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Comparison

August 5, 2018
16 comments

 

Comparison is often such a vulgar and unnecessary thing.  Many people, throughout life, continue to habitually compare themselves with others.  Those “others” are often very standard, ordinary, bourgeois, and dull.  People compare their home, livelihood, lifestyle, and overall life, with others.  Comparison invites imitation; imitation reinforces “second-handedness” and conformity to formulated, standardized “set patterns.”  Fear often emanates from comparison…  “Will I be as successful as them?”   “Am I too different?”  Comparison often paves the way to jealousy and superficial showing-off and boasting.  (Some people, for instance, go ga-ga, trying to have the hugest and “most pretty” home; this is so childish and superficial.)  Taunting another may often involve comparison.  Comparison thrives in the world of the opposites (where differences are often magnified).  Comparison can make the mind dull; it can be what nourishes mental sorrow. 

The wise mind can exist where comparison is seen for what it is and where it is put in its appropriate place (where its limited aspects are seen).  Such a mind can be of a profound joy where comparison does not often needlessly enter.  When the mind compares, the mind is comparison (within the limited corridor of the opposites).  Uniqueness and spontaneous insight usually do not ever depend upon comparison.  Comparison and contrasting correlations can be very useful at times, but the mind need not depend upon them as deeply as it usually does.  Perceiving directly, without employing comparison, is often very significant and profound.  

 

 

No need to compare! Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018

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How many legs do you really have?… another short Lo Zu Tale…

August 3, 2018
11 comments

 

As a young student was walking by, Lo Zu asked, “How many legs do you have?” 
The young student replied, “Two!”
Then Lo Zu remarked, “That is a shame.”

Many weeks later, the same young student observed Lo Zu and asked,
“Why is it that you often bend down and focus upon the insects and spiders?”
After some silence, the great sage answered,  “What you think you are, you are not… and what appears to be what you are not, you are.  For instance, when an ant is looked at, a deep perception consists of six legs.  When a spider is examined, a great perception consists of eight legs.  When butterflies are seen, a deep perception embodies wings, and when bees are observed, there is diligence and responsibility.
There is no “I” or “me” regarding this, since both are merely empty, delusive, learned abstractions.
Therefore, this does not involve mere identification; it is much deeper than that!
Most people merely see things with lazy eyes of delusion and separation.”
“I don’t quite understand,” said the student.
With a tender smile, Lo Zu warmly replied, “That is OK; maybe someday you will understand and no
longer be
just another one of the two-leggers.”  

 

 

Eastern Tailed Blue Butterfly … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018

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Human Overpopulation

August 1, 2018
33 comments

 

It’s supposed to be
pockets of human beings,
not pockets of the whole of nature!

 

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I speak from the heart on this.  My wife and i do not have any children.  I love kids and had worked for my career as a teacher for the multiply handicapped, but this planet has way more than its share of humans.  In the past, i have lost a number of girlfriends because of my stance on this.  It is very interesting (and tragic) that this most vital subject — that directly impacts the whole earth and all of its creatures including man — is mostly neglected (and not seriously considered) worldwide.

 

 

 

 

 

In too limited of a space… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018

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Space

July 29, 2018
17 comments

 

Few of us, so very few of us, have deep, immeasurable space within (and “as”) the mind.  Most minds are endlessly chattering about one thing or another, filled with series after series of limited thoughts (which are merely symbols), images, fears, opinions, musical tunes, and past experiences.  Most minds are satisfied with remaining cluttered by what was poured into them.  Most go from one series of reacting thoughts and repetitive reconfigurations to another… endlessly.  Being satisfied with that is the norm, and that leads to depression, melancholiness, and division.

This space — of thought — which most people adhere to, and consist of, is of limitation.  It is the small space of fragmentary symbols, which thoughts actually are.  It is the little space between “self” and “other life forms.”  It is the fallacious space between a supposed “me” and the so-called distant thoughts that it allegedly controls.   It is the space between the past and the future.  It is the space between “us” and “them.”  It is the little space of sorrow.

Remain plastered there, if you wish.  However, it may be most prudent to intelligently consider going beyond the norm.  Will going beyond the norm necessitate more methodologies (from the stale past of the old teachers and religious/philosophical/political leaders)?  Will going beyond the norm require following certain patterns in time, as in the ways we have merely functioned in throughout the past?  Surely not!  Love cannot exist deeply and profoundly if limited patterns and limited space crowd the mind.  It is the mind that is full of walls of separation and limitation that is the prejudiced mind, the hating mind, the callous and uncaring mind.  Love cannot enter what is limited, fragmented, contaminated, and “unwhole.”  

 

Perpetuity… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018

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Mostly Made of Would

July 27, 2018
32 comments

 

Little Miss Could
promised to marry Should
They’d live in a sweet fancy house
mostly made of would

But then she met Why
with a special twinkle in his eye
He visited her ‘most every day
and often made her pie

When Should found out
he began to scream and shout
He demanded that all the pies be trashed
and that instead she eat sauerkraut

Miss Could began to cry
she threw a gigantic pie
It flew in Should’s round pretension
hitting him squarely in the “I”

Mr. Why married Miss Could
right there in the neighborhood
and he baked her plenty of pies
just as she felt he wood

 

 

Tiger Swallowtail (i.e., Mrs. Why, stuffed from eating pies!)… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018