Many of us primarily live in the particular and not in the general, not in — or involving — the whole. We merely function as we were taught, and we exist in (and as) the particular. For so many of us, the particular is apart from the whole; we try to solve things by focusing on the particular as apart from the whole. Then conflict ensues and even more problems arise. We see ourselves primarily as separate human beings. We must change.
Boundless, in the dictionary, means ‘beyond limits’ or ‘having no boundaries.’ That sacred energy, that eternal flame beyond man-made descriptions, may indeed be of a boundlessness beyond the limited, and, hence, beyond the bounded conceptions and images of mankind. People tend to pretty much exclusively perceive and think about things in terms of limited labels, circumscribed patterns, fragmentary constructs, and sequential images and descriptions. All of these are, by their intrinsic nature, fragmentary, isolating, and limited. Thought/thinking is of this limitation. It has not changed in us, fundamentally, for millions of years. Four million years ago, we perceived via limitation and conflict. And four million years later; we are still perceiving basically via limitation and conflict. We still primarily mostly look with separation at all things; one still continuously perceives oneself as being a separate, independent individual.
Even most of the scientists are caught in this fragmentary, circumscribed, piecemeal way of looking at things. Even though they have some interesting theories and discoveries, they still are perplexed about the nature of things. They have their conflicting theories and divisions of thinking about things. The various so-called religions, too, have their divisions and conflicting theories and stories. Concerning them, people still make and construct stone images to impress others by, just as what was done many millennia ago. Though we’ve changed tremendously technologically, we’ve — most of us anyway — stayed fundamentally the same inwardly (i.e., psychologically) for eons. We still look at things via separation, limitation, circumscribed labels, and conflict. Most of us have a lot of deep-seated fears and psychological problems. Yet we think that we are highly evolved.
Most of us were enthusiastically programmed to react, perceive, and continue to function just like everyone else, both outwardly and inwardly. Heaven forbid if you began to look at things in a whole, new way. But a whole, new way was how Einstein came up with some of his brilliant works; and, believe me, he understood far more than what he revealed in his published and popular works.
The question is: Can one perceive — in a fundamentally different way — without exclusively depending upon mere (limited) patterns (that you were molded to contain)? To answer that question truly and deeply, consciousness needs to go through a radical change. All of the stuff that was hammered into you, throughout your past, has to be put aside or (rather) psychologically died to. When one truly transcends all of the illusory separations, limitations, fragmentation, and division, then real intelligence and compassion emerge. But it isn’t compassion that “you” “have”; it is compassion; it is of the whole, not of a separate “you.”
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This Allosaurus Dinosaur Leg-bone was sliced and polished, revealing the now crystallized canals (ducts or channels) that used to transport air (and some blood) through the system; they stored oxygen within their bones, which was a very advanced system (superior to what mammals currently have).
A perfect mirror has no distortion. It shows what is really there. Can the mind be like that?
A distorted mirror, just like a distorted mind, twists things around such that reality seems askew and misrepresentation and untruth run dominant. Fortunately, most people realize what the situation actually is when they are gazing into an intentionally distorted (circus) mirror. Unfortunately, many people perceive via minds that are of distortion, deception, and perversion, yet they continue to think that they see things rightly. Many of us put up a facade, for others to perceive, of what we want them to think we really are. Many of us deceive not only others… but ourselves. Society tends to instill various forms of distortion into the minds that partake in its offerings, and such minds then zealously accept such distortions and falsities as the truth.
Many people are overly concerned about how they (physically) appear to others. Few people are prudently concerned about perceiving themselves as they actually are… internally, without any distortion whatsoever. A mind that is passionate about going beyond distortion is a very scientific and spiritual mind. It seems that very few have actually done it (i.e., gone beyond distortion) to any very significant extent. (There are ways to test this out, for accuracy; however, we will not go into that here.) Great clarity and immense understanding are needed to see the whole. Most, unfortunately, still function with (and “as”) symbols and fragmentary parts. If the tools and the processes of the mind are distorted and partial, then the outcome — the results — will be equally askew, equally incomplete. Before we accept and cherish methods to get out of this distortion, we should question whether they are possibly an extension or continuity of the same-old fallacies, which most are.
Without method, without depending upon the process of psychological time, is it possible for the mind to observe without merely utilizing the past tools (of symbolic thinking, abstraction, analysis, and image-building)? Can the mind perceive without always carrying the burden of past formulations? It may be the influential formulations of the past that prevent pristine perception. We can be choicelessly observing with an intense awareness that includes all of the senses working harmoniously together as a whole, without limited thoughts always interfering… (and all thoughts are limited).
A mind that goes beyond distortion sees deeply. Such depth goes far beyond the ordinary, far beyond the mundane. Many cling (knowingly or unknowingly) to the ordinary, yet wish to experience what is beyond the ordinary. What is truly beyond the ordinary may not at all be what can be categorized or placed into the realm of “experience.” If an experience is recognized (as most are), it usually consists (more or less) of a rather mundane occurrence that the brain “recertifies,” “acknowledges,” and “classifies” via (and according to) prior memory images, prior mental retentions, and symbols. Recognition and the reaction to things have their place, but so does an unadulterated awareness beyond mere reaction and conditioned responses. Full enlightenment/satori — should it ever occur as a blessed visitation by that ineffable, holistic energy to a human being — may be far too immense for any kind of full mental grasping, retention, or remembrance (by the brain) to take place. However, should it actually happen — and don’t be foolish enough to crave what you suspect that it might be — the brain will have recalled small snippets of that profound event, though what is retained is rather like mere shadows of the actual occurrence. Great wisdom, unlike distortion, never needs to ask about whether the sacred truly exists.
Polished Jurassic Dinosaur Bone, with crystal fortification, from Utah (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Polished Jurassic Dinosaur Bone, with crystal fortification, from Utah (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Beyond the mind’s “would be’s” and “should be’s”
and “maybe’s”
Beyond all “could be’s” and “shall be’s”
and “rabies”
exists an effortless awareness not just of
death’s parameters and time’s “crazies”
Beyond what tries,lies,and sighs
Beyond what must propagandize and theorize
Beyond the “why’s” Beyond revise
Beyond everything that can
(infixatedeyes)hypnotize,
exists a wisdom beyond all
“I’s”
Tyrannosaurus rex at the museum (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Tyrannosaurus rex at the museum (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
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If you duck the issues and don’t pay full attention in life… then when thoughts and feelings occur in (and “as”) you, you will not attend to them completely and fully. To attend to thoughts and feelings completely (as they occur) there is intense observation without separation, without the indifference of distance. In looking fully and attentively, which is deep learning, there need not be mere judgment, condemnation, or control according a learned authority at some (supposed) distance (be it external or internal).
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[Note: Paleontologists have been saying that birds are a branch of dinosaurs that survived the great extinction event. A close-up of this duck shows what eerily looks like dinosaur raptor teeth. The tooth-like structures are really lamellae… sieve-like projections that help to extract edible items, such as seeds or insects, away from mud or sand. They also may be beneficial for defense. Duckasaurus rex!]
Duck Teeth. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Birds are a type of feathered dinosaur. Now many paleontologists are contending that all dinosaurs were feathered to some extent or another, just as all mammals have fur. Meat-eating theropod dinosaurs were very feathered, had stereoscopic vision and had chicken-like feet. They didn’t all go extinct after that massive asteroid impact. That asteroid was six miles across, and its impact was equal to the energy of 300 million nuclear weapons; it created temperatures hotter than on the sun’s surface for several minutes. If we don’t stop having wars and ruining the environment, we may well follow in the footsteps of those that didn’t survive. We need to do much better.
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Stereoscopic Vision. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Theropod-Dinosaur-like Feet. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Meditation is never a practice. You can’t practice profound perception, deep awareness, and alive/dynamic wisdom.
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[Fossilized dinosaur bone, Jurassic Period, Southern Utah. Dinosaur bone had chambers within it to store air from the lungs and was more advanced than what mammals had (and still have).]
Bad to the bone. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. Do not merely be frozen in time like what is petrified in mediocrity.
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. A few of samples of dinosaur bone from the Jurassic Period, from southern Utah. The bones, in natural formations, get permeated, under intense heat and pressure, by various minerals… and, depending on the minerals, various colors can occur… some more rare than others. The bones are cut and polished… a time consuming process. Each bone is unique in its own way. Dinosaur bone easily becomes permeated because it is full of air pockets and blood vessel chambers to lighten its mass and (unlike in mammals) as an aid to respiration and air storage. (Their respiratory system was, back then, way more advanced than ours is today! Birds, which evolved from dinosaurs, have such an advanced respiratory system.)
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Polished Dinosaur Bone (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Polished Dinosaur Bone (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
Polished Dinosaur Bone (3) by Thomas Peace 2013
Polished Dinosaur Bone (4) by Thomas Peace 2013
The following are a couple of fossils from Troodon formosus, a small (though rather intelligent) dinosaur from the Maastrichtian Period of the Upper Cretaceous (around 75 million years ago). The fossils come from the Two Medicine Formation of Pontera County, Montana. They are rather rare. Troodon was little (by dinosaur standards)… only weighing in at around 70 pounds. They are one of my most favorite of dinosaurs. This is because they were closely related to the bird lineage… and because they were rather intelligent (having the biggest brain to body weight ratio, of all the dinosaurs). Though some of the troodontid dinosaurs (related to Troodon) did have nice sized brains, their brains were (according to recent data) not exceptionally large. Troodon formosus, one of the troodontid species, however, seems to have had a pretty large brain (relatively speaking). Lines in the cranial case (of Troodon skulls) even show the beginnings of brain matter enfolding, just as our human brains exist as. The partial cranial cases of Troodons shows some impressions from convoluting of the brain matter. Additionally, Troodons, unlike most all theropod dinosaurs, had opposable thumbs. They were able to pick up and examine small objects!
Troodons, from their teeth structure, were mostly meat-eaters, though most of them were probably omnivorous. Troodon, unlike many dinosaurs with a few large teeth… had a lot of small, serrated teeth. Each side of the lower jaw of Troodon, for example, had around 35 teeth. They likely fed a lot on our ancestors… for, before that giant asteroid impact hit, dinosaurs were the ruling class, and would hunt and eat plenty of little mammals (like our ancestors). Old scientific books on dinosaurs were very wrong; dinosaurs were not just slow, cold blooded and sluggish. Many of them had thermal oriented bodies just as birds did; in fact, birds are closely related to the theropod line of dinosaurs. (Really, birds are theropods!) Birds have a super high (and hot) metabolism… and so did the theropod dinosaurs. They were more active than even the mammals… with way superior breathing mechanisms; this holds true to this day. Most birds (and likely past theropod dinosaurs) had an average body temperature of around 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
Troodon fossils (consisting of teeth) found in Alaska were twice the size of those found in the Montana area. Why? Paleontologists speculate that the extremely cold climate (of Alaska) back then prevented most theropods, such as T-rex, from living in Alaska. Without the competition from T-rex and similar dinosaurs, Troodon was able to be the top predator, thus enabling it to get proportionally larger. Troodons also had (on each foot, just like velociraptors) a raised sickle claw… used for attacking, and disemboweling, larger prey.
Paleontologists speculate that if that 6 mile across asteroid would not have hit 65 million years ago… dinosaurs like Troodon may have evolved to be very intelligent… maybe even with human-like intelligence. But the asteroid hit… and mammals are reading this blog… not beings from the superorder Dinosauria. We had better get our act together, limit our superfluous population, and get way more into green energy… or we will sadly go extinct like the dinosaurs did!
Image of Troodon, by MALvit of Deviant Art…
The Troodon Tooth below is rare, in that it has the unworn, complete posterior and anterior serrations. Paleontologists say that this type of tooth was used for eating a lot of soft flesh and likely some veggies too.
Troodon Tooth with Anterior and Posterior Serrations by Thomas Peace 2013
Below: A large Troodon tooth in matrix… still partially embedded in the substrate that it was found in.
Large Troodon tooth in Matrix by Thomas Peace 2013
Below: Fossil finger digit of a Troodon; it shows capability of being highly opposable.
Troodon Fossil Finger Digit by Thomas Peace 2013
The name Allosaurus was derived from the Greek, and it means “different lizard.” It was considered “different,” by paleontologists, because its bones were a lot lighter than in dinosaurs previous to its existence. Its bones were much lighter because they were riddled with many more air channels and blood vessel channels that previous species of dinosaur did not have as much of. This allowed it to be faster and more nimble for its size, which are great benefits to a big, meat-eating animal.
As most of you probably know… Allosaurus was a huge, carnivorous dinosaur. It occurred in the Jurassic Period, around 150 to 155 million years ago. The following is a photo (not taken by me) of an Allosaurus skeleton on exhibit (at the San Diego Natural History Museum).
The following are photographs of an Allosaurus vertebra (backbone) that I purchased at one time. The vertebra comes from southern Utah. The vertebra was split in half; then each half was polished (on the side where the split occurred) to show the beautiful cells and spaces within the bone. Certain dinosaur bones (in certain isolated localities) become (over millions of years) permineralized by various minerals that permeate into the bone cells over time. Depending what the minerals are… the colors (within the bone spaces) can be of many different types… some very beautiful. This particular Allosaurus specimen has white crystallizations within… which look quite nice.
After I had the bone in my possession for a while, I noticed that one of the halves had a couple of places (on it) that were entry ways for pneumatic diverticulae. Pneumatic diverticulae, in the more evolved of the dinosaurs, were branches and channels — that would come from the air sacs and lungs — that would bore into and through the bones, enabling air (from the lungs) to be stored and transported. (So, unlike mammals, they could transport and store air within their bones!) Some of these channels would (later) progress to the outside of the body (and allow gases to be emitted out of the organism). Younger dinosaurs do not have these, at first; they grow and increase (and branch out more and more) as the animal ages. Many birds have this. A turkey wing — that someone is preparing for consumption — may have a little hole in the skin here or there. These are the exit chambers of the pneumatic channels! (A young turkey may not have these holes; most turkeys sold — to consume — are young turkeys). Birds are actually evolved from (and they are) dinosaurs. Many mammals, including humans, have cranial pneumaticity (exclusively in their heads)… but only dinosaur/birds have the very advanced postcranial pneumaticity (as well as an advanced form of the cranial kind).
Mammals (such as we humanoids) do not have this advanced kind of respiratory system. Ours is much more primitive. You won’t hear this taught in public schools; they, of course, continue to put on airs of superiority for our species! (I tell things straight, though, just as I do in my book.) One of the reasons why dinosaurs had such a monopoly over mammals for millions and millions of years has to do with their superior respiratory systems. In dinosaurs (and birds), special air sacs and pipework keep (new) fresh air coming into their lungs consistently. Air flows into a bird’s lungs only in one direction. Air from the (pre-lung) air-sac that puts air into a bird’s (or dinosaur’s) lungs is always being replenished with fresh air. Air from another (post-lung) air-sac that comes “from” their lungs… always is pushing out “old-used” air. The lungs never get the bad (used) air coming in with the fresh. Air only travels in one direction through their (i.e., dinosaurs’) lungs; their lungs are not the inefficient “in and out” kind (like blowing in and out of a paper sack) like ours (i.e., the mammals’) are. In fact, the lungs of dinosaurs (and birds, which are a small type of dinosaur) do not ever move; only the air-sacs around them move! Our lungs (of mammals) that move with the ribs, muscles, and diaphragm around them, breathe in the same bad air that we were trying to exhale (and through the same pipework too); that is very inefficient. That is one of the reasons why dinosaurs reigned supreme for so many millions of years… until that 6-mile-across asteroid wiped most of them out (except for the birds); the impact of that asteroid also wiped out 70% of all species on earth. Mammals, during the time of the dinosaurs, were always small, mostly nocturnal, and would hide under rocks (which is one of the reasons why we survived that impact); there were no large mammals during the time of the dinosaurs… because the dinosaurs were too dominant over the mammals. Most dinosaurs were a lot more hot blooded — the average body temperature of birds is 105 degrees Fahrenheit — a lot better at breathing… and (hence) a lot more sprightly and agile than the mammals. (The dinosaurs were not “sluggish,” as we were once — not long ago — taught.) If that asteroid would have missed the earth… they would still be the dominant ones… and who knows what they would have evolved into…
The following is a photo of the two halves of an Allosaurus vertebra with crystal cells (after polishing). Weight: 5 lb 10 oz
The cells, which once were air channels and passageways for blood vessels, are now filled with crystallized minerals (various silica, calcite, dolomite and other minerals).
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Allosaurus Dinosaur Split Vertebra by Thomas Peace c.2013
Note (in the photo below) the larger oval crystal section around the center; look to the right and (especially) to the left of it to see where the pneumatic diverticulae have entry-ways (fossae pleurocels, or pneumatic pores) that enter the vertebra bone from the air sacs/lungs! If you look at such a dinosaur vertebra, you will see little spots here and there on its sides; these are the entry-ways (fossae pleurocels/pneumatic pores) that go into the bone. This vert was cut just at the “right spot” (i.e., right where the pneumatic diverticulae enter the bone… as pneumatic pores); the guy who used to polish these didn’t have the faintest idea about what these entry-ways were! I’ve sent pictures of this to, and have corresponded with, a noted paleontologist. (The action of the pneumatic diverticulae functions almost like an organism within an organism; it is a very advanced stage in regard to breathing physiology.)
(Left click on the photos to enlarge; hit left return arrows to return back.)
Allosaurus Vertebra (1) by Thomas Peace c. 2013
Some close-ups…(please note, in the first of the following photos, the entry-way — the pneumatic fossa, or pneumatic pore — going into the vertabra )… It’s the “spear-shaped” chamber on the left. (It would form a convoluted passageway throughout the vert in ways we can’t simply see via a slice-view.)
Allosaurus Vertebra (2) by Thomas Peace c.2013
Allosaurus Vertebra (3) by Thomas Peace c.2013
Allosaurus Vertebra (4) by Thomas Peace c.2013
Allosaurus Vertebra (5) by Thomas Peace c.2013
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[A subsequent post,we’ll have, is: Photos of fossil Troodon Dinosaur (the “intelligent” dinosaur)]
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Highly Recommended:
Cool DVDs of Allosaurus:
You can get these at amazon.com or at ebay:
Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special
Jurassic Fight Club: Season One
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Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 