Merely sitting on your can
with eyes closed
with legs crossed
while supposedly “controlling ‘your’ thoughts from a distance”
(in order to get something)
is not it.
Fruit-fly on a small leaf … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
The elderly Lo Zu was sitting on a huge fallen log next to a beautiful pond that was not far from the village. A much younger man, who was an atheist, came by and said to him, “Many people in the area say that you are a great wise man, a holy man, but if there is no God, then you are not a holy man, you are nothing.”
Lo Zu invited the man to sit next to him on the large, fallen log, which he did. Then Lo Zu, said (while smiling), “We two can agree on one thing; I am nothing.”
“Then there is no God,” the man pronounced with confidence.
Lo Zu then said, “‘God’, for most everyone, is an image (or series of images) that they have learned. (They will insist that it is something much more than absorbed images.) To these images, they associate power, dominance, kindly (special) protection, fatherliness, and unlimited knowledge. However, these images (and their associative emotions) are self-protrusions of thought/thinking.”
“And so not anything real?” asked the man.
Lo Zu then said, “The sign on the road, just outside of town, that has the name of the town upon it, is not the town. If someone steals the sign, they are not stealing the town. If someone wants to visit the town, they do not crawl up the sign. Additionally, to really be sure that the town is there, one must visit the town.”
“I see what you are getting at,” said the man. “So, you are suggesting that one, such as you, can visit God.”
“Not really,” said Lo Zu. “If one, through supposed will and choice, decides to visit ‘God,’ one is visiting one’s own learned images, one’s own learned thoughts and strong emotions associated with such thoughts. Such a ‘visiting’ is usually a self-deluding form of acquisition that involves greed.”
“So there is no real God,” the man insisted.
“Jumping to conclusions,” Lo Zu suggested, “may be as foolish as worshipping mere self-fabricated symbols, mere signs. A strong belief that there is no God may be as superficial and primitive as a strong belief that there is a God. Holistic perception inquires (without accumulated patterns) into what might be sacred; it inquires with a passion that surpasses beliefs of any kind (and actually finds out).”
“So what are you saying?” the visitor queried.
Lo Zu replied, “I am saying that I will not encourage you to worship or to cling to any symbols of power, any symbols of divinity. Worshiping self-created or learned images, that one projects (from what one absorbed from others), is similar to worshipping parts of oneself. It may be that the true answer has to come to you. (It cannot merely be visited, like an ordinary town.) The true answer is probably rather unapproachable, but that may be a real key; conclusions, accumulated images, and greed cannot expose it. It is beyond foolish grasping. The internal images of self are nothing when foolishness ceases. When all of the windows are open and the room is not filled with garbage… only then can the breeze, perhaps, flow through.”
With that, Lo Zu stood up and began walking with his meandering cane and said, “We must go; we see someone carrying a heavy burden and we will help them with it, to a certain point. You can come along also… unless you prefer to remain stuck where you are.”
Bumblebee covered with Golden Pollen … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
The dichotomy between the “perceiver” and “that which is perceived,” is essentially (psychologically) illusory and nonexistent.
To overlook and ignore others is to be partially dead psychologically — as so many are — while one merely concentrates on a small point, called “me.”
Forget what everyone taught you about life and death; go out, sit with nature, and look at everything as if for the first time.
Peace will never come as long as each of us belongs to some separative group.
If to be typically human is to abide by commercialism and to pollute the planet… then we need to become superhuman (and green).
To function all of one’s life in predictable, knee-jerk reactions of self-projected selfishness is safe, easy, comfortable… but also, unfortunately, dead.
Aphids up close … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Lo Zu, after one of his frequent walks into the fields and wooded areas of nature, came walking into the village. He stopped to rest for a while and leaned on his sinuous pole, his meandering cane; nearby, a small group of men, all of them sitting together, continued to repeatedly laugh hysterically.
Lo Zu realized that they were laughing at the fact that a nearby dog was repeatedly chasing its own tail. Lo Zu continued to walk again and came closer to the men who were laughing. He heard one of them say, “That dog is really ignorant!” All of them, except Lo Zu, continued to laugh at the dog as it continued to chase its own tail.
Lo Zu turned to face the sitting men and said, “It is so easy to come to conclusions; conclusions that are wrong.” Lo Zu further went on, “That dog could chase that cat that is a little way down the road, but cats can quickly scratch and the dog could easily get a gravely injured eye. Likewise, the dog could chase after that man walking across the street. However, the man could kick the dog or throw something at it, injuring it. Instead, the dog takes the prudent approach and, for great exercise, chases its own tail. A most intelligent animal! I, myself, walk daily to the meadows and woods to enjoy the sweet butterflies and creatures; therefore I get quite a bit of exercise. I see that dog exercising ‘most every day also. Sometimes I see it chasing butterflies, which is also a very wise and safe form of exercising. Exercising often is great intelligence. I see you men sitting around here a lot each and every day. Do any of you exercise?”
“Not really,” said one of the men. (The men were no longer laughing.)
“I didn’t think so,” replied Lo Zu. He further added, “The beginning of this doglike life always chases its own end; let the dog be your teacher.”
Black Swallowtail on Thistle Plant … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
A Halloween colored dream
came swimming beyond scream
and then a cruel green witch flew by
if you know what i mean
*****************************************************************************************************
One of our pet Koi Angelfish:
Fire Red Koi Angelfish … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Life is not a game. Too many of us go through life as if the mission is to be totally entertained. Most people are afraid of death, yet they may not have ever truly lived. Very many people assume that they are alive. To go through existence merely imitating others and spewing out what was poured into one by society… may not be “living” whatsoever. It is so easy to conform. It is so easy to just fit in the machine and be another cog in the wheel. Only a very few have been visited by that timeless energy that enraptures and transcends consciousness.
To inquire — to really inquire — into whether or not the sacred exists, takes great passion, great profundity. A stagnant, indifferent mind could not do it; stagnation and indifference make the actual answer all the more elusive, for the answer lies beyond limitation. To find the true answer necessitates that the mind be of considerable order and completeness. An incomplete mind is never fully alive, never fully whole.
The world has far too many seeds (of consciousness) that have never sprouted, that have never really begun growing. The answer is immeasurable and cannot be communicated about via mere fragments/words/symbols/patterns. The minds of most people consist largely of mere fragments/words/symbols/patterns.
We can change.
Green Grasshopper on his favorite leaf … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
True wisdom has great wholeness, expanse, and vastness; indifference is of limitation and is confined.
Often dying psychologically to “thinking” is alive, harmless, and highly intelligent. Constantly reacting as mere symbolic thoughts is cadaverous.
Ignorance often does not recognize its own ignorance. Wisdom often goes unnoticed and unappreciated by those who have little wisdom.
Nonsensical behavior often makes excuses. Behavior that is prudent is honest and compassionate.
Many need to make-believe about some heaven or magical domain in the future (that was fabricated by make-believers); escaping what “actually is” is ignorance. (The aforementioned words are not at all meant to deny true eternity or sacredness.)
Wisdom naturally goes beyond superficial values and superficial behaviors.
Silver-Spotted Skipper Butterfly Up Close … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
This is the poem
that came out of the grave
to tell you what death is.
Everyone has avoided the answer
but here is the answer:
Death is indifference;
Death is mental fragmentation;
Death is accepting immorality;
Death is accepting mortality;
Death is belonging to separatist organizations that
one thinks are “right,”
and death is the limited space surrounded by boundaries.
It is very rare to see two Ambush Bugs together with a victim like this.
Two Ambush Bugs with their Bumble Bee victim on Thistle Plant … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
One finger said
to the other finger,
“I want to be close to you!”
The other finger said,
“I feel that we two are
very close.”
Then they passionately wrapped around
each other intertwining.
A somewhat distant finger (away from
the other two) pointedly said,
“You two seem as if you were made for each other!”
Then, after a considerable time, fingers
of a supposedly separate
hand jealously came attacking,
and total war broke out.
A real fact is that,
in war,
the winners are the losers.
Illinois Meadow Wildflower … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Let’s pull some forever out of a hat
mail a kind letter back to oneself
and sit again wisely where always sat
Allow tears to flow back into red eyes
and dream again of flying as a child
beyond cold gravity… blue skies
Getting ready to fly… Male Clouded Sulpher Butterfly … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Silence is not an achievement that is the result of your reaction; true silence is when conflict ends.
Lucid, insightful wisdom doesn’t take time… but sequential, symbolic thought does.
Compassion isn’t the left arm hating the right arm and thinking it is separate.
John Lennon was right: “Living is easy with eyes closed… misunderstanding all you see.”
Each of us is responsible for getting oneself and the world right. Oneself includes — and is — the world.
Don’t think with a prefabricated mind, with a handmedown, archaic mentality; look at things beyond the ways you were taught.
Wood Boring Crane Fly … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
They provided us with delectable ideas
which our minds assimilated like gluttons.
We, of course, became hungry for more.
Our ravenous appetites drove us
to the next serving… and to the next.
One palatable idea after another
is what we craved; anything other
than facing the starvation of the
emptiness within.
True intelligence can only, for a
limited time, feast on the illusions they
provide. After
that limitation is reached, real
sustenance breaks free beyond
their insipid inedibilities.
Will habit continue to feast on delicacies
of disorder? Even the supermarkets are
full of the artificial.
It’s good to eat healthy, whole,
nourishing food.
It’s not so good to allow oneself
to be conditioned to merely
swallow a lot of mindless crap.
[Note: These are not the kind of eggs that you can purchase at the supermarket. These are 1 millimeter insect eggs on a leaf. Note the orderly patterns in which they were laid.]
Tiny insect eggs on a leaf… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
As if he crawled
out from M.C.Escher’s Dream Woodcut
he watches the camera
and the camera manipulator
waiting for
the aloneness
that he cherishes and lives by
beyond mere supplication
Praying Mantis Hanging Around… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Many people suffer from depression and sorrow. Many take pharmaceutical antidepressants and regularly go to clinics to receive therapy. Of course, for some, it may involve issues based on heredity and diet. For many, it entails accumulated psychological problems. Most, when they were much younger, did not have such issues; in youth, they were filled with wondrous curiosity and inner vitality. Many, as they age, become jaded and unhappy, bored with the same-old-things and with the monotony of it all.
A large part of the problem lies in wrong education. Most, throughout their education, were not encouraged to be keenly aware of their own minds… to be aware of the essence of thought and thinking and to explore beyond the realm that thought and thinking manifest as. Most, from society as it currently is structured, were taught to cherish and exclusively dwell in the process of thinking… in mostly math and reading and such, and not so much with wholeness and integrity. Few were encouraged, in their youth, to question everything and to be free from mere standard ways/procedures. These days, almost all of us are immured within the walls of thought/thinking. Most exclusively dwell in (and “as”) thought/thinking… and very few value going beyond that domain. Most have put all of their eggs into that one basket; in that, they dwell. That basket is like a small, limited prison. Many minds are imprisoned (i.e., deeply embedded) in dogmas, beliefs, presuppositions, antiquated systems, and isolating boundaries.
As one has said so many times before, thinking is always symbolic, always second-hand, limited, and merely representational. Yet so many cling to thinking and unquestionably exist almost exclusively as what it is. Even when most of us look at things, we are looking with (and through) the screen of thinking; such thinking involves labeling, categorizing, classifying, identifying, and pigeonholing. When most look at things, they are primarily looking with the memory bank (i.e., through retained knowledge). Such a memory bank is from the past and is always old, always of stored data. They look with (and from) the stored (old) past… and they inevitably get bored while they feel stale and full of the mundane. With this situation, antidepressants and clinical so-called experts can only help so much. One of the functions of the human mind is to be of order and to transcend sorrow; transcending sorrow is, in itself, order.
A mind of deep awareness can often look at things without merely using the storehouse of old and stuffy memory. To perceive without relying on the storehouse of dead memory (and stale patterns of remembrance) is a living art. There is no method to this art. It does not involve old patterns that you can absorb or practice to improve yourself over time. Using thought when it is necessary but often going beyond it, the wise mind sagaciously realizes that profound bliss is not a mere remembrance. Profound joy is not labeling everything and then looking at everything through (and “as”) dead labels. To perceive without the burden of the past is real living. Real living is not the past perpetually relabeling things (with endless symbols) into the present and future. The mind that goes beyond “perception through mere symbolism and fragmented mental constructs” is a liberated, whole, free mind full of joy.
All Tied Up In Knots… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
As Grover on Sesame Street
— not that i ever watch it
with our pet parrots —
says: “Oh, lower case “i,”
you are so cute with your
little dot!”
Grover is right! It is a
marvelous letter and helps
to represent what i am
(even though it really isn’t
what i am whatsoever)!
Two Pearl Crescent Butterflies… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Deep passion — to find out about the whole of existence — goes far beyond details and fragmentary parts.
There can be a holistic awareness, not merely of the five “separate” senses that one “has,” but rather “as” the holistic senses working together harmoniously, as one, without thought/thinking constantly interfering, separating.
When one was young, one mustered up all of the energy that one had to perceive the truth and the whole. That’s the only way to be!
Order comes through understanding and perception… not via rigid, limited ideals which bring about conflict.
Many animals value life just as we do… maybe even more so.
Look beyond the learned patterns; see beyond the limited, learned symbols.
True wisdom goes beyond perceived borders and is therefore truly compassionate and caring.
Scarlet-and-Blue Leafhopper …Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
One little tentacle at a time
One little seed among many
One small leaf rising to shine
One tiny bristle around plenty
One curious mind turning into this rhyme
After this line won’t be any
One Little Tentacle at a Time… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
A number of young men and young women in Lo Zu’s village gathered around him
one day and one of them said, “Many people, even from other villages, say that
you are a great sage, a man of vast wisdom who carries the truth; please show us
how to carry the truth with us.”
After a considerable length of silence, Lo Zu stood up and said, “If you want the truth, follow me and do exactly what I say, but it will be a very arduous journey with many difficulties.” Then Lo Zu took his meandering cane and began walking, and all of the youth eagerly followed him, with excitement and expectation in their eyes.
He walked through a very large meadow, often bending down to examine the beautiful wildflowers and
insects (while deeply enjoying them). The youth all followed. Then he walked into a thick forest
containing many creeks harboring extremely slippery rocks. All of the youth were somewhat afraid,
but they continued to follow him. After a couple of hours, they came out of the forest
and began climbing a small mountain, all following Lo Zu carefully and diligently. When they
finally reached a very lofty height, Lo Zu stopped walking and began carefully placing large
rocks in each of the youths’ hands. As he placed the large rocks in the hands of each of the
young followers, he said, “These are very special, sacred stones of truth; please carry these back to the
village very carefully, without dropping any; please do not drop the truth.”
Each of the youth carried a number of stones. They followed Lo Zu down off of the mountain. They struggled on their way through the dark forest; it was very
perilous and difficult with the weight of the stones making their journey all the more excruciating. As they walked through the large meadow, back toward the
village, many of them were aching with pain from the tiresome journey and from the heavy weight of the stones (over time).
When they finally reached the village, Lo Zu told them to place the stones in a large pile. It was the end of the day, getting dark, and everyone was extremely exhausted (except for Lo Zu who did not carry any stones). Lo Zu asked them, then, to stand in a circle around the stones. Then Lo Zu remarked to them all, “Here is the truth you worked so diligently for. These stones are absolutely worthless. They are not any different from any other stones that one can find. You believed in me, hoping for the truth to be handed to you. Out of your confusion, you decided that I always held the truth (to give to you). Many people, out of confusion, choose high-ranking “others” to lead them to the truth; out of their confusion, they choose! They go to temples and ask the temple-keepers to give them the truth. What the temple-keepers generally give, however, is as useless as these rocks. Nevertheless, people blindly and devotedly adhere to what they say, just as you have done with me today. It is evening, and you may be disappointed to find that you have wasted your whole day. Do not feel too wronged by this. Many people have wasted their entire lives in carrying the worthless stones, burden, weighty images, and so-called sacred statues of others, and it isn’t evening at the end of it for them; it is the time of their death. They wasted not a day but their entire life, and the sacred eluded them.
Therefore, do not cling to any groups or authoritarian leaders who claim to give concrete methods toward the truth; instead,
find living truth within, without using taxing systems or time.
The first step and the last step are one.”
Magnificent Eastern Tailed Blue (in a meadow, of course!)… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Life is so much more
than books and words
and iPhones and money
Death is so much more
than finality and crying
and funerals and caskets
If one is of deep understanding
Life and Death are
not two different things
Augochlora Green Metalic Bee… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
My wife and i were at a relative’s funeral, a number of years ago, and my older cousin was in the church pew in front of us. At the end of the mass, she turned around and said to me, “It’s too bad that you are a heathen.” I did not reply anything back to her. (By the way, i had undergone a profound Timeless/Enlightenment experience long before this occurred, though don’t just believe that; “experience,” by the way, is not a very good word to use for this; no word is sufficient.)
I have always been profoundly interested in spirituality and in the philosophical aspect of things all of my life. I do not belong to any organized religion because, like separative countries, organized religions tend to divide people and (to a large extent) tend to be a form of tribalism which leads to conflict and war. Though i am not one to put any credence or reliance into “belief” — since belief tends to be the crude result of a blind acceptance of presuppositions, conclusions, or group acceptances — i am very interested in investigating into truth and holistic order. I probably had read the New Testament, by the way, many more times than my brazen cousin did. Years ago, when i was quite younger, i hung around a lot with Professor David Bohm, talking one-on-one with him often about the deeper aspects of truth and reality. David Bohm was a co-worker with Albert Einstein, by the way. Einstein loved Bohm and called Bohm his “spiritual son.” I’ll never forget the wonderful discussions that we had.
As far as the Bible goes, most biblical scholars agree that most of what was handed down over the years has been grossly distorted over time from what the historical Christ actually said (i.e., distorted by mistranslations and intentional, self-serving additions by others). However, probably if one is truly wise, one can — to a large extent — tell the difference between the weeds and the wheat.
One of the many sections that i find interesting starts at Matthew 13:10:
Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. The reason I speak to them in parables is that “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand. With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
‘You will indeed listen, but never understand,
and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears…'”.
So, here, in this alleged saying, Christ seems to be saying that he will be telling special things (or even secrets) to those that are close to him, who really care. He also seems to be saying that the masses get parables but not the direct, significant, straight teachings. As in ancient times, most people do not inquire into what such special teachings may have consisted of; most did not inquire into what such special messages were about.
The ancient Gospel of Thomas was discovered in an earthenware jar in 1945 in a desert by a poor farmer who was digging for fertilizer. Additionally, Greek fragments of the gospel were found in ancient dump heaps. The Greek fragments were an even earlier example than the 1945-discovered Coptic version, and were likely a more pristine version of the gospel (and likely are less distorted). I hope someday that a full, early Greek version of Thomas is discovered! Many prominent biblical scholars maintain that the Gospel of Thomas was written before any of the four (previously oral) gospels were written. There is much evidence — and books have even been written on this — that the Gospel of John was written as a rebuttal to the Gospel of Thomas. Ancient people who were appreciative of the Gospel of Thomas were all butchered and killed by the ancient Bishops and their followers, long after Thomas was written. The Gospel of Thomas is not full of weird miracles and tons of parables but, instead, contains more direct, simple wisdom sayings and suggestions to look within (rather than to intermediary priests in temples). Do you think that an early gospel — though it was dearly accepted by many early in the history of all of this — would be tolerated by the self-appointed religious, orthodox “authorities” while it suggested that one look within, while it condemned the temple leaders? The Pharisees, the strict, orthodox, temple-attending people at the time of Christ, were often referred to in a negative way in Thomas (and in some of the other new testament gospels). Jesus was, at first, a follower of John the Baptist, who despised the “high-ranking” Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders (of organized religion) in Israel at the time of Jesus; John got as far away from the temples as he could… (into wonderful, beautiful nature) to speak to the people, away from the orthodox priests/rabbis. It was likely these religious leaders who had John the Baptist terminated, and it definitely was the leaders of organized religion who had Jesus killed (as well as, later on, all of the admirers of The Gospel of Thomas). Do you know what they did with popular iconoclasts in the distant past? They nailed some of them to dead trees; and, very possibly, if they became exceptionally popular, they twisted around and distorted what they had said to suit their own power-hungry ends.
Prelude and a few select sayings from the Gospel of Thomas:
These are the hidden sayings that the living Yeshua spoke and Yehuda Toma the twin recorded.
(1)
And he said,
Whoever discovers what these sayings mean
will not taste death.
(3)
Yeshua said,
If your leaders tell you, “Look, the kingdom is in heaven,”
then the birds of heaven will precede you.
If they say to you, “It’s in the sea,”
then the fish will precede you.
But the kingdom is inside you and it is outside you.
When you know yourselves, then you will be known,
and you will understand that you are children of the living father.
But if you do not know yourselves,
then you dwell in poverty and you are poverty.
Sayings 61, 62, 66, and 67:
(61)
Yeshua said,
Two will rest on a couch. One will die, one will live.
Salome said,
Who are you, mister? You have climbed on my couch
and eaten from my table as if you are from someone.
Yeshua said to her,
I am the one who comes from what is whole.
I was given from the things of my father.
Salome said,
I am your student.
Yeshua said,
I say, if you are whole, you will be filled with light,
but if divided, you will be filled with darkness.
(62)
Yeshua said,
I disclose my mysteries to those who are worthy
of my mysteries.
Do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing.
(66)
Yeshua said,
Show me the stone that the builders rejected.
That is the cornerstone.
(67)
Yeshua said,
One who knows all but lacks within
is utterly lacking.
(The aforementioned excerpts were taken from the Nag Hammadi Library Marvin Meyer Translation of Thomas. http://gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom-meyer.html
A good book to read, if you are really interested in this, is “The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus” by Robert W. Funk.
However, I feel that what is most important is to not rely on past writings or sayings of others — especially rather antiquated ones — but, instead, to perceive freshly and find out for oneself (without dependence on organizations and handed-down beliefs).
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This is a male Snout Butterfly. The males have four legs and a pair of unusable anterior legs; those unusable, anterior legs can be seen in the photograph. The females have six usable legs.
Male Snout Butterfly… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
I am not the problems, this morning,
upon waking up,
that i went to bed with.
This waking is a real awakening,
a true awakening.
It is not an awakening to some second-
hand religion or separative flag
that was shoved down my throat.
It is not an awakening to what others
have said that i was in the past.
It is even beyond what i thought i was
in the past.
It is, very possibly, a true renewal,
a true awakening
beyond the past images and labels
about myself and others.
It is not the old and stale past
getting out of bed; it is
newness, pristine perception,
and whole, healthy action
beyond mere reaction.
It is perception beyond the secondhand images
implanted by a largely immoral society.
We’ll not miss that nightmarish,
assembly-line-brain of conditioning!
The old, jaundiced brain upstairs is dis
app
ear (arh-whoooooo)
ing
“So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can’t plant me in your penthouse
I’m going back to my plow!”
Mushrooms deep in the woods… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Dreams are often a means for the mind to cope with everyday life, involving the past and the possible future, and all are projections from (and “as”) the mind. Phantasmagoria, in most minds, are the self-protrusions of thought, stemming from the old past (though often concerned about the future). Dreams, though superficial as they are, are an attempt by the mind at adjusting and dealing with life’s ups and downs. Dreams are often a scenario of what may occur that is challenging; they are often a postulated sequence of future events. Usually, though, they are far more superficial than what the waking brain would actually benefit from. If the mind is full of conflict, problems, fear, frustration, anger, friction, and manipulation during the day, chances are that it will dream with a great deal of these “scenarios” going on. A mind of great harmony, mindfulness, awareness, and wholeness, on the other hand, need not dream with such “scenarios” much at all. Dreams, for such a mind of awareness, would be few and far between. A mind of wholeness and integrity would not often dream; dreams, for such a mind, may occur, however, if certain unusual (rather incompatible) foods have been inadvertently consumed.
With a mind of great mindfulness, wholeness, and awareness, sleep is an extension of the quietness, awareness, and harmony that has gone on during the day. That quietness is natural and is not the result of some secondhand method or stale blueprint. Silence, during sleep, can be a motiveless vastness that is beyond accumulation, greed, fear, struggle, strife, wanting, getting, being, not being, conflict, opposites, time, concocted images, and disorder. Then, occasionally, such a mind may see images or patterns of what will actually happen in the future; however, these insights would not merely be speculative protrusions of the mind; rather, they would entail flashes concerning what actually takes place in the future.
Sleep can be when regeneration and rejuvenation take place, washing the mind free of habitual garbage from the past. Silence can be of clarity and great order. A mind without the beauty of real silence and harmony is an impoverished mind.
Giant Robberflies rival dragonflies in their effectiveness as predators. They easily catch other flying insects in flight and are voracious hunters.
Robber Fly … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
One young student of life asked Lo Zu, “Of all the various types of clouds in the sky,
which is the one that you deem best?”
The great sage’s penetrating eyes sagaciously looked up and he said,
“Not the huge, mountainous, white towering clouds that have accumulated much. Neither the
saturated, heavy clouds, for each is darkly full of itself; nor the clouds that stretch, sheet-like,
blanketing the whole sky; they think that they know everything.
However, there is real beauty in the little, truly humble, faint cloud of no-mind that one can barely see,
that no one notices; it lets the sun through and helps illuminate the darkness. Fireflies can illuminate
darkness too; very few people love them like I love them.”
Firefly Illumination Happening!… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
A trashcan that is full of leftovers and rubbish cannot receive something precious, such as a priceless treasure. We hold so much information, filling us, satiating us to the brim, and we think we are doing just wonderfully; however, the world is not, for the most part, better off because of it. It is important to think a lot and to think in ways that are significant and that have profound meaning; too many of us, however, habitually think all kinds of needless things over and over, repetitiously. There can be an intelligence of silence that exists beyond mere repetitious words/symbols. This silence involves an emptiness that penetrates and that is full of life. To be empty — truly empty — is the action of true humility. That true humility brings about real order and the purity of “harmonious action.” It is no longer filled with secondhand beliefs, opinions, primitive perspectives, and dead traditions; it is whole, unsullied, and pristine beyond the rubbish of propaganda and learned distortion.
If procedures and systems involving time are needed to (supposedly) empty the mind, that is questionable; because the “cleaner/eraser (i.e., the one supposedly doing the emptying)” and the contents to be emptied are (psychologically) one and the same. When one is engaged in such attempts at emptying, a false conflict often ensues. One cannot, via some concocted will, make the mind empty. With intelligent, uncalculated perception, however, there is a possibility that a timeless emptiness can exist without illusory effort. That timeless emptiness, if it really is timeless emptiness, is what perceives beyond distortion and secondhand rubbish. Such perception is beyond tainting, beyond corruption, beyond habitual (sequential) repetition, beyond ugly, robotic manipulation. Such perception is a danger to all that is false.
Monarch Butterfly on Coneflower… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Before after came
it took some time to remember
which, of course, came before
now was ever formulated
Supposedly, depending on circumstances,
once upon a time
was reading this
before the story’s ending was
conceived
like a grin without a face
or a tear without an “I”
as what was up
reads
d
o
w
n
Note: Buffalo Treehopper… The eye is not a double-exposure; that is how the eye and eye edge actually look.
Buffalo Treehopper… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Beauty needs no reason
like bourgeois businessmen do
who strut with the deepest frowns
competitively struggling for what
beauty is not
The faceofthewings(lookclose
ly)has eyes
a dimple and a smile
That smile transcends
sorrow
[Note: Do you see the “Smiling Face” in the Swallowtail’s wings?]
The Face on the Wings of a Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Why
dew
sew
many
cling
two
the
s
u
p
e
r
f
i
c
i
a
l
?
Rose Chafer… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Many people do things habitually, mechanically, without thinking, without much awareness, in very robotic ways. The mind gets used to functioning in (and “as”) habit; dullness, and incessant routine set in, making the mind more and more repetitive, more and more machine-like. People get so used to repeating the same set of routines day after day, month after month, year after year, such that they hardly know (or try) anything different. (Air-polluting, fossil fuel spewing vacations aren’t a way out of this, by the way.)
Many people mindlessly and habitually cling to what they were taught, religiously, politically, nationally, ethically, socially, culturally, at home and in the office. To them, “THIS IS THE WAY THINGS MUST BE DONE,” and that is that. Then they remain teaching their children to dwell in the same grooves, to function in the same patterns. Anyone who questions the status quo is considered a trouble-maker or some kind of freak and is cast out. It may be, however, that, in such an atmosphere, true creativity and true “aliveness” is squelched. In such an environment, the truly insightful and the truly creative person is considered an oddball.
Be one of the lemmings if you want to (like most want to), but as for that… well, it’s not for me. Like Einstein, i don’t give a rat’s behind about “fitting-in” or about superficial appearances. It’s the deeper things that matter, and you can’t go deeper if you are stuck in superficial paradigms and one-dimensional routines.
Blue Damsel… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Especially i just want to breathe
when air is getting dirtier
Especially i just want to see
when the world’s views are getting cloudier
Especially i just want to hear
when so few are really listening
Especially i want to smell
when so many just pass the flowers by
Especially i want to feel
when many are just indifferent
And most especially i want to live
beyond a cadaverous respectful comfort
Question Mark Butterfly, and why not? Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Comparison is often such a vulgar and unnecessary thing. Many people, throughout life, continue to habitually compare themselves with others. Those “others” are often very standard, ordinary, bourgeois, and dull. People compare their home, livelihood, lifestyle, and overall life, with others. Comparison invites imitation; imitation reinforces “second-handedness” and conformity to formulated, standardized “set patterns.” Fear often emanates from comparison… “Will I be as successful as them?” “Am I too different?” Comparison often paves the way to jealousy and superficial showing-off and boasting. (Some people, for instance, go ga-ga, trying to have the hugest and “most pretty” home; this is so childish and superficial.) Taunting another may often involve comparison. Comparison thrives in the world of the opposites (where differences are often magnified). Comparison can make the mind dull; it can be what nourishes mental sorrow.
The wise mind can exist where comparison is seen for what it is and where it is put in its appropriate place (where its limited aspects are seen). Such a mind can be of a profound joy where comparison does not often needlessly enter. When the mind compares, the mind is comparison (within the limited corridor of the opposites). Uniqueness and spontaneous insight usually do not ever depend upon comparison. Comparison and contrasting correlations can be very useful at times, but the mind need not depend upon them as deeply as it usually does. Perceiving directly, without employing comparison, is often very significant and profound.
No need to compare! Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
“I want happiness,”
said the greed to be happy.
Joy is motiveless.
Magnificent Milkweed Flowers… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
As a young student was walking by, Lo Zu asked, “How many legs do you have?”
The young student replied, “Two!”
Then Lo Zu remarked, “That is a shame.”
Many weeks later, the same young student observed Lo Zu and asked,
“Why is it that you often bend down and focus upon the insects and spiders?”
After some silence, the great sage answered, “What you think you are, you are not… and what appears to be what you are not, you are. For instance, when an ant is looked at, a deep perception consists of six legs. When a spider is examined, a great perception consists of eight legs. When butterflies are seen, a deep perception embodies wings, and when bees are observed, there is diligence and responsibility.
There is no “I” or “me” regarding this, since both are merely empty, delusive, learned abstractions.
Therefore, this does not involve mere identification; it is much deeper than that!
Most people merely see things with lazy eyes of delusion and separation.”
“I don’t quite understand,” said the student.
With a tender smile, Lo Zu warmly replied, “That is OK; maybe someday you will understand and no
longer be
just another one of the two-leggers.”
Eastern Tailed Blue Butterfly … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
It’s supposed to be
pockets of human beings,
not pockets of the whole of nature!
*******************************************************************************************************
I speak from the heart on this. My wife and i do not have any children. I love kids and had worked for my career as a teacher for the multiply handicapped, but this planet has way more than its share of humans. In the past, i have lost a number of girlfriends because of my stance on this. It is very interesting (and tragic) that this most vital subject — that directly impacts the whole earth and all of its creatures including man — is mostly neglected (and not seriously considered) worldwide.
In too limited of a space… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Few of us, so very few of us, have deep, immeasurable space within (and “as”) the mind. Most minds are endlessly chattering about one thing or another, filled with series after series of limited thoughts (which are merely symbols), images, fears, opinions, musical tunes, and past experiences. Most minds are satisfied with remaining cluttered by what was poured into them. Most go from one series of reacting thoughts and repetitive reconfigurations to another… endlessly. Being satisfied with that is the norm, and that leads to depression, melancholiness, and division.
This space — of thought — which most people adhere to, and consist of, is of limitation. It is the small space of fragmentary symbols, which thoughts actually are. It is the little space between “self” and “other life forms.” It is the fallacious space between a supposed “me” and the so-called distant thoughts that it allegedly controls. It is the space between the past and the future. It is the space between “us” and “them.” It is the little space of sorrow.
Remain plastered there, if you wish. However, it may be most prudent to intelligently consider going beyond the norm. Will going beyond the norm necessitate more methodologies (from the stale past of the old teachers and religious/philosophical/political leaders)? Will going beyond the norm require following certain patterns in time, as in the ways we have merely functioned in throughout the past? Surely not! Love cannot exist deeply and profoundly if limited patterns and limited space crowd the mind. It is the mind that is full of walls of separation and limitation that is the prejudiced mind, the hating mind, the callous and uncaring mind. Love cannot enter what is limited, fragmented, contaminated, and “unwhole.”
Perpetuity… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
The shadow of my wing
unfolds as a very curious thing
reading this to the very end
The Shadow of the Dragon’s Wing… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Little Miss Could
promised to marry Should
They’d live in a sweet fancy house
mostly made of would
But then she met Why
with a special twinkle in his eye
He visited her ‘most every day
and often made her pie
When Should found out
he began to scream and shout
He demanded that all the pies be trashed
and that instead she eat sauerkraut
Miss Could began to cry
she threw a gigantic pie
It flew in Should’s round pretension
hitting him squarely in the “I”
Mr. Why married Miss Could
right there in the neighborhood
and he baked her plenty of pies
just as she felt he wood
Tiger Swallowtail (i.e., Mrs. Why, stuffed from eating pies!)… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Many of us hold assumptions/presumptions, either consciously or unconsciously, that dictate how we observe and react. These assumptions are what we have absorbed from others and may not be separate from what we are. Many people assume that they are separate from others. Many assume that they are separate from their so-called “own thoughts” and rule them from some kind of internal distance. Many assume that the perceiver is (psychologically) separate from the perceived. Many assume that their family consists of a few human beings. Many assume that endlessly imitating others is safe, sane, and wonderful. Many assume that they are fully autonomous and have absolute free will. Many assume that they are dominant, both internally and externally. Many assume that animals were put here for man. Many assume that they have a right to destroy nature. Many assume that someone who sees things very differently than they do is strange or wrong and should be avoided. Many assume that degrees from universities are a sign of deep intelligence. Many assume that thoughts are what they control by a central “I” or “me” that is not another thought. Many assume that fragmentary, limited science has all of the answers. Many take for granted that money and “showing off” are more important than caring.
It may be that the very intelligent mind goes beyond absorbed presumptions. Such a mind transcends fear, separation, prejudice, conflict, indifference, dead habit, delusion, and mediocrity. It is likely that only such a mind may be visited by the ineffable and sacred eternal.
[Note: According to the environment-oriented Sierra Club which we belong to and donate monthly to: Monarch butterfly populations have been rapidly declining in North America since 1997. In fact, the Midwestern United States have seen an 88 percent decline in the number of Monarchs, and a 64 percent decrease in the available Milkweed, which serves as the Monarch’s only egg-laying habitat and food source for Monarch caterpillars. We need to stop denying man-made global warming and do much more. I, myself, over the past years, have seen a dramatic decline in many butterfly and bee species.]
A Monarch Among Us… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
If people were sweet like flowers
this world wouldn’t be going to hell
and so much would beautifully smell
Become a Flower… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Thought, being sequential and fragmentary, depends upon — and is — time. A fragmentary, sequential process, as part of time, will never fully understand the whole of time. Yet, the scientists continue to operate through sequential and fragmentary equations and analysis. Space and time are an integral part of one another; they are not two entirely different things. The space between the perceiver and that which is perceived involves limitation and fragmentation and necessitates time. Scientists do not generally transcend that limitation; they keep projecting fragmentary equations, theories, and use analysis based on what they have learned before. Many scientists claim that they are close to having a theory of everything, yet scientists do not understand what dark energy is (consisting of 68% of the known universe); they also do not know what dark matter is (consisting of 27% of the known universe); they do not understand a lot regarding the basic essence of the cosmos. There is evidence, for example, that the so-called constant speed of light may be changing. New tests are exploring this. The whole of physics is predicated on the constancy of the speed of light. (Scientists may, however, understand some rather remarkable things at this point. Leonard Susskind’s Holographic Principle of the Universe comes to mind; however, even principles such as this are, of course, limited and fragmentary. I used to hang out with Loren Billings, who ran the Museum of Holography in Chicago and, decades ago, way before these expert scientists came up with this holographic theory stuff, we used to have wonderful discussions about the likely holographic nature of the universe… about how a large amount of the entire universe functions much like a hologram.)
The structure of the perceiver (psychologically) being separate from the perceived… is what is formulated by limited thought. This thought also sees the past as separate from the future. Fragmentation will understand things only in very limited ways. That very limitation, however, can (and often does) contribute to conflict, indifference, hatred, competition, and suffering. To step out of all that may not require time, struggle, theories, religions, authorities, practices, or any other piecemeal processes. There is a fundamental psychological revolution that is beyond the framework of fragmentation and conflict. Currently, science is replacing religion as a major contributor of the worldview. If science tends to stress fragmentation, which it (for the most part, but not entirely) has been doing, then people will, unfortunately, likely remain stuck in fragmentary frameworks.
Eye of the Toad… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
A young student asked Lo Zu, “When a firefly is full of light, does that mean that it is undergoing satori or full enlightenment?”
“No,” the sage answered, “Fireflies groom themselves often, making themselves orderly and spotless, but that is not enough for them — insects who live with separateness and competition — to receive immeasurable enlightenment.”
“What will happen if I receive such enlightenment?” the lad asked.
Lo Zu then answered, “If the limitless, unadulterated energy of the cosmos visits you and flows through you, you will look slightly physically different but you will not physically glow and, additionally, the fingers of the hands may contract (making it difficult to move), but usually that visitation occurs when one is alone and not among others.”
“I see,” said the student.
“After the visitation,” said Lo Zu, “you will look just like everyone else and, of course, the hands will easily move again; however, your mind will be much different. You will be glowing on the inside and will have seen.”
“Seen what?” the young lad enquired.
“Seen what is unseeable; met what is indescribable,” said Lo Zu.
“Is it the sacred?” the young boy asked.
With a tear in his eye and a concomitant smile on his face, Lo Zu answered, “Perhaps!”
Then Lo Zu graciously remarked, “Listen, Firefly, surpass fireflyness.”
Firefly Grooming Itself… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
The separation of the inner from the outer involves standard perception which largely involves misperception and barbaric acceptances. Such misperception involves conflict, separation, isolation, and distinct borders. A prudent entity who intelligently transcends mere inner-outer frameworks of perception is not a dull mind that walks into walls or that steps into busy traffic. Rather, such a person exists beyond old and cadaverous viewpoints and worn-out, primitive perspectives. Only such a person can be of real order; only such a person can be fully genuine, deeply compassionate, and of vast integrity and virtue. (By the way, idealistically saying that one is “one with nature,” which is all the fashion these days, is not it! A limited, fragmented mind can easily identify itself with anything, but it still remains a fragmented mind.)
Thought and stored memory feed the separation of the inner from the outer. Too many of us worship a false inner and are indifferent about the vast outer. A separate perceiver cannot be the complete understanding of the whole as long as the fragmentary self-projected images and thoughts of an isolated, independent observer are maintained via learned effort. Any state of opposition, such as what a concocted, separate “0bserver” brings about, further nourishes indifference and isolation. Thoughts and “image making” form the perceiver, and without thoughts and mental images, without repeated effort and psychological struggle, the perceiver would not be. The psychological ending of the so-called separate perceiver is not something to be frighted of; the true ending of limited images, symbolic patterns, and accepted barriers is not frightening; rather, it is liberation and involves profound insight. Holistic insight does not occur often for conflict and misperception.
Katydid Nymph and Ladybug… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Only sick immorality can yank children
from their parents and cage them up,
shitting on universal-global love
You know, i am not interested in politics whatsoever. Politicians are not my cup of tea. However, what is happening in the U.S. is getting to be extremely sick and immoral, and people (deeply stuck in their ruts) are accepting it! Children are children of the world; they don’t belong to any damn country, to any damn politics. It’s only crass, divisive adults who put them in such fragmented domains. A regime that, against international human rights laws, pulls children from their parents, is an immoral, diabolical regime. That same deranged, fascist-loving regime has been turning its back on the environment (kissing the behind of the fossil fuel industry). The unnatural, hellish, hot and violent weather is going to get exponentially worse and is no coincidence; mass extinctions will continue. When will people wake up?… when it is too late?
Shitting on Children… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
They hate yellow deeply
with their Scotts toxic bags
set to make dull lawnminds all exactly the same
Dandelion Dreams… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Many of us bloggers, who take pictures often, are scrupulously concerned about keeping our camera lenses clean and spotless. Many of our minds (and concomitant actions), however, are not taken care of so very diligently. We look at things through tainted, jaded, contaminated lenses, according to the way we were programmed to look. We see what we were programmed to see. We think what we were programmed to think. Most merely react, very predictably, according to the ways in which they were molded to react by. If one desires to clean the mind, to polish the lens of the mind, it is usually merely according to someone else’s system, methodology, or beliefs. That may merely be an extension of the crass conditioning.
Before considering cleaning the lens of the mind, please consider who (or what) is doing the cleaning. If the “perceiver” is not something separate from the perceived, then the cleaning itself may be part of the programming, part of the conditioning. Yet, most will just want to go out and take some mighty fine pictures.
I am quite aware that my blog only helps some people. Most will not see the seriousness of it. That lack of seeing the seriousness is what i have seen all my life, ever since childhood. Our world is going under because of it and, in the long run, our superficial images of things won’t matter one damn bit.
Leopard Frog Time… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
an impressive this and that
a revealing why and how
won’t make the superficial mind much deeper
we might see that by now
a reading left to right
some judgment up and down
will not make the world much saner
or dissolve the patterns to which we’re bound
Young Leafhopper (around 4 mm long)…. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Physically, there may be a bridge to a better future. One can eat more healthfully, exercise more, and do things to improve the environment, including building wonderful bridges. Internally (i.e., psychologically), is there really a bridge, and who is going to cross that bridge? Is the bridge different from what one is?
Is the “experiencer” really something separate from the experience? If there were no experiences, what would the “experiencer” be? So many of us, like infantile children, want more and more pleasurable experiences. Can there be moments when a sagacious mind exists without merely depending upon experience after experience?
If anger takes place, can it be looked non-fragmentarily — without manufacturing separate ideals — so as to be fully aware of it (without separative space and time)? Can there be moments when the mind (without excuses) fully sees what it is directly and with full awareness, without concocting notions of something different (that requires space and time to achieve)? If cruelty exists, and ideals manifest of “someday not being cruel,” is the non-cruelty an actuality or is it a mere abstraction (or escape) that depends upon fabricated psychological time?… and may it be that fabricated time (with its space) fails to see cruelty instantly and fully for what it really is? Is the thinker really something separate from thought, or are they one and the same? Is psychological time often an escape depending upon fragmentation, fabricated space, a mentally fabricated separate “I”… and, also, a postponement?
These questions are here for you to ask yourself; they do not exist for you to reply here with any answers.
from Emily Dickinson:
There are two Mays
And then a Must
And after that a Shall.
How infinite the compromise
That indicates I will!
Ebony Jewelwing… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
An inquisitive young man, along with some of his friends, went to Lo Zu, and said,
“Every time that I look east, the birds fly east, and every time that I look west, the birds fly west;
every time that I look up the birds fly up,
and every time that I look down, the birds fly down. What does this mean?”
After a very long period of silence, Lo Zu, the great sage, finally answered,
“One must keep one’s mouth shut when inquiring within.”
They finally hatched! 🙂
Mourning Dove Fledglings… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Let me shelter you
from the rain, from all the pain,
for all are brothers.
Mushroom Feelings… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
[from Albert Einstein (1879-1955; physicist and Nobel Laureate): “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”] Write to your congressmen, vote wisely (instead of what you inherited), and demand change.
This Haiku doesn’t need a canto
because it’s just too damn small.
The U.S. is destroying the Environmental Protection Agency.
Tiny Things… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
That original source, if it is to be discovered at all, must be seen firsthand (and directly). Seeing it through the second-hand scraps of another — including me — is never seeing it at all. The mind must be free of the contamination of others — the second-hand rubbish of others — for that seeing to take place. That seeing — of that wholeness — may have nothing to do with visual perception whatsoever. (Don’t be foolish enough and greedy enough to think that closing your eyes and sitting with crossed, pretzel-like legs will get you there!) Regarding this, the mind must be free of all the hand-me-down knowledge and systems of others and be of a sweet, pristine, innocent purity. However, even that is not enough, for the human mind cannot ever be totally spotless and original, and if that miraculous immeasurability ever occurs, it is not ever because one made it occur. It is much too immense, intrinsically intelligent, and freely mysterious, to merely be a shoddy effect from some paltry human cause. It is (though words are never the actual thing) an ineffable, sacred whole beyond mere causality. So many charlatans write in books and blogs and talk in temples about what they “think” it is. Additionally, many claim that it does not exist. Beware of all others and find out for yourself. Inquire with profound passion and never allow that passion to be quenched by mediocrity.
Fungus on Forest Floor… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 