Walt Whitman ~ This is what you shall do

"This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body."

"This is what you shall do..." by Walt Whitman, from the preface of Leaves of Grass. Public domain.

Carl Jung - The World Within

Black Elk ~ First Peace

"The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka , and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace, which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men."

~ Black Elk ~

Deep Nonviolence

Nonviolence is not-harming; it's what we don't do, not what we do. There's vast spaciousness in allowing things to be what they are short of violence. Nonviolence reminds me of the Taoist idea of "doing not doing"; by not-harming, by being nonviolent, we are going with the flow of life. The term "peace", however, is more limiting. It implies specific institutions and actions such as talk of "peace keeping armies". Nonviolence is one of the most ancient of great ideas: "ahimsa" - the Sanskrit word meaning "not harming" in the old Jain religion of India and later in the Vedic, Hindu, and Buddhist scriptures. Furthermore, we find strong suggestions of nonviolence in the ancient Jewish and Christian scriptures. Indeed, the earliest Christians would not fight in wars. In the mid twentieth century, "nonviolence" was a political strategy. We see scenes of mass demonstrations for Indian independence from the British, U.S. black peoples' civil rights protests in the deep South, and grape boycotts to secure rights of migrant farm works. While teaching nonviolence at the University of California, Berkeley, I became clear that nonviolence as protest is too narrow. Now, I sometimes use the term "deep nonviolence" to point to nonviolence at the root level -- where constructive actions naturally arise. This especially addresses the deep crisis between the whole of humanity and all other life on earth. The violence of humans upon the earth and it's living forms is now apparent. Deep nonviolence looks upon all our actions that may, can, and do harm life on earth. By working toward eliminating such actions (at all levels), we allow the earth to heal, to return to it's natural state of harmony and health; just as we can allow our bodies to heal of themselves by not harming them with drugs. Nature wants to be healthly; people want to be at peace. Remove the harming, and the rest takes care of itself.

Beyond Limits - Arthur C. Clarke

The only way to discover the limits of the possible 

is to go beyond them into the impossible.

~ Arthur C. Clarke

A flower grows...

A flower grows between sidewalk cracks
A smile shines between tears
A life unfolds between birth and death

Ghandi Speaks On Non-Violence

Dramatic recreation of 

Ghandi speaking on nonviolence in his early career.

Direct YouTube Link.

Diane Shavelson - Winner Take All

shine bright

the darkness is there to help you find your own light

see how brightly you can shine!

Bob Dylan - With God On Our Side

Much truth and sadness and paradox in this tune.

Lyrics

Carl Jung - Speaks About Death

This video of Carl Jung was recorded at the tail end of his life. He says important things about death. Please listen and look carefully. This is a man who is mindful; who is speaking to what little can be said about an almost unspeakable subject.

Concept Acknowledgment: Marianne Henry

What The Tree Said

"Practice and Actualization" Americ + Josh

Americ Azevedo - Voice & Thoughts

Josh Williams - Music ( Acoustic Drumming, Acoustic Guitar, 

Electric Guitar, Drum Programming, Synths, Sounds )

Bob Marley - Don't Worry Be Happy

Much wisdom in this simple song.

Meher Baba - Live in the Present

"Live more and more in the Present
which is ever beautiful and stretches
away beyond the limits of the past
and the future.
                                 - Meher Baba

Limitless Presence

Those who cling to thought
are afraid of Being.

in alert Being, there is no thought
only stillness.

Trusting and letting go
to the endless ebb and flow,
all that is life~

like the waves rolling,
rising and falling,
over and over again.
You are an ocean of self, filled deep,
no limit to your Presence.

New Day

From http://www.goodmorningquote.com/52-inspirational-good-morning-quotes/

Ram Dass - Be Still

From http://griefandmourning.com/stillness

Don McLean - American Pie

Thanks to Spike for this suggestion.

Leonard Cohen and Judy Collins "Suzanne" 1967

Jacob Needleman - Time and the Soul

Make Friends with Uncertainty

Knowing, making friends with uncertainty gives freedom. To live fully find courage to face uncertainty moment by moment. Reality has things to tell us - that we may not wish to hear.

Refiners Fire

“Up on your feet! This is no time to tire!”
my Master cried. “The man who lies asleep
will never waken fame, and his desire

and all his life drift past him like a dream,
and the traces of his memory fade from time
like smoke in air, or ripples on a stream.

Now, therefore, rise. Control your breath, and call
upon the strength of soul that wins all battles
unless it sink in the gross body’s fall.

There is a longer ladder yet to climb.”

Dante Alighieri - The Inferno

Inner Peace

enjoy you

your breath is medicine
sun cleanses you
today's work is to sit and enjoy yourself!

Laudato si'

Also read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laudato_si'

Leonard Cohen - Dance Me to the End of Love

mystery

It's all a mystery
Let it come
And let it be

Speaker Box

When the thoughts in your head become louder than the voice inside, it's hard to hear the truth. It's like an echo in a cavern. Yelling,  "I can't do it" or " I am worthless" bounces off of the walls and drowns out the other sounds. Your inner voice is quiet and does not need to echo its message. Be gentle and allow it to guide you in the right direction.

Ephemeral Portraits

Those moments when everything seems so bleak

All at once your terrors peak

With a cracking voice, left unable to speak

Keeping your mind and body weak

Though, if you could only see yourself through my eyes:

You are powerful, so unique

Unlike a damaged and fragile antique

You are whole with a beautiful physique

There is a light inside, just continue to seek…

Takes A Long Time

Only One Moment

Spiritual Path

The World May Fall Apart

"Blindly feel your way around
You're better off that way for now
Who's to say the sun is kind
The brightest things will leave you blind

Reconciled from head to toe
The brightest things can help you grow"

-Scott Goldbaum

Steve Jobs ~ Your Time Is Limited

Pitfall

For many individuals, there is a hole in themselves that feels like it needs to be filled. Struggling to find a cure for the ache, something to make them feel whole, they turn to actions which do not fill but only patch this missing piece. It can be incredibly hard to find healthy ways but they are available to us if we just engage. Take an adventure into nature or the city. Help a child build a lego set. Listen or play music. Draw or paint. Meditate or even just take a moment to sit on the couch and breathe. The list can be endless if you just take the time to write.

Contact

“You’re an interesting species. An interesting mix. You’re capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you’re not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.”

- Carl Sagan

Number Two

I used to use an eraser to fix the mistakes on my homework. The lead would go away but the imprint would still be etched into the paper. Now, I use the delete button. It leaves no imprint; the mistake is completely gone. We need to remember to continue learning from our mistakes. It has beome too easy to just erase everything with a simple
Delete

Savings

Money can buy a hearse, not a lifetime. Time can't be measured by money.

T. S. Elliot - endless invention, endless experiment

Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Brings us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.
                                     T. S. Elliot
                                                    Choruses From “The Rock”

Eleven lines of poetry from T. S. Elliot - suggestive of a deep understanding of our human predicament in an ever expanding age of technology. We are creatures of meaning, not just bodies of functioning.  ~ Americ ~

Teeter Totter

To get on our feet,

we had to crawl.

Learning to walk, 

we had to fall.

Feeling lost and alone,

we found life was our guide. 

Though it was frightening, 

we found the power inside.

Reception

it is Me.

this is the breakthrough
realizing over and over that
everyone is here to help you
those you feel are hurting you
are teachers themselves
some lesson there to learn for you

painful.

all there is to do is open yourself to see
as safely and as carefully as you can be
knowing that it is true
that love is abundant
this is your work

to Receive.

Lao Tzu's Recommendations

In Chapter 3 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu recommends that leaders should encourage the people to:

    Relax the mind
    Make belly firm
    Reduce the will
    Make physiques strong

A good recommendation, even 2,600 years later. 

Kindling

Destroy a shadow by casting a light; lingering in shadow lets darkness ignite.

Palettes

Awareness is always changing, influenced by growing older and the introduction of coloring in the lines. Soon, by believing that lines must be straight, boxes must be cubes, and colors cannot run, the world becomes black and white. Our paint brushes become pens and color palettes reduced to blue, black, and hopefully not red. Emotions are converted into faces on a "feelings" magnet attached to the fridge. Yet, it is so simple to shift; remember, it all began with a simple belief. Blink. What was once a geometrical problem which wasn't painted in all the way can become emotion dissected and connected by lines which fashion shapes full of water color to inspire reflection. So remember to rub your eyes when you awaken; stir up a world of color.

self integration

depression sinking
dark and deep
space falls infinitely
i am so small
frightened mind
this vision is not comfort

nowadays I focus
with positive momentum
I still my mind more and more
to see how strong
each present moment is

no more this struggle of selves
rest death and destruction in peace

me in my body
trees look upon us
to move

nothing changes
except my visual lens
one perspective to another
a constant realization practice
over and over in each moment
remembering how
I am in this space
right here and right now

Mother stretches out her soul to feed my little branches
She compassionately fills each twig
so sunlight pierces through my star pores
She allows me to fill myself in this space
so finally I feel myself here in body grounded

the art of happiness is found
I feel loved in this space
being held lovingly in Me
this is home
thank you

Photo Shop

The fact is that no person is perfect. We are given a universal idea of perfection which is contrived. Why spend time and money to become someone you are not. Your imperfections made you who you are though; you are literally one of a kind, like a snowflake. We struggle to look like someone we envy and fail due to the technology which enhances their looks. With the right amount of money or skilled designer, a terrible picture can come out looking perfect. Airbrush for flawless skin. Photo editing programs to enhance the exposure.

Sadly, society then takes it one step further and begins to alter the physical body. Too much weight? No need to work out, just get it removed with surgery. Excessive amount of wrinkles? Easy, use a chemical to look younger. Put it on your face every night.

Now you are getting closer to your dream...right?

planet self-protection

     ∆
   .
  .
 .
.
rhythmic moments
thought messages
wisely letting go
.
releasing is strength
presencing cuddler
love-hugging myself close
.
pieces of peace emitted by all
tiny-big dreamer gathering
i am whole!
 .
  .
   .
    .
      ∆

Embedded in a Society

Our parents, if we are fortunate, train us in “right and wrong”. They do it because they are embedded in a society - and they know that we, too, will be embedded in a society. We are not separate; we are in society. And, to be outside of society is not a good thing because we are evolved, designed to be social, to communicate, to think, and to learn. We come into this world with bodies programmed by millions, billions of years of evolution. We are born into human cultures with thousands of years of collective learning. That is our inheritance. Now to use it wisely. 

∆

New Beginnings

Second hands

Count second opportunities

Second hands

Count the seconds lost

Second hands

Count down the minutes

Second hands

Count the replacement cost

Flowing Out

flowing out
time's ocean 
emptying out
without limit 

Martin Luther King Jr. ~ Keep Moving Forward

If you can't fly, then run,

if you can't run, then walk,

if you can't walk, then crawl,

but whatever you do,

you have to keep moving forward.

~ Martin Luther King Jr. 

Game Face

Tears smeared her mascara and etched a script of an emotion she tried to hide from him. As he continued to berate her with words which pierced like knives, she tried to speak with words unbroken through broken breath. 

Never show weakness in the face of adversity her mother had taught her; these words were hollow if they could not prevent the wounds continuously opened by his rage. For years she allowed him to deteriorate her self esteem for fear of losing the man she loved by speaking against him. 

She looked back over the years and noticed that she had lost him years ago. As he grew more possessive and jealous, she pulled away from him. Once she began to grow distant, he turned away, causing her to return to him yet again. They played this game more and more frequently as time progressed until finally, he turned away all together. 

The once loving relationship which brought them together and helped them grow, now cast a shadow upon her heart. To reanimate herself, to bring life back into her dim eyes, she had to end this game tonight. 

A fire, while dim at first, began to grow. It was not anger or even resentment. It was a longing to be free; it was a light to guide herself home. She finally understood what her mother had told her so many years ago; do not hide your face in adversity, show your strength when all you want to do is hide. The tears which once smeared her mascara now became war paint; she found the power to fight again.

A Philosophy of Life

Real Life

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life." 

~ Alfred d'Souza ~

Beyond Understanding

Deep reality is beyond our understanding. Physics may never be complete. Some mystery could always remain. Who are we? Why are we here? What is our destiny? Religions and philosophies struggle to satisfy us. Let's not get too optimistic. We're built for life with mystery.

Eleanor Roossevelt ~ Beautiful Young and Old People

Home Away From Home

if you find a shell

far away from the sea

listen to it closely

it will remind you where it has been

it does not tell you to bring it back

or ask to be used as a home again

it accepts that it has served its purpose

and only wants to sing the songs of the sea

John Lennon ~ Fear and Love

“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” 

~ John Lennon, The Beatles ~

Cocoon

Lost in the woods for what felt like decades, he emerged expecting to be a butterfly.

With all the tales he had been told when he was a child about a wide-eyed adventurer plunging into the forest with only bravery and coming out a new person, he emerged into the open field of dead grass. It seemed his fables had failed him.

He shouted to the heavens, "I have struggled for so many years! Overcome so many trials and tribulations! Fought to keep myself alive..." His voice echoed through the forest. He began to cry tears full of anger interwoven with despair while he waited for the butterfly wings promised to him in his fables. As his tears subsided, he murmured to the forest, "then I have truly failed."

Tired and full of self pity, he lay on the dead grass, ignoring the tiny sprinkles of mist which collected in his beard and mustache. A thick fog began to rush though the forest like a phantasm, engulfing it entirely like a down blanket. It spread across the sky and the temperature dropped incredibly quickly, limiting his vision. As he reached into his pack to get his camping jacket, his small reflective mirror fell out and cracked on a rock. "Why!" he yelled again with a sense of renewed passion. As he leaned over to pick it up, he saw himself, after all of these months on his journey.

Shattered glass projects shattered images; this wasn't the case for him. He only vaguely saw the person who first set out on the journey; he was a young, inexperienced teenager, who decided he wanted to have an adventure. It wasn't his beard or his long matted hair, it was the inner strength he saw. He had developed a type of resolve which that boy could have never understood or believed he had inside. A tear welled up in his eye. While he might have not grown butterfly wings, he had become something more than what was promised to him in his fables. That broken image now reflected a full picture of who he had become.

Lost in the woods for what felt like decades, he emerged expecting to be a butterfly, but instead came out a man.

Silence

Talked with Glenn about silence. We came to an understanding that there is a tone, a basic tone that we can tune to.  

Glenn said, “But you have to be still and quiet to hear that tone. It's like music flowing through us.”

“Yes,” I said.

“Let's have three moments of silence.”

“Yes.”

As the moments of silence came, I saw the mind weave in and out of silence for a period of time. That was good enough. Yes, good enough.

∆

Thomas Edison ~ Listening

We have but two ears and one

mouth so that we may listen twice

as much as we speak.

~ Thomas Edison ~

Marcus Aurelius ~ Abundance

When you arise in the morning,

think of what a precious privilege

it is to be alive - to breathe,

to think, to enjoy, to love.

~ Marcus Aurelius ~

Being There

To "be there" fully and simply is the greatest power.

Daredevil

I didn't think I would hear anything profound on a Netflix show about a superhero. I had to transcribe it because it isn't even online. Just goes to show you that wisdom hides everywhere. 

"You get what you deserve"

It's an old saying, one that survived the years because it's true for the most part, but not for everyone. Some get more than they deserve because they believe they aren't like everyone else. That the rules, the ones people, like me and you, the people that work and struggle to live our lives, just live, don’t apply to them. That they can do anything and live happily ever after while the rest of us suffer. They do this from the shadows. Shadows that we cast with our indifference, with a pervasive lack of interest in anything that doesn’t directly affect us, we, in the here and now. Maybe its just the shadow of weariness, of how tired we are, struggling to claw our way back to a middle class that no longer exists because of those who take more than they deserve. They keep taking until all that’s left for the rest of us is a memory of how it used to be before the corporations and the bottom line decided we didn’t matter anymore, but we do, you and I, the people of this city, we still matter.

Still Points

Still points are marked by the absence of mental chatter. Suddenly the ears are softly ringing with the white noise of air molecules beating against the ear drums. A silence comes; and an infinite sense of visual space without content opens up.

The Voice

It speaks for itself. From the book "Falling Up" by Shel Silverstein.

Empty Your Cup

"Empty your cup so

that it may be filled;

become devoid to

gain totality."

- Bruce Lee

Buddha Drank Tequila ???

Don't expect "perfection" from your teachers and rock stars. Allow yourselves to relax enough so that you too can write, draw, play a musical instrument and sing. Even Buddha and Jesus did things disapproved of by friends and others. Their "imperfections" were part of their wisdom.

Conclusions

The sound at the end of sound is silence; so much is said without saying a word.

Lantern

I tried to do this on my own.

I tried to guide others

When I could not guide myself

I tried to see

Through eyes that were closed

I gave my heart recklessly

Yet, I could not love myself

I see so much light around me;
Why then am I left in the dark?

Let me grieve entirely
Let me see through my tears
Tonight, show me a brighter way

Long Distance

Age is just a
stop

watch

counting
life

as we run 

laps 

around a field

A track of 

time

going in
circles

as we
play 

the same 

game

Lighter Than Air

As we age, it becomes harder to cry. The vulnerability we experience can be too frightening to reveal to ourselves let alone others. Instead, our subconscious mind reads the writing on our heart and we become heavy. Whether we notice it or not, our breath begins to weigh us down. It starts with the heavy sigh and if left unresolved, a broken breath surfaces. We've all experienced this breath after crying and now it is trapped inside. It's only when we notice where that weight comes from can we face it and return our breath to normal. 

Breath easy today knowing that freedom is only a breath away.

Defrost

There is a heightened awareness of the piercing cold as the snowfall numbs your senses. The wind violently reminds you that you are in its icy tundra, away from all of the comforts which previously kept you warm. The ability to see ahead has begun to slowly deteriorate as the arctic realizes your intention to free yourself from its grasp. It needs to keep you afraid to stop you from progressing; it needs to stop you from finding truth in its dark and solitary waters. As the snow crunches beneath your boots, you become aware of the fatigue which has set in; just a few more steps to the cliffs.

Approaching the summit of your journey forged in tracks now unseen due to the storm, you look down towards the water. It is savage and unwavering. The crashing of its waves are fierce to send a simple message.

You cannot conquer us. Fear us. We will destroy you.

Holding onto the edge in fear, doubt creeps into the mind. Do you really need to face that which terrifies you even though you know it is best for your growth? You've been told you will survive. You know in your own heart that it is truth. The choice is yours now.

Succumb to frigid fear or jump knowing there is warmth inside

there is courage in the grass

every

winter the

grass wilts and dies

not once does it curse the sun

for giving it life

then taking

it away

i pray

for a courage 
like this

~Rich Pauloo

The Present

Like a virus the heartsting spread throughout her body. It's an interesting thing, the heart. It can ache like an injury or sting like a gash through the arm. It did not ache today. Her body came to the rescue and shut down without her consent like a computer virus. She went numb to the pain. Better than the alternative she thought. As she laid in bed, she began to think of a future she could not see clearly. The contagion had quickly infected her eyes and blinded her with fear. There was no diagnosis for heartache. She knew she could not treat the pain she felt with medicine. She remembered all the moments which once brought her happiness and shuttered as it now only brought pain. She needed something to bring light to the darkness, a nepenthe for the past.

It was time for her to heal her own heart; she needed to love herself now. There was no nepenthe. No quick fix that wouldn't just mask the pain and hide it away. You can put feelings in box and pretend it is not there but these boxes begin to breed monsters. To be strong she needed to start moving on and begin to grow without him. This virus could be cured she realized. She needed to let go of her old life, her old self, and be reborn. The pain which once infected her started transforming into passion. Like a phoenix, she could become a flame and light her world on fire once again; she became the light that conquered the darkness. 

It's an interesting thing, the heart.

Day Light Saving Time

The shadows on the ground reach
across the black top

Like a hand

on a clock

The sun begins to set
on a silent tick toc

White Out

There is a question which has been posed to me more than once in my life:

"What happened last night?"

It's tragic to wake up to a fragment of a night. It's easier to not remember anything than to be faced with the disappointment of boredom or negativity. Some take this one step further and purposely forget months or even years of their lives. Why not wipe away memories which cause us pain than to experience them fully? When we make that choice, we sacrifice the good and the bad; we blindly launch missiles at a field and hope they hit the right target. Sadly, everything gets destroyed in its wake and life becomes haunted by lost moments. In the end, do you want your life to be a scattered scrapbook or an unabridged film?

the blowing clover and the falling rain

In his "Divinity School Address" at Harvard, Ralph Waldo Emerson admonished organized Christianity for overemphasizing the miracles preformed by Jesus, while neglecting true miracles.  He said, "The very word Miracle, as pronounced by Christian churches gives a false impression; it is as monster; it is not one with the blowing clover and the falling rain."

There are two things to notice here: the rigidity of religious institutions and the notion of a miracle.  I want to focus on the latter.  

The blowing clover and the falling rain.  These are the true miracles, Emerson is saying.  Life, death and the beauty between; the dark enigma of what lies before and after.  These are the ineffable mysteries tangling the tongues of poets and stoking the fire of philosophers, twisting the marrow of musicians, and feeding the wanderlust of mystics and seekers.

Life, unfolding outwards from within, as all of life does, like a frond opening, a universe expanding, like a fetus derived from one fertilized egg unfolds outward into bones, blood, nerves, and hair.  Even before the cells divide, the DNA within a single cell first replicates itself--something comes out of nothing, form from formlessness.  Life isn't the only unfolding enterprise.  Even the inroganic rocks on the Earth's crust are churned out of the great molten belly of the planet, spilling out onto the ocean and land, cooling into an array of colors and densities.

Verse 14 of the Tao Te Ching:

See the invisible, Listen to the inaudible and grasp the intangible.
This invisible, inaudible and intangible is undefinable.
Thus unified, it is the One,
Nothing is brighter, nothing is dimmer,
Underminate, it is unnameable.
Ultimately it is Nothing.
This is the condition of the conditionless,
The form of the formless,
It is beyond all descriptions.
Welcome this invisible at the beginning,
Follow this invisible to the end.
Holding onto the Ancient Tao,
Still now is the principle of all beings,
Being aware of the Primordial “Beginning,” it is the Tao.

The form and the formless.  The miracle of anything at all, of Nothing as well, of the interplay between.  These are the true miracles, not water and wine, not fish and bread multiplied.  The profound and fierce beauty in the seemingly ordinary is a miracle.  The feather pen on my desk, the paper, pressed and polished bodies of trees, these are miracles.  The blowing clover in the afternoon wind, the music of the falling rain.


Rich Pauloo
March 10, 2015

Rest in Peace

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose."

-Yoda

Fear grips us so tight we cannot see the dark from the light. Not darkness as in evil, darkness as the inability to see. Most individuals fear loss due to the overwhelming fear of emptiness and it becomes blinding. Loss is a natural part of life though. We grieve for people long since past, moments now surrounded by empty nostalgia, and former opportunities lost in time. If we let them, these things can make us bitter. Once we become bitter we cannot let go of the grief; grief becomes pain, causing us to fear life in order to avoid getting hurt. It is when we finally are able to loosen our grasp on the things we are afraid to lose that we can live in the light and see once again.  

Card Tricks

It seems like the deck is stacked against you but you've just bet all your money on one hand. Are you playing the odds or just done playing?

It's a Wonderful Life

What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary.

I'll take it. Then what?

Well, then you can swallow it, and it'll all dissolve, see... and the moonbeams would shoot out of your fingers and your toes and the ends of your hair... am I talking too much

Timeless

I've experienced moments when time stands still. When everything literally stops for a second and there is nothing but pure awareness. It is when time stops, that life begins. We get so caught up in our days, running from one task to another. There are very few moments when we get to stop and be still. Ticking clocks conjure up time. You don't need to break the clock to catch your breath.

Missing

Name: Merlyn Aya

Age: Unknown

Last Seen: 12/2/14

Enjoy Having Less Not More

The global climate emergency is serious and real. It's not enough to make manufacturing more efficient; or cars cleaner. Reduction in economic output must be radically reduced now - or we risk the overall collapse of our global technological civilization. It's not economic growth that we want - but, the unthinkable need for economic contraction. We must learn to live and enjoy having less not more!    

Shadow Puppets

Don't fight shadows.
Notice the hands in front of the projector
You'll see the illusion

Huge monsters become tiny hands
In the light

Wisdom's Voice

Wisdom's "voice" is quiet and still; far away from the rattling of daily life. We can hear it speaking to us as if to a best friend. Each of us has a wise fool within us. "It takes one to know one". Wisdom is in living life consciously. Sometimes we "prepare" ourselves to hear wisdom's voice; other times it comes in loud shouts. "Wake up! Wake up!"

Image: http://epitemnein-epitomic.blogspot.com/2011/08/proverbs-8-wisdoms-call-and-self.html

Flash Light

It has been said that the night is darkest just before the dawn. Yet, the night is just as dark after the sun sets, before the moon begins to glow and the stars begin to appear.

Thinking we will only see light after darkness does us a disservice. It is when the light fades into the dark that your faith is truly tested. 

Find the light in the dark. Don't wait for the light to find you.

Leap of Faith

I generally don't write things like this but I thought why not? There are no rules.

Eyes which once were as clear as a glacier's stream were now fixed on the roaring river below. He held onto the railing of the bridge with his life. Time left him haggard and disillusioned. The grandfather who had held his heart had passed away and with him the boy's spirit to live. The boy who once played in the gentle sun now had all but forgotten it was day. It became night too soon for a boy so young. The philosopher, so rich and filled with life now felt he had lost his way. He could not feel the wind on his face; the life in his own breath. If he only listened to life, he would know that he could never lose it, unless he took it away by a leap of forgotten faith. It was now up to life to remind him of what he only saw as a faint light in the horizon. 

The wind softly spoke of memories the boy had forgotten in time's careless wake.

          Don't you feel me?

   it whispered .

                        My passion as I welcomed those tears and dried them

                        How I caressed your face and stroked your hair to remind you that you were not alone.

The moon caressed the boy with warm light and sang him a lullaby he had become deaf to since he grew cold.

           Can't you hear me?

   it sang .

                               I stayed awake while you slept under the tenderness of my light

Even when you could not see me my love

I was always there.

The stars danced a ballet of lights as they twinkled like fire in the glowing night. 

            Will you see me?

   they asked .

                                               We saw you grow

                                                 We lit the way

                                                   We will always tend to you

                                                      Even in the darkest nights

                                                       We might look distant

                                                         But we are only a glimpse away. 

This Life, That Life, My Life

Socratic Classes

My classes are mostly Socratic dialogues on meaningful topics. I demonstrate philosophy as a struggle for truth and wisdom. Some students get inspired to go on to standard philosophy courses - where they often become disappointed with pedantic teaching and readings. One student said, "I took philosophy to find meaning, instead I practice conceptual gymnastics. Frustrating and meaningless." Schools often limit philosophy to a "language game" focused on analysis, critical thinking, and technical statements. Fortunate is the student exposed to a Socratic teacher exploring wisdom and truth.

PAPAJI - Consciousness Alone Is

Wonderful video; in ten minutes Papaji sums up consciousness in relation to all-that-is.

Having is Giving

Americ Azevedo - Voice & Thoughts.original recording.

Josh Williams - Electric Guitars, Synths/Sounds/Programming.

Soul Medicine

Using Time Wisely

Using time wisely is wise living. Time passes and never returns. While living we're in time. We go beyond time through time by way of time. Facing time allows a glimpse of the timeless, the eternal.

Having "time on our hands" disturbs many people. Boredom sets in. Anything seems better than doing nothing or "just" being still.

Love is what we want. Free time is for love. Do and be what we love. Lovers of wisdom spend time engaged in philosophy - a word that really means "love of wisdom". Do what you love. Be what you love.

While Walking Around

Something Is Calling

Something is calling
I know not what it is
Say it is my soul

Relationship with Time

I was a little kid living with my parents on a dairy farm. Quiet clear summer nights smelling of alfalfa. Often noticed the ticking sound of our windup alarm clock. I loved to hold it to my ear to hear it "tick-toc". By getting really still, you could see the minute hand budge slightly with each tick-toc.

Years later, I was a graduate student, working on a thesis called "Wholes and Parts". Two years later, no sense of progress! I was going nowhere with this thesis. In frustration, I decided to write an "instant thesis". In one week, during two nights, two hours each night, a total of four hours, wrote a perfect jewel - “A Theory of Subjective Time”. My adviser told me to show it to the "time expert". Which I did. Quickly, it substituted for my two year going nowhere thesis!

Sometimes you take a long time to accomplish nothing; but can take almost no time to get it all done!

Holographic Wholeness

Realize interconnected holographic wholeness. The ordinary and the cosmic meet everyday but we forget, get lost. Pay attention again and again to the miracle of existence that is you, me, and us. We easily fragment life. We started as oneness, we can return to oneness. Here and now. Life was here before us and goes on without us. As we get less human-centric it becomes clear that life is universal even when we don't see it. Once humans believed the earth was the center of the universe - now it's so not so.  From the view of love, of spirit, it is All One.

Hanshan and Shide

The Profile of Hanshan and Shide 

Monks,painted by Luo Pin, a top famous

Chinese traditional painter of Qing 

Dynasty, and one of Eight Eccentric 

Painters of Yangzhou(扬州八怪)

The Story