Oneness

World & self are not-separate
World & self are not-one
World & self are one & not-one
That's divine oneness

Can oneness be included in duality?
I think so. It's like the yin-yang symbol

Within darkness is a point of light

Within lightness is a point of dark

Home, Free

Sliding into the great quiet again
Like a pool of space and comfort
Without bottom, sides, or ceiling
It belongs to no one, but to everyone
   
   When you get there
   You are no longer there ...
   At home, free 

Joyful Love

As if lifted by 
ocean mists
to an unspoken heaven 
of joyful love

Chess

Individualism is something which is taken for granted. In a game it generally takes two people to play. Being the red player makes it so that you are that color in the game yet, you are still playing the game as a whole, even on a different team. Relationships can be a type of game in it is two individuals yet, there is a deep connection as one unit. There are times though when one person needs the other in order to have fun, even if they don't really want to play anymore. It is in these moments that codependency arises. The person forgets that you can still be apart of a relationship, even if they are not there. They can still have fun on their own; playing a crossword puzzle or even solitaire. It's funny, playing solitaire doesn't mean you are alone.

"God" Talk

The word "God" is dangerous to use in mixed groups. “God” is more personal than talk of sex, money, news, and general gossip. Often “God” is simply dismissed as if the word is meaningless and vacant. Baseball, stock prices and kitchen remodels appear more real and significant. We have sanitized “God” by replacing it with terms such as Ultimate, Truth, Reality, Love, etc. The big problem is that there's this idea of “God” as an old gray haired man up in the clouds. Not many people believe in that “God”. Nor do I. Sometimes we have to say “God” with disclaimers, as when we say: "God is the ultimate underlying reality expressed by physics." Belief in “God” gets confused with words not reality - as if we can choose to believe or disbelieve in Reality.

Sun is New Everyday

Somewhere, a long time ago, I read that Heraclitus, an ancient Greek pre-socratic, said: "The Sun is new everyday!" A beautiful way to look at the sunrise today. A wonderful way to live each day of our lives. Today is a new day. This moment is a new moment. Our lives, our bodies, our worlds are always changing. We may want to hold on to what is now - but it must slip away, no matter how good it is. More keeps arising. The present moment is like the burning tip of a candle fame. That's the moment of the breath-in and breath-out. We cannot not stop that without death. Life means breath-in and breath-out. Life means constant change. Yet, there is a bigger sense of life. Of Life beyond just life. This is the sense of Life we intuit with our wisdom eyes; as we rise to a wider vision of what this is all about. 

Child of Reality

All the old gods have lost their flavor
Where do I turn to now while waiting
For endless songs of relief from endless waiting
They call it grace - an unexpected surrender to Reality
O Reality - what is that?
Sometimes I see it in my reflection
As a child of Reality

Don't Know Much

We don't know much. The world is too vast. Everything opens up again and again to deeper levels of mystery. Important to become comfortable with mystery - to respect the unknown. What do I know? Can I predict exactly what I will think, feel, or do an hour from now? Not really. Everyday, we awake up to new variations, possibilities, and actualities never seen before. 

Earth Needs You

Earth needs you
Don't go away on a journey somewhere else
Walk down to the river bed -
Alone with your thoughts, memories, and feelings
Deep inside Life is your first Love


(Note: These days, as founder of Philosopher-at-Large Blog, I find myself feeling free to really be a philosopher-at-large. That means writing or talking notes here and there - eventually sharing them. I hope this encourages you to be freer in your own speculations and insights.)

Out There

I love it when I see that sparkle in your eyes;

that uninhibited pure joy

that total presence of wanting to be here

with you. all the sudden

I am overwhelmed, I feel

there is so much out there!

I feel so little, I feel so young

and there is nothing to say.

There is so much 

and there is nothing to say.

Because out there, out there

I am afraid of seeing it

of feeling the vastness

it must all be here

it is all here, already here

to accept it

to remember.

Love it, 

nourish it 

encourage its being

because 

I 

do 

not

know.

all I know is I am here

somewhere 

and I am working;

striving, practicing, trying to see you

and to understand

the meaning.

.

.

.

Desires are breathless 

I finally feel you

that connection.

Thank You

Rain For Us

“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.”


-Hermann Hesse