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. Don’t merely reflect on the details… see the beautiful whole!
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Quackery by Thomas Peace 2013
Beyond the details…
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All Posts Tagged ‘holistic awareness’
Getting Rid of Your Excess Baggage…
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. To effortlessly see life joyfully — without the contamination of old, cobweb images that are self-projections — is to look without the accumulated baggage of the past.
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Hunting Tiger by Thomas Peace 2013
Wisdom is what transcends…
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. Wisdom is what transcends the mediocre claptrap of ordinary reactions.
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Mutual Perceptions by Thomas Peace 2013
Evolution…
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. Don’t just believe in evolution; actually be the whole of evolution.
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. (From what one has seen on this planet… we still have a long way left to evolve.) 😉
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. The first set of photos are of the Devonian fossil fish Osteolepis macrolepidotus. They are examples of the classic Orkney fish, early Crossopterygian or “lobe-finned” fish, which gave rise to the tetrapods… (giving rise to the amphibians, reptiles, and mammals). The partial fish shows the lower jaw with teeth. Close-up views reveal detailed rays in the fin areas, with very large massive ray areas anteriorally. Some residual gold pigmentation can still be seen in the scales of the specimens. These are lungfish that developed lungs due to the low oxygen content of the freshwater lakes that they lived in. From Orkney, Scotland; Devonian Period (400 million years old). The complete fish is 15.4 cm long.
The last photo is of a Permian Amphibian fossil preserved in gray siltstone. The specimen is lying on its side with all four legs showing. (Corresponding bones in lungfish evolved into leg bones.) There is a lot of detail in the large skull. Soft body preservation is evident, showing the outline of the skin (which is really rare in fossils). Details of the backbone vertebrae can be seen. Teeth in the jaw can be seen. Permian Period, Oderheim, Glun, Germany (270 million years). Amphibian is 5.5 cm long.
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.(Looking at these enlarged is highly recommended; left click on a photo… hit left return arrow to return.)
Great Grandpa & Grandma by Thomas Peace 2013
- Great Grandpa by Thomas Peace 2013
Amphibian fossil by Thomas Peace 2013
To go beyond dull routine…
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To remain in dull routine is not deep intelligence. Most, unfortunately, do (whether they truly realize it or not) remain in dull routine. To go beyond the realm of sequential patterns and images is to intelligently go (now and then) beyond “thinking” and “dull routine”; monotonous boredom depends on the same, sequential routines. All thoughts are (and must, by natural law, always be) residual reactions that are conditioned, sequential routines. Silence truly is golden. (One cannot choose to be truly silent; the “choice” — wishing silence — is part of the conditioned sequence of thinking, and thinking cannot create true silence; silence must — on its own — take place naturally, without effort.)
All methods of practice to get to silence (including the various techniques of “meditation”) are essentially false; all methods are man-made sequential routines, and no sequential paradigm (or decision by conditioned thought) can create the beauty of true silence. What is residual — sequential and, hence, fragmentary and second-hand — cannot create (or automatically lead one to) what is not part of a sequential paradigm and what is dynamically whole. There is no path to the pathless. A method or system may get one to a dead thing; but no calculated means can take one to that wholeness that is beyond a cause/effect continuum.
One more very important thing: You can add a “no,” after “lead,” in the following poem.
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. from E. E. Cummings:
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. seeker of truth
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. follow no path
. all paths lead where
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. truth is here
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Miraculously just being by Thomas Peace 2013
Change…
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. You are the erroneously learned (mental) separations that falsely divide you from others (and from the whole of life). Change psychologically.
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Dennis Hopper (1) by Thomas Peace
Dennis Hopper (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
Stillness…
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. from Stephen Crane:
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The livid lightnings flashed in the clouds;
The leaden thunders crashed.
A worshipper raised his arm.
“Hearken! Hearken! The voice of God!”
“Not so,” said a man.
“The voice of God whispers in the heart
So softly
That the soul pauses,
Making no noise,
And strives for these melodies,
Distant, sighing, like faintest breath,
And all the being is still to hear.”
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Pause by Thomas Peace 2013
Superficiality and Depth…
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. Though the thinking brain might — at first — rebel against this or feel uncomfortable about it… it is true:
Thought is to the flat and superficial… as attentive wordlessness (i.e., profound silence) is to the deep and dynamic.
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Moth and Flame by Thomas Peace 2013
Silence and True Beauty…
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. from Emily Dickinson:
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. The words the happy say
. Are paltry melody —
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Flowering Moment by Thomas Peace 2013
Better Coverage on Climate Change…
In a year that brought the U.S. record-breaking heat, massive wildfires, a historic drought, and devastating storms like Hurricane Sandy, the nightly news programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC barely talked about what was fueling this extreme weather — climate change. We need better coverage if we want people to connect the dots and demand real action to curb global warming pollution.
Please sign our petition below to Michael Corn, Executive Producer of ABC World News, Patricia Shevlin, Executive Producer of CBS Evening News, and Patrick Burkey, Executive Producer of NBC Nightly News, asking them to give us more frequent, accurate coverage of climate change this year.
OUR PETITION
Give Us Better Coverage on Climate Change this Year
Dear Mr. Corn, Ms. Shelvin, and Mr. Burkey,
Every night, tens of millions of people tune into the news on the major broadcasting networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC, expecting to learn about the most pressing issues facing our families and our nation. Given the urgency of addressing the climate crisis, we urge you to put global warming at the top of that list.
After experiencing the hottest year ever recorded in the United States and a series of devastating extreme weather events including wildfires, droughts, and storms like Hurricane Sandy, the American people deserve to know how our changing climate is fueling this extreme weather and what we can do about it.
That can only happen if you devote more coverage to climate change, report on future extreme weather in a climate context, and interview more climate scientists who will be able to accurately connect the dots between human activity, climate change, and the weather we have been experiencing. Yet, a recent study by Media Matters for America found that last year climate change was only featured in 12 segments on your nightly news programs combined.
Confronting the climate crisis is the challenge of our generation, and we urge you to honor the best traditions in American journalism by putting the focus on science and accurately reporting on climate change.
We look forward to watching your thorough, accurate coverage of climate change in the year ahead.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
To Add Your Name, go to:
http://action.mediamatters.org/tell_news_to_cover_climate_change
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Fall or Rise by Thomas Peace 2013
Thinking…
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. Thinking, per se, is merely a tool of problem solving; it may not need to be the essence of your being. If you don’t have problem after problem — and you needn’t have — then thinking need not (in wisdom) always take place.
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Katylily by Thomas Peace 2013
The Big-shots like suckers…
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. It may be that, these days, the Big-shots — in separative politics, in huge, ambitious religious organizations, in financial and luring commodity-selling institutions — have one enormous thing in common. They all like suckers.
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. My pet Plecostomus Catfish:
Pet Plecostomus Catfish (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Pet Plecostomus Catfish (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
Miracles…
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. from Walt Whitman:
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. Miracles
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Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night
with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet
and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.
To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.
To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim–the rocks–the motion of the waves–the
ships with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?
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Flower Burst by Thomas Peace 2013
The flowering of man…
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. Perhaps, if it ever happens, the ending of pollution, overpopulation, wars, separative perspectives, and divisive institutions will be the evolutionary flowering of man.
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Clovers by Thomas Peace 2013
Survival of the fittest…
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. Though it is primarily survival of the fittest here in and above water… it may very well be that the truly sacred only directly visits (and fills) the glass that is innocent, clear, and open.
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Wild Morning Glory by Thomas Peace 2013
True hate is instant separation…
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. True hate is instant separation from the whole… and instant ignorance (and, hence, is always false).
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Wasp by Thomas Peace 2013
Each of us is highly responsible…
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. Each of us is highly responsible for getting the world cleaner, greener, and more peaceful.
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Toad by Thomas Peace 2013
Wars are essentially stupid…
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. Wars are essentially stupid… just like one’s left hand attacking one’s right hand is essentially stupid.
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Katydid (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Katydid (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
Katydid (3) by Thomas Peace 2013
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Spring…
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. from E. E. Cummings:
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Now i lay(with everywhere around)
me(the great dim deep sound
of rain;and of always and of nowhere)and
what a gently welcoming darkestness–
now i lay me down(in a most steep
more than music)feeling that sunlight is
(life and day are)only loaned:whereas
night is given(night and death and the rain
are given;and given is how beautifully snow)
now i lay me down to dream of(nothing
i or any somebody or you
can begin to begin to imagine)
something which nobody may keep.
now i lay me down to dream of Spring
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Spring Fledglings (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Spring Fledglings (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
- Spring Fledglings (3) by Thomas Peace 2013
The human brain can be split and two fields of consciousness then occur…
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. This post probably will not be very popular. However, that is OK by me; such is the nature of human conditioning. Popular posts might tell you how wonderful everything is, how splendid and noble your efforts are, and how love is everywhere. I say that there is not nearly enough love in the world. There is plenty of beauty in the world, I feel… but there is not nearly enough love. Honestly, so many of us are indifferent; so many put up with wars, nuclear armaments, pollution, overpopulation, suffering of people and animals, etc., without doing much of anything at all about it. We have to do a lot more to make things better here on this planet. If enough of us make a difference and change things for the better, then maybe love will be everywhere; but right now (honestly) it isn’t. I sure hope that one day it (i.e., love) will be everywhere!
Some of the important things that we must be leery about, in our passage through life, are organizations and old-fashioned traditions that steer us into the complacency of being mere followers. Many of us might maintain that we do not merely “follow the crowd”; but so many of us do so, unawares, not really seeing or realizing how we blindly follow the manner, habits, and cold indifference of others. We chronically copy others, yet think that we are independent… not mere followers. Some of us are warmly caring… but not nearly enough of us are.
What I’m about to tell you isn’t going to be what you’ll like to hear (i.e., read). It goes against people’s grain, so to speak. Bear with me on this; but don’t continue to read if you are easily disturbed. It goes, if one examines deeply and objectively, against much of what a lot of us have been told — and what was ingrained into us — about the afterlife (i.e., heaven or reincarnation or some such stuff)… and about free will, conditioning, and awareness. However, don’t — upon reading about it — merely allow yourself to get depressed, melancholy, and disheveled. One’s life can be eternally significant, despite what occurs concerning the human brain. Despite what the following may imply… one can still become imbued by the eternal.
I learned about it many years ago, while in college. I had read extensive articles about it; and it caused me to really delve into different aspects and avenues of spirituality involving understanding the whole of existence. It — what the articles were about — certainly was shocking to me. The articles dealt with how surgeons severed the corpus callosum. The human brain is, in a big way, a lot like the two halves of the inside of a walnut. Connecting the halves is what is known as the corpus callosum. Surgeons have had to sever the corpus callosum in certain individuals — such as those suffering from certain forms of epilepsy — in order to try to keep the severity of the seizures down. In patients who have had their corpus callosum severed, the right half of the brain does not know what the left half of the brain is thinking (and vice versa). In other words, two fields of separate consciousness are created (following the surgery)… when initially there was one. This type of surgery has occurred many times; it is not some kind of theoretical proposition or fluke (one-time) occurrence.
People, following such surgery, exist as two separate minds within one body. Instances have occurred wherein a man (following having his corpus callosum severed) was trying to pull his pants up with his right hand… while his left hand was trying to pull his pants down. (Each field of consciousness had something different in mind!) Another (similar) man was observed trying to strike his wife with one hand, while the other hand tried to stop the opposite hand from hitting her.
Does this have deep implications about life for us? You bet it does! The implications extend far beyond what most care to look into; however, it would be prudent if they did look deeper. Many are afraid to look deeper. I, for one, looked deeper. I am glad that I did (look deeper). The implications are extensive. Does it negate the possibility of eternity for us? No, it does not! However, merely looking at life in our standard, old-fashioned ways — as we have always done in the past — may not be prudent (considering this). We have to change the way we look at things. Otherwise we will become more and more fragmented inwardly and outwardly (not entirely unlike the unfortunate patients of the brain surgery). Many people don’t wish to change; but change we must!
Walnuts black by José Luis Hernández Zurdo
Jealousy and Social-oriented Fear…
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. Jealousy and social-oriented fear are attributes of a crippled mind.
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Meadow Flowers by Thomas Peace 2013
Wisdom and Truth…
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. Wisdom and truth exist beyond the realm of superficial thought; most all thought is essentially superficial.
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Thorn-mimic Treehopper & Ant by Thomas Peace 2013
The “perceiver” is “the perceived”…
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. The “perceiver” is “the perceived”; you are, psychologically, really not separate from what you see.
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Stick Insect In Woods (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Stick Insect in Woods (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
- Stick Insect In Woods (3) by Thomas Peace 2013
Stick Insect In Woods (4) by Thomas Peace 2013
Don’t follow anybody…
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. We’ve followed leaders for millions of years… and look where it has gotten us! Don’t follow anybody, neither politically nor religiously. So many of us drift through life, needing to be lead. A person who needs to be lead is an insecure person, much like a shadow. (We are not advocating some kind of crazy anarchy!)
A true democracy is one which exists beyond dogmatic leaders. In such a society, people could vote, referendum style, on key issues periodically, through the usage of, for instance, computers. Instead of having stuffy, life-long political barons, we could (jury-duty style) have responsible people work in groups of 12 (or thereabouts) to, on a temporary, rotating basis, regulate and coordinate the voting and election results; that would be a true democracy (and no “politicians,” no feigning baby-kissers nor totalitarians need be involved).
Religiously, so many of us, too, want to be lead. But is true religion what one can be lead in? You can be lead to a dead thing. But you cannot be lead to a dynamic, truly living (non-stagnant) thing. It may very well be that the truly sacred is not what any concocted, fabricated, man-made path can lead to. However, so many of us stay on our separate, fabricated, traditional paths (that were handed down to us like a pair of old pants). In a separate path, one easily looks at others (who are not in it) with an air of superiority and separation. The truly sacred may not be what can be touched by what remains in isolated groups, which separate themselves from other groups (causing more friction and division in the world). So many of us want to be where we can easily be “told.” But if truth is never merely second-hand… it cannot ever merely be told from one to another; being told is receiving something in a second-hand way; real truth is never second- hand. Shadows are second-hand. It may be that one has to discover it (i.e., truth) anew (freshly and directly) for oneself each and every moment.
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from Stephen Crane:
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A learned man came to me once.
He said, “I know the way, — come.”
And I was overjoyed at this.
Together we hastened.
Soon, too soon, were we
Where my eyes were useless,
And I knew not the ways of my feet.
I clung to the hand of my friend;
But at last he cried: “I am lost.”
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Wild Flowers by Thomas Peace 2013
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Ants and Uncles…
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. Fear of being “not accepted” makes many into the shallow shadows of others.
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Shadow of Yellow (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Shadow of Yellow (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
Intimate Contacts…
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. We humans need to do far more with regard to population control measures (to save our very small and fragile planet).
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Hover Flies (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Hover Flies (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
Hover Flies (3) by Thomas Peace 2013
Kite Festival Photos…
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. To effortlessly see life joyfully is to look silently without the accumulated baggage of the past.
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Grand Haven (4) by Thomas Peace 2013
- Grand Haven (5) by Thomas Peace 2013
Grand Haven (6) by Thomas Peace 2013
Grand Haven (7) by Thomas Peace 2013
Stunt Kite Tricking… Video and Photos (to Homemade Rock Music)…
I trick stunt kites (dual-line stunt kites) — for exercise and as a hobby — and have been doing it for many years. The tricks within the video may look easy; however, they are extremely difficult. Many of the tricks in the video take a very long time to nail and perform properly. For instance, when I, a few years ago — at a kite festival — asked an experienced kite trick flyer about how to do a trick called the Comete… he told me that he has been trying to learn the trick for 3 or 4 years so far, and still has not learned how to do it. Stunt kite flying is a lot like playing a musical instrument; it takes a lot of skill and a lot of practice to get it right.
I love the exercise that it provides! You wouldn’t believe how you get out of breath and burn calories when stunt kite tricking properly! There is nothing like being out there with nature, with the soaring birds and other creatures… just enjoying the moment! It is a very environmentally friendly hobby to have! No gas residues, emissions, or waste materials are involved! It sure beats staying indoors, stagnantly playing some video game. Oftentimes large hawks or other types of birds will stop, hover, and stay and watch the kite tricking for quite a long period of time (as if mesmerized)! Give it a try sometime! You’ll be glad that you did! Invest in a more inexpensive kite at first… but do give it a try! (Watch learning videos, on how to do it; and if the kite is quickly heading for the ground… give it plenty of slack; don’t panic and pull, as most people do!) You are never too young or too old to be kite flying! I’m in my 60’s… and don’t plan on quitting any time soon! (Be sure to always wear a good quality pair of sunglasses and to use plenty of sun screen!) Get out there, have a blast, and fly! And, above all, never get discouraged about things and let go… life is too (eternally) precious!
The music with the accompanying video was composed and played (on synthesizers) by myself.
from E. E. Cummings:
o by the by
has anybody seen
little you-i
who stood on a green
hill and threw
his wish at blue?
with a swoop and a dart
out flew his wish
(it dived like a fish
but it climbed like a dream)
throbbing like a heart
singing like a flame
blue took it my
far beyond far
and high beyond high
bluer took it your
but bluest took it our
away beyond where
what a wonderful thing
is the end of a string
(murmurs little you-i
as the hill becomes nil)
and will somebody tell
me why people let go?
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The photos, that follow, except for the first, were taken at the Grand Haven Kite Festival, in Grand Haven, Michigan.
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Here’s a direct link to the video website, which you can alternatively go to and watch if (quality-wise) the following attached video doesn’t work within this post well (for you):
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxv9or_stunt-kite-tricks-to-homemade-rock-music_sport#.UTATEjCsiSo
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Older photo of Sea Devil Kite… by Thomas Peace 2013
Grand Haven Michigan Kite Festival (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Grand Haven Michigan Kite Festival (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
Grand Haven Michigan Kite Festival (3) by Thomas Peace 2013
Winter Scene…
The following is a short (simple) video of it snowing where we live… along an Illinois river bank; a couple of photos are additionally included. Snow, even though it means the absence of all my favorite bugs and creatures (for a while), is cool (in more ways than one)! The snow was quite beautiful… as it always is!
Each snowflake is unique, not like the others; yet, from a distance, they all look rather the same. Each of us (humans) is unique; however, in a big way, we are all the same. We — each and every one of us — have hopes, fears, desires, and favorite people whom we love and cherish. However, each of our hopes, fears, desires, and favorite people are different from everyone else’s. We can even be considerably more unique when we stop blindly following our flaky leaders — who don’t have a clue about where they’re going (and drifting to) anyway — and, instead, independently look at life beyond what we’ve merely been molded and shaped to see.
from Emily Dickinson:
It sifts from Leaden Sieves –
It powders all the Wood.
It fills with Alabaster Wool
The Wrinkles of the Road –
It makes an even Face
Of Mountain, and of Plain –
Unbroken Forehead from the East
Unto the East again –
It reaches to the Fence –
It wraps it Rail by Rail
Till it is lost in Fleeces –
It deals Celestial Veil
To Stump, and Stack – and Stem –
A Summer’s empty Room –
Acres of Joints, where Harvests were,
Recordless, but for them –
It Ruffles Wrists of Posts
As Ankles of a Queen –
Then stills it’s Artisans – like Ghosts –
Denying they have been –
Winter Snowfall (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Winter Snowfall (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
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Going beyond mere reflections…
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. To reflect on something — merely with images from the mind — may not be to see it (fully) in actuality. When one looks from (and “as”) images, one is looking from (or through) what one was taught. What one was taught is always “of the past”; therefore, what one sees through (and with) this medium… is always a distorted, partial view of what actually is. If one looks by way of “what one was taught to see”… one sees things as one was taught to see them; in actuality, one sees what one was taught. The “perceiver” and “the perception” are not necessarily two different/separate things. If the perception is a reflection of what one “has learned,” it is part of the absorbed and memorized constitution of the “perceiver.” When such a “perceiver” perceives, he (or she) is looking (at least partially) from (and “as”) what he is (i.e., from what he or she has absorbed via learned processes). Looking at all things by way of “what one was taught” is a form of mental reflection (learned from others). It may be that the truly sacred cannot ever be truly seen by what are mere reflections… not even partially (although perhaps hints of it can be seen in such a way). That is one big reason why the sacred seems so elusive to so many. Most merely reflect on things — and look at things — from mere symbolic representations that they were taught. All symbolic representations, no matter how “intelligent” they may seem — and no matter how helpful they may be — are, intrinsically, distortions. This doesn’t at all mean that one should give up on “thinking, reflecting, and learning”; those are all very useful tools. However, they are only tools; they need not be what the essence of the organism must always be. Over-identifying with the tools may make significant waves in the waters (of the mind) that never allow direct perception.
March is coming. No doubt, the river must soon be (in a reactive) flowing… just like most humans are fixated in a reactive flowing. An overabundance of reactive flowing may not easily allow for a direct perception of truth. Just as each surface wave of a turbulent (spring) river reflects things in a distorted, fragmentary way… so the essence of each thought is constituted of fragmentation and a significant degree of distortion. Time is as a river. Perhaps, in March, one will stand on the bank of the river and remember something about the call of a certain bird. However, it will not really be the call of a certain bird that occurs again; it will only be a virtual thing… as all thoughts are. (Don’t merely be satisfied with the virtual.)
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from Wallace Stevens:
NOT IDEAS ABOUT THE THING
BUT THE THING ITSELF
At the earliest ending of winter,
In March, a scrawny cry from outside
Seemed like a sound in his mind.
He knew that he heard it,
A bird’s cry, at daylight or before,
In the early March wind.
The sun was rising at six,
No longer a battered panache above snow…
It would have been outside.
It was not from the vast ventriloquism
Of sleep’s faded paper-mache…
The sun was coming from the outside.
That scrawny cry–It was
A chorister whose c preceded the choir.
It was part of the colossal sun,
Surrounded by its choral rings,
Still far away. It was like
A new knowledge of reality.
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A photo of the river bank that we live on; as one was taking photos, a goose, across the river, was calling out. (The river and this article may be something to reflect on.) (Left click on image to enlarge; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
Winter River by Thomas Peace 2013
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Going after the truth no matter what the consequences are…
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. When I was rather young — which wasn’t just a few months ago — I was determined to search for the actual truth that lies behind the essence of everything. The consequences of what I found did not matter to me. I didn’t want to “sugar-coat” what I might find… and turn it into something more tolerable (if it turned out to somehow be unpleasant). One wanted to actually perceive “what was behind everything” without distortion, without concern as to whether my personal life had any lasting significance or was merely an evanescent flash soon to be diluted. What was important was the “seeing” of the truth without distortion, without altering it into something that might be more comfortable (though fictional). To approach the “actual truth of everything,” one must put away ones desires (or stored patterns) of “how things should be,” or “what would be comfortable,” or “what one was told about things (by others)”… and perception must be undistorted. If we approach the truth with “what we’ve been told,” or with “how things ought to be,” we’ll definitely find something, but it won’t be the truth (though we may erroneously accept that it is). To go towards the truth — without any baggage from the past — one must go without fear of the consequences of what one might find. (Carry a lot of baggage… and you’ll fall through the thin ice… as most people do.)
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. from Stephen Crane:
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. Mystic shadow, bending near me,
. Who art thou?
. Whence come ye?
. And — tell me — is it fair
. Or is the truth bitter as eaten fire?
. Tell me!
. Fear not that I should quaver,
. For I dare — I dare.
. Then, tell me!
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. Sheets of ice of the partially frozen river that we live on. (Left click on image to enlarge; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
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Ice on River (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Ice on River (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
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Frozen in Time…
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.
.
.
. Curiously, most human beings function within the very significant and important domain of time… yet they have no idea about the fundamental essence and nature of time; nor do they realize the opportunity of going beyond it. Though it sounds mysterious and rather supernatural — it isn’t — it is a fact that a truly enlightened being can (once and a while) exist in (and “with”) a timelessness that is beyond the limited and unlimited field of time.
.
.
. excerpt from E. E. Cummings:
.
.
. what time is it?it is by every star
. a different time,and each most falsely true;
. or so subhuman superminds declare
.
. —nor all their times encompass me and you:
.
. when are we never,but forever now
. (hosts of eternity;not guests of seem)
. believe me,dear,clocks have enough to do
.
. without confusing timelessness and time.
.
.
.
******************************************************************************
For a limited time (pun intended) my book about time and eternity is being offered as a signed copy with free shipping. Go to:
******************************************************************************
The following pictures are photos that I took of ice along the river bank that we live on. These look much better expanded, so… (Left click on the pictures to enlarge them; hit the left “return arrow” to return.)
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Frozen in Time (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Frozen in Time (3) by Thomas Peace 2013
Frozen in Time (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
.
Wisdom is one of the most important things in life…
.
.
.
.
. Wisdom is one of the most important things in life. For without wisdom, one’s life may be essentially like an empty shell; such a life would very possibly be like a light bulb that has no illumination; it would be like a caterpillar that never changes into a true butterfly. Without wisdom, one may, indeed, lead a very comfortable life, a very financially secure, safe, and luxurious life. However, without that inner profundity (of wisdom)… such an outwardly appearing “successful” life is likely (largely) a rather cadaverous existence. Without true compassion, heartfelt awareness for all, deep insight, and non-fragmented perception… deep wisdom is not. One cannot have true wisdom if one merely fits in nicely into the indifferent edicts of society, while languidly allowing things to remain as they are. The vast disorder (of society) may seem to be overwhelming; but a little bit of pure order can have tremendous power. Changing the way one lives and being a better example is one way to act. Wisdom acts; if it doesn’t often act — if it sits around merely comfortably reacting — it isn’t wisdom. It isn’t easy to be in the minority (different from so many who hardly ever care); but not to peacefully stand up and do something against indifference, suffering, disorder, and tyranny is nonsensical.
******************************************************************************************
from Stephen Crane:
.
.
.
Once I saw mountains angry,
And ranged in battle-front.
Against them stood a little man;
Aye, he was no bigger than my finger.
I laughed, and spoke to one near me,
“Will he prevail?”
“Surely,” replied this other;
“His grandfathers beat them many times.”
Then did I see much virtue in grandfathers —
At least, for the little man
Who stood against the mountains.
.
.
***********************************************************************
For a limited time, signed copies of my book are available with free shipping; go to:
***********************************************************************
Pseudo-silhouette (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
Pseudo-silhouette (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
.
Pseudo-silhouette (3) by Thomas Peace 2013
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True (not Pretentious) Compassion…
.
.
.
.
Though many talk about it and pretend to have it… very few are truly compassionate. Those few that are truly and deeply compassionate (in a holistic, deeper than average sense)… may be, fortunately, sometimes even visited (at least once, twice, or more, during their lives) by the immensity of the truly sacred.
.
.
.
from Emily Dickinson:
.
.
. Sometimes with the Heart
. Seldom with the Soul
. Scarcer once with the Might
. Few — love at all.
.
.
.
Resting Dragonfly (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
Resting Dragonfly (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
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*************************************************************************************
.
A Robust and Healthy Mind…
A robust and healthy mind is essential. Just as the body should be tenderly taken care of, given the correct, healthy foods, and exercised daily… so the mind, too, must be operated with care and order. The mind and the body have a close relationship with each other. When one is distorted and broken… it often influences the other. A languid and indifferent mind easily allows for a body that indolently sits around. Additionally, a body deficient in good nutrients and decent exercise… can easily influence the mind to be less alert, joyous, and caring. It’s a close partnership… and not enough people deeply realize that. Interestingly, just having a healthy body does not ensure that the mind (involved with that body) will be concomitantly healthy and orderly. There are many unbalanced, uncaring, mentally disturbed people with excellent bodies.
.
.
.
. from Wallace Stevens:
.
. Poetry is a health.
.
. There must be some wing on which to fly.
.
. Poetry is a cure of the mind.
.
.
.
Bre with Bubbles by Thomas Peace 2013
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**************************************************************************
Communing with Nature…
.
.
.
.
. To have a close and profound relationship with nature, one must give up the mental symbolism (as words) that one was taught to observe through (and function as). It can only be done without methods and sequential procedures (that were taught to you)… for time is not a factor when being in deep communion with (and as) nature. When spacial separation, labeling, categorization, and learned recognition come (naturally) to an end (without the effort that time involves), then one — if one is lucky — may, in a most beautiful stillness, be truly in communion with nature.
.
.
. from E. E. Cummings:
.
.
. n
. OthI
. n
.
. g can
.
. s
. urPas
. s
.
. the m
.
. y
. SteR
. y
.
. of
.
. s
. tilLnes
. s
.
.
.
.
**********************************************************************************
For a limited time, signed copies of my book are available with free shipping; go to:
**********************************************************************************
.
.
Friend (1) by Thomas Peace 2013
.
Friend (2) by Thomas Peace 2013
F(3) by Thomas Peace 2013
F (4) by Thomas Peace 2013
F (5) by Thomas Peace 2013
*************************************************************************
.
Early Valentine…
.
.
.
.
. from E. E. Cummings:
.
.
. never could anyone
. who simply lives to die
. dream that your valentine
. makes happier me than i
.
. but always everything
. which only dies to grow
. can guess and as for spring
. she’ll be the first to know
.
.
.
****************************************
Two-lips for Valentines… by Thomas Peace 2013
****************************************
****************************************
You Are What You Perceive (Part 2… Don’t Be Hysterical About It!)…
Although the wise man lucidly understands that (psychologically) the “perceiver” is “the perceived”… he (or she) does not let that “lucidity” ever become detrimental to his/her holistic integrity and order. In other words, seeing something that is rather ludicrous, or ugly, crude or crass… does not, in essence, ever nullify the sagacity and beautiful order of a true (integral) wise man. (Currently, there is plenty of manmade disorder all around, in society, that can be observed; however, that need not curtail the order within a truly decent, aware, orderly, compassionate being.)
Therefore it can be said:
You are not separate from what your perceptions are. However, if you perceive something that is rather ludicrous or disorderly… it does not transfer that state (of disorder) to you.
**********************************************************
Hysteria
from: T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
S she laughed I was aware of becoming involved- in her laughter and being part of it, until her
- teeth were only accidental stars with a talent
- for squad-drill. I was drawn in by short gasps,
- inhaled at each momentary recovery, lost finally
- in the dark caverns of her throat, bruised by
- the ripple of unseen muscles. An elderly waiter
- with trembling hands was hurriedly spreading
- a pink and white checked cloth over the rusty
- green iron table, saying: “If the lady and
- gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden,
- if the lady and gentleman wish to take their
- tea in the garden …” I decided that if the
- shaking of her breasts could be stopped, some of
- the fragments of the afternoon might be collected,
- and I concentrated my attention with careful
- subtlety to this end.
- ***************************************
-
-Close-up-Tongue-Teeth-Open-Mouth- (photo from i-moc.com)
- ***************************************
- eternalfountainofyouth.com
- ***************************************
You (psychologically) are what you perceive
One of the chief attributes of a truly sagacious mind is to look at things without the dichotomy between the “observer” and “the observed.” The “observer” is not truly separate from “the observed”; you are not separate from what your perceptions are.
It is easy to crassly think that one is separate from the perceptions that one experiences. Multitudes of crude, base organisms can easily think and perceive in such a manner. The truly wise, however, acutely perceive beyond these primordial demarcations and boundaries. The truly sacred does not ever pass through what is crooked and distorted; it only visits (and goes through) what is straight, non-separated, direct, and true.
*********************************************************
from Walt Whitman:
.
.
THERE WAS A CHILD WENT FORTH
.
.
THERE was a child went forth every day;
And the first object he look’d upon, that object he became;
And that object became part of him for the day, or a certain part of
the day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years.
The early lilacs became part of this child,
And grass, and white and red morning-glories, and white and red
clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird,
And the Third-month lambs, and the sow’s pink-faint litter, and the
mare’s foal, and the cow’s calf,
And the noisy brood of the barn-yard, or by the mire of the pond-
side,
And the fish suspending themselves so curiously below there–and the
beautiful curious liquid,
And the water-plants with their graceful flat heads–all became part
of him.
The field-sprouts of Fourth-month and Fifth-month became part of
him;
Winter-grain sprouts, and those of the light-yellow corn, and the
esculent roots of the garden,
And the apple-trees cover’d with blossoms, and the fruit afterward,
and wood-berries, and the commonest weeds by the road;
And the old drunkard staggering home from the out-house of the
tavern, whence he had lately risen,
And the school-mistress that pass’d on her way to the school,
And the friendly boys that pass’d–and the quarrelsome boys,
And the tidy and fresh-cheek’d girls–and the barefoot negro boy and
girl,
And all the changes of city and country, wherever he went.
His own parents,
He that had father’d him, and she that had conceiv’d him in her womb,
and birth’d him,
They gave this child more of themselves than that;
They gave him afterward every day–they became part of him.
The mother at home, quietly placing the dishes on the supper-table;
The mother with mild words–clean her cap and gown, a wholesome odor
falling off her person and clothes as she walks by;
The father, strong, self-sufficient, manly, mean, anger’d, unjust;
The blow, the quick loud word, the tight bargain, the crafty lure,
The family usages, the language, the company, the furniture–the
yearning and swelling heart,
Affection that will not be gainsay’d–the sense of what is real–the
thought if, after all, it should prove unreal,
The doubts of day-time and the doubts of night-time–the curious
whether and how,
Whether that which appears so is so, or is it all flashes and specks?
Men and women crowding fast in the streets–if they are not flashes
and specks, what are they?
The streets themselves, and the façades of houses, and goods in the
windows,
Vehicles, teams, the heavy-plank’d wharves–the huge crossing at the
ferries,
The village on the highland, seen from afar at sunset–the river
between,
Shadows, aureola and mist, the light falling on roofs and gables of
white or brown, three miles off,
The schooner near by, sleepily dropping down the tide–the little
boat slack-tow’d astern,
The hurrying tumbling waves, quick-broken crests, slapping,
The strata of color’d clouds, the long bar of maroon-tint, away
solitary by itself–the spread of purity it lies motionless in,
The horizon’s edge, the flying sea-crow, the fragrance of salt marsh
and shore mud;
These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now
goes, and will always go forth every day.
.
.
.*********************************************
(Left click on image to enlarge; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
__Four at the Clover Table (Thomas Peace 2013)_______
Four at the Clover Table… by Thomas Peace 2013
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
.
We hold our hands together… be the sunshine…
Without the things that you perceive… you (as you are) wouldn’t exist. Consciousness (largely) is what it perceives. So the next time that you see something, realize (please) that you are not (in essence) separate from it (i.e., you are not separate from your perceptions). What you see is a part of what you are. When you see some beautiful sunshine… it is you. When you see the atrocity (i.e., darkness) of man to man — or the (brilliant) heartfelt compassion of man to man — it is you. The perceiver is the perceived. In deep wisdom, there is only a perceiving… and that perceiving (if it is seen sagaciously) is eternal.
This, believe it or not, is applicable fundamentally at our core… besides perceptually; we are not separate from each other; we are all one. You can hold your hands apart… but they are not separate. The left hand can “think” that it is apart from the right hand, but it is not. Hold something within your hand; it is — in a big way — you.
The following is an excerpt of lyrics from Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe… the self-titled album by four alumni of the progressive rock group Yes: Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman, and Steve Howe. (Jon Anderson, the alumni singer of Yes, gave me permission to include the lyrics of a couple of his songs within my book. He offered these lyrics free of charge… which is awesome!)
.
.
.***********************************************************
.
.
Excerpt from Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (Live)— with lyrics edited, by Thomas Peace, to hopefully more accurately depict (more than what most online lyric sites offer) the live, true vocalizations:
.
.
.
.
Always the way it seems
Just hear your voice
In all the songs of the earth
Nothing can come between us
You’re a brother of mine
We hold our hands together
Be the sunshine
Nothing can come between us
Be the sisters of time
Just hear your voice
in all the songs of the earth
Nothing can come between us
Nothing can come between us
Nothing can come between us
So give it all the love you have
Never be afraid to show your heart
So give it all the love you have
There is a special reason to come true
So giving all the love you have
Never be afraid to show your heart
So give it all the love you have
There is a special reason
There is a special reason this time
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing your life for the first time
Long lost brother of mine
Watching me walk in the full moon
Long lost brother of mine
Waking this dream everlasting
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing my life for the first time
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing me fly like an eagle
Long lost brother of mine
Watching me walk in the full moon
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing my life for the first time
Long lost brother of mine
Waking this dream everlasting
So it’s there
Putting one into one special reason
Yes it’s there
Putting “one into one one another”…
Sure can! Sure can! Sure can!
It’s a certain dimension
Coming at us for the very first time
It’s the second attention
Realising it all of the time
Re-defining this long lost passion
For the living we’re in
This will be the first of many
I be telling you
Long lost brother of mine
Walking away from illusion
Long lost brother of mine
Singing the sisters of freedom
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing the fathers of wisdom
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing my life for the first time
So it’s there, putting one into one special reason
Yes it’s there, putting “one into one one another”…
So it’s there, putting one into one special reason
Yes it’s there, you can see what you want to see
Long lost brother of mine…
Just hear your voice
In all the songs of the earth
Nothing can come between us
You’re a brother of mine
We hold our hands together
Be the sunshine
Nothing can come between us
Be the sisters of time
Just hear your voice
in all the songs of the earth
Nothing can come between us
Nothing can come between us
Nothing can come between us
So give it all the love you have
Never be afraid to show your heart
So give it all the love you have
There is a special reason to come true
So giving all the love you have
Never be afraid to show your heart
So give it all the love you have
There is a special reason
There is a special reason this time
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing your life for the first time
Long lost brother of mine
Watching me walk in the full moon
Long lost brother of mine
Waking this dream everlasting
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing my life for the first time
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing me fly like an eagle
Long lost brother of mine
Watching me walk in the full moon
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing my life for the first time
Long lost brother of mine
Waking this dream everlasting
So it’s there
Putting one into one special reason
Yes it’s there
Putting “one into one one another”…
Sure can! Sure can! Sure can!
It’s a certain dimension
Coming at us for the very first time
It’s the second attention
Realising it all of the time
Re-defining this long lost passion
For the living we’re in
This will be the first of many
I be telling you
Long lost brother of mine
Walking away from illusion
Long lost brother of mine
Singing the sisters of freedom
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing the fathers of wisdom
Long lost brother of mine
Seeing my life for the first time
So it’s there, putting one into one special reason
Yes it’s there, putting “one into one one another”…
So it’s there, putting one into one special reason
Yes it’s there, you can see what you want to see
Long lost brother of mine…
Long lost brother of mine…
Long lost brother of mine…
******************************************************
******************************************************
Tom with Katy (1)… by Thomas Peace 2013
***
Tom with Katy (2)… by Thomas Peace 2013
***
Tom with Katy (3)… by Thomas Peace 2013
.
******************************************************
******************************************************
Enlightenment…
.
.
.
.
. True enlightenment — not the kind that some falsely imagine is
. enlightenment — rarely, unfortunately, befalls upon human beings.
.
.
.
*************************************************************************
.
. from Walt Whitman:
.
.
.
. Hast never come to thee an hour,
. A sudden gleam divine, precipitating, bursting all these bub-
. bles, fashions, wealth,
. These eager business aims — books, politics, art, amours,
. To utter nothingness?
.
.
.
.****************************************************************************
(Left click on photos to enlarge; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
Close encounter… by Thomas Peace 2013
Feasting… by Thomas Peace 2013
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*****************************************************************************
The Royal Monarch that isn’t just for show…
.
.
.
.
. As one… the thievery of the crooked, the indifference of the uncaring, and the bizarre oddness of the outwardly ostentatious… constitutes, in itself, its own punishment.
. Some things are innocent, content, and beautiful in themselves… and are the real blessings…
.
.
.
Just Being… photo by Thomas Peace 2013
******************************************
******************************************
Like a Grey Rock Wandering…
.
.
.
.
. We are all one… we are not at all — as some would have you
. believe — separate. All creatures are (together) one. Not many
. creatures fully realize this.
. I (in my six-legged greyness) am supposed
. to “blend in”… so that you do not see me. But, you see me. Speak
. anything out loud, anything whatsoever, and you will
. also hear me.
.
.
.
.******************************************************************************************
The following photographs of a “like a grey rock” sort of a thing… were taken in a wild, natural meadow.
*******************************************************************************************
.
. from E. E. Cummings:
.
.
.
. a like a
. grey
. rock wanderin
.
. g
. through
. pasture
. wom
.
. an creature whom
. than
. earth hers
.
. elf
. could
. silent more no
. be
.
.
.********************************************************************
(Left click on an image to enlarge it; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
a like a grey rock… by Thomas Peace 2013
a like a grey rock (2)… by Thomas Peace 2013
a like a grey rock (3)… by Thomas Peace 2013
*********************************************************************
*********************************************************************
Thinking, per se, is rather cold and empty…
.
.
.
.
. Thinking, per se, is rather cold and empty. All thoughts are symbols. They are fragmentary tokens and representations that we “fabricate” about what reality may be. They (i.e., thoughts) are tools for dealing with the reality; however, they are not the reality. The idea of moving deeply through a warm beach full of sparsely clothed, beautiful people (who worship you) doesn’t give one (in the end) a sunburn. Yet most of us dwell as these “virtual,” symbolic representations almost all of the time… rarely, if ever, going beyond them.
Exclusively remaining in (and “as”) thought… is a form of suffering. Thinking is always “about” the reality; it is never the actuality of the reality. Remaining as “the virtual” is like staying within a computer world… accepting it to be essentially true.
Unfortunately, very few (these days) actually go beyond the symbolic tools that they were programmed to become.
.
.
.*******************************************************************************************
.
. from Wallace Stevens:
.
. Crude Foyer
.
.
Thought is false happiness:the idea
That by thinking one can
Or may, penetrate, not may,
But can, that one is sure to be able –
That there lies at the end of thought
A foyer of the spirit in a landscape
Of the mind, in which we sit
And wear humanity’s bleak crown;
In which we read the critique of paradise
And say it is the work
Of a comedian, this critique,
In which we sit and breathe
An innocence of an absolute,
False happiness, since we know that we use
Only the eye as faculty, that the mind
Is the eye, and that this landscape of the mind
Is a landscape only of the eye, and that
We are ignorant men incapable
Of the least, minor, vital metaphor, content,
At last, there, when it turns out to be here.
**********************************************************************************
(Left click on the photo to enlarge it; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
Trees on the Beach by Thomas Peace 2013
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Stopping violence isn’t easy…
.
.
.
.
. Stopping violence isn’t easy. There is plenty of violence in America and in the world. More laws may help (but only to a very limited extent)… but more than that we need to offer people more educationally. We need to fundamentally change (as a society) at a level much deeper. We need to change to where there’s not so much separation… separation between others and separation between education and (integral, deep awareness beyond mere “knowing”). If we teach people to merely be competitive, to take from others, to exploit and use others… we will have failed. Many are the product of their education… and laws will not confine those who are determined to exploit them. These things are age-old; they are not anything new.
.
.
.
. from the ancient Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu:
.
.
. The more laws and restrictions there are
. The poorer people become.
. The sharper men’s weapons,
. The more trouble in the land.
. The more ingenious and clever men are,
. The more strange things happen.
. The more rules and regulations,
. The more thieves and robbers.
.
.
.*****************************************************************************
(Left click on the photo to enlarge it; hit the left “return arrow” to return.)
Stopping Violence isn’t easy… photo by Thomas Peace 2013
****************************************************************
***************************************************************
.
.
Suffering is universal; we are all part of the totality of it…
.
.
.
.
. Suffering is universal; we are all part of the totality of it… and (together) we can go beyond it.
.
.
. Sometimes going beyond mere representative images and symbolic patterns (as what thoughts are)… is a fundamental way of truly transcending suffering. Such a “going beyond” is silent, perceptive, non-fragmentary, and devoid of mere separation and indifferent distance.
.
.
.***************************************************************************************************
. from Walt Whitman:
.
I SIT and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all
oppression and shame;
I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish with
themselves, remorseful after deeds done;
I see, in low life, the mother misused by her children, dying,
neglected, gaunt, desperate;
I see the wife misused by her husband—I see the treacherous seducer
of young women;
I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love, attempted to be
hid—I see these sights on the earth;
I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny—I see martyrs and
prisoners;
I observe a famine at sea—I observe the sailors casting lots who
shall be kill’d, to preserve the lives of the rest;
I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon
laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
All these—All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look
out upon,
See, hear, and am silent.
*************************************************************************************
(Left click on image to enlarge it; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
Purple Passion… photo by Thomas Peace 2013
*************************************************************************************
Death Immense Is Not So As A Little Innocence…
.
.
.
.
. Youth is growing down… when they are slowly losing their innocence
. and are turning into more second-hand, dead copies of mere so-called
. grown-ups. Never grow up… never lose your innocence.
.
.
.
.
.*************************************************************************
. excerpt from E. E. Cummings:
.
. And something thought or done or wished without
. a little innocence,although it were
. as red as terror and as green as fate,
. greyly shall fail and dully disappear —
.
. but the proud power of himself death immense
. is not so as a little innocence
.
.
. ************************************************************************************
. (Left click to enlarge the following photo; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
a little innocence by Thomas Peace 2013
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Praying Mantises… and Primitive Notions of Entropy…
.
. (Somehow, the two always belong together.)
.
.
.
.
. Universal order eternally smiled at the limited, rather barbaric,
. miseducated, ironclad notions of entropy… as certain minds,
. after tha debate, star t ed 2 d tear e oar eight 2 knot in 8 all… & fine
. alley dis hip it 8 Ed a wwwwwwwayyyyyyyyyyyy..y..y..y………
.
.
.
.
Praying Mantises will make a quick meal out of other insects within their vicinity, which is a rather entropic situation for the prey, but a rather non-entropic situation for the Mantises. (Universal order, by the way, isn’t going bye-bye.)
.
.
. I love handling Mantises in the wild. Most, when caught, will tame down within a few minutes… after they bite the living daylights out of you! Most will tame down so quickly that — after several minutes, when you put them back down on the ground — they actually zealously try to get back on your hand; they love to climb the wiggling fingers; to them it must be a fun sort of activity or exciting experience. (At least that’s the case with the ones I’ve encountered.) In our area I only found one Mantid that would not tame down, no matter what. That one I called “a bronco”… and I hope not to experience another one like it for a very long time!
At one time, I had a Praying Mantis as a pet… in a large terrarium. I fed it thawed frozen brine shrimp (daily) from my fingers. It lived for a very long time and laid huge egg sacks full of many eggs (that I put in our backyard). Female Mantises can lay fertile eggs even without ever coming into contact with a male Mantis; in such cases, the babies are exact clones of the mother. (If they do mate with a male… the females sometimes eat the male’s head off… or consume much of his body.) My pet Mantis really enjoyed climbing around on my fingers often. I was with my pet Mantis on the day that it died; it continually kept kissing its arms/legs all around… as if it were saying “good-bye” to itself.
Mantises truly look “alien-like” in appearance!
***********************************************************************************************
(go figure)
.
.
. from E. E. Cummings:
.
.
. yonder deadfromtheneckup graduate of a
. somewhat obscure to be sure university spends
. her time looking picturesque under
.
. the as it happens quite
. erroneous impression that he
.
. nascitur
.
.
.
***********************************************************************************************
(Left click on the images to enlarge them; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
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Mantis (1)… hanging out with Tom…by Thomas Peace 2013
Mantis (2)… hanging out with Tom… by Thomas Peace 2013
Mantis (3) by Thomas Peace 2013
Mantids are meticulous groomers!
Mantis (4) by Thomas Peace 2013
Peeking over the antenna… right into the camera eye!
Mantis (5) by Thomas Peace 2013
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You say you want a revolution, well you know…
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Instead of the usual crass and ignorant revolution of violent disruption, war, and disharmony, why can’t there be an awe-inspiring, elevated, truly new revolution of respect, affection and (wise) holistic understanding?
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excerpt from John Lennon:
You say you’ll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it’s the institution
Well, you know
You’d better free your mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow
Don’t you know it’s gonna be
Alright?
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(Left click photo to enlarge; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
Well, you know… by Thomas Peace 2013
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Purple Condemnation…
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. Can we look at ourselves without mere condemnation, without judgement and criticism… but just look without any of the past conditioning and knowledge that was instilled within (and “as”) us?
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. from Stephen Crane:
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. “It was wrong to do this,” said the angel.
. “You should live like a flower,
. Holding malice like a puppy,
. Waging war like a lambkin.”
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. “Not so,” quoth the man
. Who had no fear of spirits;
. “It is only wrong for angels
. Who can live like the flowers,
. Holding malice like the puppies,
. Waging war like the lambkins.”
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(Left click to enlarge; hit left “return arrow” to return.)
Grape Hyacinths by Thomas Peace 2013
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Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 