All Posts Tagged ‘psychology’

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Regarding Happiness/Joy…

October 10, 2024
6 comments

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.

Buffet Lunch … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024

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That Limited Mental Space…

October 3, 2024
22 comments

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.

Buddha Mind … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2024

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The Perceiver is the Perceived

September 12, 2024
18 comments

 

 

Let’s dive deep
into shadowless realms of unsleep
far from the web of callous indifference

Let’s be whole
no fragmented pieces taking the toll
and streets driving as congested arteries

Let’s tread ages
leaving these words still on the pages
as a bored television tries to turn itself on

Let’s take time
as stolen money runs from the crime
while handcuffs are frowning with remorse

Let’s look down
while a missing wallet looks to be found
and credit cards fret with anxiety

Let’s be joy
while the white crib rattles her toy
as a happy nest with gray friends is singing

The Edge of the Nest … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
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Psychological Suffering…

September 5, 2024
12 comments

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
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Cause and Time…

August 29, 2024
8 comments

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.

Cause is Time … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024

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In the Vastness of Nature…

August 22, 2024
9 comments

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.

Beyond Words … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024

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Experiencing is often Childish and a Waste of Time…

August 15, 2024
22 comments

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.

Resting … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
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Perceiving Beyond the Limited

July 18, 2024
12 comments

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

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Feelings

July 11, 2024
14 comments

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

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The Whole

July 4, 2024
9 comments

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.

Hunting for Food … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
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To Live in the Present (is illusory) for most people…

June 27, 2024
15 comments

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

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We look with separation…

June 13, 2024
15 comments

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.

Peppermint Patty … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024

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The Wisdom of Effortlessness

June 6, 2024
8 comments

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

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In Deep Perception is Great Wisdom

May 30, 2024
18 comments

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

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A mind separate from “its” fears is a Distortion.

May 9, 2024
9 comments

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.

Defying Gravity … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
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Experience…

April 25, 2024
15 comments

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
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The Personality and One’s Gut Bacteria…

April 18, 2024
17 comments

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

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Can real, psychological quietness be “made” to happen?…

April 4, 2024
13 comments

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
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Orderly Sleep…

March 29, 2024
23 comments

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
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When you are Genuine and Whole…

March 7, 2024
6 comments

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.

Snowless Warmth … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
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The Wisdom of Perceiving Beyond Influence

February 29, 2024
7 comments

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.

Sweet Effort … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
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To Exclusively Look With the Known May Often Bring Depression

February 22, 2024
17 comments

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.

Resting … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
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The Deception of Seeking Enlightenment/Nirvana

February 15, 2024
16 comments

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. 

Flaky … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
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Keeping those eyes closed… a Sarcastic Discourse…

February 1, 2024
17 comments

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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
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True Bliss and Wisdom…

January 11, 2024
16 comments

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.

 

 

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[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
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The Confined Dimensions of Limited Perception…

January 4, 2024
16 comments

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
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Understanding the Whole…

December 7, 2023
11 comments

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.

Fungus Maze … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Thinking, Fear, and Suffering…

November 16, 2023
18 comments

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
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The Passion of Deep Inquiry regarding Truth

October 12, 2023
20 comments

In this very insane and violent world, in order to find out what is true, and what is beyond and deeper than what everyone else is thinking, believing, or hoping, one must have (and “be”) a tremendous and great passion (involving holistic discovery). This immense passion must be beyond motives involving hopes, desires, and secondhand patterns. One must — to truly explore — function with (and “as”) a mind that is untainted, unprogrammed, unafraid, unconditioned, and uninfluenced by others. Such a profound inquiry must not try to influence what may be discovered (via any internal, psychological influences such as hopes, beliefs, desires, and expectations). And, such a pristine, inquiring mind must be extremely healthy, via being part of a body that eats wholesome, very natural, nourishing foods, exercises often, and does not indulge in recreational mind-altering drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products (that can distort the observations).

Then, having laid the right foundation, one can inquire. This inquiry may best be done (psychologically) without methods, systems, and learned techniques… just by timelessly, effortlessly looking without conflict, and conditioning… beyond any previously learned psychological molding, casting, techniques, or shaping. Most thinking, per se, involves methodology, remembrance, and effort; being beyond thinking is neither of methodology nor time. Freedom, spirituality, and truth may not be what people think or what minds fabricate.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023

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Anything “Separate” (psychologically) may be largely Illusory…

September 28, 2023
17 comments

Conflict and friction are rooted in separation. We were miseducated to accept and embrace separation in (and “as”) consciousness. We were taught that we have a separate “ego” that controls things. We were not told about the possibility that this “ego” is merely a protrusion of thought/thinking. We were not told that, psychologically, the perceiver is not something separate from the perceived. So-called “normal” people look at internal anger, fear, and jealousy as if each is something separate from what they actually are. This inward separation also extends “outwardly.” Most look at life with separation and conflict and accept it as being normal.

Genuine, holistic love is not based on separation and conflict. Love is not what involves psychological distance and ironclad, circumscribed boundaries. The left hand that sees the right hand as something apart from itself is ignorant and is confined in (and “as”) blinding deception. Such ignorance and confinement manifest as sorrow. Wisdom transcends this.

Tiger on the run … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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The Known and the Unknown…

September 7, 2023
17 comments

Most people are magnetized to gravitate to (and to dwell in, and “as”) the known. They, unfortunately, cling to an existence exclusively in that superficial dimension. That dimension is a very limited dimension because one can only know (and accumulate) a very limited amount of things. To often exist as the unknown is foreign to them (and, for many, they never even considered it). The known is always of the past because it was accumulated in (and “as”) the past. Being of the past, the known always has a stale, secondhand element to it; it is never new, never totally fresh and living. Virtual, symbolic patterns, which constitute the known, are tokens and representations… not the actuality. It is good to use symbolic patterns often… but they are only temporary tools.


In so-called modern times, we were miseducated to dwell (and exist “as”) the known exclusively. Unfortunately, a mind that exclusively exists as the known is unbalanced and not whole. Society is a direct reflection of this unbalanced element, and insanity is rampant across the world. Interestingly, there is no procedure or method to step out of the known. All procedures and methods involve the known and are extensions of it. Procedures and methods involve time and the known is sequential (in its mechanical nature) and involves (and is) time. The unknown has the essence of nothingness to it (psychologically), and most people (unfortunately) are extremely afraid to be nothing psychologically. All want to be something, to attain something, to become something, to believe something, to get something, and to just continue to accumulate (sequentially). This exclusive sequential accumulation may be the very denial of true and timeless living.

Snapper Jr. … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023

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Sorrow is a Conditioned Reaction…

August 24, 2023
10 comments

Sorrow is a reaction. Sorrow is a mental response to something manifesting as a cause which results in an effect from what is accepted to be an observer. Conditioning concerning the manifestation of an “observer” results in a response allegedly from (and supposedly “by”) that observer. Intelligence, however, perceives that the observer is not separate from the observed. Such perception is not merely a standard reaction; it is, rather, holistic action beyond conditioned reaction (if it is indeed genuine, pristine perception, and not just an idea). This pristine perception negates the suffering of sorrow (in that it is clarity beyond robotic reaction). Does the clarity of wisdom habitually carry the burden of sorrow? Not likely. Wisdom is deeply living; sorrow and depression are not deeply living. Reactions are rooted in thought/thinking and can (and do) manifest as sorrow. Habitual thinking has the element of sorrow within it (intrinsically). Profound perception is living and is not exclusively rooted in thought/thinking. Such perception often exists beyond cadaverous, conditioned sorrow.

Lucky Four Leafers … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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The ego prevents Deep, Holistic Compassion…

August 17, 2023
11 comments

The ego of most people exists as a learned, limited set of reactions that involve separation, distance (from what are considered “others”), conflict, and a circumscribed (though false) center. Thought/thinking is the source of the ego, not the other way around. Egos, being restricted in nature, often cause havoc in the world; just check out the news. The ego, being limited, is often a cause of suffering (both with what are considered “inward” and “outside” events). The ego manifests suffering (because of its confinement and falsity). Deep, holistic compassion is dynamic and involves unadulterated perception. Such perception is direct and is not a mere reaction… it is action and is not robotic (like superficial reaction is). When the ego is transcended, a real, holistic compassion may occur that exists as immense and profound intelligence.

Buck “I” … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Awareness without lackluster thought/thinking…

July 20, 2023
15 comments

There can be a holistic awareness without significant thought/thinking taking place, (in which the intelligent mind often sees without thinking and cognition interfering). There can be, for example, simple awareness of creatures upon flowers and of leaves lightly dancing in the breeze. However, thought/thinking is then not merely labeling, analyzing, comparing, or projecting what science has taught concerning these things. Then the mind may be of a sweet emptiness that is beyond the second-hand constructs of man. That emptiness (of mind) may be a blissful, effortless negation of inherited mental fabrications. Such mental nullification may be the highest positive, for neither is it handed down, replayed as monotonous imitation, conjured up via effort, nor dully rehashed. And it can deeply exist (too) beyond the ordinary, habitual recognition of things. It is always refreshingly new and beyond dead blueprint-like (mental) structuring. (Too many of us take words to be the equivalent of reality; they are not.) And, coincidentally, real love is always explosive, pristine, and not copied or imitated. The ordinary “once-lers” of the world are, unfortunately, not of it.

Bliss … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Lo Zu and Nothingness… (yet another Lo Zu tale)

July 13, 2023
20 comments

The elderly, gray-haired Lo Zu was sitting — as he often tended to do — on a large boulder in nature… his wooden meandering cane leaning against him. Some youth saw him from a distance and they curiously journeyed over to where he was sitting. Then they asked him what he was doing. Lo Zu replied… “Doing nothing… being nowhere and existing as nothingness.” One of the youth queried, “What do you mean by ‘existing as nothingness?'”

After a long, meditative pause, Lo Zu replied, “When the ego is transcended, the mind is often mysteriously beyond its contents; then there is a beautiful nothingness that is blissfully beyond ordinary experience, sensation, space, and time; that emptiness is beyond the ‘known.’ But most people are afraid of being beyond the known. They are afraid of having their cup empty. Each one desperately wants their cup to be filled (with something). Their cups are full of stale theories, secondhand ideas, flat beliefs, antiquated traditions, divisive religions, corrosive fears, greedy desires, banal suppositions, learned superstitions, limited so-called organized systems, dead images, and shallow words from so-called leaders. But it may be that their fullness is the real poverty; it may be that real richness is in transcending the psychological self (that is an illusory troublemaker). Profound love is beyond the dilation of self.”

Inner Clarity … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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You can Experience Things but You can’t Experience Wholeness

July 6, 2023
15 comments

from the song “Heart of the Sunrise” by Yes:

Lost in their eyes as you hurry by
Counting the broken ties they decide

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Experiencing things, for most people, involves recognition and thought/thinking. Experiencing things, for most people most of the time, deals with experiences that seem to be separate from the “experiencer.” But the “experiencer” is really not something apart from the experience (though he or she seems to be separate). Without the experience, there is no “experiencer.” Most tend to look with full-blown separation and distance.

When people look at the stars, they are observing something that happened millions of years ago (which, of course, is due to the fact that it took the stars’ light millions of years to get to the Earth). So, essentially, they are looking at the past. And even when one sees things that are physically very close, one is still observing the past. Experiencing is, for survival purposes, often very useful; it often is a necessity for survival. However, merely depending on experiencing — and existing as experiencing — may not be very prudent. Merely remaining in that limited realm may be remaining in (and “as”) the past. Many cling to the apron strings of experience… and they are afraid to venture beyond that limited and separative realm. It is wise to often be experiencing things and it is wise to be beyond experiencing things. Immense wholeness is beyond experiencing (and all of the traditional separation, discrimination, psychological distance, isolation, and circumscription that goes with it).

Fruiting Bodies … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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The Bliss of Being Beyond All of the Baggage that Others Gave You to Carry…

June 22, 2023
8 comments

When you were a very young child, before society gave you all kinds of baggage to carry (mentally), you were euphorically joyful, deeply inquisitive, and full of bliss. Then you felt eternal, timeless, and profound, and you were not concerned about death, religion, politics, or how to climb a ladder of success. But they loaded you up with the baggage that they had accumulated (and concomitantly, a lot of the real beauty of life dissipated in consciousness over time). Perhaps you can do yourself a real favor and perceive again (without depending on any accumulated baggage). Perceive without all of their concepts weighing down upon you. Without all of the psychological baggage, perhaps you can be young and full of joy and living magic again.

Clinging to Easy Substance … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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One Normally does not Post Videos but this One is an Exception…

June 15, 2023
28 comments

Yes, one doesn’t normally post videos and one normally doesn’t like to watch them but the following short video — which was sent to me by friends in Canada that i used to live with and do volunteer work with, for six months, making non-competitive games — is an exception. The video is very sweet, in my honest opinion! Please watch it!

The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders
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Perceiving Directly Beyond Conditioning…

June 8, 2023
13 comments

Pristine perception is not observing through a screen of conditioning. Very many of us look at things just as we were programmed to look… which really isn’t looking at all. To perceive without conditioning interfering requires a very dynamic mind that is not easily influenced by others. Such unconditioned observing is innocent, unsullied, profound, without a center, and has little to do with robotic reactions with their concomitant opinions and labels. Pristine perception does not involve the limited circumference that a psychological center brings about. Such perception is untethered, insightful, and — not being secondhand — is beyond methodology and imitation. Profound perception goes beyond mere recognition and remembrance. It is an effortless explosion of intelligent freedom.

Little by little … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Living with Suffering

June 1, 2023
9 comments

Suffering is part of life. We all suffer. We suffer physically and we suffer psychologically. Physical suffering is unfortunate oftentimes, and often some of us get more than our fair share. When one suffers, one is not just suffering alone; the whole of humanity and life shares in that suffering; it is the suffering of life. Sometimes, we automatically run from suffering in a robotic, conditioned, thoughtless way. If one is intelligent, one can allow physical suffering to flower naturally somewhat (without just being totally negative about it). Physical suffering is often a signal… and we need not be too overwhelmed with some of these signals (as long as we are doing everything we can to live a healthy and responsible life).

Additionally, there is psychological suffering. The mind can suffer with grief, with fear, with sorrow, with depression, loneliness, and boredom. Habitually manifesting as grief and sorrow can, for instance, take its toll on the body; it can cause high blood pressure, strokes, and all kinds of things. One’s sorrow, one’s fears, one’s grief… are all not separate from what one actually is. One can, without effort, psychologically die to grief, fear, to sorrow (and such things). And merely dwelling in (and “as”) thoughts is a form of sorrow. Thoughts are merely virtual, symbolic images, and existing merely as virtual, symbolic images is intrinsically a form of suffering. And thoughts (and psychological images in time) are usually the sources of fear and anxiety. One can psychologically die to the endless chattering of thoughts; such a dying is inherently a blessing. Look at things directly and not just through a psychological screen of learned images and labels. It is the images and labels that take effort to manifest, which is not the case with direct perception and pure seeing. But we make effort into an endless habit and then claim that we can’t exist without it. Effort takes time; wise (pristine) perception is timeless. Compassion is instantaneous (and has an element of timelessness), by the way.

Coprolite — Fossilized Dinosaur Dung … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Liberation from the Limited Notion of Self…

May 25, 2023
18 comments

I’ve included the following quote by Einstein in previous posts, and i’m including it here again.

“The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.” — Albert Einstein

The human brain goes through a huge amount of associative mental connections. Most people associate the “I,” the “me,” the “self” with power to control, with domination over “other” thoughts, and with freedom to act independently. However, the “I” — just like the other concepts of central authority — is just a protrusion of thought/thinking. In all actuality, there is no true central “controller” situated in the brain. Unfortunately, far too many people treat this thing as if it has a separate, substantive existence (apart from others). It may be that many millions deceive themselves each and every day. Transcending this limited, primitive, crude form of thinking opens the way toward deep compassion and holistic understanding. Our age-old associative ties to a central, independent “controller” (apart from the world) may be very erroneous.

I’m little … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Going Beyond Psychological Time…

May 18, 2023
9 comments

being to timelessness as it’s to time… E.E.Cummings

Time is distance. We perceive with (and “as”) distance, and we remain stuck in time. Of course, you have to keep your doctor’s appointment, which involves a certain physical time and place. (A supposed isolated center looking out, perceives via distance.) Should time be the only domain we function in (and “as”)? This writer says, “No!”

At 9 O’clock … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Protrusions of Thought/Thinking

May 4, 2023
11 comments

Most of us are almost constantly churning — mentally — with various images, words, and patterns within our minds. (The words are often verbal in essence and usually occur as simulations of what one’s own physical voice sounds like.) Even when we listen to others, or observe others, what we perceive largely consists of patterns recognized (i.e., re-cognized) by mental patterns which already exist in (and “as”) the mind. We often take these patterns — these protrusions of thought/thinking — to be equivalent to pure reality. However, they are primarily just virtual representations that are fragmentary, symbolic, and of the past, since they are constituted of repetitive mental protrusions that reflect what was poured — piecemeal — into us by others. Even the “I” that each one seems to zealously harbor and worship consists of a protrusion of thought/thinking (that deceives the mind and often invites fragmentary, separative behavior).

A silent mind transcends this limitation by going beyond what is secondhand, virtual, and symbolic. Such a mind is not merely trapped in (and “as”) the representational. Such a mind is dynamic, alive, pristine, and beyond sequential, robotic imitation. Then, true care and compassion may manifest. Compassion does not emanate from what is fundamentally not alive.

Lichen what you see … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Time, Distance, and Depth of Mind…

March 30, 2023
13 comments

Time involves distance. Without distance, there is no time. Many people try to convince others — and themselves — that they have perceptions involving great depth and great wisdom. What does it mean to see deeply? Many people see deeply. They perceive with (and “as”) depth that involves distance… such as between a perceiver and that which is perceived. However, even animals perceive in such a way. Such depth involves (and is constituted of) conflict and separation. However, there is, in a few, a holistic depth of mind that does not involve conflict and separative distance. It is not of the mundane, so-called “normal” depth. A different holistic perception involves unity… and not mere separation between a perceiver and that which is perceived. In such perception, compassion exists, unity exists, and care and empathic action exist.

Getting to the timeless (i.e., the unlimited) through time — through effort and distance — is foolish.

A Little Innocence … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2023
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Time is Sequence, Thought is Sequence, Light is Sequence, and Sound is Sequence, but that Great Sacredness is beyond Sequence…

March 16, 2023
23 comments

Time, evolution, light, sound, and thought/thinking all consist of a series of sequences. We live in a domain consisting of sequences. That is our life. I am suggesting here that great spirituality exists timelessly beyond what is merely sequential. Can you get to it by doing a series of things in time? No. However, is living a life that is orderly, perceptive, and caring (within time) essential? Yes. That sacredness may not be separate from an orderly, perceptive, caring life. However, if your mind exclusively consists of sequences and sequential patterns, you likely will never be visited by the timeless sacred. Sequences, per se, only consist of the partial (i.e., fragmentary patterns) and what is partial is not what partakes of the whole. This is why an orderly, meditative mind is crucial… but it is not something that one can practice or perform as a technique.

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Note:

My previous blog posting included a photo of T-rex, my pet parrot; i used to breed parrots. Some readers expressed interest, so the following is an audio of T-rex. Needless to say, he is quite a character. (In the audio, at first, he rings a bell — which, often i think, is to summon me, as if i’m some kind of butler —and, when i don’t come running, at 4 seconds into the audio tape, he says “Oh, what the heck?!” Then he whistles a summoning whistle … and subsequently, he diverges, and his wolf whistles follow. He whistles better than i can. At 22 seconds he, quietly, says something — as if to himself — like “specific.” At second 25, he quietly says “stupid,” which is probably about me and not coming as he wants me to. At around second 34, he says “come on” a couple of times. At second 37, he says, “hello.” Then, among summoning whistles, he quietly — as if to himself — says “specific” again and says “come on” repeatedly. Personally, i think that he thinks that i’m his private butler whom he can summon whenever he wants; he rings that god-forsaken bell and expects me to come running. Sesame Street is what can be heard in the background. I put Sesame Street on tv for them daily, which they enjoy and learn things from.)
Let’s face it, we are our pets’ menial servants. 😉

T-rex Talking and Whistling … Thomas Peace c.2023
T-rex (back) … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Eternity does not involve a central “I”

March 9, 2023
16 comments

First of all, if you ever happen to be blessed with a true understanding of how eternity works, don’t go shouting about it from your rooftop. It is a thing for an individual to discover and is not something meant to be shared, one feels.

One will say this, however… Eternity does not depend upon the existence of a central “I.” Anyway, there never was a true central “I” in the first place. Each manifestation of an “I” (or “me”) is an obtrusion and product of thought/thinking and there is nothing truly central about it. This writer sometimes uses the term “I” when responding or writing in this blog because it is a common form of communication. However, in actuality, it is not truly necessary. Eternity exists quite nicely, thank you, without the need for the existence of an “I” or “me.” This seems counterintuitive. However, truly understanding how the cosmos functions (in its entirety) occurs best when the “I” and “me” (with all the falsities involved) are absent or psychologically negated.

One happens to have, and care for, a couple of wonderful pet parrots — I used to breed parrots — and they often speak with comprehension… and they sometimes correctly use the word “I.” For instance, recently my girlfriend bought colorful wooden toys for them and one of them, named “T-rex,” was tearing his huge wooden toy up so much, and making extensive messes, that i removed it (i.e., the toy) from his enclosure… intending to give him one section at a time. He said, “I want it back.” So even animals can use the word “I”; it’s no big deal.

One posits that, for us humans, it takes great intelligence to transcend the notion of a central “I” or “me.” Then, possibly, such a one may partake in great insights that transcend our rudimentary notions of time, space, control, death, life, and self. Many, however, would say, “Well, I’m not interested.”

T-rex (Catalina Macaw) … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Sometimes existing Beyond the Limited Process of Thinking…

March 2, 2023
11 comments

It’s not what we were taught to consider. The following contains a portion of what my response was to someone who gave comments in my previous blog posting.

Regarding what may happen when thought/thinking is not merely what occurs in (and “as”) consciousness… Well, what may remain is not a gut feeling or instinct. What we are talking about may occur when thought/thinking is in abeyance… and it is not what thought/thinking can easily grasp, label, pigeonhole, or categorize. But most people, in modern society, would be uncomfortable about often being where ordinary thinking is not… and they would likely say that what i am suggesting is malarkey. We are so indoctrinated with the process of thought/thinking, that anything else is unfathomable. Most of us were programmed to be what thought/thinking is… and anything else is unwelcome (and likely not what we are interested in).

Miseducation is often one-sided. Such so-called education is what can program us to wholeheartedly accept what is limited, confined, and false. The human world is a result of this miseducation… and currently, there is much conflict, violence, confusion, division, and separation. There may be an aspect of great compassion, bliss, and caring when transcending thought/thinking. Beyond the fragmentation that thought/thinking consists of, the burden of sorrow is not. Thought/thinking, by itself, on the other hand, often involves robotic, banal, sequential fragmentation; thought/thinking is primarily of a symbolic nature. Mere symbols are not true realities; they are mere tokens. It may be prudent to go beyond what your consciousness was educated to exist as.

RibitRibitRibit … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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On the Nature of Experience…

February 23, 2023
14 comments

There is, it seems to us,
At best, only a limited value
In the knowledge derived from experience. — T.S.Eliot

It is good to experience things in life often. For instance, one needs experience in order to function properly and in ways that do not end up being detrimental to one. Additionally, it is very wise to experience nature often. Nature contains a lot of profound beauty, order, and magical dynamics… consisting of occurrences that are real treasures to take in. However, it is also prudent to often go beyond experience… to dwell where experience has no place. Exclusively clinging to experience is what most people do (and such an existence may be very limited, very confined, and partial). Such a partial life is of sorrow. Most people exclusively crave more and more experiences, greater and greater experiences. Someone, to them, suggesting going beyond experience, must seem odd. Many would laugh at such a person.

When we experience, we usually do so in terms of what we have already mentally accumulated. We recognize things and classify things according to what we’ve already been taught (in and “as” the past) and according to what we already have stored in our brains. It can be a rather robotic (re-cognition), mundane process. And exclusively partaking in it may, in fact, be rather childish and mechanical. We recognize with (and “as”) the past and, in a sense, we keep living in the past.

A mind that sometimes perceives or exists without accumulating, labeling, or comparing patterns, however, may be atypical… and may be beyond normative experiencing. Such a mind may see (or be) holistically at times, in a way (or unway) that does not merely classify, label, recognize, pigeonhole, compare, or evaluate. Such a mind does not merely always cling to the apron strings of experience. (Do remember this… Going beyond limitation, the status quo, and confinement is not a terrible thing.)

The Experience of Nature … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Perceiving from (and “as”) the known…

February 9, 2023
15 comments

Human beings, for the most part, perceive things by looking through (and from) a screen that they’ve been taught to look through, that they’ve been instructed to exist as. This screen consists of accumulated knowledge, accumulated symbols, bundled memories, and learned images. We recognize what we were taught to recognize; most of us believe what we were taught to believe. It’s all rather regimented, robotic, structured, and prearranged. And we think that we are free, even as the way in which we perceive is very mechanized, predetermined, limited, and shaped by society.

We see what we were programmed to see, and this “seeing” is usually fragmentary, limited, symbolic, and secondhand. It may be, in a big way, like clinging to shadows. Stepping out of this quagmire may not be easy. It (i.e., this hand-me-down perception) often occurs unconsciously and it is deeply ingrained in (and “as”) us. Additionally, society does not want you to step out of this… for doing so might be a danger to all that is false.

Self-critical awareness may be necessary. And often looking without one’s accumulation may be prudent, whole, and what is beyond fear. Looking without accumulation may make one vulnerable (and we are so terribly afraid to be vulnerable); we cling to the known out of deep fear and cowardice. Too many of us became used to being told what to do, what to see, what to believe, and how to act. It’s so childish! But secondhand isn’t living. Merely looking at everything through learned, fragmentary symbols, and separative labels, may not be bona fide living.

Don’t just pigeonhole it … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
Post

A Separate Consciousness?

January 26, 2023
27 comments

Many people, of course, think that their consciousness is their own individual consciousness. However, it may be truer that one’s consciousness is a branch of all of the consciousnesses of the entire cosmos. One’s consciousness is a branch of that multitude and it is not separate from it, though, to (far too) many, it appears to be entirely separate and individualistic.

Our human consciousness is often conditioned by what society has poured into us. Many of us are exactly what we have been shaped and molded to be. To step out of that mold requires a lot of questioning and creative, holistic insight. Internal quietness, beyond wanting a mechanistic result, may exist beyond all of the fallacious chatter, symbolic fragmentation, and delusory separation.

The Statue Inspector … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2023