It was such tremendous luck finding this big green meal for the colony
It is very difficult to move all of this fine meat toward our anthill but
when I get it to the colony I will become a
great heroine
I will be known as the one who courageously
brought a lot of protein for the many larvae
all the while risking being stepped on by
those giant frightening bipedal apes
I will be revered and may even be promoted to
the job of attending to the Queen
Oh I am so very excited and happy
Each living creature of life has a sensitive vibration of feeling, and many have a cherished awareness. We human beings somehow think that ours is “superior,” better, and magnificent. However, with much of our fancy ideas and thinking, we are destroying the ecological balance of the whole… of the globe. We perceive and think in the ways that we were taught to perceive and think… primarily in parts, fragmentarily. We see the so-called “outer environment” fragmentally, as what can be used piecemeal, to be exploited, manipulated, and used.
However, the so-called outer is really not separate from the inner. The observer is not separate from the observed. Similarly, space and matter are not separate from what time is. We are of matter’s (thought’s) doings; we are thought, time, and the movement of time. The intelligence of meditation takes place when thought is not merely habitual and endless. Thought/thinking is always partial, always fragmentary, and sequential. Real meditation is consciousness beyond the stirrings of its content; it is an effortless, unplanned, holistic quietness beyond mere fragmentation and sequential patterns. The timeless can only reveal itself when the mind intelligently perceives beyond the fragmentary movement of its content.
Are you a word, an image
that you cling to,
that is claimed to have “control of all the other words”?
Winged and ready
to softly swirl
a long way off from
man’s sad sordid fabrications and smoggy surgings
Bright eyes see
beyond miserable madness(musts and can’ts)
and will fly
beyond stale circumscriptions
Will we succumb to whirlwinds of hard
indifference?
Will they plant their deadness into
our innocent minds?
That is up to you
We
(too many of us)
have treated nature as
a thing to be used
to be exploited
and not as a living beautiful delicate
extension of ourselves
to be guarded cherished protected
respected
loved
and cared for
Violence not only involves shooting bullets, war, causing bloodshed, and physically abusing people. It often occurs in (and “as”) more subtle or less obvious forms that people do not perceive as what is involving violence. Conformity, remaining in a mold that you were programmed to be in, indifference, and imitation are indicative of violence. Many lick the boots of authority, stay trapped in narrow, separative views about being a superior race, country, or religious group. Many of these things tend to separate people socially, religiously, globally, psychologically and otherwise… and are (whether we like to admit it or not) forms of violence, conflict. Many of us worship authority and power, the people with a lot of money and influence, and many of us ignore the person who is bereft of much intelligence and financial success. Many of us are ruthlessly competitive, which is a form of violence (that we were miseducated to accept and think is normal and wonderful)… while real compassion, much cooperation, and holistic awareness (in the classroom) are still rarely touched upon.
Educating children in a run-of-the-mill, standard, ordinary fashion is a form of violence. Cramming 30 kids in a stale classroom and indoctrinating them to conform to a lemming-like existence, to be slaves and victims of comparison, competition, and separative views, is violence.
Mindlessly doing things that pollute the environment, without deeply considering the consequences or trying to alter one’s behavior, are forms of violence. One can go on and on, further upsetting people about the forms of violence that they contribute to (or that they may be involved in). What about violence ending? Merely trying to control violence may not be a full, prudent answer to ending violence. Psychologically, the controller is not really separate from the controlled. A broken, miseducated, limited mind, trying to control violence, will only go so far… to a very limited extent. It will operate within (and “as”) the confinements of its limitation. For violence to fundamentally end, the mind must go beyond its conditioning and limitations; it cannot likely do that if it comfortably remains circumscribed by the limitation of others. Most people, of course, will just not care about this. Limitation, imitation, and mere conformity seem to be the norm.
A true love of nature stays local as much as possible and avoids using deadly fossil-fuel jet planes and fossil-fuel road vehicles to travel world-wide to go to “exotic” nature places; such worldwide-sight-seeing (and picture-taking) is not loving nature; nature is not a Disney Amusement Park. Our globe is very delicate, fragile, and we have been brainwashed and conditioned to think nothing of traveling long distances for mere amusement purposes. Aircraft emit staggering amounts of CO2, the most prevalent manmade greenhouse gas. If you love nature, stay local.
Perfect symbiosis … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
His inquietude made him what he was…
a repetitive jumble of endlessly clamoring
mental symbols that were not realities
(i.e., they were the typical unreal, fabricated images of the mind).
Her quietude was the immense beauty that she was…
a comprehensive wholeness of undivided reality,
actualities of timeless life movement beyond the known
(i.e., beyond mere superficial symbols of thought).
Neural Networks Personified … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
The very wise ToadMaster perched near the toadstool,
and with his croaky voice, he summoned all of the little tadpoles to swim up to the riverbank
to hear another lesson.
He, in his sagely way, bellowed, “Unfortunately, many of the upright, large apes — that we have mentioned in the past — foolishly refuse to judiciously see that they too evolved from swimming fish, even as you here, as swimming tadpoles (through a long passage of time), will soon be leaving your aquatic existence to join our terrestrial lot. What is even more unfortunate is that the upright apes continue to mindlessly throw toxic debris into our water habitats and also
onto the beautiful terrestrial domain that you will all soon be graduating to.
The upright, large apes continue to make things that destroy things. The upright apes can be downright
destructive and dangerous, though some of them are very kind and considerate. Overall, the whole world’s
life forms are all rapidly disappearing due to what these, large bipedal creatures are mindlessly doing. Even as they claim that one of their kind is a God, they endlessly continue to pour cement and plastic over living things and spew out much toxic debris, killing our planet. They often do what is called “mowing their lawn,” which they think is very beautiful (though such activity callously cuts and kills many precious creatures, including us amphibians.) When you hop on land — which you all will be doing soon — do so with extreme caution, and avoid these large, bipedal creatures at all costs… and please
do your best to survive in the excessive heat (due to the climate rapidly changing).”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
If you have time, please watch the following 60 Minutes video on ocean plastic and pollution…
The Very Wise ToadMaster … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
More, yet again, is presented here on psychological time. Most of us still function — in the psychological-sense — as if we are in time, as if we are (somehow) something separate from (or apart from) time. The best scientists, including Albert Einstein, have told us that time and space are not two separate things; they have told us that spacetime is one holistic thing. Yet we go on in this barbarian, primitive way… acting as if we are merely “in time” and not acting with the intelligence that sees that we are indeed what time is. The thoughts that we exist as actually exist as networks of neurons and neural components in (and “as”) matter in our brains. Our thoughts emanate from (and depend upon) a very material process… involving matter. This matter — this brain oriented matter — must be constituted of physical materials just like what is contained in stars and planets. This matter is, per se, a form of space. And space and time are not two separate things; they are one. They are different in their aspects, but they are one. We are time (not merely in time).
Now here is the crux of the matter (that we are pointing to). Let’s say you wish to (psychologically) “get better” in time. That distance, that is from where what exists “now” to what “you say you ‘will be'” takes up psychological space. It is a limited (psychological) space projected concerning a “here” to “there.” When you see someone of a very different familial or racial heritage than you, there often exists — in each of many people — a psychological space between “you” and “them,” between your group and their group. What we are suggesting is that the limited space of “here” to “there,” with your “I” or “me” psychologically “getting better in time” situation, is remarkably similar to the space separation with your “you” and “them” situation. We are all extensions of the same holistic spacetime movement, and “as it,” in reality, we are not separate things. Some perceptive people will see this; others (i.e., most) will just go on being stuck in primitive perspectives and will go on being greedy about the future and indifferent about others. You are time; space too is what you are… and if that space is limited and illusory, consciousness will be limited and illusory. If you merely remain as that limited space between “now” and “tomorrow,” and if you merely remain as that limited space between “you” and “them,” then primitive illusion is what you are; and primitive illusion is not separate from what suffering and ignorance is.
Right now we are a society that gobbles up tons of synthetic pills (instead of solving the real, fundamental problems about health and mental wellbeing); we overpopulate the planet and do all kinds of hateful and callous things to “others”… including “other life forms.” Many of us were miseducated to be stuck in indifference, separation, and blindness… and the wealthiest powers that be (at the top) are delighted… (although, in reality, they are suffering and are a tremendous cause of suffering).
That timeless and immense perception can only occur when limitation is understood… when limitation ends psychologically.
Wild Blue Vervain and Bumblebee … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
Looking beyond the darkness … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
9/11 was an extraordinarily tragic thing. Far worse than 9/11 is losing the ecological balance of the earth. The earth is currently collapsing, nature-wise, because of our shortsightedness. Heartless political forces, so-called big business, and indifferent so-called humans are zealously steering many of us in the wrong direction. We all need to do much more. A collapsing earth is a most terrible thing. Stay local, use alternative energy, recycle, and vote green.
Marla, my wife, said that my poems occasionally need to be more uplifting, so the first poem (here) is meant to fulfill that end. The second poem is what was written before her comment.
Poem #1
Here in his hands
is a flowery treasure
with sweet petals and leaves
much joy beyond measure
He is of hopes and images where
as he ascends up in the elevator
flowing fields of smiling imaginary angels
open doors that were dreamt of later
Can we lift a luminous whole
and bring new minds out of below
rise to the top ever so mindfully
in a towering highrise deep in the heart of Chicago?
(Well, elevators are uplifting, aren’t they?)
Poem # 2
There was a pond
and every time a frog jumped into the pond
the pond became a little froggier
a little splashier
There was a grasshopper
and every time he landed upon a weed
the weed became a little leggier
a little jumpier
There was a propagandizing political news-channel
and every time a person watched it
the television became a little duller
and a lot more dim-witted
Leopard Frog, a species that will not survive long in a world filled with crass people who do not act diligently to prevent global warming and who think that “Windmills cause cancer.”. … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
(Based on a true story…)
They called her Little Icky Vicky(and she
cried a lot in pain)today
because of her distorted facial features
many people stared then quickly looked away
I called her Victoria & amiably sat next to her in grade school(&
always with her was very very kind)
There’s a lot of cold(cruel kids who name-call
with dark dead hearts)and blind
[Side Note: We saw the movie The Peanut Butter Falcon over the weekend. It is highly recommended. It contains scenes involving both bullying and compassion.]
Not Mere Facial Beauty but Beauty Deep Within … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
Whom are we kidding? Most people do not change fundamentally no matter what you tell them, no matter what you write about. We are writing here about changing immeasurably beyond what most people consider “changing” to be. I do blogging mostly for one reason only: to help people to explore their true relationship with everything and look into the possibility of discovering something really sacred (beyond what most of us merely conceptualize about by what was implanted into us by old traditions and antiquated customs). Medals aren’t given to those very few in the world who were truly enlightened (i.e., visited by that ineffable, eternal energy). Halos aren’t given either. (Far too often, unfortunately, it is the blind leading the blind and it’s one hell of a mess out there; a lot of people assume that they can clearly see… according to what was spoonfed into them.) Real perception is a radical and beautiful explosion beyond what you were merely taught.
Speaking of seeing, my macro-nature photos are all well and good but, fundamentally, they are two-dimensional snapshots of the past that are rather trivial in their own superficial way. (The photos are squat compared to the prose writings offered in terms of the possible value to people’s lives regarding going beyond gross conditioning and limitation.) Much of what i write — we are referring to the prose stuff here — is only mildly deep (i.e. we could go much deeper), though a good portion of it does go somewhat deeper. Will what i write help many people to change fundamentally? (Probably not.) A real, fundamental change would leave a person totally shocked at what the implications are… and totally shocked by what actually, phenomenally happens; a totally different kind of human being, from the standard, same-old fare, would emerge. But the chances of that occurring are very small indeed. People, in this sense (i.e., the sense that we are talking about) — due to deeply ingrained conditioning, etc. — just do not change. They basically (fundamentally) remain the way they were.
Yellow Tiger Swallowtail … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
Resting on a leaf
this Wordful Wednesday
and
being wordless doesn’t matter one damn bit if
you don’t do very compassionate things
for people and for animals and plants
Damselfly Resting ..,. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
Here is a place
where everything is not
so everything is never here
where delusive selfishness reigns in its spot
And timelessness an eternally sweet wholeness
where when doesn’t matter
while “getting to heaven” is foolish
like tissue paper in busy rainfall clatter
Diminutive Leafhopper Nymph (just 2 or 3mm long) … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
Wishy and Washy were fun-loving gals
and many folks knew that both were loyal (trueblue) pals
Washy (without Wishy) went to the laundromat (with a basket that she had her clothes in);
later, the clothes were all swishy and went into full-spin
Wishy, however, was sitting in her comfortable, convenient chair
pining for great nature photos at which she could stare
So, instead of viewing blog photos of nature (which you often appreciate)
get over to the clothes-washer and put your laundry in (because it’s getting late)
Purple Wildflowers … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 