People have turned their backs on the environment in so many ways. They thoughtlessly vote for ignorant leaders who are deniers of manmade climate change, take vacations in heavily polluting jet planes, drive large, gas-guzzling fossil fuel vehicles, etc. Extremely severe climate-related disasters are occurring every day (and are being reported more and more frequently in the news).
I am 73 years old now. As a very young child, i had premonitions about the environment eventually coming to incalculable destruction (due to mankind’s abuse, neglect, pollution, and indifference). We can all do better for the environment. The environment is not something separate from what we are. We are the environment. The environment is what the self is. Mindfulness and goodness involve self-understanding and genuine care and order. We are the world and the world is us. Please don’t divorce yourself from the environment. We can take a more caring, environmentally sound, and simple approach to living (and still have plenty of joy and blissful existence).
Watching you watching him … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
Thought/thinking is very limited. Thought is very cubicle-like. A cubicle is a small, partitioned space. The ego is a small, partitioned space. When intelligence sees the limitation of thought/thinking, then (without time and technique) thought/thinking dissipates when it is not needed. Deep perception is what exists beyond the confines of thought/thinking. Deep perception is beyond futile techniques, concocted forms, images, and symbols. Such perception is light. It is not a separate “you” seeing the light. It is light.
Time depends on (and is) limited sequences of space. Transcending limited space involves the timeless. Interestingly, deep compassion crashes through the ego’s barriers involving its limited space. Compassion transcends limited space and (thus) involves the timeless. Profound intelligence is (and involves) compassion.
Red-Banded Leaf Hopper … Photo c.2024 Thomas Peace
One can get a limited amount of happiness by accumulating things — or by doing things — that one had wanted to get or do. However, acquiring things by way of motive(s) is always circumscribed by a degree of calculated, linear planning, and the result (as an effect) is usually very mundane, secondary, and rather stale. So constantly chasing after happiness is often reflective of a rather immature mind, a mind that falls for the ordinary (being itself, unfortunately, rather ordinary). Does an extraordinary mind habitually chase after the ordinary? … probably not!
Additionally, true joy seldom comes invited (by way of calculated motives). Calculated motives — like clockwork –manifest to bring up what a mind desires… and desire is usually small, self-centered, generic, plastic, and commonplace. Desires are limited reactions (often being robotic, calculated, and dull). True joy and bliss are not what the mind can calculatingly concoct mentally.
So what is an intelligent mind to do? This may (at first) seem nonsensical, but a very wise thing to do — regarding happiness and bliss — is nothing. In doing nothing, the mind is automatically out of the quagmire of calculated, mechanical plotting. Such plottings, with their limitations and mediocrity, are reflections of motives. Going beyond them opens the mind to possibilities that are not limited and are not just fragmentary reactions in the cause-and-effect continuum. Real joy and bliss are beyond the fragmentary known.
That space, that limited, cadaverous space, that separates most people from what they see (and are)… it may nourish a callous indifference (though they may insist otherwise). When limited mental space exists between the perceiver and that which is perceived, then a fabricated center manifests a false radius. This is what allows hatred and indifference to take hold. This is what manifests as secondhand mediocrity and unfeeling psychological cadaverousness.
That learned, absorbed, embedded psychological space must end (without clinging to the apron-strings of tradition, customs, and learned habits). True compassion does not flower with restricted, fragmentary, small, isolated perception. It radiates beyond the ice-cold limited. Stagnant perception is the result of its own illusory psychological cage. In that dead cage, it remains (and claims to be free)… while it decorates and reinforces that cage with superficialities. That stagnation depends on (and is) the cage. (There never was a true center in control of thoughts and emotions. It — i.e., the supposed controller — is a learned protrusion of thought/thinking.) Real joy and love of life can exist beyond limitation based on falsities. Please transcend beyond psychological separation and existing as a consciousness with a limited radius based on a phony center.
Understanding the whole is not possible if the mind is distorted. So, obviously, the instrument of the mind must be orderly and uncontaminated for clear, holistic perception and understanding to occur. A mind full of antiquated patterns, opinions, and fragmented systems that include conflict, friction, copying, and learned anxiety, is likely not what is capable of perceiving purely (beyond the distorted). A mind burdened with the conditioning of a violent, primitive society — such as ours is — is likely too stagnant and adulterated to perceive purely.
So the first step is to perceive beyond — and without — the past conditioning. Many of us may agree, but few will actually deeply look into doing it. Most of us are tethered to the “old ways” in ironclad habits and stagnant patterns. To leave those patterns seems frightening and too unconventional. So we keep reacting (rather like lemmings). Most take the easy path (which is, really, an unalive path).
The old, fragmentary ways of looking at things via separation, conflict, psychological distance, pigeonholing, and using symbols (such as words) as if they are realities, can drop away without needing secondhand methodologies, techniques, and calculated systems. Such calculated systems take time, and they are limited and fragmentary in themselves. Looking without contamination and conditioned parameters does not take time. Time may be a postponement and an easy excuse. Organized religions all take time and emphasize “gradually improving.” True inner silence and profound awareness do not take time, nor are they necessarily two separate things.
Thoughts are, as one has said many times, symbolic representations. The word “butterfly” is not the butterfly. The word “frog” is not the frog. Words are often necessary, but most of us are almost constantly churning with thought after thought, even though these thoughts are just fragmentary symbols. Symbols are tokens for the real thing; they are not the real thing, (be they words or pictorial images in the brain). In our past — in school — we were spoon-fed with words and the symbols within books (as if they were the real thing). We were instructed (for years) to believe in that symbolic/artificial methodology, accepting it as real and true.
A life that habitually clings to one series of symbols after another is, unfortunately, clinging to representations that are (in a big way) superficial. Endlessly clinging to symbols may take away a lot of the true joy, compassion, and true relationship in one’s life. Unfortunately, remaining mostly as symbols and as mental patterns consisting of symbols can tend to make the mind operate in (and “as”) stagnation. Such stagnation consists of sorrow. It is sorrow.
Instead of foolishly trying to escape from this sorrow by means of alcohol, recreational drugs, or expensive vacations, one can likely do much better by not running to outside (purchased) modalities. We can look joyfully just by looking without merely seeing through a mental screen of habitual symbols, labels, and distinctions. “Looking simply” does not require a lot of mental effort, energy, and technique. Since no effort is needed, no time is needed. But we tend to habitually and endlessly employ effort and time. We need not always take time pigeonholing everything with symbolic labels, categorizations, and separate differentiations. Going beyond constant, fragmentary symbolism, and psychological distance is joyous and liberating. In doing so, love is involved… so love then flowers. Words, as rather dead symbols, are protrusions from the past (i.e., from past learned memory). The living present is not of this learned, old past; it is fresh and beyond the old adulteration. Real meditation, without all of the silly techniques and time-oriented methodologies, is the freshness and joy of perception beyond the stale and secondhand.
The word is not the thing. … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
We, as human beings, primarily function due to (and from) causes. The process of thinking (per se) involves cause and effect; we usually do things mentally (with a cause or effect in mind or with a series of causes or effects in mind). Animals also act via cause-and-effect parameters. So, in a big way, we are not much different than other animals. Cause is time. When we function with (and “as”) cause, we function in (and “as”) time. Most of us, just as we were taught for many years, remain very time-bound and time-oriented.
Cause and effect often involve — and consist of — a motive or motives. We want to achieve things and get things, just like many animals. Most of us remain in such domains, without ever deeply inquiring what may be beyond. We usually, without question, remain in cause-and-effect parameters without ever mutating beyond such reactions. Can the mind transcend cause/effect parameters, intelligently existing beyond endless motives? This writer says, “Yes!” Then one doesn’t just react in (and “as”) time. Time has its place. It is often necessary. However, merely clinging to it may be rather childish and crass. Thinking, though often very necessary, is imbued with cause and effect attributes; therefore thinking is time (and takes time). Only if we stay limited do we have to exclusively remain in such a domain.
Many are so conditioned to exist as perpetual “achieving” and “getting,” that they would not even consider the possibility of existing beyond such patterns. Most are stuck in grooves, where they habitually remain. Please consider metamorphosing beyond the norm. Wisely ending conditioning may not depend on any concocted (or habitual) series of endless motives.
In the vastness of nature, when walking among the myriad of beautiful plants and animals that are away from human interference and human destruction, is it possible to blend in as a mind that is also away from human interference and human destruction? Can such a mind be empty of the abstractions, ideas, beliefs, labels, and symbols that were poured into it over many years? Such a pure (uncontaminated) mind, empty of its content, empty of all of the second-hand garbage that was poured into it, can then look beyond adulteration and contamination. Such emptiness, then, is all of the living organisms (without merely labeling them, classifying them, pigeonholing them, or recognizing them through learned and preconceived images and patterns). Then, perhaps, there is only the unadulterated perceived… and not the separation between the perceiver and the perceived. Perhaps, in that situation, there is no time and division. Without time and division, real love and joy may flower.
To look superficially through walls involving separation and boundaries… may not be deep perception. The very nature of the isolated center, ego, or so-called controller, automatically creates walls of separation, distance, and boundaries. It’s not “being in the now,” as so many (these days) mechanically parrot and claim they are doing; it is beyond all that bilge. Please look simply and effortlessly… without all of the rubbish, the abstractions, and the learned separations.
This may seem ludicrous at first, but it isn’t. Most of us are heavily conditioned to run from one entertaining experience to another. We will do anything to escape from what we see as our own inner emptiness (i.e., our own inner void and sorrow). We run from one experience to another, like that proverbial donkey that perpetually pursues the carrot dangling from a stick (that is — interestingly enough– attached to the donkey). We were conditioned to do this… and in this conditioning, we remain. We are this conditioning, not something separate from it.
We were not encouraged to refrain from running from inner emptiness. To not run from inner emptiness does not take time. However, most of us, in time and “as time,” continue to run from it. It may be that such effort is a waste of time… which we repeatedly do until we die. It may be largely a waste of time and energy.
When one doesn’t run from emptiness (in and “as” time), a miraculous transformation may happen. Time (then) does not exist in the normal sense and a timeless (non-sequential) bliss and intelligence may flower without a motive or system of effort. The “known” is a sequential, symbolic, robotic series involving experience, recognition, remembrance, and further accumulative experience and repetitive recognition. This stems from the known (i.e., the habitual, reacting, symbolic, past remembrance) and its sequential movement. This “sequential movement” is often necessary, but clinging to it makes the mind mechanical, repetitive, and dull.
Mankind has, for eons, pursued and craved power… power in the form of governing, power involving influence, power in the form of authority, and power in the form of money or possessions. What is this power that man has spent so much effort in acquiring? Control is a significant feature regarding this pursuit of power. Many of us admire the man who we think controls (even if that man has multiple felonies or is a rapist). We are gullible, delusional people. We have always assumed that the controller and the controlled are two separate things. However, are they really separate things psychologically? Are thoughts really controlled by a separate central “controller” that has power? May it be, psychologically, that the controller is the controlled… that the observer is the observed? Could it be that, psychologically, the thinker is not really something separate, whatsoever, from thought/thinking? Could it be that the “thinker” is a projection from the thought/thinking process?
Man has evolved to the point that we can split the atom and do many complicated, amazing things. We have done a lot of fantastic things with energy and its power. However, we always use and manipulate things regarding this power; we are never actually in a direct relationship with the real essence of that power. We live in mental symbols and psychological abstractions, which do not really consist of substantial power whatsoever.
Peace (world peace) comes about when the inhabitants of the earth perceive and feel true heartfelt oneness. It comes when borders — between countries — are seen as manmade fabrications that often bring about unintelligent separation, conflict, animosity, and turmoil. Countries and religions, when clung to as being special and above and apart from the rest, often bring about conflict. Peace exists when the perceiver sees that the perceived is not so very separate and apart (as we were taught). When separation and division disappear, harmony exists. The fingers of a hand may be different — and in different places — but they are (together) united as one. Even within the mind, the “learned” thought process separates the observer from the fear (but the observer is the fear); the “learned” thought process separates the observer from the desire (but the observer is the desire). We separate inwardly and this is also projected outwardly… with outward separation, friction, and conflict (that is often accepted as normal). Without putting tons of money into armaments, we could get so much more accomplished in the health and medical fields, in environmental health for this small planet, in food production, and regarding forest/wildlife expansion and protection. Peace
One cannot practice or do anything systematically to bring about or conjure insight. True insight, if you are fortunate, is what always comes uninvited. You cannot “make it happen.”
Insight and intuition are entirely different phenomena. Intuition is the unconscious or semi-conscious ability to create links between (or involving) information. Insight involves — without conscious reasoning — understanding holistically (perhaps beyond the parameters of ordinary sequential time and space).
Although one cannot do anything deliberately and directly to bring about insight, some attributes in one may encourage it to perhaps occur (or set the foundation for it to more likely happen). Being a mind that intelligently perceives things holistically, beyond run-of-the-mill fragmentation, robotic labeling, and accepted separation may be beneficial. Additionally, eating and exercising properly — keeping the body excellent physically — may indirectly be very beneficial. However, there is nothing that one can do to cause it to occur; it is beyond the parameters of time and ordinary causation.
If one is holistically entwined with (and “as”) the whole… truly being at one with the animals, plants, and universal order, then that order may be more inclined to protect and reciprocally care for one. Then real magic may happen (beyond the limited domain of time and space).
We look with (and “as”) the parameters of time and space that we were taught to look at. This might sound strange, but is that all that we must be limited to? Can we look with a depth that goes beyond what was spoon-fed to us? Can we perceive more than what they taught us to perceive? This movement says, “Yes.” But don’t just take my word for it. Explore and find out (with passion). Go beyond their measurements, rules, separations, so-called religions, opinions, organizations, limited teachings, acceptances, beliefs, and stale parameters. But most of you won’t do that. Most will shake their head affirmatively and agree; however, they will not fundamentally change. Unfortunately, most are stuck in orthodoxy, stagnation, and sameness. Most are psychologically afraid to leave the limited and the “known.”
A poem by Stephen Crane:
“Think as I think,” said a man, “Or you are abominably wicked, You are a toad.”
And after I had thought of it, I said: “I will, then, be a toad.”
The Perceiver is the Perceived … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
Not all feelings are the same. Some are ordinary, run-of-the-mill feelings (consisting of mechanical reactions, just as mundane thoughts are). For the most part, such feelings are rather superficial, limited, and self-aggrandizing.
Certain other feelings are entirely different, being insightful, holistic, and deeply non-egotistically heartfelt. The former run-of-the-mill feelings are rather robot-like, artificial, and much like how conditioned thoughts function; being of superficial reactions, they seldom, if ever, are of all-encompassing freedom. The latter type of feelings, being insightful, holistic, and selflessly heartfelt, are deeply of compassion and intelligent, comprehensive freedom. Holistic compassion is not run-of-the-mill. Holistic compassion involves love for all, not just for the few.
Before the Helicopter … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
From E.E. Cummings: “It is with roses and locomotives (not to mention acrobats Spring electricity Coney Island the 4th of July the eyes of mice and Niagara Falls) that my poems are competing.”
For most people, the “whole,” is conceptual (as a component of thought/thinking). However, what is merely conceptual (i.e., a product of the brain-thought process) is not the whole. It is just a fragment, or series of fragments, constructed of intellectual images/symbols. The whole is imperceptible to a person who is immersed in (and “as”) fragmentation. Yet, a lot of people think that they understand the whole. Words are fragmentary symbols/representations, not the actuality.
Education, in the past, for almost all of us, focused exclusively on intellectual and conceptual things and parameters. We were not encouraged to look beyond mental symbols, fragmentary parameters, and run-of-the-mill mental constructs. We were — early on — molded to perceive conceptually, fragmentarily, with (and “as”) words and ideas. So most of us look with (and “as”) a screen of mental fabrication. Such looking is limited, largely symbolic, and quite robotic.
Encouraging others, later in their lives, to go beyond such mental structures is very difficult. They function almost exclusively in a world of fragmentation and symbolism. However, there is always the chance of real metamorphosis. Surprisingly, perceiving beyond limited concepts and fragmented symbols does not take a lot of effort. It is the robotic attachment to habitual mental effort that prevents people from radically changing. The blind, habitual effort and dependence involving constantly looking with limitation (as mental fragments and symbols) must psychologically end.
Recognizing the “present” from the past (i.e., from stored, accumulated memory) is not living in the present whatsoever; it is an extension of the past (involving recognition). We can also recognize — and “be” — concepts about the future. However, such concepts or mental formulations are not the future… but are merely projections — from (and “as”) past memory — about what possibly could be.
To intelligently go beyond such limited mental patterns requires a very sharp, dynamic mind. Most minds are not interested in this. Most minds are not capable of what is needed. They tend to stagnate in (and “as”) limited parameters (all the while thinking that they are free, in the present, and accurate in their perceptions). Erroneous thoughts can believe that they are living in the present, while (all the while) they are not. To truly be of the timeless goes beyond self-deception and limited stagnation. Please intelligently inquire into this.
Since the Cretaceous … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
When we were very young, we hadn’t yet learned things about death from society. Then we were full of innocent bliss and we truly felt eternal. Then we were not chock full of knowledge and ideas. We just timelessly looked and marveled.
As adults, most of us have been spoon-fed by a psychologically disturbed society. Most of us no longer feel eternal and timelessly blissful but, rather, feel frightened and insecure. We are afraid of the death that they told us about… about the death we had learned about. We, as adults, exist in a very linear, second-hand, and antiquated fashion. Even with our so-called “correct religious beliefs”, we fear death; beliefs often stem from fear. We fret about a lot of illusory things. It is disturbing to realize this, but it is even more disturbing not to realize it.
To be mentally youthful and untouched by the cadaverous ideas of others is a great order and intelligence.
Most of us look with (and “as”) separation. Within almost each of us, there psychologically exists what we assume to be a “central I” that assumes that it is in control of its thoughts (from a separative distance). This so-called “central I” additionally fundamentally sees things (as if from a point) with a radius between it and the external world.
Love does not readily occur in a mind that is fundamentally based on separation. Psychologically, the perceiver is not separate from the perceived. Separation is often reinforced by fragmentation, conflict, and non-holistic perceiving. A wise mind of profound intelligence may transcend such fragmentary, separative, and divisive psychological behaviors. Such a mind is not fundamentally stuck in conditioned disconnection and illusory partition.
In previous posts, i’ve mentioned existing in effortlessness. Effortlessness is not some lazy psychological state that causes one to be lackadaisical throughout the day. It is not a state of mind that causes one to lay around listlessly throughout the day.
Most of us habitually engage in (and “as”) the effort of “thinking” throughout the day. We are so ingrained in the effort of “thinking” that we hardly or rarely exist without it. We mechanically engage in (and “as”) thinking with constant effort. This “thinking” involves so-called effort by a supposed central, controlling ego. Habitual “thinking” creates the habitual “thinker.” There is a deep perception, however, that does not depend on the habitual effort of thinking. Such perception is not stagnant laziness; on the contrary, it is tremendous energy. This energy acts without dependence on any habitual effort that a limited ego reacts as. In fact, the limited ego is devoid of this energy… and such an ego is often trapped in (and “as”) a series of reactions resulting from habitual effort. This habitual effort was hammered into one (by others in the past) and on this one depends. It is the result of an imitative, secondhand process; it is — itself — an imitative, secondhand process. Imitative, secondhand processes consist of absorbed psychological time and are not true liberation/freedom.
Deep perception is beyond the secondhand. It involves a wholeness that acts outside of the fragmentary effort of an isolated ego. An isolated ego is, itself, secondhand and is the result of stale, fragmentary, effort. The effort of a secondhand ego involves repetitive, habitual psychological time. Wisely existing beyond such effort does not require more time.
Long Legged Attraction … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
Deep perception is the extraordinary order many would radiantly flower in if they were only of it. Such profound perception is beyond the superficial… (the superficial, with its many limitations, forms of fragmentation, and boundaries).
Believing that one has great “will” does little to instill great order in the mind because “will” is a crude mental supposition that presupposes immense freedom (and true freedom is not what manifests by thinking or by believing that one possesses it). One can be in a prison as most people are — psychologically — yet still believe that one has freedom. However, such freedom may be limited and very illusory.
Perceiving everything deeply and profoundly supersedes stale beliefs and conclusions of thought/thinking. In seeing beyond limited conclusions, beliefs, fragments, and suppositions, the mind is of immense clarity and wisdom. Such clarity and wisdom — not being two separate things — is great order and goodness. Many violent and uncaring people think that they have free will; such thinking may not mean a thing. Thoughts (always being fragmented) nullify deep perception if one exclusively exists in (and “as”) thoughts habitually most of the time.
Deep perception acts in (and “as”) a great order (beyond fragmentary thinking and conflict).
Male Indigo Bunting … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
The root of the word “mediocre” means halfway… like going halfway to a treasure or halfway up the mountain. Many people in society, it seems, tend to not care enough about profound, important, and penetrating things. Many prefer to look superficially and prefer to remain satisfied with the superficial. Caring to go deeper is not a one-dimensional thing. Caring to go deeper is multidimensional (and perhaps beyond ordinary dimensions). If you truly care to go deeper, you also naturally care for all human beings. Additionally, you care for the whole of life: the trees, the plants, the animals, and all living things.
A mind stuck in the superficial remains content with superficial things. This superficiality is fragmented, limited, divisive, and circumscribed. I often get complimented for my pictures but not for the written content. I am polite and thank those who compliment me but i wonder about how they perceive in this world. (If Einstein was still around and he gave a superb lecture, would it be prudent for one of the listeners to solely compliment him on the color of his tie?) Society (and its so-called educational systems) have succeeded in turning out a lot of robotic people who go through the motions of being alive, yet (unfortunately) are not fully alive.
We can exist in an easy so-called life and do as we were told, exist as we were instructed, while we believe in what was hammered into us. To question everything intelligently, however, is not easy. To go beyond mediocrity and a lemming existence is not easy. To go very deeply is not easy. To look beyond the stale curtain (and the provided beliefs, isolated boundaries, and words) is not easy. It may be that, unlike what society had taught you, you are not some separate, little entity that needs to succeed apart from all others; it may be that the whole of life (including all living things) is what you are (and not something separate). In true silence and emptiness… the whole is.
We are all aware of the bloodshed and fighting between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Then there’s Russia and Ukraine, as well as other wars and conflicts taking place worldwide. The mass shootings in America and other areas also come to mind. We human beings do not learn from our mistakes, it seems. We keep on contributing to war and violence.
We need to get to the root of the problem. If getting to the root of the problem makes us feel uncomfortable and annoyed, it doesn’t matter. We need to drop our separative stances (that contribute significantly to why these terrible problems exist). More wars have been fought in the name of religion than for any other reason. That is one big reason why i do not belong to any organized religion. Additionally, i prefer to consider myself to be a global citizen, not just someone who belongs to one country. I’ve lived in various countries during my life. Countries are — whether we like it or not — manmade constructs that are an extension of the divisive tribalism of the past. We are all like the fingers of a hand. The index finger may seem separate from the middle or ring finger but it isn’t. We are all of one whole. Kill another and you are killing yourself.
This outward separation and conflict in the world is a protrusion from the inner separation and conflict within the minds of most of us. This internal conflict must end for the vast external conflict and violence to end. Many people cling to what seems to be “easy security,” by belonging to old, manmade structures; however, in actuality, these very structures are the antithesis of real security and are divisive extensions of the primitive past. This is a very serious thing and anyone who doesn’t want to be bothered is turning his or her back on immense order and goodness. Please be responsible.
Most people look at inner psychological fears with separation (from a distance). However, this distance is illusory; such distance involves time and perpetuates fear. All fears, to exist, depend upon thoughts and time. They are often about what will happen or what — according to the mind — could happen. This projecting about the future involves (and is) psychological time. Of course, there are some natural and necessary fears, like when a big shark is seen in the water where one is swimming. That is when fear is prudent and natural. However, most of us have many fears that are not so prudent.
With many psychological fears — as what often happens — what purports to be separate from fears, supposedly “having them,” then looks for ways to go beyond the fears. This wanting to go beyond the fears involves distance and time. As we said, the fears themselves are the result of time. This may be a mindless circle — that many are caught in — that prevents clear understanding and wise change. A wise mind may perceive that fears are not separate from what it (partially) is. Such a wise mind may also see that there is nothing truly separate from the fears that, in a possessing kind of way, has them. Inventing or imagining something separate from them (to get rid of them) creates unnecessary conflict and friction. Conflict and friction depend upon time (and waste energy).
A mind that is largely beyond psychological fears (and needless internal separation and friction)… is a marvelous thing.
One may ask: If the sacred truly exists, why doesn’t it help us more?
That sacred energy did not create the universe/cosmos. However, the universe — as it exists and as it has existed — is in a very delicate balance. Disorder is only relative (and is part of the entire overall orderly balance of everything). That sacredness doesn’t often interfere with the cosmos (because it — the cosmos — is not a structure to be interfered with). Besides, there would be no end to “fixing” things; that “fixing” could continue ad infinitum. Things are left (as they should be) to run naturally; if everything were changed to be what we consider “perfect”, we would be in a world that is plastic-plant-like or that functions like a fake Sesame Street cartoon.
As i had stated previously in previous posts, enlightenment is not something that one achieves. It is a visitation into you by that ineffable sacredness. During such a visitation, one can feel over a trillion times more alive than during regular existence. Such a visitation can (fortunately) alter or influence the brain cells, enabling them to perceive even more clearly and deeply. It’s important though, not to crave such a visitation. Craving it likely nullifies its occurrence. One must be rather indifferent about it happening (regarding oneself). Besides, you cannot crave the unknowable (i.e., the timeless); you can only crave the known (in and “as” time). However, having a silent, pure, innocent mind is wise. Only in such silence and innocence does it flower. One must have a pure mind… but not one that voraciously craves that mystery to enter one’s life. Let the cup (or flower) of the mind be pure, open, uncontaminated, clean, and often empty (of mere symbolism and stale beliefs); do not greedily crave for it to be filled.
I wrote about this to someone who commented regarding one of my posts a short while ago. Much of my reply is being reiterated here.
We all go through myriads of experiences throughout life. However, most of us do not ponder about the intrinsic essence of “experience” nor about what the implications may entail. Most of us cling to one experience after another. Experience is often recognizing things (i.e., re-cognizing things based on past memory and past accumulation); and the experiencer is not separate from the experience. Experiences, same as with thoughts, are always limited. Experiencing is often very necessary and even beautiful (at times); however endlessly psychologically depending on experiences may be rather limited and childish. Can intelligence sometimes go beyond experience and not always cling to the apron-strings of it? I say, “Yes.” However, there has to be a balance. ”Avoiding experience habitually” can turn out to be neurotic and childish. We often take direct experience to be different than thought/thinking… while, for most of us, thoughts — and the recognitions stemming from stored thoughts — are there (involved) as things are experienced. We often perceive through the screen of thinking (while thinking that we are not thinking).
Bumble Bee and Blossoms … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
I was replying to someone who commented on one of my posts recently, that control (by a psychological center) is largely an illusion. However, we are such egoists that most of us can’t fathom what existing without control entails. Not long ago, i watched a TED Talk video on how one’s gut bacteria may possibly determine a lot of what constitutes one’s personality and outlook about others. There is a complex nerve network (i.e., the gut-microbiota-brain axis) between the gut and the brain. It’s a two-way street, but 80% of the messages go from the gut to the brain (and not vice versa). More information passes between your brain and your gut than any other body system. In fact, there are more nerve cells in your gut than anywhere else in the body outside of the brain. Gut microbes produce or help produce many of the chemical neurotransmitters that convey messages between your gut and brain. They also produce other chemicals that can affect your brain through your bloodstream. Bacteria produce thousands of bioactive compounds that affect brain function and neurotransmission; these can determine mood and, for instance, whether depression occurs significantly or not. Eating lousy food really turns us into people with psychological problems. Intelligence eats correctly and (hopefully) perceives and thinks correctly.
Eating many whole, prebiotic foods (like beans, wild blueberries, greens, onions, garlic, soy products, nuts, and foods high in fiber) is recommended; avoid eating fragmented, sugar-oriented foods. Probiotic foods like yogurt (with active cultures) are full of good bacteria already. Eat intelligently and (hopefully) perceive and think intelligently.
Fungal (Mushroom) Mycelium, the underground part of mushrooms. These connect to plants and trees and exchange nutrients and information with them. … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
One may ask: Is it possible for anyone to achieve enlightenment? Are there any practical methods for attaining this state of mind?
First of all, it’s not an achievement. It’s a visitation into you by that ineffable sacredness/eternal energy. If anyone offers you a method to “attain this state of mind,” run away from them. All of these supposedly exotic methods, techniques, and systems just make the mind more robotic, more lemming-like, more mechanical, and more second-hand. Rather, intelligently investigate without methodology. Without methods, simply be aware of thoughts/thinking, and perceptions, without the conditionings of separation and fragmentation that were poured into you. Allow silence of mind to come about naturally (without trying to make it happen). Be aware that — psychologically — the observer is not separate from the observed.
Hover in Blossoming … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
Can real, psychological quietness be “made” to happen by a learned psychological image of a central controller (that is neither central nor a true controller)? Is such a “made” quietness actually phony, because it was concocted by a conditioned psychological process that is — in itself — erroneous (and not a legitimate controller)? A fallacious process is not likely to produce a very orderly (profound) psychological result. To psychologically die to what is false is easy if a real, living passion for truth is there, and if real courage, joy, and intelligence are also factors. True quietness may occur — naturally and without effort — in a mind that is orderly, perceiving without much conditioning and contamination by a manipulating society.
In the eye of the stone… Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
When we sleep — to help create psychological order — the mind often dreams about things that went on during recent days. Some of these dreams may not seem relevant to what actually went on… but, nevertheless, oftentimes they (indirectly) are. (Analyzing them doesn’t do much good, since the analyzer is the analyzed.) If one is very aware and holistically mindful during the day, then dreams are unnecessary. Then, the mind does not need to try to establish order during the night; order was already established. Without incessant dreaming, the mind can exist in (and “as”) a profound, mindful, meditative silence. Such silence is beautifully beyond repetitive, fabricated patterns and concocted symbols.
Be very holistically aware during waking hours, without constantly looking at things, and labeling things, symbolically (i.e., without merely seeing via words and stored mental images). Then, as was mentioned, you will see that having many dreams is unnecessary. (Of course, eating certain spicy or unusual foods — like pepper or piperine — may inadvertently cause dreams following the time they were consumed.) Please be sure to get enough sleep.
Dentition of a Fallen Log … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
We often compare ourselves with others. Why? Many people fail to ask deeper questions and many adhere to the same, antiquated ways and beliefs. Why would you measure yourself according to such parameters? Many primarily act from conceptual programming and not with the heart. Most look via separation and psychological distance. Success, in a rather insane world, may not really be success at all. Comparison often invites judgment, fear, competition, and imitation. Please consider being beyond those kinds of shenanigans.
When you are genuine and whole, you are largely unaffected by the accepted beliefs and psychological frameworks that society embraces. Then you stand alone. Such a person is blessed. Then one sees beyond the fragmentary and fallacious acceptances, beliefs, and assumptions. Then one actually thinks (and questions) beyond blind dependence.
Society tells you that you are in charge of your own thoughts. Society does not suggest that thoughts make the thinker and that the thinker is a product of thought. (By the way, what one implies here does not negate eternity.) Society predominantly endorses fragmentation and friction, not wholeness and deep compassion. Society endorses (and teaches) dominance by the self. Society sees — and encourages you to similarly see — life and death as two separate things, not as what is together as one, as a larger, beautiful whole. Society encourages you to see with distance, and it encourages you to see with distinct borders and separation. You know that society of course; it’s what is continually falling into widespread disorder and chaos.
Please look beyond the fragmentation that was poured into you. Ironically, nourishing the isolated self — as so many narcissists do — negates real security and the understanding of sweet eternity.
Please consider perceiving beyond influence. Influence rooted in the past may distort perception, causing it to be jaded. We were all heavily conditioned in childhood. We were conditioned to hold certain beliefs and opinions. We were conditioned to perceive through separation, psychological distance, and mental screens involving labeling and pigeonholing. We were taught that fragmentary, manmade borders are legitimate and absolute. We were primarily taught that we are separate from the world, separate from all of life’s creatures, and separate from those other countries.
Additionally, beyond outside social structures trying to condition one, one also can further condition oneself. One can, for example, mislead oneself into thinking that one is superior to others, that one is meditating spectacularly (while all the while one is actually hypnotizing oneself), that a central “controller” is separate from “other” thoughts, or that one is somehow special (such that it is OK for one to take advantage of others).
It is arduous to go beyond outside authority. It is much easier to follow instructions and to do (and think) as you were told. Going beyond “inside” authority is likewise very difficult. When one goes beyond inward authority, perception exists without relying on past conditioning that is mistakingly taken to be original, isolated, or self-created. (One thinks that one needs to control oneself to be good. However, the very control may create a false inward authority, dominance, and friction. Legitimate order may involve much more than that old game.)
To go beyond outside and inside influence may involve great wisdom, freedom, and integrity.
Many people — unfortunately, as adults — primarily look at things in life with (and “as”) the known. They recognize things as what they have seen before. This recognition occurs when the mind habitually sees through a screen (and background) of memory. When memory looks, it looks from the old, stale past. Memory is rooted in the old; it is oldfangled. The past, being old and secondhand, tends to make the mind stale, bored, and lacking in passion (from recognizing the same old things repeatedly).
It may be that a wise mind, however, often looks at life freshly, without merely perceiving through stored, musty images (of what was). When we were young, we glowed with the passion of seeing life without stale (learned) recognitions. Then we were blissful; then we were flowing while not merely recognizing. (When i was biologically young, i told people that i would never grow up.)
Look at life happily, joyfully, blissfully, soaringly, and fresh… without always carrying the oppressive burden of the past.
I am positing here that by seeking enlightenment, enlightenment never happens. Seeking it instantly nullifies it happening. Seeking takes time, and one cannot obtain the timeless by practicing or doing things (to get it) within (and “as”) time. Thinking manifests in (and “as”) time. Thinking, per se, usually occurs for motives. When thinking is not necessary (for a period) then perhaps the element of timelessness can occur. But if one craves it or grasps for it… it will not happen. One must be indifferent about timeless enlightenment occurring. Then one is not merely seeking an end via some calculated means.
Understand the mind from moment to moment (without a final goal in mind). Someone commented to me recently that they found a method to practice meditation (and said that it was good for beginners). I replied by suggesting that any deliberate practice turns one into a secondhand human being. Additionally, it is very easy to fall into self-hypnosis and subsequently wholeheartedly consider it to be great meditation. Also, there are no “beginners” with this. ”Beginners” implies time; getting to the timeless via time may be a fallacy. Trying to attain enlightenment may merely reinforce a selfish ego (wanting to get something). Reinforcing a selfish ego does not lead to what is beyond deception and selfishness.
Whatever you do, don’t look at life and the world beyond the systems, patterns, and ways in which you were taught. If you look outside of the systems, patterns, and ways — which were poured into you, forming your consciousness — you may be a danger to all that is false, fragmentary, and distorted. Keep looking at things just as you were programmed to. Don’t question anything. Be sure to accept (and cling to) everything that they poured into you.
Continue to observe things from behind a self-made psychological wall supporting separation and isolation. Continue to mindlessly escape into endless forms of entertainment, travel, drugs, and amusement. Continue to have opinions based on how you were raised and taught. Worship the dollar. Grow out of that youthful, magical wonderment concerning life and turn into a fusty adult who sees little of life’s newness and magical beauty. Get dreadfully bored while seeing and thinking the same old patterns. Think only of yourself and have no feelings for others. Continue to worship the dollar. Never stop endlessly chattering with mental symbols, patterns, and words.Look at everything through a maladjusted psychological screen (or curtain) of separation and division. Be very afraid of sweet and refreshing mental silence. Seldom look at (or visit) nature. Do not fundamentally change on the inside, but make your body look very unusual and different on the outside. Continue to worship the dollar.Go through existence being narrow-minded, selfish, and opinionated. Blindly cling to a lot of manmade patterns that were concocted in the distant past, and never look at reality without old, dusty, iron-clad beliefs. Keep your lawn looking perfect, but remain disorderly and a mess inwardly.
Where the Fairies Live … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
What divides you from so-called “others”? Is it what society has poured into you (when you were very young)? Is that division (i.e., that separation) what they implanted within (and “as”) you? Could it be that when you look with separation and fragmentation, you are separation and fragmentation?
Thought/thinking usually depends upon division. It is fragmentation. It is one symbol after another. Holistic perception exists beyond these fragmentary divisions/separations. It is, therefore, not merely of limitation, confinement, and solid boundaries. It transcends beyond illusory barriers and close-minded conceptions. Friction is separation, conflict, and division. Harmony is of holistic oneness and caring intelligence.
To live in the present, in the “here and now,” is often still in vogue these days. To actually “live in the present” may involve much more than most people realize. Many may think that they “live in the present” but they may not. It is extremely easy to deceive oneself. If within, constant “thinking” is going on, then one (surely) does not live in the present. Thoughts are symbols from (and “as”) old, stored memories that unfold from the past. So, if one is constantly thinking about things, one is living in the past. This includes pondering about the future. When we worry about the future, we are using thoughts of the past to project what the future might be (i.e., what the future might consist of).
Additionally, if we go through our day while just habitually recognizing everything with distinct borders, distinct names, distinct attributes, and characteristics, then we are looking primarily with what we were taught… which really isn’t looking at all. Even then we are relying on the past; even then we are existing in (and “as”) the past.
Many say, “Be in the here and now.” What is that “here”? Is it a lot of recognition from (and “as”) what was poured into us in the past? That recognition is the past; its “here” is what old, stored, dusty memory is. Is the “here” some stored images about what is assumed to be centrally located? And, what is “now”? Is it some isolated time interval (of one’s own) that one clings to? It may be that most of us never really wake up. It may be that T.S. Eliot was right when he wrote, “Love is most nearly itself when here and now cease to matter.”
The mind may be a prisoner of its own delusions and misconceptions. To extricate the mind from the quagmire (that it is likely in) may require much more than mere reactions. Mere reactions are likely just extensions of the confusion, disorder, uncertainty, and disarray that the mind is (in). In other words, if the mind is disorderly, who is going to make it orderly?… Will it be another part of that same mind assuming to have (or be) authority or order?
Though we all have to react… merely reacting may not be a profound solution regarding fundamentally existing beyond the disorder. If we perceive our reactions without judgment, ideologies, beliefs, and images of what others have taught… that very perceiving may be beyond the realm of mere reacting. If the mind ceases to depend on standard and ordinary reactions, perhaps it may undergo a transformation wherein few reactions continue to contribute to the misconceptions and delusions that it existed as (in the past). Looking without merely having obtrusions of thought occur as reactions, however, may be easier said than done. The very way we observe things is often heavily tarnished with reactions that we are — for the most part — unaware of. A mind of pristine, untainted “observing,” however, goes beyond being merely rather mechanical and robotic. Such a mind is where true joy and true living exist. Rather crass, robotic minds — though they may say otherwise — are divorced from deep joy and insight. Deep joy and insight are not mere projections (as reactions) from a heavily conditioned mind. Deep joy and true wisdom aren’t part of what must depend; they are spontaneous and not fabricated.
It may very well be that the best joy, the best insights, and the best perceptions… are not merely what are sought (through and “as” reaction). Often, at the precise moment that one seeks to be joyous, joy is not. Most of us have relied, as we were taught, on time to become joyful and wise. However, the most profound joy and the deepest wisdom may not involve a factor that takes, requires, or involves time. Deep joy and deep wisdom are timeless and are not of the realm of mere acquisition (with and by) delayed reactions (about patterns) in time. However, in “time” the wisdom of compassion intelligently acts to help others.
[Note: The front leg has a tannish, round area under the knee… that is its hearing mechanism. Since it has one on the left and right legs, it can hear in stereo.]
Resting on the Balcony … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
A run-of-the-mill consciousness that has accepted everything society has poured into it inevitably perceives with (and “as”) confined limitation. It sees what it was taught to see; it thinks (for the most part) what it was taught to think. Ironically, such minds think that they are free.
A limited consciousness will have perceptions and mental reactions defined by limited borders. It may feel free, but such freedom is like the freedom of a dog tethered by a chain; it can go where it wants but where it goes is essentially nowhere.
Orderly, intelligent awareness breaks through this whole circus in (and “as”) a mindful, spiritual revolution. Such a consciousness is not just a product of society. Lemmings are very good at imitating others and at falling into an abyss. Please be different!
Ready for Another Meal … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
There exists the intrinsic goodness of a very healthy mind. It is not what came about (secondhand) from the teachings and preaching of others. It is its own radiant and special light (which was not made from what others offered). To act from the blueprint of others is not unsullied, pure action; rather, it is secondhand reaction. Secondhand reaction rarely truly radiates what is holistically good. Behaving from a blueprint is robotic, mechanical, regimented, imitative, and not genuine. Organized governments, religions, schools, and cults tell you how to behave. Dynamic intelligence and true innocence surpass all of the superficiality that mankind’s so-called structured organizations offer. A crippled mind needs a crutch. But over-dependence on crutches keeps you dependent and limited. No need to cling to things, floating frog.
We saw Santa at the mall yesterday (and he put lasting smiles on our faces)! One is never too old to get some real joy with quality Santa Claus time. A bit later, we sent some kids and their parents in his direction (to see him); i hope that they got a chance to visit with him.
The Christmas Holiday Season is very special and magical to me. It is a time of giving and caring with heartfelt joy. Such a holiday season should occur all year long. If possible, this holiday season, donate to some favorite charities. This season should not just be about materialistic things but should involve heartfelt caring and action. It’s a time for kindness, goodness, peace, camaraderie, and joy. Happy Holidays!… Merry Christmas! 🎅🤶
Evolution, involving the myriad of all plants and animals, is magical and miraculous in so many ways. Countless amazing species have appeared (and disappeared) through the journey of life on Earth. To me, it is like the blossoming of a majestic, beautiful flower… and each of its many petals is opening and expanding in miraculous ways. It is imperative that one be in tune with this blossoming, to be extremely appreciative of it and to deeply respect its holistic, spiritual nature. We are all connected. We are, each of us, a petal of this tremendous, immeasurable unfolding.
Understanding the whole cannot occur merely by the sequential movement of fragments. Parts can never perceive the whole or deeply be in communion with it. And, unfortunately, it is all too easy for the mind to play tricks on itself; for instance, it can stick to the notion of a controlling center (called “me” or “I”) that it thinks is the essence of itself. From this supposed “center,” it seems to operate. However, this so-called center is another fragment, a learned obtrusion of thought/thinking, and dependence upon it creates limitation and circumscription. However, almost all of us reinforce it… usually unaware that that is what we are actually doing. We feel safe and smart by doing so, but (in reality) it is neither safe nor intelligent. A false center creates separative distance and boundaries; a false center contributes to conflict (internally and externally), which creates havoc in the world.
Only a subtle, sensitive, keenly perceptive mind can go beyond the notion of a central ego, a central controller (that seems separate from the thoughts it supposedly thinks… that seems separate from others). Such a perceptive mind is then of compassion and wholeness. It no longer is wasting its energy on illusory separations, divisions, isolating beliefs, and absorbed false concepts. Freedom is not circumscribed… (and a psychological center has a limited radius). What is limited is not in true communion with eternity and boundlessness.
For the mind to be holistically mindful, keenly perceptive, compassionate, integrally balanced, and aware, the body must be in great order. What helps to maintain this order involves a well-balanced diet consisting largely of whole foods; also necessary are things like adequate exercise, sufficient sleep, and refraining from recreational drugs. Some of this is easier said than done, especially when it comes to having a good diet.
A good diet, for example, would involve getting enough Omega-3, which is an essential fatty acid. An essential fatty acid is what the body needs; it cannot adequately synthesize it on its own. A lot of people think that they can eat things like walnuts and avocados to get their Omega-3. But most people, especially men (and women who are 30 years or older), cannot adequately convert that type of ALA Omega-3 into the usable kind (i.e., the kind with DHA and EPA). Therefore, they need to get their Omega-3 from oily fish or from Omega-3-rich algae (that has the usable form of Omega-3, not the unsatisfactory ALA kind). Omega-3 is important for brain function, for suppressing arthritis, and for heart health. (Nuts — like walnuts — have other health benefits, by the way, and i eat them every day.)
Additionally, these days, farms don’t usually replenish the soil with organic, whole minerals. Therefore, it is wise to take some supplementary vitamins (especially naturally derived vitamins). Beware; some synthetic vitamins that are sold, believe it or not, are made from petroleum.
[Note: I hope that many of you had a happy Thanksgiving. Beyond being “thankful,” we also need to help others in need (by donating or by doing something)… so that they too may be thankful. ]
To intentionally meditate, at certain times of the day (using certain methods), is likely very limited, false, and likely makes the mind more mechanical, more calculating, and dull. To meditate to get something out of it… is to try to do something from a motive. A so-called meditator who tries to meditate to get nirvana (or to get some kind of “special” non-ordinary experience)… is (let’s face it) out to get something. Time and greed do not (and cannot) lead one to a timeless, non-greedy dimension. Time is sequential and greed (being in time) is, likewise, sequential. The timeless is not an achievement that comes about by calculation, motives, practices, methods, or learned procedures in (and “as”) time. However, there are oodles of people (i.e., charlatans) who (all too willingly) try to instill their methods upon you. And they have plenty of secondhand beliefs that they learned from others.
The beauty of spontaneous, simple, uncalculated awareness (without motives to get something) may come about naturally — without effort — in a mind that is unsullied, uncontaminated, and innocent. And it may be that, on the other hand, the supposed central (controlling) self that tries to meditate through methodology is essentially an obtrusion of conditioned thought/thinking (that is neither central, truly controlling, nor a true initiator of anything). Trying to meditate via the effort of a so-called central controller… is neither viable nor intelligent. Even while engaging in our so-called meditation (which we learned from others), most of us are reinforcing the perpetual conditioned illusion of a center (i.e., a central ego).
To perceive without effort can occur in a mind of deep order, intelligence, and health. Such effortlessness may be beyond the limitations of sequential motives and time. Such effortlessness does not reinforce an illusory center. Bliss, eternity, and a profoundly innocent mind are not separate things.
The Trees’ Symbiotic Friends … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
Thinking, being of abstraction, is sequential in nature; therefore, it is of time; it is time. It is psychological time that creates and manifests as fear. In time, one may be despised by others; in time (i.e., in the future), one may be laughed at; in time, one may become senile; in time, one may get psychologically hurt by another. So, often, thought and its shadow (i.e., concomitant fear) manifest in (and “as”) time. And remaining in (and “as”) conditioned, sequential abstraction… is a form of suffering. Such suffering is not blissful living.
Thought is often a very necessary tool. However, all too often, we go on thinking (when thought is not necessary). This remaining in (and “as”) thought/thinking, is remaining in what is merely conditioned, merely sequential, merely symbolic, and what is merely time-bound. To psychologically die, at times, to the repetition of abstract thinking, is to go beyond fear, secondhandedness, fragmentation, symbolism, and separation. It may be that the separation between the thinker and the thought is, in itself, another conditioned, sequential misstep… another learned fabrication that isn’t true. It may be that thought creates (and is) the thinker, not the other way around. And we are afraid to have thinking stop (because we are afraid of being nothing). But this “nothing,” that we are afraid of, is a projection of thought/thinking that is erroneous and illusory. To often go beyond the limitation of abstract, fragmentary, and sequential thinking — and all thought is fragmentary, sequential, and time-bound — may be (if it is actually done) rather blissful and beyond distortion, fear, and suffering.
Chameleonic Sweetie … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
One often points out here that it may be prudent to go beyond the limited and fragmentary domain of thought/thinking. One is not asking you to dive deep into a lot of philosophical abstraction. On the contrary, i am suggesting that you do something that is immensely pure, pristine, and beautifully simple… which is to not always be of (and “in”) the domain of thought/thinking. You see, thought/thinking — if we are at all honest with ourselves — is where all of the abstraction is. Most of us habitually live in (and “as”) abstraction. Our thoughts (i.e., our abstractions) are actually what we are. These abstractions are dreadfully habitual, and we do not want to let them go. Most of us even accept words as being rather equivalent to reality… even though words are merely virtual abstractions. (Sometimes words are necessary, but they are only tools.)
Too many of us are satisfied with virtual, illusory, fragmentary ways. Little wonder why the world is full of a lot of insanity and chaos. We need to wake up and change.
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 