Blue skies
quick upon a florid day
Sun swell
in a sea of shine
Still fate
frozen beyond nowhere bound
End sorrow
in a jaunty rhyme
See far
beyond horrid dream
Love lots
perennial sunbeam
Blue Damselfly Sunbathing (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Blue Damselfly Sunbathing (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Everyone seems to exist with many psychological walls. In the aforementioned sentence, the word “exist” was used and not the word “live.” One is not sure whether existing with all of the psychological walls (that society had us absorb) is really living. We… early in life — in grade school and similar places — learned how to incorporate these walls into (and “as”) our consciousness. As adults, these walls have become heavily imbued into each one of us. We perceive — without even realizing it — with (and from) these walls of separation.
What do these walls consist of? They consist of a myriad of things; however, they are essentially ingrained thoughts. We perceive largely via separation and a wall of division. Each one takes for granted that the perceiver is separate from the perceived. Many of us think that humans are somehow separate from the animals. Many function with separative countries, religions, and traditions, and such people then look — despite saying that they do otherwise — with division and fragmentation. We were taught that we are separate individuals.
When a psychological fear takes place, if it is seen via psychological distance, then a manufactured psychological wall exists. That wall divides the perceiver from the fear. In actuality, the perceiver is not something separate from the fear. The fear itself is a protrusion or swelling of consciousness… a consciousness that one is. If jealousy takes place, the average mind sees it as something that it “has,” not as what it actually is. “Having” the jealousy — in the mind — puts it at a psychological distance. A psychological wall, in (and “as”) the mind seems to place the perceiver at a distance from “his jealousy.” That very wall, which separates something from the jealousy, helps manufacture the image of a separate perceiver. That may be a waste of energy; the perceiver is not (in reality) something separate from the jealousy. (This is not to say that a human being is just jealousy; that would be ludicrous; each of us is a unique dynamic). So, what is rather ludicrous — which, unfortunately, most people do not see — involves looking at what you actually are from a distance (as if it is not actually what you are). This is really not complicated. When you look in a mirror, you do not think, “There is a separate image at some distance,” … do you? Yet, partly because of faulty education, when hatred occurs, most people see it as what they “have” and as what they control from a “center” at a distance. We extend that inner separation outwardly (into the world, so to speak). We were taught that each one of us is an individual and that each one of us is separate from all other life forms in the whole world; that may not be true whatsoever. Manufactured walls, however, make it seem true. (Transcending the falsehood of separate individuality, by the way, does not negate the beauty of eternity for us whatsoever.) The world is in real chaos/decline because of accepting many (false) deluding walls as things that are true.
Many people can look at a hurt animal without any empathy. Such people inevitably look with a callous wall of indifference. That wall involves space. It is a very limited, distorted space. It is a very confined, circumscribed space that “exists,” and one would not immediately jump to call it “living.” There is, in most of us, a sensed distance between “you” and “what is seen.” This applies internally (such as involving fear) and externally (such as seeing a creature of nature). Either way, that sensed distance (too) makes up the consciousness that you are (and so does the image of what is seen); so there really is no wall, especially internally where the fear or hatred is an extension of the mind.
Though he harms others, even an extremely cruel man — in his isolated, cold existence — usually takes great pains not to harm himself. However, for such a man, false walls have isolated that so-called self to a very disconnected, limited (fallacious and fictitious) realm. We need to be more intelligent as a species; we need to go beyond our primitive walls and limited boundaries and stop butchering each other in archaic wars; we need to stop polluting the whole of nature, which we are not segregated from. We can be truly intelligent and live in the holistic eternal.
Jumping Spider (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Jumping Spider (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
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My heart goes out to those in Charleston, South Carolina who lost their lives or loved ones. The Confederate flag needs to go. To many, it (justifiably) represents repression and hatred. Personally, one doesn’t care to wave flags of any type. If you are a global citizen (i.e., a true citizen of the world), then separative flags have very little meaning. Flags tend to reinforce the feeling of separation and indifference regarding “those at a distance.” Many think that their country or area is superior to “that” country or “other” place… or is superior to “those other people.” During war, so many feel that “God” is on their side… as if God takes sides in violent, separative confrontations! A truly perceptive mind realizes a profound truth that places it in a common bond (united) with all living creatures. Separative flags (of any kind), which promote boundaries and divisiveness (and they pretty much all do), have little significance to a mind that is truly in such a bond beyond demarcations.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/the_confederate_flag_needs_to_go_loc/?bqntMib&v=60732
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[This baby snapping turtle was in the backyard, running about. The adults lay their eggs in the ground; when the babies finally hatch, they need to quickly get to water (or else they get eaten by raccoons, coyotes, foxes, or crows and such). After taking a few photos, I carefully tossed this little guy into the river that we live on.]
Baby Snapping Turtle (1). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Baby Snapping Turtle (2). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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The whole realm of thinking is figurative, fragmentary, and of symbolic representations (that are conditioned). Don’t merely dwell in the field of the conditioned virtual. You can’t hug a concept of a child. Don’t — as so many do — mostly exist in (and “as”) symbols; symbols (as words and mental images) are mere tokens. Most, even when they look at the world, see with (and “as”) the patterns and symbols that they were taught. Look without separative symbols and learned images.
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Shadow of thinking. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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A truly aware and mindful human being often exists beyond petty details and, concomitantly, doesn’t need to depend on stimulus after stimulus to be attentive and content. Though experience is often necessary, a deeply aware mind can sagaciously exist in (or, rather, “as”) a timeless domain beyond mundane experience (beyond the continuum of mere cause/effect relationships); or, though this may seem rather odd, it sometimes functions where experience is a minimal phenomenon that is sometimes secondary or “in the background.” If one is merely immersed in (and responding “as”) experience, one is merely part of cause and effect events (that are always partial, always conditioned). A fluid mind that is not merely dependent on causal phenomena may be whole (and not merely dependent on what is fragmentary, conditioned, and partial). Then, when such a mind is experiencing (which is often very necessary)… it does so with great sensitivity and care. Its experiencing then involves a wholeness; experiencing involved with that wholeness has sensitivity which loves nature, the rivers, the people, and the land. Then there isn’t a fragmentary, separate set of experiences that are only out for themselves.
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[Walking on clouds.]
Angelic stroll. Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
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Don’t be a second-hand, hodgepodge mix of what others (in your life) programmed you to be; perceive directly, without mere conditioning and pre-programmed reaction.
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[Together for eternity… A pair of 50 million year old spiders fossilized in Baltic Amber. The male is on the left.]
Together forever… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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We’re not something isolated from our actions/reactions; we are those actions/reactions.
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In flight and landed. Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
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Real wealth is in perception and heartfelt caring, not in dollars and cents.
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[American Bellflower – Campanulastrum americanum]
After the rain. Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
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The painter is the painted. The cleaner is the cleaned. The climber is the climbed. The thinker is the thought.
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Elegant Lady. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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There’s no magic guru to blindly chase after, to cling to the apron strings of. There’s only you… and no distance to insightful awareness/reality/truth.
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[Leopard Frog nestled deep in the underbrush, far from the beaten path.]
Far from heavy traffic. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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If the mind renews itself each and every moment… there is no boring job of drudgery.
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[Ladybugs are largely carnivorous and eat little insects called Aphids. In this photograph, the captured Aphid is ejecting (i.e., offering) some honeydew, but to no avail. Ants herd Aphids — and protect them like cows – to get honeydew from them (like getting milk from protected cows); but this Ladybug is not just interested in the honeydew; it wants steak for dinner. (There were no protective ants within or around this particular Aphid colony.)]
It likes it medium rare. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Being photogenic isn’t important. Being whole, compassionate, and perceptive is what is important.
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[An Anemone at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. This is an animal… not a plant.]
Let’s hug! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Meditation is never a practice. You can’t practice profound perception, deep awareness, and alive/dynamic wisdom.
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[Fossilized dinosaur bone, Jurassic Period, Southern Utah. Dinosaur bone had chambers within it to store air from the lungs and was more advanced than what mammals had (and still have).]
Bad to the bone. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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To be truly bankrupt is to lack compassion.
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[Bracket Fungi on an old, sawed, fallen tree trunk.]
Well stacked! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Don’t lose your innocence. Don’t ever merely crave to “fit in” with the crowd. Don’t ever fear “being made fun of” or fear “being rejected.” Stand alone without being a slave to “what they think.”
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[Here we go ’round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush.
Here we go ’round the mulberry bush,
So early in the morning.]
So early in the morning… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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A trillion times more important than understanding the instrument of one’s camera… is understanding the instrument of one’s mind.
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A couple of the planets of the sun contain life. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Can one ever remain truly happy if one is constantly looking at the world through the labels that others instilled in one?
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[Buffalo Treehoppers feed on the sap of flowers, vegetables, shrubs, and deciduous trees.]
There’s a hole in their theories! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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If, each and every day, one is wisely psychologically dying to the hullabaloo and clamor of superfluous thoughts, then one isn’t afraid of the mystery of dying (as so many are). Then living and dying aren’t two separate things… nor the latter something horrible to be frightened of.
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[Widow Dragonfly]
Black Widow. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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To be cultivated is to be discerning; one can’t be discerning if one is full of the crumbs of an indifferent society’s brittle cookie.
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Away from the brittle pavement… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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To have a decent rapport with nature… go beyond the self and become “one with plants and animals.”
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[A Grasshopper (with a penthouse view) and a Ladybug. Most Grasshoppers are vegetarian, while Ladybugs are mostly carnivorous. The Ladybug will not attack the Grasshopper, though, since the prey of Ladybugs is much smaller.]
Penthouse View… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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The Future and the Past got married; they officially named their newborn child… calling him Now.
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[Saber-Tooth Cat skull, (Machairodus giganteus), 12 million years old, Guanhe Beds, Linxia Basin, Gansu Province, China.]
Opening up at the dentist’s… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Love all beings and creatures in life… not just your little self and family, race, and nation.
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[A pair of Black Phantom Tetras. The male is in the foreground… the female in the background. The tiny adipose fin — at the top of the fish between the tail fin and the much larger dorsal fin — is clear in the males and red in the females. The males also have larger and more flamboyant dorsal fins. Most freshwater tropical fish of the Tetra group have the little adipose fins… but few have such distinctive indicators to distinguish the males from the females.]
Black Phantoms in our midst… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Circle ends and circles again. Circle ends and circles again…
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Circle ends and circles again… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Friction and conflict — in the mind — begins with thinking the “me” as separate from (and in control of) the “other” thoughts.
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[Black Ants on a very large Oak Tree.]
Busy as bees… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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We won’t ever have a clean, pristine planet if, for instance, fracking is more important for creating jobs and oil than green energy is for world health.
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[Brown Paper Wasp… Polistes metricus. They nourish themselves on nectar and pollen but also seek prey, consisting mostly of caterpillars, to nourish their colonies’ larvae (which reside in “paper-nests.”)]
Getting a little side-snack. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Nature doesn’t have its own sponsors — in the media — telling us to be less materialistic and to travel less (thereby using less fossil fuels); but big, materialistic corporations have plenty of promoters making earth-damaging practices seem “OK” and “normal.” We truly need to go beyond the advertising propaganda.
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[Honey mushrooms along rocks on the river bank. Honey mushrooms, like most mushrooms, are just the visible fruiting body of the fungus. The main part of the organism is underground and is called the mycelium. Mycelium can spread for many miles… and this accounts for mushrooms being some of the world’s largest organisms. It is estimated that some honey mushrooms (that are very large, over many miles) are over 400 years old. (My photos, by the way, are all taken locally; I don’t travel any appreciable distance to take my photos. For instance, one walked to where these mushrooms were photographed.)]
Fruit of the mycelium. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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If you’re like me, you don’t let your good looks go to your head.
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Mantis of the year! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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A mind that is often aware without needing things or thoughts to “be aware of”… is a supremely free, non-dependent, unique, and rather majestic mind.
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[Dragonfly in flight…]
Free and uncluttered…. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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A mind that does not depend on images throughout the day (to be aware) can sleep without crass and crude dreams occurring whatsoever.
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[Leaf-footed Bug with its footing on a leaf. In these, the first three antenna segments are red or reddish brown; the forth is contrastingly yellow-orange or nearly white.]
Leaf-footed Bug exploring. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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A mind that merely clings from one experience to another in order to be happy is, unfortunately, a rather infantile, impoverished state of affairs; it need not be that way.
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[Poison Ivy leaf cluster in the fall.]
Not a good thing to walk through! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Going far beyond depression – rarely, if ever, letting it flower – is an essential function of a stable, healthy, compassionate mind.
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Together in nature. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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The left arm can hate the right arm and think that it is separate… but it isn’t. Peace takes intelligence.
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[A unique variety of Heal All Plant growing on a river bank.]
Heal All. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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True enlightenment — not all of that phony stuff — involves being beyond the “conditioned”; few ever exist in (and “as”) the timeless, the “unconditioned.”
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[A female Cabbage Butterfly resting. They were introduced into the U.S. from Europe at around 1860. Well… we’re used to immigrants!]
She’s not a legal citizen… but I won’t turn her in! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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The only true and profound revolution worth fighting for is a nonviolent, spiritual one.
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[A Meadow Spittlebug weathering out the rain. They are very small and feed on a variety of weedy plants. Adults readily jump or fly when disturbed.]
Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Poise is the elegance and sound balance that a truly aware and, hence, compassionate mind has… without following blueprints.
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[A Blue Bottle Fly and a Lady Bug. Blue Bottle Flies are most active during spring and fall. Lady Bugs are active spring through fall.]
A lady and her bottle. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Give a living, potted flower to an elderly friend… whom you expect nothing in return except for maybe a big, fresh smile!
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Lily. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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True happiness is not merely an acquisition… it’s a wise, intelligent, aware, and blissful state of being and non-being.
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Go beyond grasping. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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True insight is instantaneous (and timeless)… no time (or practice) is involved for it to finally come about.
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[From earlier this year… these are the Stamen of a red Lily Flower. The Anther is the top part of the Stamen and contains the Pollen, the male reproductive cells. The Filament is lower down and holds the Anther.]
Pollen machines. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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If you are very wise, every time you throw a rock it always lands in the same place.
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[Photos of local river in the fall season.]
Always and never (1) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Always and never (2) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Let the authoritarians keep their gobbledygook. Look and feel for yourself!
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[Fall colors! That acorn may be the Oak Tree’s first move regarding continuing the game.]
Splendid fall colors. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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All true wise men have a propensity to understand the whole.
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[Silver-Spotted Skippers are distinguished from true butterflies by the antennae, which are wider apart at the base and end in pointed, curved clubs. Silver-Spotted Skippers — and all Skippers — are so named for their erratic, skipping flight.]
Silver-Spotted Skipper with its curled proboscis. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Have gratitude for the simple things in life… for they are usually the most precious.
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[Morrow’s Honeysuckle, which now grows wild, is one of several honeysuckle shrubs that have been introduced from Eurasia. Morrow’s honeysuckle was imported in the 1800’s for use as an ornamental, for wildlife food and cover as well as for soil erosion control. This one is growing along the bank of a river… which helps against possible erosion.]
Red Gems. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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To wisely question may be more intelligent than having concrete certitude.
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[Eyeing the camera (with a smile)…]
Captured by the Hopper’s lens. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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You can buy stuff, but you can’t purchase integrity, compassion, and deep insight.
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[Local Creek in Fall]
Local Creek Up Close. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Local Creek. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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A requisite attribute of time is distance. A requisite attribute of thinking that you are separate from others is time.
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[The Ailanthus Webworm Moth thrives from spring through fall. The caterpillars of the Ailanthus Webworm Moth spin loose cocoons low on the host plant. There is one generation per year.]
Ailanthus Webworm Moth, eats foliage of deciduous trees and shrubs. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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To question everything wisely and intelligently… is to deviate from the norm.
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[This Honey Locust Tree is protecting itself well with an array of spiked thorns. Honey Locust Tree thorns are thought to have evolved to protect the trees from browsing Pleistocene (i.e., Ice Age) mega-fauna. The name derives from the sweet taste of the legume pulp, which was used for food by Native American people, and can also be fermented to make beer.]
Honey Locust Tree protecting itself! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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If one merely thinks according to what was taught by society — as most do — one is thinking and living their thoughts, which is rather second-hand. Live!
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[Digger Wasps are often seen on flowers during the day. During the night, they rest upon vegetation, singly or in small groups, or burrow into the soil at the base of plants. Digger Wasps will readily sting if bothered enough.]
Digs sometimes. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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The ending of sorrow is the beginning of true and intelligent wisdom.
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[These are wildflower Chinese Lantern plants. They were found growing in a prairie near a local pond.]
Small but beautiful! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Simple acts to help others, physical action to end suffering, and acting to help Mother Earth with actual deeds… is likely worth more than a million people praying.
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[Close-up study of a Begonia (Scarlanda green-red) in the outdoor garden of a large hospital/medical center.]
Begonia (Scarlanda green-red) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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The mind can often be the beautiful space between two thoughts… without symbolic representations, without effort.
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[Diminutive insects on a Viola Flower in the fall season. Despite the cold weather during each night, the Viola Flower and the insects seem to be thriving during the day.]
Impervious to cold. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 