:
"Get in there and do your thing--
with no idea in mind of getting anything from it!"

You know,
like a child playing in a sandbox.
Like a dog wagging its tail.
Like a walk in the woods.

–0–

02

The six point star, 
with its two inverted triangles, 
one pointing upward to the heavens, 
light and enlightenment, 
and the other pointing downward to the earth, 
darkness and abject cluelessness, 
reflects the eternal plight 
of human beings throughout time, 
living out our lives between 
the best and worst 
we can do, be, become,
in each situation as it arises,
moment-by-moment-by-moment.

"We have met the enemy,
and they are us!"
(Walt Kelly)

–0–

01

Joseph Campbell said the Bhagavad Gita
could be summarized with:
"Get in there and do your thing,
and don't worry about the outcome!"

The outcome is always messing with us.
We live from one outcome to another.
We are always trying to achieve some outcome.
Always invested in some outcome.
Always enamored by some outcome.
Always attached to some outcome.

We do "this" so "that" will happen--
or to keep "that" from happening.

Doing "this" so "this" will happen
is the whole point of playing.
Living is a serious matter
and can only be engaged in
by those who do "this" so "that" will happen,
or not happen.

Doing our thing
"without hope,
without witness,
without reward,
(Steven Moffat)
is, for us, the greatest absurdity.

But.

Doing our thing
for the sole purpose,
entire point,
and complete joy
of doing our thing
is the very essence
of being alive.

Alan Stacell said, 
“I paint like a dog wags its tail.”

What do you do 
like a dog wags its tail?
How often do you do it?
How long do you do it
when you do it?

Why not do it more often?
For longer periods of time?

Without ever having an eye on the outcome?

03

What symbols are living symbols for you?
Which ones bring you to life?
Ground you?
Open you to the moment,
and to the wonder of life,
the mysterium tremendum,
the awe inspiring mystery,
at the heart of being alive?

What symbols enable you to face anything?
Serve as a guide through dark times?
A beacon calling us past waves crashing on the rocks
and heaving amid the howling wind
on the wine dark sea?

What symbols do you turn to
when there is no place else to turn?
What symbols are at the heart of your life?

Start with these symbols
and search them for the metaphors they represent.
What are the metaphors behind each symbol?
What are the meanings you attach to each metaphor?

One of my favorite symbols is a ceramic egg,
about six inches high and eight inches in diameter.
a section of the shell has broken away,
and a scaly foot of a baby dragon
has come out of the egg
into the light of day.

I have used this egg as a teaching metaphor
for Easter Morning sermons,
as a different kind of Easter Egg,
with the theme, 
"The new life in Christ
will eat your old life alive!"
Using the text from Luke 9:24,
"Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, 
but whoever loses their life for that which is greater than they are
will save it."

What will we lose our life (Metaphorically speaking) for?
What are we willing to go to hell (Metaphorically speaking) for?

Our symbols take us to the truth of who we are.
To the truth of what our life is.

Ask the questions your favorite symbols beg to be asked.
See what they really have to say.

–0–

02

Our symptoms,
tics,
neuroses,
psychoses,
loss of purpose,
lack of enthusiasm for life,
ennui,
poor posture
and lousy disposition
are all attributable 
to the sorry quality 
of our relationship
with ourselves in general
and with our Original Nature in particular.

Our lot is not going to improve
until we realign ourselves with ourselves,
and live in accord with our nature.

This does not mean doing whatever we want.
It means doing what is ours to do
whether we want to or not.

"What is ours to do"
is not something someone assigns us.
It is not what parents,
society,
culture
or our desire to succeed and excel
impose upon us.
It is what is ours to do
from before we were born.

You could call it destiny,
but that sounds like achieving something.
It is more on the order 
of simply being who we are--
doing what needs us to do it
the way we alone are capable of doing it.
Living our life the way only we can live it.
Whether anything comes of it or not.

The stream flowing to the sea
is fulfilling its destiny
by being what it is,
doing what it does
the way it would do it
in each situation as it arises.

Be the stream.
Flow to the sea.
It has never been
more difficult than that.
Never will be.

–0–

01

Waking up is growing up,
growing up is waking up.
Everyone has a blind side
keeping them immature and unseeing.

If you are not laughing at yourself,
you are not growing up.
If the tone of your laughter is mean
and vindictive,
you are not growing up.

The quality and degree of our laughter
is a signature sign
of the quality and degree of our maturity
and wakefulness.

Seeing is laughing.
Dancing.
Celebrating.
Crying.
Mourning.
Dying.

Laughter and sorrow
have an antiphonal relationship
with each other,
singing the song of life
to each other
through the ages.
Best friends forever.

Life and death.
Death and resurrection.
It never gets old.
We never outgrow it.
We welcome it again,
and step into the day.

02

People have been missing the point forever.
Thinking they/we are the point,
and that everything here is
for our benefit and enjoyment--
to "fill the earth and subdue it,"
party hardy
and pass a good time.

We plop out of the womb
figuring the angles,
calculating our chances,
contriving,
conning
scheming,
planning...
always with an agenda in hand
and an angle in mind.

God can't get us out of his mind.
His day revolves around us,
who is in and who is out,
keeping score,
writing everything down in the Book of Life
(So he won't forget?).

We are the point.
And, thinking that, 
we miss the point.

How much silence can you take
before you have to find something 
to relieve your boredom,
which is concealing something much worse:
Realization.

In the silence,
we catch the scent of emptiness
stirring in the darkness,
and must lose ourselves
in the noise of our lives
to avoid the truth of nothing.

We are afraid there is nothing there.

That comes with missing the point.

And that gets us to where we are:
Needing to face the truth of nothing to it,
of the Void
and the Abyss,
in order to find our way
to "the still point of the turning world"
(T.S. Eliot).
And know the Other within
whom we do not know
(Carl Jung),
and discover our place
as the Moved to the Mover,
the Seeker to the Knower,
and begin again,
this time in right relationship
with the Heart of Life and Being.

01

"Live with sincerity,
in the service of your original nature,
and follow your heart."

This old adage from 
the Age of the Taoists
sounds helpful
until it is read
in light of those stating:

"We grow up against our will."

"The last leave-taking
is leaving ourselves for ourselves."

"If you meet the Buddha on the road,
kill him."

"That which you seek
lies far back in the darkest corner
of the cave
you most don't want to enter."

"It took the Cyclops
to bring the hero
out in Ulysses."

"The only thing standing
between us and the treasure we seek
is us."

"The people who don't take the time
to appreciate,
honor,
and dance with
the contradictions
aren't worth talking to."

"The slippery slope,
the dangerous path,
the razor's edge
require us to pick up our cross daily,
dying to ourselves again and again,
and bearing the pain of the journey joyfully
all the way to the end of the line."

And the ultimate contrary
of them all:

"The Path that is discernible
is not a reliable Path."

It is called The Hero's Journey
for a reason.

Realization comes with a price,
paid only by those
who can laugh
shout "YEA!"
and participate wholeheartedly
in the wonder of it all,
seeing the incongruities
and dichotomies,
as antiphonies--
and joining in round after round,
all their life long.