My central symbol of life, of being alive, is the swamp. Swamps are vital sources of vitality, wellsprings of all the qualities of life and being. They are where life originates, and carry the realization of the Buddhist chant, "Om Mani Padme Hum" and its implication of the jewel that is in the lotus and the lotus is rooted in the muck at the bottom of the pond/swamp to reflect the swamp as the essence of who we are and the foolishness of thinking that we will ever be more than that in a "Be content to be yourself, for that is who you are," kind of way. 

I enjoy reflecting on the Elder Wand,
of the Harry Potter series origin,
as the ultimate source of the power--
not of force,
but of perspective/realization/understanding/enlightenment/
kindness/gentleness/compassion/life...

If I were given the Elder Wand,
I would go into retreat with it,
into a vision quest with it,
and sit with it,
inviting it to show me/teach me
all it knows
and how to use it to its best and fullest potential,
by not "using it" at all.

I see the power of the Elder Wand
being the heightened capacity
for seeing/hearing/comprehending what's what,
knowing what needs to be done about it,
in response to it,
when/where/how it needs to be done,
and doing it
in each situation as it arises
through all the circumstances
that are generated by other circumstances
through the epochs and ages of time.

This is informed awareness in the service
of what is called for
moment-to-moment in every here/now forever.

The power of knowing/doing in action.

I cannot imagine anything more necessary
and less available,
than that.

I take comfort in the idea nonetheless.

–0–

Joseph Campbell said the thrust
of the Bahgavad Gita
is "Get in there and do your thing
and let the outcome be the outcome."

We live to manipulate the outcome
by doing whatever is necessary
to leverage what we want
into place
and letting "our thing"
be anything it takes to get what we desire.

Our thing is having our way
at the expense of all other considerations.

Which is to say
that we don't have a "thing."
We have a compulsion to get what we want
no matter what.

And those who know know
that having our way
is the first thing to go
in the service of being who we are
and doing what is ours to do.

It is not a choice that we are aware 
of having to make.

We think that getting our way
IS what is ours to do.

Lao Tzu said,
"Do your work and step back,
let the outcome be the outcome."

We are here to serve "our work"
and to do "our thing," 
no matter the outcome.

Wait? What?

The idea that there is something
greater than what we want,
something more important 
than having our way,
is inconceivable.
Unbelievable.
Incapable even of being imagined.

There is a good beyond our good?
How can that be good?
Good IS our good!
Why would we serve something
that does not have our best interest--
as we think of it--
at heart?

Our good is surely the most important thing!

No?

–0–

All of the philosophies of life
that I am aware of
assume a high enough income
to meet the cost of living.

I don't know of any philosophy 
that makes poverty bearable,
much less fun.

Life starts with being able
to pay the bills.
Once we take care of that requirement,
then we can turn our attention
to what we pay the bills to do.

Until then, philosophy and religion
call us to keep trying,
with promises of "pie in the sky by and by,"
when it will "all be made up to us one day,"
if we keep trying.

Destitution and abundance are the poles
between which life is lived,
Finding and maintaining 
the "sweet spot"
between the two extremes
is out of the question for 
a staggering number of people
which is rapidly increasing
even as I write these lines.

And that is a problem for all of us worldwide.

How do we address it?
How do we solve it?

As with everything else that Really Matters
(War, Hunger, Climate Change, Over Population, Pollution...),
we have no idea.

And that leaves us with waiting/watching
as things become increasingly dire and out of hand
and the systems sustaining life
overheat and collapse into a catastrophic meltdown
and it all starts over for another round from the beginning.

This is called "The Circle/Cycle of Life,"
and it plays itself out across the universe over time.

In the meantime, 
we settle into responding as appropriately
as we can manage
to the need of the moment
in each situation as it arises
in service to the good of the whole
insofar as that is possible
all our life long.

This is a philosophy that is good 
for all times and places
as long as there are times and places,
spoken first to my knowledge by Lao Tzu
in the Tao te Ching ("The Virtues of the Way"):
"Do your work and step back,
let nature take its course."

And, "This is the way things are."

–0–

What would it take 
for you to enjoy being
who you are?

For you to enjoy your life?

What do you enjoy in a day?

Make it your thing
to enjoy what remains
of the time left for living!

Music.
Friends.
Art.
Poetry.
Nature.
Food...
 
Make your list
of the enjoyable aspects of life and being,
and focus on those things.

And do not dwell on,
or spend time with,
the un-enjoyable elements
of the days that are upon us.

Seek out the goodness of these days!
Bring goodness to life
in your life
and in the lives of others!

Embrace the joy,
refuse despair,
reject dejection,
tell gloom
to find someone else to burden.

Bring life to life
in the way you live 
each day!

–0–

Being the right kind of people
is well within our reach,
yet far exceeds our grasp,
as Abraham Heschel might have said.

We have better things to do.

Being the right kind of people
gets in our way.
Asks hard things of us.
Is always inconvenient
and an imposition
of outlandish proportions.

We aren't interested.

Lazy and lethargic 
and not interested.

Yet, we want things to be better
than they are.

That is true of every human being 
everywhere
from the beginning of human beings.
And it is always someone else
we want to change in relation to us,
never us that we want to change
in relation to someone else.

Let THEM do all the changing
to make US happy!
Or we will declare war on them
if they don't!

Declaring war is our go to solution
for everything.
Never mind that it has never worked
for long,
and likely never will
unless it is the total nuclear variety
and completely exterminates the species.

That probably would work for a long time.

In the meantime we will all continue to say,
"YOU have to change in order for ME to be happy.
Or else!"

If we spent as much effort 
in the service of being the right kind of people,
as we do in making war,
we wouldn't recognize the place.
And everything would wonder,
"What is going on?"

–0–

If we can put people on the moon,
"Why can't we just get along?"

On May 1, 1992, Rodney King nailed it.
And we still can't get along.
We have never gotten along.
We will never get along.
Why not?

John the Baptist couldn't get along with Herod.
Jesus couldn't get along with the Sanhedrin. 
I can't get along with the fascists.
Or the extremists of all persuasions.

How many of us feel safest only in seclusion?
Show of hands?
What's up with that?
How many waving hands would it take
before we understand that 
we have a problem here?

I hunch we have always been here.
That the percentage of hands waving
within the world population
has always been about where it is today.

When have we ever just gotten along?
Who do we get along with?
Who lets us be who we are?
As we are?
When, where and how we are?

In whose company are we safe to be?
Who is not safe in our company?
Where are the places of safety and refuge
in your life--
other than, or in addition to, seclusion?
What does that say about us as a species?

Who is just naturally a good place to be?
How many of us are that way?
How many do we know who are that way?
What would it take for all of us to be that way?
Why is common ground no larger than it is?
We all have life in common
and it drops off sharply after that.

What can we do to enlarge our common ground
around the world?

–0–

Beauty is both escape and immersion.
Both distraction/diversion and connection/alignment.
Anything is/can be all things.
Everything comes with manifold sides/aspects.
Reality is a shape shifting collection
of appearances/perceptions.
All it takes is looking
to see that it is so.

How we think things are
is always only how they seem to be.
Wait long enough before issuing
final judgment
and you will have a hard time
making up your mind.

"Real" is what appears to be real now.
Live a bit longer 
and things are not so clear.

Everything is in flux,
moving, changing, coming, going...

So, don't be a quick,
impulsive,
spur-of-the-moment suicide!
Bride! Groom! Mother! Father!

Take your time, wait it out.
Seek the insight 
found in emptiness,
stillness,
silence,
solitude
of vision quests
and walk-a-bouts.

Know what you don't know,
and wait until you do.

–0–

Finding our work and doing it
is a matter of allowing our work
to come to us
and not rejecting it when it does.

Our work finds us,
appears to us,
occurs to us,
calls us.

If we want to "find" our work,
the place to start is 
by digging through
our pile of rejects.

"The stone the builders rejected,"
you know.

We are great with saying,
"Not this, and not that, and not that over there!"
And talking ourselves out of things
we can't easily explain,
defend,
justify,
excuse...
even though they keep coming back,
catching our eye,
attracting us,
inviting us to look closer
or let them take us for a ride.

Our work often begins
with seeing what we look at,
hearing what we listen to,
knowing what we know,
caring about the things
that need to be cared about,
and doing the things 
that need to be done.

We probably couldn't be paid to do it,
and have to work it in "after hours,"
or "on the weekend."

Hobbies can become what we live to do,
and what we do "for a living"
supports us in doing the work that calls our name.

Life can be funny that way,
and we have to laugh along,
making our path through terrains
and territory
we would not think of as being
"path worthy,"
yet knowing that our heart 
is deeply in what we are doing,
and allowing ourselves 
to love what we love
and go where we are called to be.

–0–

One way of assessing our Aliveness Quotient
is to be accurate and honest about our degree of:

Balance
Harmony
Integrity
Sincerity
Spontaneity
Vitality
Emptiness
Stillness
Silence

This is a check-list for maintaining and regaining
our alignment with the way of life everlasting
in seeing what's what,
knowing what is called for,
being right about what is important
and doing what needs to be done,
when, where and how it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
without regard for personal gain,
recognition,
advancement,
achievement,
success
or merit--
but of exhibiting/expressing/serving
the gifts of our original nature
and the innate combination
of virtues/traits/characteristics/talents/etc.
that are unique to each of us
and prepare us for offering what we have to give
out of who we are
in meeting the moment
in all the circumstances
of every day.

Which calls for time spent in realizing
who we are and what we have to offer
in responding to what needs us 
moment-to-moment, day-to-day.

–0–

Growing up comes down to bearing graciously
the legitimate pain of being alive.

Nature is against nature! 
The ocean against the beach, 
the lion against the antelope, 
the big fish against the little fish... 

The system feeds on itself, 
attacks itself, destroys itself! 
It makes no sense whatsoever! 

So, we get in there and do our thing
in doing what needs to be done
in light of what's happening here and now,
when, where, and how
it needs to be done
and don't worry about the outcome!

We don't care what our chances are!
We just meet the moment 
the way the moment needs to be met
without keeping score,
or adding up our losses,
or fretting over 
"the meaninglessness of it all."

We get up and do what needs to be done
(With or without the strength and courage
of Powdermilk Biscuits)
the way it needs to be done,
and let that be that,
one thing after another
all our life long,
"smiling and singing in the rain."

–0–

Growing up 
is growing in our ability
to take "No" for an answer.

This is "dying" to the way
we wish things were,
want things to be.

This is the kind of "death"
Adam and Eve are required to "die"
in getting back to the Garden of Eden,
and it is the kind of "death"
that leads to "resurrection and new life"
in all times and places.

If we are going to take anything on faith,
why not let it be that Jesus 
survived the crucifixion
but "died" to his idea of how things ought to be,
and lived out his life in Galilee
with Mary Madelaine and their children,
working as a carpenter and fisherman
to make a living?

And that all the hoopla was created
by the fledgling church
to justify its existence
and serve as the foundation 
of its power and influence?

This continues to honor the core feature 
of our faith,
that we all have to "die" to the way
we want things to be
and live in the service of how things 
need to be
all our life long.

No aspirations,
no personal ambitions
or desires,
no plans,
agendas,
purposes
or expectations--
just seeing/knowing/doing
what needs to be done here/now
as it needs to be done
in all situations and circumstances
forever.

We have to be growing up forever
to live like that.

–0–

It isn't what happens to us 
that makes the difference in our life,
but how we respond to what happens to us.

The most important thing
is how we respond the moment
right here, right now,
and what it is asking of us.

The more noise, complexity,
drama, trauma
characterize our life,
the less capable we are
of exhibiting appropriate
response-ability
in the moment-to-moment world
of clashing rocks and heaving waves.

The solution to all of our problems
is living out of 
the right kind of emptiness,
stillness and silence.

Cultivating our relationship
with those things
provides us with the foundation
necessary for meeting 
what meets us in a day
and doing with it 
what needs to be done.

And that is all that can be asked
of any of us.

Though it may have nothing to do
with the accumulation
of wealth, power, success and such.

So, it helps to be clear 
about what is important.

And what is not. 

–0–