All Posts Tagged ‘Macro Photography’

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Language and Meditation/Mindfulness

September 25, 2020
1 comment

One would like to reiterate that language oftentimes plays a tremendous role in regard to how we view the world. Language, whether we care to admit it or not, predisposes us to see the world… usually in rather primitive, erroneous, crass ways. After all, language evolved millennia ago (in its basic forms) and we, for the most part, continue on with — and accepting — the same crude, old thing. Our conditioning goes much further in its entrapment by language, further and much deeper than we realize.

As i’ve mentioned before, Professor David Bohm, Einstein’s protege, whom one has talked to a lot many years ago, developed new ideas for a more evolved style of language (via the Rheomode) wherein verbs play a much more predominant role, rather than nouns (as the rather isolated, static objects that nouns generally are). These days, we continue to use language rather primitively and wrongly. The extent of this goes far deeper than many of us suppose. Language loads us with presuppositions and inaccuracies that have trickled down from the primitive past.

When someone says, for example, “I had an insight,” it presupposes that the observer is separate from the observed; it presupposes that some supposed “static” center was at some psychological distance from what the process of insight was and “had it”. In reality, deep insight exists as a movement that no central, isolated “I” actually “has” or can legitimately take credit for. A supposed central agency (that is not really central whatsoever), being static, conceptual, essentially virtual, and essentially fragmentary, cannot justifiably take credit for having what is a movement of substantiality, a holistic movement. An empty sealed jar cannot hold the wind.

When we look, we see — via language, as we were taught — a world of separate things. We see fragmentarily, in a (set, prearranged) sequence developed by language. “This” as separate from “that,” “this” following “that.” Language consists of sequence and fragmentary movements through (and “as”) time.

Do not be a slave to language. This movement asks you to please look deeply beyond it.

______________________________________________________________________________

A poem from E.E. Cummings:

n

ot eth
eold almos
tladyf eebly
hurl ing
cr u

mb

son ebyo
neatt wothre
efourfi ve&six
engli shsp
arr ow

s

Butt er fly upcl ose … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020

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Timelessness and Time

September 18, 2020
15 comments

We function in (and “as”) time. Time involves distinctive patterns in sequences. Thought/thinking is of time; thought/thinking is time. Distinctive, disparate patterns in (and “as”) time allows for conflict, friction, and discord to take place. Needless to say, a lot of friction and disharmony takes place in today’s world; just look at the newspapers to see plenty of that going on.

There is a nameless, sacred timelessness that exists at (or “as”) another dimension completely. It is not of conflictive patterns; it is not of sequences of discord; it is not of fragments involving disorder. It is coherent and is of a harmonious whole, beyond mere conflict and chaos.

Organized religions cannot take you there; organized religions are based on achievement, progress, and movement to goals (in time)… all involving calculated (man-made) patterns. That namelessness is beyond the cause-effect parameters of patterns; it is not some causally induced “effect achieved” or end result.

Thought/thinking, though oftentimes very necessary in functioning, cannot take you to that otherness. Thought can play all kinds of tricks but it cannot take you to where it cannot function… to where it has never functioned (and to where it never will function). (Thought/thinking can easily imagine that it is of wholeness and that it is in great silence and in the special quietness of “not being thought”… while — all the while — it is deceiving itself.) Thought/thinking is always conditioned, always in (or part of) a cause-effect sequence, always reactionary, always rather virtual, always fragmentary, and always rather secondhand. Well, that’s enough thinking for now.

Pale Green Assassin Bug, waiting with his different-colored bait … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020
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On Becoming Whole

September 4, 2020
24 comments

Recently, within the last week or two, one of the regular blogs that i visited, as part of a rather poetic posting that it had about things to accomplish, mentioned — among other things — “becoming whole.” Not wishing to criticize here, but that posting — like so many blogs that are similar to it by well-meaning others — has very good intentions but (one feels) misses the mark (so to speak). (Unfortunately — for others — people who write about wholeness and mindfulness, but who have never actually gone through deep and profound enlightenment — though their intentions are good — are like blind men writing about the beauty of good photography.)

To have the aspiration of “becoming whole” may seem well and good but it may actually have the unintentional backfiring effect of being quite misleading and misdirecting. For instance, do any of us deeply question “what” or “who” is going to be “becoming whole”? If what purports to become whole is some illusory “center” that one has accepted (via miseducation) as some kind of core controller in the middle of consciousness that is (supposedly) orchestrating things, then one may be wasting time with fictitious, barbaric paradigms. Frankly, as one has pointed out in numerous blogs (previously), there is no legitimate “center” that is in control. (And do not misconstrue this; this does not mean, because of a lack of a true center, that one should get all depressed about a lack of security and eternity in life; nothing could be further from the case. Security, order, and eternity are there in abundance with right understanding.)

If there is no legitimate center, and there isn’t, then what is it that is going to psychologically “become”? One may become a better cook, a better gardener, a better photographer (over time). These all have to do with physical improvements over (and in) time regarding fragmentary and sequential frameworks… and in such frameworks, they are quite valid. However, wholeness — real wholeness, not silly mental constructs and fabrications about what wholeness is — may be beyond the framework of time. Time, thought, and everything in time (including thought) is fragmentary and sequential. Real wholeness is a timelessness beyond all of this. And an illusory, petty little “center” — that one has blindly accepted from society (from your parents and educators) as being legitimate — purportedly thinks that it can progress (in sequential time) to what it says is whole. It cannot. An illusory fragmentation (as an accepted image of something “central”) cannot become what is pristine and what is beyond sequential, time-oriented paradigms.

It would be prudent, before proceeding on a quest for truth, to do so without carrying a heavy load of preconceptions/presumptions (i.e., a heavy load of baggage). And without the psychological baggage, it may be that there would not be a false, fragmentary network seeking what it could never be. And there is great beauty in that.

Not an Electrical Array … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020

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Suffering and Beyond

August 28, 2020
17 comments

We all suffer in the journey of life. The rich and the poor suffer. The rich may think that they suffer less, but what are they rich in? If they are well-to-do with lots of money but are short on real compassion, insight, and wisdom, are they truly rich? Most of us were miseducated on what true richness in life entails; then we go through life bereft of the real treasures, empty of real substance.

Animals (other than our own species) also suffer. Many are currently suffering because of the overindulgence of man… too much cement, too much pollution, too much loss of habitat. There is also the competition in nature between the many animals; many have to struggle among themselves for survival. It’s a tough world out there.

When one looks with barriers, through psychological walls of separation (as one has been mistaught to), then one doesn’t do much about the suffering. Ironically, these very walls (i.e., psychological walls) tend to enclose and greatly contribute to one’s own so-called personal suffering.

True intelligence not only helps much suffering to end in the exterior world — via compassion and action (because “others” aren’t so separate any longer) — but also transcends suffering internally (or psychologically, so to speak). When a mind goes beyond crude ways of perceiving, then a totally different dimension may take place (that is — to a large degree — beyond the friction and pain of regular life). A mind that consists of reaction after reaction is bound to suffer; a mind that does not always react like a programmed robot may transcend much suffering.

Vertical Ascension … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020

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Freewill and Deception

August 11, 2020
10 comments

Ambrose Bierce defined “decide” as ‘to succumb to the preponderance of one set of influences over another.’ But let’s inquire further. What is it that is doing the “succumbing”? It may actually be — which many people will not care to face — that conditioned reactions help to constitute what one set of influences does over another… and that the knee-jerk concept of “I” or “me” is basically a conditioned protrusion of thought that occurs later (as it falsely appears to take the credit for “deciding”). Additionally, it may be that the conception of “I” or “me,” before any apparent “deciding” takes place, is also merely a learned social projection (of thinking) that is (essentially) unnecessary. Transcending this illusory “center” — that never truly was a center in the first place — takes the intelligence of wisdom. (Such wisdom is of an eternity beyond the falsity of a learned center.)

Are we merely at the mercy of inevitable conditioned responses that render us to be merely rather robotic and computer-like in nature? We say, “Not necessarily.” The (healthy and wise) mind can look holistically, in a manner that is more in-tune with the whole and not merely immersed in (and “as”) fragmentary parts and conditioned robotic reactions. However, there is no “green flag” that pops up in the mind, revealing that one is looking holistically. One cannot “know” that holistic mindfulness is happening. In truth, this may tie into the fact that holistic insight (as profound understanding) is beyond the field of the known.

Real compassion — not the phony kind set up for everyone to see — relies very little on the “I” or the “me.” The poor bloke who is in love with himself (i.e., in love with his “I” and “me”) cares little, for the most part, for others. The real jewel in life may not be what you were taught; it may not be what is construed as being your special center. There is, psychologically, no special center. Thank goodness!

Long-Legged Fly … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020
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Living and Enlightenment

August 4, 2020
32 comments

Note: (I’ve dropped out of blogging for a while because i’ve been very busy with other projects. I may — or may not — be doing much blogging in the future; it depends upon my time and some other factors. For those who are truly “inquiring” in all of this, what i have written is always there — and elsewhere — if you know how to look. Regarding the blogging, posting close-up nature pictures has always been a small part of my offerings, although the main focus has always been the philosophy. Followers who have primarily focused on the pictures have really missed the whole point; it’s like focusing on the tie that a good philosopher is wearing, rather than actually listening to what he has to say… which is sad in regard to the picture — or mere tie — lover. That being said, the number of insect species and other small species disappearing in the environment is alarming, to say the least. It breaks my heart to go picture-taking and seeing fewer wildlife species each year, and it is not just in our area; it is all over. Additionally, so many millions of people, such as in America, succumbing to heartless political propaganda — that includes indifference to the health of the environment — is equally cataclysmic… and, of course, the two situations are closely related.)

************************************************************************

So many of us have assumed that we are fully living. However, a person who has been through true satori (i.e., true visitation from that eternal, sacred energy) realizes that people are only “alive” and “living” to a very limited, fragmentary extent. Such so-called “living” is only a rather seed-like state that has never really blossomed whatsoever. To truly change fundamentally, the instrument that is looking is perceiving beyond distortion. That instrument is the mind (and perception of the mind is not separate from what the mind is). Before one starts “cleaning” the mind into what one thinks it “should be” one must realize that there is no separate “cleaner” or “changer” and that time is not a necessary factor. And the “should be” is a projection of the mind that may help create illusions of separation, such as (psychologically) the so-called separation between the “changer” and the “changed.” Thought takes time; thought is psychological time and is separative and fragmentary. A vast, whole, timeless intelligence does exist.

Covered in pollen… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020
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Turtles and Freedom

May 26, 2020
47 comments

My wonderful, nature-loving wife, Marla, discovered this young, freshly-hatched Snapping Turtle wandering around in our yard and called me to take pictures. Snapping Turtles lay from 20 to 30 eggs on land — in sand or soil — and when the little “snaplets” hatch, they (hopefully) head for water. I took photos of this little fellow and then tossed him in the river that we live on. I saved him a lot of walking/wandering time and prevented him from being eaten by crows, raccoons, and such.

When i was very young — at grade-school-age — i went fishing one day with my grandfather and father. They caught a big turtle — it wasn’t a snapping turtle — and wanted to take it home to make Turtle Soup out of. Yuk! They kept the turtle in a huge fishing net (high up on the bank); the turtle was trapped in the net as it faced the water… wishing to run in. I felt very sorry for the turtle… and gave the big net a swift kick. The turtle managed to get out of the net; i never saw a turtle run so fast; it ran, like lightning, straight into the lake and quickly swam off. Of course, i got a good “yelling-at,” but felt that it was well worth it! That lovely creature got away!

Most humans are trapped and don’t even know it. The net is their traditions, their societal norms, their iron-clad religions, their immoral habits, their separative ways of looking at the world and its so-called separate parts. They think that their net, their beliefs, religions, prayers, mental projections, meditative techniques, and customs are ensuring that they remain very safe. But the net is a net… a limiting, fragmentary, man-made trap that is not helping in a holistic and truly healthy way. One cannot easily kick or leave the trap because one’s very foundation and mental constitution consists of the trap. It is very arduous to go beyond the trap but it is not so difficult if wise/keen and very pure perception occurs without all of the nettings that were crammed into (and around) one over the many years. To look without the known involves no learned technique, no remembered procedure.

That turtle, many years ago, cared more about freedom than most people do in this very nutty age… (with callous, narcissistic, dictatorial leaders popping up worldwide like mushrooms). Their well-designed traps were carefully fabricated to entrap you.

Baby Snapping Turtle (1) … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020

Baby Snapping Turtle (2) … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2020
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Song Poem about The Future (unless we change)…

November 25, 2019
6 comments

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Aloneness

November 22, 2019
7 comments

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

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

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

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

An alone Grasshopper … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

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Take one step at a time, they said…

November 18, 2019
7 comments

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

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

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

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

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

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Barney the Bullheaded Bullfrog

November 12, 2019
14 comments

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

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

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

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

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Can Couldn’t

November 11, 2019
8 comments

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

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

steps stood
and said sermoned
cruel counted
must might

having had
tried thought
cricket chirped
but will won’t

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

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

November 8, 2019
37 comments

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

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

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

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

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

November 6, 2019
9 comments

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

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

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






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






					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Humanity

		

			
November 5, 2019

							

				6 comments				

								

	


			

			


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


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


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








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

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Wordless Wednesday … Not!  (My Halloween Offspring)

		

			
October 30, 2019

							

				7 comments				

								

	


			

			











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





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





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

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Latest Sierra Club News as of October 2019

		

			
October 25, 2019

							

				20 comments				

								

	


			

			






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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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










Wild Thistle … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				

			
				



			

		
		

	
	

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

		

			
October 19, 2019

							

				13 comments				

								

	


			

			











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





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










Vegan Shot   (you are what you eat)…





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










Just another one of you meat-eaters. 





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

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

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

		

			
October 16, 2019

							

				28 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


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


coming for you!


__________________________________________________________________________


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


 


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


 


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


 




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

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Meditation

		

			
October 11, 2019

							

				20 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


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


Please!


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


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


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


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


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


 




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

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Wordless Wednesday … Not!… Halloween Toad

		

			
October 9, 2019

							

				27 comments				

								

	


			

			


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








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

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

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

		

			
October 7, 2019

							

				22 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


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


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


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


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


 




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

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

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

		

			
October 2, 2019

							

				34 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


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


______________________________________________________________________________


They beat us to it.  


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


 




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






					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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An Ant’s Perspective of Bigness

		

			
September 30, 2019

							

				28 comments				

								

	


			

			


It was such tremendous luck finding this big green meal for the colony

It is very difficult to move all of this fine meat toward our anthill but
when I get it to the colony I will become a 
great heroine


I will be known as the one who courageously 
brought a lot of protein for the many larvae
all the while risking being stepped on by
those giant frightening bipedal apes

I will be revered and may even be promoted to
the job of attending to the Queen

Oh I am so very excited and happy






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

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Winged and Ready

		

			
September 24, 2019

							

				18 comments				

								

	


			

			


Winged and ready
         to softly swirl
a long way off from
         man’s sad sordid fabrications and smoggy surgings


Bright eyes see
         beyond miserable madness(musts and can’ts)
and will fly
         beyond stale circumscriptions


Will we succumb to whirlwinds of hard
         indifference?
Will they plant their deadness into
         our innocent minds?


That is up to you






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

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Wordless Wednesday … Not!

		

			
September 18, 2019

							

				46 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


A true love of nature stays local as much as possible and avoids using deadly fossil-fuel jet planes and fossil-fuel road vehicles to travel world-wide to go to “exotic” nature places; such worldwide-sight-seeing (and picture-taking) is not loving nature; nature is not a Disney Amusement Park.   Our globe is very delicate, fragile, and we have been brainwashed and conditioned to think nothing of traveling long distances for mere amusement purposes.  Aircraft emit staggering amounts of CO2, the most prevalent manmade greenhouse gas.  If you love nature, stay local.    


 


 


Perfect symbiosis … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019


 


 

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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It is Friday the 13th, and it is very unlucky to remain as illusion…

		

			
September 13, 2019

							

				17 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


More, yet again, is presented here on psychological time.  Most of us still function — in the psychological-sense — as if we are in time, as if we are (somehow) something separate from (or apart from) time.  The best scientists, including Albert Einstein, have told us that time and space are not two separate things; they have told us that spacetime is one holistic thing.  Yet we go on in this barbarian, primitive way… acting as if we are merely “in time” and not acting with the intelligence that sees that we are indeed what time is.   The thoughts that we exist as actually exist as networks of neurons and neural components in (and “as”) matter in our brains.  Our thoughts emanate from (and depend upon) a very material process… involving matter.  This matter — this brain oriented matter — must be constituted of physical materials just like what is contained in stars and planets.  This matter is, per se, a form of space.  And space and time are not two separate things; they are one.  They are different in their aspects, but they are one.  We are time (not merely in time).  


Now here is the crux of the matter (that we are pointing to).  Let’s say you wish to (psychologically) “get better” in time.  That distance, that is from where what exists “now” to what “you say you ‘will be'” takes up psychological space.  It is a limited (psychological) space projected concerning a “here” to “there.”  When you see someone of a very different familial or racial heritage than you, there often exists — in each of many people — a psychological space between “you” and “them,”  between your group and their group.  What we are suggesting is that the limited space of “here” to “there,” with your “I” or “me” psychologically “getting better in time” situation, is remarkably similar to the space separation with your “you” and “them” situation.   We are all extensions of the same holistic spacetime movement, and “as it,” in reality, we are not separate things.  Some perceptive people will see this; others (i.e., most) will just go on being stuck in primitive perspectives and will go on being greedy about the future and indifferent about others.   You are time; space too is what you are… and if that space is limited and illusory, consciousness will be limited and illusory.  If you merely remain as that limited space between “now” and “tomorrow,” and if you merely remain as that limited space between “you” and “them,” then primitive illusion is what you are; and primitive illusion is not separate from what suffering and ignorance is.  


Right now we are a society that gobbles up tons of synthetic pills (instead of solving the real, fundamental problems about health and mental wellbeing); we overpopulate the planet and do all kinds of hateful and callous things to “others”… including “other life forms.”  Many of us were miseducated to be stuck in indifference, separation, and blindness… and the wealthiest powers that be (at the top) are delighted… (although, in reality, they are suffering and are a tremendous cause of suffering).  


That timeless and immense perception can only occur when limitation is understood… when limitation ends psychologically.


 


 


Wild Blue Vervain and Bumblebee … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



			

		
		

	
	

		
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Wordless Wednesday … Not!

		

			
September 11, 2019

							

				13 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


Looking beyond the darkness … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019


 


9/11 was an extraordinarily tragic thing.   Far worse than 9/11 is losing the ecological balance of the earth.  The earth is currently collapsing, nature-wise, because of our shortsightedness.  Heartless political forces, so-called big business, and indifferent so-called humans are zealously steering many of us in the wrong direction.  We all need to do much more.  A collapsing earth is a most terrible thing.   Stay local, use alternative energy, recycle, and vote green.    


 

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Whom are We Kidding?…

		

			
September 6, 2019

							

				17 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


Whom are we kidding?  Most people do not change fundamentally no matter what you tell them, no matter what you write about.  We are writing here about changing immeasurably beyond what most people consider “changing” to be.  I do blogging mostly for one reason only: to help people to explore their true relationship with everything and look into the possibility of discovering something really sacred (beyond what most of us merely conceptualize about by what was implanted into us by old traditions and antiquated customs).  Medals aren’t given to those very few in the world who were truly enlightened (i.e., visited by that ineffable, eternal energy).  Halos aren’t given either.   (Far too often, unfortunately, it is the blind leading the blind and it’s one hell of a mess out there; a lot of people assume that they can clearly see… according to what was spoonfed into them.)  Real perception is a radical and beautiful explosion beyond what you were merely taught.


Speaking of seeing, my macro-nature photos are all well and good but, fundamentally, they are two-dimensional snapshots of the past that are rather trivial in their own superficial way. (The photos are squat compared to the prose writings offered in terms of the possible value to people’s lives regarding going beyond gross conditioning and limitation.)  Much of what i write — we are referring to the prose stuff here —  is only mildly deep (i.e. we could go much deeper), though a good portion of it does go somewhat deeper.  Will what i write help many people to change fundamentally?  (Probably not.)  A real, fundamental change would leave a person totally shocked at what the implications are… and totally shocked by what actually, phenomenally happens; a totally different kind of human being, from the standard, same-old fare, would emerge.  But the chances of that occurring are very small indeed.  People, in this sense (i.e., the sense that we are talking about) — due to deeply ingrained conditioning, etc. — just do not change.  They basically (fundamentally) remain the way they were.  


 


 


Yellow Tiger Swallowtail … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019


 


 

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Wishy-Washy

		

			
September 2, 2019

							

				18 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


Wishy and Washy were fun-loving gals

     and many folks knew that both were loyal (trueblue) pals


Washy (without Wishy) went to the laundromat (with a basket that she had her clothes in);

     later, the clothes were all swishy and went into full-spin


Wishy, however, was sitting in her comfortable, convenient chair

     pining for great nature photos at which she could stare


So, instead of viewing blog photos of nature (which you often appreciate)

     get over to the clothes-washer and put your laundry in (because it’s getting late)


 


 


Purple Wildflowers … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Einstein, Spacetime, and the Fallacious Belief in a Central Ego…

		

			
August 30, 2019

							

				18 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


Hermann Minkowski and Albert Einstein taught us about how space and time are not two entirely different things but are, together, one.  However, most people just do not get what that means, psychologically and fundamentally, including a lot of supposedly smart scientists.  Years ago, when i was much younger, i used to hang around the quantum physicist Professor David Bohm, whom Einstein fondly called his “spiritual son.”  Bohm was a famous scientist in his own right and when we discussed things, i was already well aware of the implications of spacetime and what that meant psychologically and on a larger scale.


Space and time are not two separate entities; together they are one.  If you look at nature and people merely with psychological separation, with psychological space, as most people do, that very separation helps to support and produce an abstracted, psychological “I” or “me.”  If you perceived without such (learned) separation, the “I” or “me” need not exist (which would be fundamentally way more accurate).  If you say, “I will be trying to be ‘good’ so that I can eventually get to heaven,” you are supposing that you are something separate from time (in time)… rather than the actuality of being what time is.   Your brain consists of matter (which often functions to react as thoughts), and matter is space, spacetime.   Of course, we have to use time (in the physical world) to get to work on time or to be at a specified meeting on time.  To use time to get somewhere psychologically or spiritually, however, is largely fallacious.   Wishing to advance over time spiritually presupposes that you are “in time” and are not what “time is.”  Mentally manufacturing a separation between you and time (except for certain time-oriented physical things, like the ones mentioned… and for using our crude, unfortunate language system) is often a process of wasting energy and is inviting great deception.  Both the aforementioned psychological space separation and the psychological time separation are illusory; together, both help to create the fallacious and selfishly separate ego.  (One cannot be in communion with the timeless if one is a series of fragments of time that erroneously presuppose that they are “in time” advancing spiritually.)


Eternal and orderly phenomena can exist (in humans) without the ego (i.e., without any psychological center).  As we have often suggested, the central ego is essentially fallacious and illusory.  Habitually looking from (and “as”) it is an illusion; it is a fallacy that most people habitually cling to.  Like a man who thinks that he sees vast water in a desert — you know that age-old mirage — and insists on fishing in it non-stop, stay completely with the ego if you wish.


When discussing things in public with people, we can still politely use the word “I,” while (all the while) being fully aware of its fallacious and deceiving attributes; it is one of the misfortunes of living in a society with a barbaric system of language.  Professor Bohm diligently worked on helping develop a more accurate and scientifically evolved system of language, which he called the Rheomode.  Later in life, Bohm learned of the Native American Blackfoot language, and also of other members of this Native American language family, all of which are very strongly verb-based and do not divide the world into solid categories (i.e., nouns) but, instead, describe in terms of processes and related movements.   Link to short Professor David Bohm Video.


 


 


Green Treehopper … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Wordless Wednesday … Not!

		

			
August 28, 2019

							

				20 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


?what kind of heathen sacrilegiously writes

on a consecrated,wordless day,

asking us to transcend all of our mindless traditions 


 


 




[Note:  Today’s posting was inspired by a comment by a wonderful blogger that i follow who, last Wednesday, in a “Wordless Wednesday” that i posted, graciously commented that my words were missed.  Thank you much, A Curious Introvert !  … and hugs to Cutie Fuzzy Doggy.]


Let’s follow Daddy-Long-Legs … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Trying to Get to the Top

		

			
August 27, 2019

							

				25 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


                                                                 O

                                                                 h $


                                                               that

                                                           top that

                                                       so many are

                                                   struggling to get to


                               Is it worth all of the time & competition?

      Is surpassing and suppressing those below and impressing those above worth it?

When you finally get to the top, is there really genuine happiness there or is it an empty lie?!


 


 


Getting to the Top … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				

			
				

			
				



	
	

		
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So here we are, Master FourEyes

		

			
August 20, 2019

							

				17 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


So here we are, Master FourEyes,

and i don’t think that what i write 

will change things enough


and i don’t think that what you

nibble on will change things enough

… and that’s OK; it’s OK


And when we look at each other

each other we are

And when each other

we together look at oneself


Our unbelievable now is more timeless 

than any dead(stone-cold temple that replaced the prairies)

while Mr. Death — whom so many fear — has nothing on us


because we livingly understand him(and smile with and beyond him)

more than teardrops grow upwards

and flowers flow down


 


 


Master FourEyes… who happens to be a Milkweed Beetle on, of all places, a Milkweed Plant … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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There is the isn’t

		

			
August 19, 2019

							

				25 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


There is the isn’t 

which every couldn’t lost for                   

Its unquietness is what we were

and its non-absence steals our wonder


This is the joy(quite possible

that)every sorrow would ignore

Its murmuring is beyond our getting

and its thunder beyond your clapping


 


 


Tiny White-Striped Katydid on a Clover Leaf … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Insights or Non- (Part 11)

		

			
August 16, 2019

							

				18 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


The comatoseness of the average-ordinary mind is the result of a cadaverous education.


Merely looking at life through a screen of symbols and labels — as most do — isn’t really looking at life at all.


Taking a shower isn’t good enough; cleanse yourself of the dusty, stale past.


One cannot be visited by that pristine ground of eternal sacredness unless one’s mind is of intense order and purity.


There is, despite what we were taught, no (real) separate ego or central “I” controlling thought/thinking; what occurs — other than what holistic insight and direct perception reveal — is mostly all conditioned reactions that one is not separate from.  


Being photogenic isn’t important.  Being whole, compassionate, and perceptive is important.


 


 


After a Shower … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019


 


 

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Finally meeting your Long Lost Auntie

		

			
August 13, 2019

							

				5 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


Yes, dears, I am your long lost auntie.

We finally get to meet, my sweet loved ones!

Life’s been tough, as you can see by all of the 

many timeworn scratches on my aged back.  

Come, come, I have some sweet, fresh salad for you to enjoy!

You had better eat it while it’s fresh…

that way, you will get all of the best vitamins that will help you grow.

Eat plenty, eat!

After we eat, that is when

your loving auntie will hug you dearly.

We’ll hug and hug to make up for all of the lost time that

has befallen us.

Now, let’s eat, dearies, let’s eat!  


 


 


Photo of Your Long Lost Auntie … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019


 


 


 

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Monarch Caterpillar

		

			
August 8, 2019

							

				24 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


In my beginning is my end.  — T.S. Eliot


 


 




[Note:   While photographing this Monarch caterpillar, it noticed the camera and suddenly went from high activity and movement to total stillness.  More of us would be better off by letting total stillness — of the mind — occur more often (even though it is not merely an occurrence and has nothing to do with time or effort).] 


 


 


Monarch Caterpillar … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019


 

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Two Short Stories

		

			
August 6, 2019

							

				33 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


Once there was a very rich man who, every time he saw people in need, would quickly pass them by, saying, “Sorry, I don’t help strangers.”

Then, over a short span of time, the man lost everything.  When he reached out for help, the first person who passed him by mumbled, “Sorry, I don’t help strangers.”


____________________________________________________________________________________________________


 


There was a man who, every time he looked up, worried about what was down…  and every time he looked down, worried about what was up. 

He suddenly died.

They buried him way down in the ground, facing up of course.  


 




 


Monarch Butterfly on Cone Flower … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Latest Sierra Club News

		

			
August 2, 2019

							

				36 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


Earth’s glaciers are shrinking five times faster than they were in the 1960s.


The United States used more energy in 2018 than ever before, partly because Americans drove more: 3.225 trillion miles, 12.2 billion more than 2017.


Wolves return to the Netherlands after an absence of 140 years.


A suspected rhino poacher in South Africa is trampled to death by an elephant, then eaten by lions.


The last time Earth’s atmosphere had as much carbon dioxide as it does today, there were trees growing near the South Pole.


Thawing ice on Alaska’s Denali is exposing the 66 tons of feces left by generations of mountain climbers.


Sea level rise has cost property owners on the East and Gulf Coasts more than $16 billion since 2005.


Senator Mike Lee of Utah says that the solution to climate change is to “fall in love, get married, and have some kids.”


Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swede who inspired the Youth Climate Strike, is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.


The stomachs of dead whales found in the Philippines and Italy are full of plastic trash.


Scientists discover a new species of orca of southern Chile — “The largest undescribed animal left on the planet.”


Trump’s proposed federal budget would cut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent.


Composite photographer Nick Brandt, whose profound works show how nature in the world is quickly dying away due to man’s indifference, says, “My motivation is my anger and despair at what we are losing, that the human race is sleepwalking its way to oblivion.”


 


 


Lacewing Insect … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019


 


 


 

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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On the Precocious Mantis and the Ominous, Hideous Creature…

		

			
July 30, 2019

							

				30 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


Walking just walking along 

gingerly and slowly swaying 

waltzing alien-like from leaf to leaf


Stalking just stalking along

stick-like & Oh so lean

happily wondering whom next i can eat


Suddenly out of nowhere

a huge ominous creature appears

thrusting a blackish lens-thing right up to me


In a flash, I quickly leap away

and am so very glad

that the huge hideous creature didn’t eat me


 


 




[Note:  This photo was taken about a month ago.   This was the first  Praying Mantis that i’ve seen this summer; it was young, just around 3cm long.  And, yes — with blackish lens-thing macro camera in hand —  i am the ominous, hideous creature.  (You must admit, we ominous, hideous creatures are pretty huge.)]


 


 


Young Praying Mantis (praying that I don’t eat him) … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019


 

					

	


			
				

			
				



	
	

		
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Jumping Spiders and Awareness

		

			
July 19, 2019

							

				32 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


Jumping Spiders, those very alert arachnids, you know, have many eyes.  Some of the eyes are at the back of the head.  Some even have extra eyes on the abdomen (i.e., their rear section).  One of the reasons that they have eyes in such places is so that they can more efficiently see moving prey (that they can capture to eat).  Another reason for having eyes in such places is that other Jumping Spiders (or other spider species or insect enemies) may try to sneak up on them (to devour them).  Seeing such “attackers” affords quick reaction involving countermeasures.  


We might think, “Oh, how very primitive these spiders are, to be attacking and killing each other with such violence.”  Our species, it can be seen, however, still often kill each other on the so-called battlefield.   “Battlefield,” by the way, is just a word or accepted term for where humans go to react ultra-violently (i.e., primitive-ass crazy).  Many of us periodically celebrate those who were the most violent, calling them “great heroes.”  We seldom celebrate — we rarely celebrate — those who were opposed to war.  (We, instead of observing through separative countries, religions, and tribes, need to observe holistically and globally — which would help to end all wars — but most of us won’t do that, because of being firmly and stagnantly stuck in separative ruts.  So the unending nonsense will continue.)  To really go beyond being primitive and violent, we must observe without all of the separations that were poured into us.   


 


 


Jumping Spider Observing … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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Sleeping White Tail Dragonfly

		

			
July 16, 2019

							

				35 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


 


What prey are you dreaming about

tonight, my adroit, winged friend?

What shifting air currents

are floating through your

fulfilled, slumbering mind?


 




[Note:  I was in the woods taking nature pictures and stayed quite awhile.  It started getting dark and as i was leaving i saw a White Tail Skimmer Dragonfly landing low in some wild plants on the forest floor, fortunately.  I knew that that meant it was preparing for sleep (there).  I waited a bit — for it to really dose off —  and then i slowly moved in to photograph it.  Poison ivy was all around me!  Please note how they wrap their legs around plants while in sleep; this stance affords stability for possible upcoming windy conditions.]


 


 


Sleeping White Tail Skimmer Dragonfly … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019

					

	


			
				



	
	

		
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The Sunset Stared

		

			
July 15, 2019

							

				9 comments				

								

	


			

			
 


Part 1


The sunset stared at separate birds

as he pendulously walked into what he thought he wasn’t.

His disconnection with everything  — like the day — was ironically complete:

A separate “me” scratching an arm that was “his” and

there to use from a “distance.”


Part 2


She was the blossoms that she helped grow.

Their colors were colors that were of purplish her.

She was that towering Oak Tree

but to her, it wasn’t an Oak Tree;

it simply was what it was (beyond labels)

and was not separate from any “me” within her,

for she was beyond all “me”s.

She was the beautiful blossoming of wholeness.


 


 


a little bit of her … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019