.
Open yourself to Spring
Let your mind blossom to unfold
Go beyond stale words and symbols
Look without that learned and stuffy past
.
Open yourself. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Open yourself to Spring…
11 comments
All Posts Tagged ‘flowers’
The supposedly dominating central controller… (Multi-Photo)
.
Your concept of “I” is not truly what dominates over your other supposedly subordinate (supposedly subservient) thoughts. All thoughts — including the concept of “I” (or that internal “me”) — are conditioned responses… and, as such, one does not (in reality) truly dominate over the others. Profound awareness and immense intelligence transcends conditioning (at least to some significant extent) and goes beyond the deep misconceptions that the aforementioned sentence suggests. Via erroneous (primitive) education, billions are saturated with such substantial misconceptions and delusions (of a “central controller”)… and this, in turn, causes much needless friction and deceit (within the brain) which often projects as additional disorder both within the brain and out from the brain. Better education could help to change things for the better. We, as a society, have a long way to go before we transcend out of very psychologically crude, primitive realms. True freedom lies not in the concept of free will, but in the daily, intelligent (method-free) understanding of the mind, which may allow one to actually joyfully exist (at times) beyond the limited field of total conditioning. With such freedom comes real goodness and order (beyond mere reactions).
(Added note: This is one fundamental reason why so very few, throughout the world — over time — have truly been enlightened. A process or technique developed or utilized by a fictitious center cannot ever find profound truth; the profound truth comes only when conditioning and needless conflict, friction, and deceit are dissipated… and not dissipated by some supposed central agent that is — in itself — a major result of ignorance and conditioning. For so many — for so long — it has been like throwing water to drowning people in order to save them!)
.
Jumping spider in Lily. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Jumping spider in Lily. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Meditation… (Multi-Photo)
.
True meditation is never what one can decide to do. Real meditation is only done without will, without mere knowledge, calculation, and methodology. If will, calculation, and methodology are involved, something may be happening… but it is not true meditation. Any uncouth person under the sun can purchase a yoga mat, sit on it perfectly (statuesque) still with legs crossed, and proudly say that they are “meditating.” However, real meditation is too dynamic, living, profound, and immense to be what can be brought about by some inane, calculated, copied procedure. What is truly dynamic and beyond a cause/effect continuum cannot (ever) be brought about as a mere “result” of some man-made patterns or practices. Thinking otherwise is foolish… and, unfortunately, there are plenty of foolish entities out there.
.
Blossoming. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Blossoming. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Some don’t feel that Wednesday exists…
.
Monday, the atheist, didn’t feel that Wednesday ever existed, but Tuesday feels a closeness to Wednesday that Monday can’t understand.
.
Looking for Wednesday. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Love…
.
Love has no boundaries
Love is joyous life
Love makes little pollution
Love is not conformity
Love is beyond separation
Love does not hate
Love illuminates the truth
Love has no jealousy
Loves helps the needy
Love does not kill
Love is beyond words
Love protects its fledglings
Love is the whole
Love doesn’t crave power
Love brings life’s mysteries
Love is eternity unfolding
Love is ever renewing
.
Not separate. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Where separation ends…
.
Strolling under vast skies of blue
one’s self disappeared into everything new
Running through thick fields of green
one saw oneself in everything seen
.
Viola Flowers. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
A mind that is endlessly babbling to itself… (Multi-Photo)
.
A mind that is endlessly babbling to itself is immured in its own prison of bad habits. Be silent and attentive!
.
Calling for spring. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Calling for spring. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Welcome Sweet Spring… (Multi-Photo… 3 photos)
.
let’s Spring into action
be sure not to Fall
see Flowers where dirt was
as Life makes its sweet call
let’s evolve from what Fish were
turn Fins into Hands
plant seeds in terrestrial gardens
and walk upon Land
let’s breathe atmospheric air directly
and forget how to swim
let’s forget our past and Winter
and drink water at the gym
.
[Note: The first photo is of a flower in Spring. The second photo is of a fossil plate of a couple of specimens of Osteolepis macrolepidotus (from the Devonian Period, Old Sandwick Fish Beds, Quoyloo, Orkney, Scotland). Osteolepis was one of the first air-breathing fish, with lobed (feet-like) fins; it had many other features in common with the early tetrapods (the first land-dwelling vertebrates). Some people tend to feel ashamed — or go into denial — about having evolved from fish; I (among others), on the other hand, feel that being part of evolution is an immense privilege and see the profound beauty and amazing splendor of evolution! The third photo is of a newspaper comic of “Frank and Ernest” by the brilliant Bob Thaves.]
Spring flower. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Osteolepis macrolepidotus. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Comic by Bob Thaves. Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
The sagacious mind and the truth… (Multi-Photo)
.
It’s not just about living in the “now” or following some absurd method… it’s much deeper than that!
.
Wasp in Flower. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Wasp in Flower. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Passing by treasures…
.
Ignorance often doesn’t recognize its own ignorance. Wisdom often goes unrecognized by those who have little wisdom. Many even indifferently pass by the beauty of flowers and nature. Be beyond that!
.
Beyond the stigma. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Beyond couch potato values… (Multi-Photo)
.
Many shirk responsibility for others and for all of life… because doing nothing is easy. Go beyond dead comfort!
.
Yellow Stars. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Penciled Stars. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Our separate, little “I”s… (Multi-Photo)
.
“I think I’m separate from what is seen,”
said the complacent, lazy man.
“You probably are,”
said the wise man.
“I think I’m separate from what I visit,”
said the complacent, lazy man.
“You probably are,”
said the wise man.
“I think I’m separate from what is heard,”
said the complacent, lazy man.
“You probably are,”
said the wise man.
“I think I’m separate from what I want,”
said the complacent, lazy man.
“You probably are,”
said the wise man.
“I think I’m separate from what I dream,”
said the complacent, lazy man.
“You probably are,”
said the wise man.
I think I’m separate from what I think,”
said the complacent, lazy man.
“You probably are,”
said the wise man.
“I think I’m separate from the earth and the animals,”
said the complacent, lazy man.
“You probably are,”
said the wise man.
“I think I’m separate from people and their well being,”
said the complacent, lazy man.
“You probably are,”
said the wise man.
“I think I’m separate from whom I rob,”
said the complacent, lazy man.
“Your separate ‘eye’ is probably illusory,”
said the wise man,
as he closed a door
between
himself
and his blind complacency.
.
Chives, together as one. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Chives, together as one. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
That mattered more than anything…
.
When I was young, I mustered up all the energy I had to find the truth and the whole. That’s the only way to be!
.
Plush Pink. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
She loves me… She loves me not… (Multi-Photo)
.
she loves me
she loves me not
she loves me
she loves me not
she is me
she is me not
she is me
she is me not
images of her are me
images of her are me not
images of her are me
images of her are me not
Life wants us to rip up living flowers
Life wants us to rip up living flowers not
Life wants us to rip up living flowers
Life wants us to rip up living flowers not
Blossoming is me
Blossoming is me not
Blossoming is me
Blossoming is me not
.
Petals intact. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Petals intact. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
What occurs in life… (Multi-Photo)
.
Insensitivity ignores nature, ignores truth, ignores others. Compassion and wisdom loves nature, perceives the truth, and helps others.
.
Rarity. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Rarity. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Beyond groping…
.
To a truly wise mind, many supposedly tantalizing sensations are often — though not always — rather trivial and unnecessary… because a truly wise mind is fully content in itself, not needing extraneous stimuli to (eventually) make it happy. It is only a very empty cup that constantly craves being filled…
.
Propeller. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
(Multi-Photo)*** Ring around the Rosie… (or Valentine’s Eve)
.
You can give a precious ring to a girl easily; but giving true loyalty, compassion, integrity, and honor is a million times more valuable.
.
And violets are blue… (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
2D3157 And violets are blue… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Beyond Socrates’ Cave…
.
Occasionally dying (without effort or methodology) — psychologically — to thinking… is harmless, bright, and intelligent. Constantly, mechanically, habitually reacting as mere symbolic thoughts is rather cadaverous and is the equivalent to clinging to superficial shadows.
.
(In Socrates’ parable of the Cave — within Plato’s Republic — people were born in a cave, and they were fettered with chains… and forced to merely see and learn the details about shadows cast on the cave walls from puppets and a fire that they didn’t see behind them. One of them was taken — at one point, by force — first to see the fire… and then out of the cave into the true light of day… into a truer reality; then he came back down into the cave with the others. When he — the man who returned back — pleaded with them to look beyond the shadows, they called him a fool, and continued giving prizes to those who could best guess which shadows came before or after. Such is life.)
Silhouette of a Sage (2). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Silhouette of a Sage (1). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Ever so daintily eating…
.
When many eat, they are very careful not to bite their own fingers, yet willingly hurt others… not realizing that — in a deep sense — they are one’s self also.
.
Delicately eating. Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
The dissolution of slavery…
.
In profound wisdom, there’s only perceiving and observing… no separate observer. Then, nature and the earth are not so separate from what you are. When vast silence — beyond the observed that one learned to recognize — is not separate from what one is, then conflict and mental chattering come to an end. Then, real compassion may be. Then, false borders and artificial boundaries dissipate.
.
[Preserve Milkweed Plants… they are what rare Monarchs depend upon.]
One of the Milkweed’s best customers. Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
And that’s why few ever do it…
.
Real meditation does not involve going to an exotic mountain-top to meditate. Real meditation does not involve getting the body in some statuesque, special, learned position. Real meditation does not involve repeatedly chanting some so-called special (pre-programmed) saying. Real meditation does not involve staring at or fixating upon some so-called special object or image. Real meditation does involve breathing according to someone’s special technique or system. Real meditation does not involve opening, concentrating upon, and mechanically traveling through fabricated chakras like some kind of zipper. Real meditation does not involve learning some special process or methodology. Real meditation does not involve living one’s life like most people do; yet, there is no “how” involving meditation. To intelligently look without a blueprint, without separative symbols, systems, conflict, fragmentation, and procedures… does not depend upon others’ procedures. No time is involved in it. All methods take time. Using time to get to the timeless is folly.
.
Hanging from one’s dinning table. Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
Following their fiery disposition, many of the roses rejoiced, singing and smiling…
.
When you look at beautiful roses and sing and smile… most assuredly, the flowers are happily singing and smiling!
(Without the observed, what is the observer?)
.
from E. E. Cummings:
somewhere i have never traveled, gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near
your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose
or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing
(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands
Eternal perfection. Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
(Multi-Photo) *** Lost in a dark quagmire of fragmentary details…
.
Psychological blindness educates others to be content in the dark; illuminated minds educate entirely differently.
.
Showered by illumination (1). Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
Showered by illumination (2). Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
$$$$$$$$$
.
Real wealth is in perception and heartfelt caring, not in dollars and cents.
.
[American Bellflower – Campanulastrum americanum]
After the rain. Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
Life’s meaning is deeper than merely that…
.
The purpose of life is not merely to feel good, but to make a meaningful difference in this world that contains indifference.
.
[This Royal Catchfly Plant — with red flowers — is a very rare plant and is an endangered species in Illinois. The calyx is light green or purplish, longitudinally ridged, and covered with sticky hairs that trap climbing insects.]
True Royalty! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Primarily functioning from (and reacting as) mere symbols is a form of suffering…
.
It may be that merely looking at life through (and “as”) a screen of symbols – as most do – isn’t really looking at life at all.
.
Plants can be blue… humans needn’t be. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
What motivates you?…
.
What motivates you? Is what motivates you rather ordinary, limited, and superficial… or is it something with tremendous depth?
.
[A session (i.e., social gathering) of the Nature Appreciation Club.]
Nature Appreciation Club. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Most don’t go this way…
.
A trillion times more important than understanding the instrument of one’s camera… is understanding the instrument of one’s mind.
.
A couple of the planets of the sun contain life. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Beyond the thunder…
.
Give a flower to a rainy day and watch the sun begin shining happily. That rainy day is not separate from what many people are.
.
[A Hover Fly enjoying some nectar adjacent to a mosquito that had a massive heart attack. (The mosquito probably sucked someone’s blood who had a lot of bad LDL cholesterol!)]
Going for meat increases your level of bad cholesterol. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
On hatred…
.
The left arm can hate the right arm and think that it is separate… but it isn’t. Peace takes intelligence.
.
[A unique variety of Heal All Plant growing on a river bank.]
Heal All. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Make her day…
.
Give a living, potted flower to an elderly friend… whom you expect nothing in return except for maybe a big, fresh smile!
.
Lily. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
The small and frail…
.
If you bully the small one… you are bullying the whole, bullying life’s child.
.
[A Hover Fly and a couple of other small insects on a wild Chicory Flower.]
Little and frail. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Timeless…
.
True insight is instantaneous (and timeless)… no time (or practice) is involved for it to finally come about.
.
[From earlier this year… these are the Stamen of a red Lily Flower. The Anther is the top part of the Stamen and contains the Pollen, the male reproductive cells. The Filament is lower down and holds the Anther.]
Pollen machines. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Simply silent…
.
Being naturally/effortlessly silent – at times, throughout the day – is majestic and joyously deep, beyond words.
.
Searching together. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Its essence…
.
The essence of love is deep caring (beyond the limited self).
.
[Lazy Susans at a Hospital Park… There are at least two Hover Flies resting upon them.]
Lazy for a good reason. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Beyond the ordinary…
.
Go beyond what all the pundits and so-called experts teach… and inquire for yourself beyond tradition.
.
[The Heal-all Plant (Prunella vulgaris) is edible, and can be used in salads, soups, stews, and boiled as a pot herb. The Cherokee cooked and ate the young leaves. The Nlaka’Pamux drank a cold infusion of the whole plant as a common beverage. The Heal-all Plant contains vitamins A, C, and K, as well as flavonoids and rutin. The Heal-all Plant is taken internally as a medicinal tea for sore throat, fever, diarrhea, internal bleeding, and to alleviate liver and heart maladies. Topically, a poultice of the plant can be applied to irritated skin, as from stinging nettle toxins. A poultice of the Heal-all Plant also serves well as a disinfecting agent and is used to pack wounds in the absence of other wound-care material. It has been cherished by the Chinese to “change the course of a chronic disease.”]
Native Americans loved it! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
The ending of sorrow…
.
The ending of sorrow is the beginning of true and intelligent wisdom.
.
[These are wildflower Chinese Lantern plants. They were found growing in a prairie near a local pond.]
Small but beautiful! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Simple acts…
.
Simple acts to help others, physical action to end suffering, and acting to help Mother Earth with actual deeds… is likely worth more than a million people praying.
.
[Close-up study of a Begonia (Scarlanda green-red) in the outdoor garden of a large hospital/medical center.]
Begonia (Scarlanda green-red) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
The beautiful space…
.
The mind can often be the beautiful space between two thoughts… without symbolic representations, without effort.
.
[Diminutive insects on a Viola Flower in the fall season. Despite the cold weather during each night, the Viola Flower and the insects seem to be thriving during the day.]
Impervious to cold. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Illusory fame…
.
It’s likely best to be rather low-key and unnoticeable. For, in the long run, you will (especially if you are wise) really impress no one except yourself.
.
[There is, within this flower, and unobtrusive, little winged insect… a Hover Fly… having the time of his life! There’s also an inconspicuous ant there too!]
Beyond the Camera Eye and Superficial Fame! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Not that big, old, rusty, corroded lock…
.
The key to understanding life is not made to fit the rigid lock of powerful authority.
.
[The Spotted Jewelweed is an annul plant native to North America. The Spotted Jewelweed likes to grow along creeks and rivers; this one is growing along a creek flowing into a nearby river. The Spotted Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) was transported in the 19th and 20th centuries to England, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Finland, and potentially other areas of northern and central Europe. These naturalized populations persist in the absence of any effort of cultivation by people.]
Love is the key. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Genuine heartfelt passion for life naturally helps others.
.
Genuine heartfelt passion for life naturally helps others.
.
[Carpenter Bees, such as this one, love nectar and pollen, such as this Pink Cone-flower provides. Females of Carpenter Bees establish nests in broken or burned ends of hollow or pity stems and twigs. They can extract up to a foot of pith from the interior of a stem, but (nevertheless) are not considered pests. With Carpenter Bees, there is somewhat of a division of labor… similar to what honeybees expertly do, but at a far more simple level.]
Small but efficient! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Don’t just pick flowers or buy cut flowers… enjoy wildflowers or grow flowers!
.
Don’t just pick flowers or buy cut flowers… enjoy wildflowers or grow flowers!
.
[These are wildflowers. The white wildflowers are Robin’s Plantain. The purplish wildflowers are American Vetch. The American Vetch is less common than the Robin’s Plantain. (There is an insect in this photograph.)]
American Vetch & Robin’s Plantain. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Without motive, sit and perceive without all the separation that you’ve learned.
.
Without motive, sit and perceive without all the separation that you’ve learned.
.
[Purple flowers in a local park. I think they may be Phacelia flowers.]
Small Purple Flowers (Phacelia). Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Normality is a common type of insanity.
.
Normality is a common type of insanity.
.
[Leaf beetles, Diabrotica barberi, and Ladybug beetles on a wild sunflower plant. Some species of Leaf Beetles are very destructive to corn crops. Ladybugs, on the other hand, eat many insect pests, though these are additionally getting the abundant nectar from this wild flower. (One can’t blame them for liking sweets!]
Can you count how many there are? Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Unfolding out of the folds…
.
The universe is expanding and unfolding — like a beautiful flower — and we (especially when we are open and caring) are part of the blossoming.
.
[This is a photo of a lily flower blossoming. In the flower, you can see the pistil and the various (topped in yellow) stamen. It is also a photo of the universe unfolding out of the folds. 😉 ]
Unfolding out of the folds. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
A great ride is a healthy ride…
.
Many of us take immaculate care of our overly fancy cars — filling them with top quality fuels and oils — while we guzzle sugar, starch, wine, and fatty foods like there’s no tomorrow. We must change!
.
[Many flowers — like this one — are superb and healthy places for insects to get needed nourishment; there’s plenty of protein and vitamins from pollen and energy from nectar; plus the view, while eating, is often spectacular! (They don’t have to put flowers on their dining tables!)]
A beautiful and healthy place to eat! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
They are not just your thoughts and feelings; they are of all humanity and life!
.
.
.
.
.
. They are not just your thoughts and feelings; they are of all humanity and life!
.
.
Exploration beyond what’s below! (Ant exploring flower) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
One instant of bigheartedness is brighter than a million instances of disingenuous indifference.
.
.
.
.
.
. One instant of bigheartedness is brighter than a million instances of disingenuous indifference.
.
.
Bountiful love… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
A man without a warm, caring heart is like a musician without thumbs!
.
.
.
.
.
. A man without a warm, caring heart is like a musician without thumbs!
.
.
Warmth deep beyond the center! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 