All Posts Filed in ‘nature’

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Timelessness

April 23, 2020
14 comments

People, animals, and plants all exist in (and “as”) time. Thought/thinking is fundamentally sequential and is of time. It (i.e., thought) takes time in cause and effect (causal) sequences. Few seriously question about whether or not humans can exist beyond time’s framework. Fewer still ever exist in communion with the timeless.

Timelessness is, itself, a symbolic word and, like all words, has real limitations; the word is definitely not the thing. People tend to live with (and “as”) words and mental images, all of which are sequential symbols that basically are not the things that they represent or stand for. The word “energy” is not the energy; the word “sacred” is not the sacred. Yet we accept words and cling to words and mental images — habitually — and go on in that superficial way until we die.

If people could somehow be visited by the timeless, they surely would perceive it as being sacred, beyond the ordinary, beyond the mundane. That sacredness is never part of the field of time. It is not composed of patterns that you can see; it is not composed of patterns that you can hear; it is not composed of things that you can feel. The timeless and time never fully meet at any point. For it to visit one — and “visit” is a very crude and limited way of putting it, as all words are — one cannot merely be composed of sequential images, thoughts, patterns, fears, prayers, wishes, and desires. Most people are incapable of that — with all of their innumerable habits — and so they remain as they have for generations upon generations.

You cannot invite timelessness. It can never come if you are craving for it. It (i.e., timelessness) is not responsible for what takes place in the field of time, for neither did it create the field of time nor does it get involved with changing things (i.e., manipulating things) in the field of time.

So one who is wise can go beyond merely habitually existing as superficial symbols and other sequential mental patterns; then being beyond mere habitual routine, the timeless may or may not occur. But there is more to being wise than meets the eye.

From E. E. Cummings:

there’s time for laughing and there’s time for crying— for hoping for despair for peace for longing —a time for growing and a time for dying: a night for silence and a day for singing but more than all(as all your more than eyes tell me)there is a time for timelessness

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The photo is of some diminutive wild plants that grow amongst our lawn-grass. There are two or three insects in the photo. Do you see them?

Growing amongst the grass… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020

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Wisdom, Viruses, and existing beyond Chaos

April 17, 2020
27 comments

These are very tough times for the world’s people right now. There is the virus going around, many governments (worldwide) are becoming more and more dictatorial, suppressing such things as human rights, the right to vote, and fair and balanced systems. I’ve included another video, down below, by Dr. Campbell, for you to look at if you have not seen it already. He sagaciously suggests something similar to what i have been blogging about for a very long time… that we should stay local — not pollute the air by (needlessly) flying in jet planes (that most all of us ludicrously assume we have a “right” to fly around in) — and produce and consume more goods locally, rather than (cheaply) getting them from overseas. Our population, too, needs to be kept in check. The over-populated (crowded-in-large-groups-cities) Native American Hopewell culture likely descended from the earlier low population hunter/gatherer Adena culture. With much larger populations concentrated together (in large “towns”), the Hopewell culture went through devastating periods of human to human disease transmissions (i.e., devastating viruses); this may have been the primary reason for the Hopewell culture’s demise. Sound familiar? But people tend not to learn; they tend to follow and merely imitate; hence, dictators and lack of freedom are popping up again as phenomena. Few people, in the many nations, are really talking about lowering population levels. So my premonitions (from childhood) about deadly viruses and a deadly-polluted globe seem to be, indeed, transpiring.

To compromise a lot and to look the other way and make excuses is not great order. Only great order as (and of) the mind can allow the possibility of a true (not fabricated) visitation by that sacred, eternal energy to take place. Then there is a real communion, not all of that phony stuff. If it (i.e., such a visitation) never takes place in one’s life, then one’s life may have, unfortunately, turned out to be like a seed that never germinates, an egg that never hatches. With such visitation may come real wisdom about the whole, and not all of that phony stuff; with it, eternity is revealed deeply, and superficiality continues to significantly dissipate.

Dr. Campbell is right, we need to be close to nature and the outdoors. We need to be responsible for our little, delicate planet. We need to care.

Please, if you are able, donate to your local food bank (as we have been repeatedly doing).

Cutleaf Toothwort Wildflower and Insect in the Woods… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020
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Covid-19 and the Future (continued)

April 10, 2020
34 comments

Stay safe and be cautious and prudent in this current viral crisis. This thing will likely be around for a long time. Additionally, in this polluted world, more deadly viruses will be coming. Unfortunately, our government officials are superficially looking at things fragmentarily and are not seeing things holistically with a lot of insight. In the U.S., for instance, i feel that Trump is adding to the nightmare of this. I am basically an apolitical person, but what i see this non-compassionate, narcissistic man doing is horrifying. My friends in other countries are equally horrified with the current U.S. administration, and with good reason. It’s like a horror movie. He has a cult-following around him and, while people are dying, he talks about his ratings. He promotes and endorses racism and he is dismantling just about everything that President Obama did in the past… including (recently) the drastic weakening (i.e., ending) of an Obama-era fuel economy standard that made new cars more fuel-efficient and more environmentally friendly.  This will increase pollution while the world wrestles with a respiratory virus pandemic (that Trump had called a hoax) and a climate crisis. (Is a deadly-polluted world really the legacy that you want to leave your kids?) Then there is the drastic cutting of Social Security and Medicare, putting kids in cages, being puppets for the fossil fuel industry, and the GOP’s diabolical suppression of voting in many states. This is an immoral society and we are allowing ourselves to be bamboozled by extremely immoral so-called leaders. Personally, if you subscribe to such nefarious stuff, i would prefer it if you unfollowed this blog and stayed away. Such nefarious behavior is a danger to mankind and the animal and plant kingdoms. Besides, subscribing to such drivel certainly nullifies any chance of ever being visited by that sacred, holistic energy; its order and vast intelligence does not visit the disorderly, the visionless.

I highly recommend watching Dr. John Campbell’s (daily) videos on the coronavirus. (One of his wonderful and very helpful videos that i especially like is provided below. He is from England, and one meter equals around 3.3 feet.) He is a top-notch medical expert (now retired). We all need to talk more about population limitation, healthy environmental measures, and living cooperatively. And please donate, as i did, to your local food bank (in these very difficult times).

Stay safe!

Easter Eggs (kind of)… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020
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Covid-19 and the Future

April 3, 2020
32 comments

This Covid-19 thing is affecting us all worldwide. We are all in this together. Clairvoyance, or whatever you wish to call it, tends to run in our family. My mother certainly had it, and i tend to have it. I’ve told my wife, for many years, that a terribly virulent virus or germ would be devastating to the human race. I had that “vision” when i was a kid and never forgot what it meant. I also, when i was a kid, saw that humans would pollute the world in very globally lethal ways. (Just a few months ago, one Thursday morning, i had a vision that i was precariously going into the side of a fast-moving Mack truck; the truck was coming from my right and going to the left… in the “vision”. I always go to grocery shop on Thursdays, so i bravely went to shop at our local Walmart, in spite of my vision. I was very cautious. I got groceries and was almost all the way home and thought, “Well that was an unusual false-alarm, thank goodness.” Then, about a mere half-mile from home, i came to a four-way stop. I came to a full stop, was about to proceed when a huge Mack truck came barreling through the intersection without stopping. I was glad that i hesitated at that stop. I was facing south; the truck was coming from the west going east… coming from the right of me and going to the left of me.)

Nature has a way of teaching us lessons. Right now the air across America is getting cleaner — so the scientists say — and the environment is getting healthier, from far less jets in the air and fewer cars on the road. Healthy environments usually produce healthy organisms; sick environments usually produce sick, diseased organisms.
Nature has a way of teaching us lessons. But we have to listen.

Shrooms … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020

The March of Snow -- Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020
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STAY SAFE! The hours tick away… the cells tick away…

March 25, 2020
40 comments
The March of Snow -- Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020
The March of Snow — Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020

With this coronavirus thing going around, stay safe and intelligent, use social distancing, wash your hands often, refrain from touching your face, take vitamin D3 and natural vitamin supplements, and (like i’ve been suggesting for eons) stay local (in your own home and yard). Even after this crisis is over, refrain from long-distance traveling, long-distance vacations and excursions in heavily polluting jet planes (all of which are non-green and contribute to a sick planet).

I am not going to give you some “mindfulness techniques” to (supposedly) get you through this crisis with less fear. I myself am afraid (for my wife, myself, and for so-called others). Marla and I are both high-risk. (My recent cardio-stress-echo test, by the way, showed that my heart is in great shape… which was a relief to find out after having had that heart attack in October.)

Being fearful — at this time (with our inept, corrupt, science-denying government and rotten system) — is intelligent. The so-called U.S. government leader(s) — with $-signs in their eyes — are talking about businesses opening again soon, defying Public Health Experts. Bill Gates says we can’t restart the economy soon and simply “ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner.”

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A Poem i wrote the other day…

with-
out
a there
there isn’t
a here
and
with-
out
a here
there isn’t
a there
and
with-
out
a future
there isn’t
a past
and
with-
out
a past
there isn’t
a future
and with-
out
a with
there isn’t without
and we won’t just
be those things
that they
taught us
because they
are immersed
in illusion
and
are
it

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Two pertinent songs by Rush. Neil Peart, their excellent, top-notch drummer and lyric-writer, recently passed away.

Post

The Controller of Thought

November 29, 2019
13 comments

[This post is very similar to a recent post, but reiterating some things is necessary (for it to possibly “sink in”); there are also some new twists.

This will end my posts now for a while (as i had scheduled them); i will take a break (after my recent heart attack) and will not be posting for a while. My cardiologist said that my heart sustained minimal damage, which is good. He said, “Let this be a warning sign.” Warning sign! I was living like a monk and doing everything right! Hopefully, the medication that they are giving me will help keep the bad things from progressing… even though i am no huge fan of Big Pharma.]

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Is there a separate controller of thought? Or is such a “separate controller” a product (an extension) of thought itself? Despite what we were taught, it really is the latter. Thought/thinking is a field or sequence of reactions. Positing that a separate controller exists just extends one’s (learned) attachment for some dominating factor, imagined powerful center, or “internal boss.” A very orderly mind can function quite nicely, thank you, without believing in some fictitious (imagined) boss as its “center.”

When someone states “I meditate for 20 minutes a day,” it implies, for one thing, that meditation is something that one can “decide” to do, and it additionally implies that there is a separate “controller” or “regulator,” a dominating entity that makes decisions controlling the thought process.
However, the real facts may be that all thoughts are totally conditioned reactions (i.e., symbolic responses to stimuli) and that positing a real “center” or “controller” directly contributes to crude, limited fields of separation. For example, there is the supposed separation between the controller and his or her thoughts. But the inner “controller” is an extension or protrusion of thought and is not at all separate from what thought is. (As we’ve said before, when one speaks to others, one must occasionally use the words “I” or “me,” even though such usage is rather primitive and involves a rather barbaric language system.) However, often thinking (or projecting) a central “I” internally tends to give one a fragmentary, separative view towards others, toward other life forms, and it even creates internal separation/conflict: “me” and the separate thoughts that “I” manipulate. This internal separation then (obviously) extends outwardly into the world. “I” am separate from their suffering… or nature is separate from “me.” The aforementioned sentence is an example of a very primitive, distorted, mindset; such mindsets are, unfortunately, very common, hence all of the indifference and lack of love existing in the world.

True meditation does not occur as a result of some thought process. All thought processes are secondhand (conditioned) reactions (i.e., aftereffects) and a mere secondhand reaction (or set of reactions) can never decide to be what is whole and beyond reaction. Meditation is a thing that occurs uninvited when the mind is not foolishly trying to make it happen. Realizing that one is not something separate from a series of thoughts (as those thoughts are taking place) involves wisdom that allows true meditation to take place. And, as we’ve written before, one cannot merely “know” that one is meditating; it is beyond the field of the known.

The beauty of meditation is that its wholeness and purity may allow the mind to see and exist beyond limitation. That limitlessness is of the eternal, beyond distortion.

Ant on Wild Celery Plant … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
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Song Poem about The Future (unless we change)…

November 25, 2019
6 comments

 

 

Once there was a twice
        and then three times
Twice there was a once
        and then three times

Once there was great green earth
        and no crazy endless raging fires
Once there was clear ocean
        with everything freshly alive
with everything freshly alive…

Once fossil-fuel cars and trucks
         and redgreenyellow stop lights
Now there’s empty rust and black smog
        while nothing much is alive
while nothing much is alive

Once we made dead plastic
        we mindlessly tossed it all around
Now it’s a veryonceuponatimeplace
        where life used to be

Once there was heaven
         fresh air butterflies soaring sweetly in sun
Now a lot of toxic dead ocean smell
        and large bipedal mammals there are none
there are none

Once there was a twice
         and then three times
Twice there was a once
         and then three times

Once there was a Katydid. … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

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Aloneness

November 22, 2019
7 comments

Real aloneness is that independence from all “influence.” It is that innocence that occurs when the mind is not tethered to achieving more and more and still more. It is to stand alone away from all influence, from all beliefs, traditions, suppositions, habits, fears, and conclusions. (Besides, beliefs and many iron-clad traditions tend to divide people and cause havoc in the world.)

Aloneness is when, without planning or effort, the mind is of an intelligent emptiness beyond mere thoughts and thinking. It does not occur when the mind consists of desires to get something out of such emptiness. Ambition and expectation have nothing to do with such emptiness manifesting. There is no acquisition or reaping involved with such emptiness. You don’t make yourself empty to “get something.”

When the limitations of thought/thinking in (and “as”) consciousness are intelligently seen, then there may be an abnegation due to seeing the false as the false. Clinging to falsities and limitations may involve effort akin to hugging onto shadows persistently.

That aloneness, that emptiness that is beyond falsities, is like an uncontaminated sky that is open, pure, and unspoiled by the activities of man.

An alone Grasshopper … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

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If one knows that one is meditating, meditation isn’t there.

November 19, 2019
4 comments

If one knows that one is meditating,
meditation isn’t there.
If one knows that one is whole,
wholeness isn’t there.
If one knows that one is humble,
humility isn’t there.
If one knows that one is quiet,
quietness isn’t there.
If one knows that one is spiritual,
spirituality isn’t there.
If one cultivates simplicity,
simpleness isn’t there.
If one cultivates perception,
insight isn’t there.

Who is pulling my leg from down there? Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

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Take one step at a time, they said…

November 18, 2019
7 comments

Take one step at a time, they said.
But the steps,
if one steps enough,
are not separate from time.

And one step at a time
is too slow and mechanical
and ordinary.

So, we flew beyond what they
said to do.
We flew beyond their stale,
traditional ways.

We didn’t do it one step
at a time,
according to the patterns
and points that they
all so narrowmindedly accepted.

Cabbage Butterfly (female) taking it one step at a time. … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

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Human Motives

November 15, 2019
8 comments

Much of what we do involves motive. Our reactions, throughout the day, largely emanate from motives. Oftentimes these motives are learned (i.e., absorbed) habitual responses, and the end-products (that they unfold into) usually are rather mundane and ordinary. The ramifications of this tend to be conformity, sameness, and a lack of real perception and real creativity.

Such sameness and conformity may not at all be beneficial for life as a whole. Superficial motives often keep one in stagnation, while imitating others. Such habitual motives are a form of inaction and are a wastage of energy. Beliefs stem from motives, and beliefs (with their separative groups) tend to cause division in the world.

The innocent/wise mind, throughout the day, can often look without mere motive. Such looking, such perception, is uncontaminated, whole, and pristine. Seeing beyond the ordinary, it flowers in insights and depth not merely dependent upon direction. Mere motive always has a direction. Such direction corrupts. Only what is beyond direction and motive can, perhaps, commune with the timeless, the immeasurable whole.

Hover Fly on Eastern Daisy Wildflower … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
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Barney the Bullheaded Bullfrog

November 12, 2019
14 comments

When Barney, the bulky, bullheaded Bullfrog
decided to take up residence under my car tire,
i told him politely, “Barney, that is quite a perilous spot
at which you can — most definitely — easily expire.”

Barney just sat there without a trembling twitch
and said, “You sure are a very worrisome bloke;
i can assure you, most greenheartedly,
that we brave Bullfrogs are, indubitably, not afraid to croak.”

Then i realized that all of my careful cautions and
pale-lectures would not cause Barney to fearfully quiver,
so i grabbed his humongous, bullheaded, brown-old butt
and — despite his slimy objections — threw him into the river.

Barney the Bullheaded Bullfrog by my car tire. … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

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Can Couldn’t

November 11, 2019
8 comments

can couldn’t
and did didn’t
but nice knew
quaintness quickened

“be”s beckoned
while “wouldn’t”s were
“me”s mingled
“haven’t”s heard

steps stood
and said sermoned
cruel counted
must might

having had
tried thought
cricket chirped
but will won’t

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[Note: Tree Crickets are very elusive; if they see (or hear) you coming, they hide on the opposite side of the bush or foliage that they are on. Please note the tympanal membrane on the front leg of this specimen; it is used as a hearing mechanism… an ear.]

Tree Cricket with Tympanal Membrane on front leg … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
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Update on my Recent Heart Attack

November 8, 2019
37 comments

I am doing better but i’m still in shock over what happened. Like i mentioned before, i’ve been a vegetarian since 1973 and have (especially over the last couple of years) been eating mostly whole, organic, unprocessed foods. When i would make pizza, i would use fat-free cheese (with a little bit of organic, regular cheese sprinkled on too); i am gluten-free; i do not eat eggs, but when i did, they were mostly Egg-Beaters cholesterol-free eggs. Realizing that heart conditions run in my family, i would take 2,000mg of fish oil every day. I always religiously, very vigorously exercised on a Schwinn indoor bicycle, 15 minutes a day; plus i kept active with cleaning my aquariums and going on nature walks, etc. My total cholesterol (when i went into the hospital) was 104. My LDL cholesterol was 44. (Needless to say, these were very good numbers.) Other factors can play into what causes heart problems, especially, inflammation (and heredity). I have both osteoarthritis and mild rheumatoid arthritis. (Actually, there is a very good chance that if i did not live such a healthy lifestyle… i would have simply flat out died.)

When i was in the hospital, at one point 10 doctors, (as a group, for staff “learning” purposes), came into my room. I said, “Well if something happens to me now, i’m pretty well covered for care!” 🙂 The doctors told me that i was doing everything right. That is both very reassuring and very disheartening. (Hopefully, the medications that they are putting me on will help.)

My blogs keep running (as i had previously scheduled) them and when those run out, that will be it for a while. I will likely take a break. I will (in the future) likely continue to blog but i’ll be doing so with much less frequency. Thanks very much, everyone (for your very kind wishes) and please take good care of yourselves.

Bullfrog up-close … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

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Third Time’s a Charm… (i.e., further adventures of our very diligent Ant friend)

November 6, 2019
9 comments

With this third time of me bringing fresh meat to
the Colony,
i am sure to finally get the recognition that
i deserve.
Hopefully, i will be promoted up the ranks
and will be remembered as “The Great Provider” by
the Colony.
(All of this voluminous Beetle Meat is tough to
move, by the way!)
I will persevere and
will get this wonderful bounty to
the Colony.

Goodness! I keep hearing the huge, bipedal ape up above,
with his camera, singing the following song to me:

“Getting to know you
Getting to know all about you
Getting to like you
Getting to hope you like me…” 






Hauling Beetle Meat to the Colony. … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019






					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Humanity

		

			
November 5, 2019

							

				6 comments				

								

	


			

			


They scramble and they gamble
and they weep and they run
They wiggle and giggle
and they tan toast in sun


They piddle and paddle… 
pull dandelions from fresh grass
and waddle and dawdle 
and fish for striped bass


They fumble and they tumble
and they struggle in time
They chisel and they grizzle
and they wrote this short rhyme








Emerging Cone-flower … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Today is my Birthday, and here’s a little, true story concerning it (that you can unbelieve). Two Photos…

		

			
November 4, 2019

							

				33 comments				

								

	


			

			

[First, a few quick notes:  1. Albert Einstein, a vegetarian, and pacifist, had some of the best ideas about how to end all wars.  For instance, he advocated countries systematically, in an intelligent and coordinated fashion, exchanging military personal on an equal basis, thereby making invasions into other countries (because of nefarious goals) rather impossible.  But people don’t tend to listen to pacifists.
2. Most people just do not see the gravity of certain things, the seriousness of certain important things; they are oblivious, conform and fall in line, and life passes them by… and the many miracles never happen.]
3. This may not have much to do with anything, but here are what i hear as lyrics in the YouTube video of the Dharma for One song, as sung by Jethro Tull (live) at the Isle of Wright Festival. (This song, played in their first album, did not originally have any words/lyrics.)





Dharma, seek and you will find
Truth within your mind, Dharma.
Dharma, each to his own we say,
Together we’ll end our stream, Dharma.
Dharma, mad-time confusion burns,
Seek-money never learns, Dharma.
Truth is like freedom, it doesn’t fool me,
Being true to yourself, never think that you’re free.
Dharma will come eventually, Tao.
Dharma, Dharma…
Dharma, each to his own we sing,
Together we’ll end our stream, Dharma.
_________________________________________________________________________





Today is my birthday.  I was born on November 4th, 1951.  When i was the age to be eligible to be drafted (or not) concerning the Vietnam war, i was very concerned about what my draft number — according to the U.S.A. Draft Lottery — would be.  I was (and still am) a pacifist and was not at all interested in going to war;  i am a vegetarian; i don’t even care to contribute to the killing of animals.  The lower the draft number that one is assigned, out of 365 (366), the higher the chances of you being drafted.  Draft numbers were selected and assigned, via a Draft Lottery, according to your date of birth; the Draft Lottery, which was held to determine the draft status for my age-group, was held on December 1, 1970.  So what was my draft number — assigned to my date of birth — after the Draft Lottery was completed?  It was 39.  I detested that number.  I still detest it.  It, being a very low number, meant that i definitely would be selected to go to the war.  I was very disquieted about my “very draftable” draft number of 39.  Circumstances being what they were, i went to college, where a student deferment was applicable.  Later, when student deferments were terminated, i had to — because of my low 39 daft number —  submit extensive paperwork requesting conscientious objector status.   





So, while in college, around the time that i was becoming a vegetarian, i was visiting a friend of mine in his dormitory room.  He and i were both avid fishermen; we would often go fishing together (on the weekends).  On that particular day, my friend was not feeling well, so he could not go fishing with me (after i had invited him to).  Right before i left his room, he gave me — following our brief discussion about music — a large Jethro Tull LP record album that i had never heard or seen before; it was the first album that the group had ever made.  Since i liked the group, i thanked him for lending me the album; i left his dormitory room, and put the album on my bed, face up.  (I did not look at the back of the album cover.)  I went fishing.





I went fishing, alone, at the campus lake.  As i fished, i began feeling immensely connected with the fish.  One began seeing them as not being separate from what one was.  I began seeing their pain as my pain… (or, rather, the “I” was absent and one was everything that was around).  Around the same time at the lake, i began feeling like someone or something was watching the fishing; it was a very definite feeling, and i felt very embarrassed to be “seen” fishing (although no one was physically around).  





I went back to my dormitory room, without any fish.  After a short while, after relaxing a bit, i went over to the record album, that was on my bed, that my friend had given to me,  looked at it and (when about to play it) turned it around to look at the back cover.  The following is a picture of the album’s back cover.  The album, released in the U.S. in February of 1969, is titled “This Was.”










This Was … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019






					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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To Exist as Nothing Psychologically

		

			
November 1, 2019

							

				3 comments				

								

	


			

			

To exist as nothing, psychologically, is not an unfavorable, weak state.  Going beyond everything that you have been and believe in — instantly, without motive — is one of the most positive things, for it is of innocence, wholeness (beyond fragmentary reactions), and freedom.  In fact, always continuing as mere reaction (from the old memory bank of stale ideas and images) is the continuation of sorrow.  Sorrow must inevitably occur when mental things are second-hand and are constituted of mere reactions.  Of course, thought/thinking must frequently manifest for one to do certain necessary things proficiently, with care.  However, remaining in (and “as”) thought/thinking habitually, when such thinking is unnecessary, is sorrow and over-reacting.  (It’s like endlessly clinging to a stream of shadows when — with deeper awareness — such shadows can be seen to be superficial and often rather insignificant.) 





We, unfortunately, were miseducated to associate internal emptiness with internal poverty.  Pure, uncontaminated, psychological emptiness is the most positive action, for it is of a pristine, orderly wholeness; merely being the reaction of thinking, however, is essentially inaction… dullness.  Unfabricated emptiness is of a wholeness that is beyond mere sequential reaction in (and “as”) time; in that is vast energy, real freedom.  





Monarch Madness … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Wordless Wednesday … Not!  (My Halloween Offspring)

		

			
October 30, 2019

							

				7 comments				

								

	


			

			











Well, you can clearly see that her cerebral area has expanded significantly thanks to help from her mother having had ingested my blood DNA in the distant past.  The many offspring in the large egg sac that she is now carrying will undoubtedly have the same attributes.  





(See Tuesday’s post, if you haven’t, to clarify this ongoing Halloween mystery.  Maybe you’ll get bitten next!)





Fishing Spider (2) Ain’t She a Beauty?!  Photo by Thomas Peace c.2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Update on my new Heart Condition… (and The Frightening Halloween Story That is True)

		

			
October 29, 2019

							

				39 comments				

								

	


			

			






[Over the weekend, i had a heart attack and went to the hospital.  I’ve been a strict vegetarian since 1973, and this sudden heart thing — with arterial blockage and all — certainly came as a big shock; this is especially since, lately, i’ve been eating mostly just whole, organic foods… and i was no longer eating eggs, while the cheese that i ate, twice a week, was “no-fat cheese,” with just a little organic regular cheese sprinkled on top (additionally).  I’ve been exercising daily, for years, on an indoor Schwinn bike.  Heart disease runs in my family and, apparently, heredity plays a way bigger role in this than i had suspected.  I didn’t get any stents; i had 40% to 50% blockage (in a curved area that is an undesirable site to place stents in); additionally, i had 100% blockage in a much smaller but significant artery.   So they are treating me with medication.  One of the medications that they are giving me is Lipitor, to help reduce LDL cholesterol, but my LDL levels are already low.  I am back home and am doing well so far.  I will not likely be making comments to my blogs (like i did in the past) for a  while, and i probably will not be visiting other blogs as much, like i did in the past.  The upcoming posts that i had made and had prescheduled (such as this one, below) will continue for a little while; after that, i will likely just post once or twice a week at the most.  Thank you for your consideration and support!  Tom] 





A few years back, around this time of year, i was taking a little nap on the living room floor while Marla, my wonderful wife, was watching television.  I was wearing shorts, and when i woke up and looked toward my legs, i saw a really huge spider suddenly run from my leg area.  Since i’ve been a nature-lover all of my life, constantly examining and appreciating insects, spiders, frogs, snakes, and stuff on an ongoing basis, i did not panic.  I  caught the very large spider and put it in a glass jar.  I did take photos of it back then.  It was a Fishing Spider.  Fishing Spiders tend to live around water, and we live right on a river.  This spider was so very huge; i wondered how on earth it could have gotten into our modern, well-sealed house, but it did!  This one looked like a tarantula; Fishing Spiders can get to be over 3 inches (8 cm) across.  Anyway, i released the spider safely into our backyard by the river.  





Later that evening, i noticed that on one of my legs, i had two sizable fang marks.  No doubt, they were from the huge spider.  I kid you not — and Marla can verify this — i had those fang mark scars on my leg for 3 to 4 months.  I did not have any swelling or noticeable side-effects (except for a little craving to eat insects now and then)…tee-hee.  So, this large spider probably ingested some of my blood (and blood DNA).  Fishing Spiders can inject venom, but it is not dangerous to humans unless you are allergic to it.





So, the story ends… NOT!  Just a little while ago, Marla spotted a big Fishing Spider on the front outside wall of our home.  I took pictures of it, thinking that it would be perfect for Halloween.   It had a big egg-case that it was protecting.  I did not disturb it or harm it, of course, since it could be an offspring from the aforementioned spider that bit me.  Epidemiological studies suggest that DNA ingested by animals can directly influence future generations and future evolutionary trends for that animal.  These spiders could be carrying around my DNA.  





Come home to papa!   Thanks for showing me the egg-case of the little babies you have made!   I feel so proud!    🙂
(I’ll post another photo of this beauty on Wednesday.)










Fishing Spider (1) Ain’t She A Beauty?!  Photo by Thomas Peace c.2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Halloween Praying Mantis

		

			
October 28, 2019

							

				11 comments				

								

	


			

			


She prayed,
and when she prayed,
the whole world prayed with her.


Her eyes, those large bulbous eyes,
saw everything worth praying for,
and everything needed preying.


She preyed on butterflies, bees, moths,
and on a number of other things.  It was what she preyed
that mattered, and it was the way she preyed.




___________________________________________________________________________________________________________




[Note:   This is a very unusual (very rare) Praying Mantis for our north-central Illinois area.  It is probably a Carolina Mantis.  These are southern mantids but, due to global warming, are moving more north. This one has wonderful chameleonic abilities.  Note how it amazingly blends in with the different color tones of the park bench.  It is a female and seems to be loaded with fertile eggs.  It may not have mated with a male at any time whatsoever.  Female mantises can lay many completely fertile eggs without a male.   When this happens, the offspring are perfect clones of the mother.]






Chameleonic Praying Mantis. … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2019 

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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The Big Bad Wolf on Halloween, and Other Creepy Tales of Old…

		

			
October 26, 2019

							

				14 comments				

								

	


			

			

We represent the Lollypop Guild, The Lollypop Guild, The Lollypop Guild
And in the name of the Lollypop Guild,
We wish to welcome you to Munchkinland.
We welcome you to Munchkinland,





Tra la la la la, la la la, la la la,
Tra la la la la, la la.





The Munchkins Lollipop Guild …. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019 










Then the wolf showed his teeth and said:





“Then I’ll huff,
and I’ll puff,
and I’ll blow your house down.”










“Well, then please use mouthwash,” said the three little pigs, “Your breath is strong enough to kill an elephant.”  










The Three Little Pigs … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019










Yet another truly horrifying story:





You, having a bad hair day, reading this stupid 
Halloween Blog while
at your computer.  










You, at your computer. … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Latest Sierra Club News as of October 2019

		

			
October 25, 2019

							

				20 comments				

								

	


			

			






(Please “like” this post if you perceive the seriousness of it, not because you like what is happening.)





The remote Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean are covered by 413.6 million pieces of plastic debris weighing 262 tons.  





People around the world could be ingesting five grams of microplastic each week, the equivalent of eating a credit card.  





July 2019 surpasses July 2016 as the hottest month in recorded history.





Emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane from ammonia-fertilizer plants are 100 times greater than what’s reported by the industry.





So far this year, 182 dead gray whales have washed up along the Pacific Coast, many likely having starved to death because of changing fish populations in warming waters.





In April 2019, for the first time ever, more US electricity generation came from renewables than from coal.





Human activity threatens 1 million species of plants and animals with extinction.





A heatwave bakes India. Temperatures in Rajasthan reach 123 degrees F, and the four reservoirs that supply Chennai (population 9.1 million) go dry.





Republican lawmakers in 18 states want to criminalize protests against fossil fuel infrastructure, like pipelines.





By the end of 2018, 11 million people were employed in renewable energy worldwide.





Current White House officials suppress State Department testimony that human-caused climate change will be “possibly catastrophic.”





More than 1.8 million people object to a Trump proposal to strip gray wolves of endangered species protections. 










Wild Thistle … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				

			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Halloween Time

		

			
October 22, 2019

							

				20 comments				

								

	


			

			

Houses running to adjacent houses
bags opening smiles rustling
spooky sounds from darkness growling





Halloween Time
comes laughinglyscreaming down the giggling sidewalks 
of candydropping thankyous





Don’t look behind you
Something’s there twistinglyclutching
Shadowysoon under your midnight bed










Something’s staring from that web.  … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019












					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Standing Alone

		

			
October 21, 2019

							

				32 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


I am not overly interested in the words that the Buddha allegedly said,
since, over long stretches of time, words and translations get distorted.
I am not overly interested in the words that Jesus allegedly said,
since, over long stretches time, translations go askew, words get added and distorted.
Even the early Coptic versions of the Gospel of Thomas (which many top scholars say preceded the other four gospels), and which the power-hungry Roman-appointed hierarchical bishops rejected, was not as pristine as the even earlier papyrus Greek fragments found of that cornerstone gospel.
I am not overly interested in the words that Lao Tzu allegedly said,
since, over long stretches of time, words and translations get distorted.  (And each of the many translations of the Tao Te Ching is different.)
I am interested in discovering spirituality on my own, and learning directly, without distortion, without merely depending on old words, organizations, translations, and ancient documents.
They tried to get Walt Whitman to alter his poetry; he wouldn’t.
They tried to get E.E.Cummings to alter his poetry; he wouldn’t.
They tried to get me to alter my poetry; i wouldn’t.
They like to stealthily insert their ideologies into the works of others,
to suit their own ends, to suit their own self-serving needs.
They often (over time) like to get their conniving, little hands into the works of others (and twist things around).  
    









The Monarch that stands alone.  Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Ant close-up (Yikes! for Halloween)… (Three Photos)…

		

			
October 19, 2019

							

				13 comments				

								

	


			

			











Good Grief!  With even closer macro shots…  we can see that some of the ants wear ties!   (They are better dressed than the photographer!)





Ant wearing Tie (macro) … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019










Vegan Shot   (you are what you eat)…





Vegan Shot … (You are what you eat.)  … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019










Just another one of you meat-eaters. 





Just another one of you meat-eaters.  … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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The Precarious Times We Live In…

		

			
October 18, 2019

							

				13 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


We live in extremely precarious times.  We need to go beyond mere depression about things; we need to act and not merely “go along indifferently.”  The planet is getting more and more overcrowded with people (and people are still cranking out more and more babies); there is less and less space (especially for animals and plants).  Extinctions in nature are occurring at an unprecedented rate (with over a million species going extinct lately).  There is much less healthy agricultural land (as pollution is creeping in everywhere imaginable).   Carbon emissions and plastics are ruining the globe, while the Amazon and Western U.S. forests (and other world forests) burn rampantly, while some flat-earth political groups deny global warming and heavily contribute to the deterioration of the environment.  There is less viable fresh water.  Guns and weapons of mass destruction are on the rise; unfortunately, with many not realizing it, germ warfare is a very real possibility.  Automated robots will soon be replacing millions of people in the workplace.  The over-use of unnatural, made-made food products and the over-usage of synthetic medicines is making the human population more and more unnaturally sick and corrupt, with immune function diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, cancer, depression, mental problems, and such things as diabetes becoming all too common, with increasing frequencies of occurrence.  We are rapidly losing what little freedom we had; political figures are becoming more and more dictatorial and propaganda news channels (much like what Nazi movies did in the past) are making crass people believe very crazy/hateful things. 


What is one to do regarding all of this obvious insecurity?  Too many of us are looking at the problems fragmentarily.  The problems are not isolated; one problem is related to another problem.  There is a bigger picture that is more holistic, more comprehensive, insightful, and caring.  We must look beyond the $-oriented opportunistic greed that is contagiously expanding as if it (i.e., such greed) is an accepted disease (that is OK).  A holistic, truly compassionate, non-indifferent mind of wisdom and insight would not be a huge contributing factor (to the above terrible situations) and would even seriously try to help change things.  A mind that operates in the old, traditional patterns, staying fragmentary, staying comfortable and barbaric (full of bias, indifference, and callousness) would not significantly help with the earth’s present very serious problems and with the problems that human beings face; such an indifferent/crass mind would merely continue to make the earth a living hell.  We can be stable and holistic or we can be fragmented and uncaring.  We can, (in all of this danger, fragmentation, and disorder), be order, wholeness, compassion, and largely be freedom from fear. 


No matter how terrible or disorderly things may seem on the outside, wisdom would primarily be stability and joyous harmony on the inside, in consciousness; it’s wisdom’s responsibility.  It’s wisdom’s responsibility not to be sad in a sad world; it’s wisdom’s responsibility not to be nuts in a nutty world.  Empathy would still exist; we wouldn’t look away from the suffering of those (supposedly) at a distance, and we would act to help; it’s wisdom’s responsibily.    


 




Ants caring for their young (larvae).  Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Wordless Wednesday … Not! … (pre-Halloween hors d’oeuvres)

		

			
October 16, 2019

							

				28 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


We see you clearly
and we have a wonderful treat coming for you
on Halloween


coming for you!


__________________________________________________________________________


And here is an excerpt from the Monster in the Mirror song sung by Grover… (not that i ever watch Sesame Street with my big bird friends).


 


If your mirror has a monster in it, do not shout
This kind of situation does not call for freaking out
And do nothing that you would not like to see him do
‘Cause that monster in the mirror he just might be you


 


Singing “Wubba wubba wubba wubba woo woo woo”
Wubba wubba wubba and a doodly do
Wubba wubba wubba you can join in too


 




Halloween Delight … Note the series of long, fine hairs on this spider’s hind legs; they are likely used for web construction.  … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Eyes of Starry Nights

		

			
October 15, 2019

							

				26 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


 




Prepare the later afternoon of me myself—prepare my lengthen-
ing shadows,


Prepare my starry nights.   — Walt Whitman


 


 


______________________________________________________________________________________________________


­


 


 


­


­


Being that
the perceiver is the perceived,


these soon to be starry nights
find themselves in your foreseeing eyes.


 


My long shadow and yours will coincide.


May we blend in a timeless wholeness
so very much vaster than mere ending
and so very truer than mere fragments.  




 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 




Grasshopper Shadow & Eyes … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019











					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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one budding diminutive why

		

			
October 14, 2019

							

				17 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


one budding diminutive why
staring at the sky
in that beautiful youthful wonderment of innocence
beyond piggish power
and far from cultivated fear
so beyond the grip of authority
beyond stuffy temples
and stale priests and gurus
beyond tests
and drunken parties


sweet sky staring
further than thought’s weary boredom
and so far away from cold shoulds and musts


alive
whole
and unprogrammed


also looking down
of course
at tiny grasshoppers and katydids


 




Sweet little Katydid … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Meditation

		

			
October 11, 2019

							

				20 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


I’ve read statements by people, in blogs and elsewhere, where they say, for example, “I meditate for 20 minutes a day.”   


Please!


Meditation cannot be practiced.  It is a quietude of the mind that is not made by some projected image of a central controller.  There is no central controller, or “I,” or “me” that can cause meditation.  Meditation is not a mere sequential effect or event (in time) brought about by some predetermined cause (i.e., by some form of causality).  True meditation is timeless and is not what can occur by any methodology in (and “as”) psychological time.  If you think that you are causing so-called meditation to happen for a specified period of time (each day or whatever), it is —  unfortunately — a form of glorified self-hypnosis. 


Real meditation is not even what one can “know” is happening.  It is beyond the field of the known.  One can neither practice it nor know that it is happening… and that is its beauty.  But most people are so addicted to their need to categorize and “know” things that they feel frightened or insecure with not existing (mentally) as the known.  They perpetually cling to the apron-strings of the known.  They have to know that they are meditating or know that they are practicing meditation… all of which are not real meditation whatsoever.  


Or they say such things as, “Well I am working on perfecting my meditation,”… or “I am practicing my meditation more and more each day.”  Who (or what) is this so-called “I” that is supposedly doing such things?  Really, if we are at all honest, it is a protrusion of thought (i.e., an image created by thought) that takes credit for being a central controller or central (mental) orchestrator, of which it is (in actuality) neither.  Most people — plain and simply — are afraid to transcend the false sense of security that the primitive notion of a central “I” projects as.   However, a false (fabricated) central “I” that thinks it is meditating is neither meditating, nor an actuality, nor truly central.  (Past blogs that one has written explain this more; read them if confusion exists at this point.) 


Real meditation may occur when the mind, without effort, is aware beyond superficiality.  That means that it is not merely attached to the field of the known.   The known is always limited; it is grossly circumscribed.  Wisdom is meditation, a non-concocted quietness, which may happen throughout the day without deliberate intent.  Then, perhaps, what is eternal, sacred, unlimited, and beyond words may enter.  But it does not enter if false notions, false practices, and false images are perpetually clung to.   


Real meditation can be a blossoming of the mind.   But if you (metaphorically) cling to fake, fabricated flowers all of your life, nothing profound will happen.


 




The Beauty of Real (not fake) Flowers.  … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Wordless Wednesday … Not!… Halloween Toad

		

			
October 9, 2019

							

				27 comments				

								

	


			

			


Don’t be a torpid, sluggish mind, indifferent about the environment, about others, and about goodness.   We’ve been donating a lot, over the years, to all of the Hurricane victims (both to charities for humans and for dogs), including (recently) Dorian.  These hurricanes are worsening over the years due to global warming.  I see some bloggers who claim to love nature, yet they travel — in jets and planes that spew out tons of pollutants — to distant countries or far distant places to get “great nature photos.”   I’ve been unfollowing such hypocritical behavior blogs.  I’m not afraid of devils or goblins around Halloween.  I’m more concerned about people who treat the earth wrongly, indifferently.   We all can do more to help nature; we all could do less harmful things.  Please watch the following Greta Thunberg video.  I feel very sorry for kids these days; if things do not change, they — because of the increase in carbon dioxide — will not be able to breathe properly in a few short decades.  30% of all birds in North America (alone) have gone extinct in the last 50 years; they are the canaries in the coal mine, but most adults just don’t see it enough.








During the Halloween season, this is the new greeter at Walmart stores.  … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Fourteen Steps Climbed to the Top

		

			
October 8, 2019

							

				26 comments				

								

	


			

			


Fourteen steps climbed to the top
from the bottom
An hour and fifteen minutes moved a short hand
and a long hand
One fishing line ignorantly reeled in
what it thought it wasn’t
Three opinions typed what
was surely right
Seven sayings scanned the screen
in a zigzag fashion
Thirty-seven pieces of candy
looked forward to Halloween
Twenty-five Black-Eyed Susans were arrested
for trespassing










A breach on humanity.  … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Carnivorous Capers…  (i.e., our Ant friend is still at it!)

		

			
October 7, 2019

							

				22 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


It takes a lot of hard work to keep the colony healthy and thriving but i
realize that the colony and i are one.  We are each other.  What each of us does is done for all.  (Unlike those ruthless, competitive, bipedal apes, we are 100% cooperative and act for all.)


So here i am,
hauling another large bounty of meat for the colony to feast upon.
Maybe now i will finally get the recognition that i deserve.
Maybe now i will be the great worker-ant that all of the
other ants will aspire to be like.


But first, i must get this great bounty to the anthill.
While they are feasting, they will be thinking of me.
Oh lucky me for finding this treasure of voluminous, wonderful meat!


P.S. —  Don’t cringe!  (I know that you bipedal apes are watching… and judging.)  You bipedal apes eat hairy cattle and pigs and unquestioningly think and feel that it isn’t gross in the least. 
So don’t judge! 


 




Wonderful Meat-find #2 … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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That Sacredness

		

			
October 4, 2019

							

				13 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


There is a vast, timeless sacredness that is beyond the illusory patterns of the world.  It did not create this world and it rarely manifests itself to those in it.  (The creation of the world or universe by a separate, calculating deity is a rather barbaric conceptualization inherited from our ancient forebearers.)   This sacredness is ineffable; it is beyond words and the representation of words.  (Most all words are symbols and are merely representations.)  It is beyond the framework of time.  All sequential patterns of words (and mental images) are time.  What is merely caught in time cannot touch or approach the timeless.  There is an innocence, a wholeness of mind, beyond thought/thinking, that can be open to a visitation of this timelessness, (and that can also involve insights that may be reflections from such timelessness).  Theories and beliefs have nothing to do with it.  


It can only visit you; you cannot visit (or approach it).  The “you” (i.e., that learned image of a “central me”), anyway, cannot merely exist as the illusion that it is (for a likely communion with that timelessness to take place).  Mankind, for the most part, being caught in rather vapid sequential symbols of thought/thinking, tends to go on suffering, go on in limitation and time.


 




Buckeye Butterfly in nice Fall colors … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Wordless Wednesday … Not!   …  (Halloween Moon-landing Style!)

		

			
October 2, 2019

							

				34 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


“That’s one small step for arachnid, one giant leap for arachnidkind.”


______________________________________________________________________________


They beat us to it.  


Neil Armstrong didn’t realize that he had a spider hitching a ride on his spacesuit (and that it jumped off and was what actually took the first lunar step). 🙂 


 




Neil Armstrong didn’t realize that he had a spider hitching a ride on his spacesuit (and that it jumped off and was what actually took the first lunar step).     🙂    … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019






					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Clock of Prejudice and Non-

		

			
October 1, 2019

							

				30 comments				

								

	


			

			


There was a clock
      with many hands


And the space between a certain hand
      at a specific area of the face
      (i.e., that limited space between the hand and the face)
      constituted a certain consciousness


Now each of the hands had different lengths and colors
      and different numerals and experiences upon the face
      to go through


There were black hands with long lengths
      there were white hands with short lengths
      there were wide little yellow hands
      there were thin long red hands


For one space of a hand to hate another space of a distant hand
      was insanity
      since each hand was a part of the same one clock


For one space of a hand 
      at four
      to want to eventually be wiser at eight
      was foolish
      since the space at four 
      could never really be the space at eight


Unless the space at four
      could fully realize that
      it was the space of all of the other hands


There is the limited little dull space of the segregated self
      and there is the not-so-limited timeless space of vast intelligence
      vast compassion


Which would you rather be?


One takes no time whatsoever to get to






Timely Droplets within Spiderweb … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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An Ant’s Perspective of Bigness

		

			
September 30, 2019

							

				28 comments				

								

	


			

			


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






On the way to the colony …  Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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The Sensitivity of Living Creatures

		

			
September 27, 2019

							

				15 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


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.  


 




Grasshopper enjoying the view … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				

			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Winged and Ready

		

			
September 24, 2019

							

				18 comments				

								

	


			

			


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






Winged and Ready (Painted Lady) … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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We were Educated Wrongly

		

			
September 23, 2019

							

				36 comments				

								

	


			

			
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


 




Cardinal Wildflower — Lobelia cardinalis … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019