At that place
where there is no i…
just place
In that magic
where time doesn’t matter…
so measurelessness
From no beginning
entwined without ending…
just eternity
Luminous Tendril of Celestial Wish (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Luminous Tendril of Celestial Wish (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
There have been blogs, by others, wherein they write all about themselves. They write about their likes, special preferences (such as favorite foods, books, and movies), social relationships, and so on and so forth. Others write about the need to love oneself; they write about the beauty of really caring about oneself (first and foremost).
What is oneself? Most of us, one suspects, were educated to see the self as we were all programmed to see it. This education is often very similar to the education that other countries have stuck to in the past, even the one which Adolf Hitler emerged from (who, by the way, loved himself dearly and who passionately encouraged others to adore him too).
So, what is the self? Is the self an autonomous entity separate from the environment, the whole, the rest of mankind, the animals? When a person says that he knows himself, what does he — actually — know? Is such knowledge a lot of recalled patterns of bygone preferences, tendencies, opinions, images, and methodologies that have occurred in (and “as”) the past? Recalled patterns (of the past) are from the storehouse of memory. Recollections, from (and “as”) that memory, are always old (i.e., of the past), limited (i.e., snap-shot-like), partial, and (therefore) incomplete. Those recollections of self, additionally, are heavily influenced by the past education and culture in which one was raised. One’s fundamental conceptions of self were poured into one (and absorbed) during one’s youth. Recollections and labels “about the self” are always of the past. They are images or linguistic symbols from (and about) “what was.”
Many people feel empowered by an elevated sense of self. Many are enamored about themselves and they write about themselves a lot (either positively or negatively), or they are very obsessed about their physical appearance. However, the self may not necessarily be what society has had each of us accept and take for granted. There is a very good chance that a lot of primitive miseducation has taken place for many years.
Unfortunate is the man or woman whose self is a fenced in, segregated, walled-off conglomeration of past images and symbolic thoughts convinced that a special space isolates what they are (or what “one is”) from the rest of life on earth. Being walled-in is a surefire recipe for depression, no matter how financially fortunate one’s life has been, no matter how wonderful one may (superficially) think one appears physically. To have private dominion apart from the rest of life, as something special and separate, is no cup of tea that real perception is interested in sipping. It may be that real liberation does not come from coddling and worshipping the isolated self, as so many immature and egocentric people tend to do, but (instead) comes about when the self is understood and joyfully transcended. The circumference around an egocentric mind is always limited, primitive, self-concocted via absorbed patterns… and is standardized, mediocre, and regimented. Most people are very immersed in (and “as”) such a circumference; very few of them will care anything whatsoever about prudently going beyond it. A limited, walled-in circumference inevitably brings sorrow. All of the psychological therapy and superficial entertainment in the world will not put an end to that sorrow.
Instead of coming up with notions about “oneself,” go out (for an enlightening change) and perceive without the separative boundaries and isolated perspectives that were implanted in (and “as”) the past. Is the perceiver so very separate from the perceived? Walls of delusion may experience a lot of things; however, walls of delusion will never understand and see the uncontaminated truth and the eternal. Real understanding, bliss, and balance are not of dead limitation, stale recognition, and segregation.
From the poetry of Stephen Crane:
The sage lectured brilliantly.
Before him, two images:
“Now this one is a devil,
And this one is me.”
He turned away.
Then a cunning pupil
Changed the positions.
Turned the sage again:
“Now this one is a devil,
And this one is me.”
The pupils sat, all grinning,
And rejoiced in the game.
But the sage was a sage.
Super Thin Model (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Super Thin Model (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
When wily mediocrity mingled
impressing dozens of cadaverous friends
When superficiality stagnated
content with parts and very dead ends
Where innocence’s insight fully flowered
near caring doubt’s entwining now
With timelessness everlastingly
not separate from the whole of life somehow
Soldier Beetle in Chives (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Soldier Beetle in Chives (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Scientists say that we evolved from fish (over millions of years of evolutionary time). Many fish remain together in large schools. We, as human beings, still cluster together in groups (often, just as the fish do, out of fear or out of the desire to be associated with something more substantial). When one “belongs” to a sizable group, it allows one to identify oneself with (and “as”) something larger and (apparently) much more significant. One identifies with (and becomes) the group. “It is ‘my country'”… which is so vast, powerful, and beautiful… and, so they say, “It is what I am willing to die for.” The aforementioned sentence is a typical thing stated often in various countries, each thinking that their ways and systems are better and more righteous.
Similar things happen with political parties and organized religions. Each person identifies with that large organization (which takes him away from his obscure, unsung, little self). Or, similarly, one identifies with one’s images of God; one identifies, then, with images (that one is) of something powerful, large, and almighty. People identify with something larger that is (they believe) “protecting them,” keeping them safe in a world of full of disorder and chaos. Some people — full of indoctrinated prejudices — exclusively identify with their race, culture, political group, or family units (apart from all others). Often, unfortunately, it is mostly about their race, or their culture, or their political group, or their family… and the rest can (more or less) go to grass. Few of us identify with the little, poor woman or man who labors all day in the vegetable fields under a very hot sun and who gets next to nothing for payment; few actually see a little, defenseless animal as a reflection of the whole.
Many of our man-made groups, however, are usually not as safe or as necessary as we have been lead to believe. People clinging to individual countries and religions have created wars (against each other) for millennia. People have fought about their different projections of God — and about their little idealistic groups and separate systems — for eons.
Fortunately, there are those who see beyond mere boundaries and groups and who simply help all others. This affection and care for all others goes beyond the realm of humans and extends into the beautiful realm of animals and plants. Some help, with real action, not for mere monetary reward but, instead, because they have real love in their hearts for all (beyond what any herd-mentality dictates).
Can real intelligence stand alone? Without being a hermit, can one not identify with — or belong to — anything (i.e., to anything that, through limited groups and systems, separates man)? It may be that real and lasting peace may come when we go beyond the limited groups, systems, and images that we — so robotically — identify with. The mind that is seriously and intelligently aware transcends separative borders and, hence, goes beyond conflict. (This “going beyond borders” goes beyond mere external borders and, additionally, involves transcending internal borders, false separation, and internal mental conflict.) Such a mind, if it is truly intelligent and pristine, is beyond belonging to separative groups that cause havoc, friction, and indifference in the world. (Our inner conflicts and separations project out into society as outer conflicts and separations.) Prudent emptiness (which is freedom beyond being lead) — beyond crude traditions and beyond images of the past — does not need to identify with anything. Humility and real innocence need not clutch at (and identify itself with) something “larger.” Profound innocence is a vulnerability that does not merely turn to violence (i.e., violent ways) to achieve continuity.
Group of Aphids (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Group of Aphids (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
The magical multiplicity of nature
needs integrity and care
not ramshackle mumbo jumbo
from insipid intellectualism sitting in choice underwear
A gustatory dive (without papaya or mangoes)
of simple mushrooms and assimilated provisions
can be polished off near a larder and fridge
without cold emptiness’s voracious decisions
Mushrooming love
There’s plenty of room for more
not emaciated hate and indifference
Pass on a plate to feed the poor
Mushrooming Love (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Mushrooming Love (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
As we were suggesting in recent previous posts, when things — such as fears or desires — are seen with a psychological distance, then that very (separative) perception reinforces the (supposed) gap between the perceiver and that which is perceived. When, for instance, fear is seen as something that one “has,” it is usually seen as what is manipulated (from a distance) by an internal, psychological “I” or “me.” In actuality, the mind (the entity) is not something separate from what the fear is. The fear is what you “are”; it is not merely what you “have.” Perceiving fear from a psychological distance — such as what most minds do — tends to firmly reinforce the notion of a manipulating “I” or center who (supposedly) can, over time, deal with the fear. The fraudulent thing regarding that, though, is that — in reality — the fear is not (whatsoever) separate from what the mind is. Looking at the fear with internal distance, from a supposed internal “I” or “me,” reinforces the assumption of an “I” or “me” that is separate from what is perceived (internally); such an assumption, used habitually, as it is, is imagination reinforcing itself. Perceiving, for instance, fear, sadness, or desire, from a psychological distance — as most people do — reinforces and actually helps fabricate a separate “I” or “me,” (who allegedly “has” those things).
Internally developed fear, per se, depends upon psychological time; without psychological time, internally developed fear would not exist. And we think we can (from an internal distance) understand, over time, psychological fear! We create a separate “analyzer” who is going to analyze internally. However, the analyzer actually is the analyzed. Analysis takes time; additionally, time is required to manufacture a separate “I” who is different from the fear. Does one just want to “get rid” of fear? It may be one part of the mind trying to get rid of another part… being in conflict with it. It may be far more prudent to understand it (i.e. the fear which is yourself), and it may be that one cannot fully understand it if one thinks that it is separate from what one is.
Someone might say, “What is the benefit of seeing all this?” If, for instance, fear takes place and there is an acute perception and accurate relationship regarding (and “as”) that fear… then it can be fully perceived as it is, and not with some extraneous images or imaginings of a separate “I” who is somehow separate from it and in conflict with it. (Conflict is friction and may not solve anything fundamentally.) The extraneous images — of a separate controller or of a separate “I” or “me” — disallow the full perception of the fear as it really is… and tend to waste time by projecting a separate image (or images) that supposedly will do something about the fear. Fear is what one actually is; then a separate image is created by the mind to get rid of, suppress, overcome, analyze, or somehow adjust to the fear. This creates duality and conflict in the mind that essentially leads to friction, limitation, and time wastage. False, inner fragmentation, no matter how sophisticated it may be, is fundamentally (in most cases) what contributes to friction, and it is essentially a waste of time and energy.
People erroneously associate going beyond a central “I” or “me” with a lack of security, with a lack of inner integrity. On the contrary, real integrity exists in perceiving things as they actually are, without introducing fallacious images and a lot of primitive rigmarole into the picture. Bliss and understanding the essence of real eternity can exist only when one psychologically dies to the ungrounded and phony images that one, unfortunately, has been taught (over time) to carry. Such psychological dying is what is truly living, and such living involves direct, untainted, pristine, beautiful perception. It may be that real baptism occurs when one’s consciousness is washed clean of cold deception, false accumulation, and dead tradition.
Wasp in Chives (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Wasp in Chives (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
We twotogether as one
beyond the red insidious wars
and wrinkled reasons that send sweet smooth youth to die
We touch sweet nature and are sweet nature
We do not travel on polluting jets or diesel cruise ships to visit and
see distant nature
We are softly purely content with what and where we are
(truly close to nature)
And where we are is together
purely together beyond hard human hypocrisy and
adulterating contamination
We twotogether as one
Twotogether as One (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Twotogether as One (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
To look with real innocence is to look, to perceive, with (and “as”) a pristine purity that is uncontaminated. Looking with what is jaded, distorted, and fallacious, of course, certainly won’t cut it. Many have assumed, with their preconceptions, that they observe correctly and rightly. Many end up in conflict, worldwide, over what they consider is right… religiously, politically, economically, nationally, socially, and within the psychological realm… all this involving limited, sequential (learned) patterns. Multitudes cling to their patterns, their traditions, their customs, their absorbed ways of seeing the world according to the programming which they were taught (from fragmentary groups). The world ends up with conflict, friction, wars, and endless bickering (as is currently going on).
Some of our learned patterns have been useful medically and also somewhat within technological realms. However, beyond that, psychologically and such, we have clung to traditions, beliefs, precepts, and patterns that tend to cause friction, separation, and conflict. The question is: Can one, without needing time, wash the slate (of the mind) clean so that one can look purely (without what one, psychologically, has accumulated)? However, who is going to do the cleaning? Is the “cleaner” actually separate from what is being cleaned? If the cleaner is not really separate from the content of the rubbish (that needs purging) will the cleaner be cleaning according to the content that was previously implanted in (and “as”) his (or her) consciousness? Can the conditioned mind perceive that the very images of self and of psychological control may be part of the content, part of the conditioning? Since all (conditioned) beliefs, precepts, psychological traditions, and customs take time — including the supposition of a special internal center controlling thoughts from some kind of psychological distance — can the mind look without time (without depending on sequences of conditioned patterns)? This would mean that the mind would look without functioning with (and “as”) past accumulations. All accumulations from the past are “from time” and “involve time.” To innocently perceive — without any fallacious center (that takes distance and time to look) and without any limited, accumulated, sequential patterns that were absorbed — does not require time… does not require practice.
One cannot practice meditation. One cannot practice real love. Both involve an intelligence beyond time and sequential conditioning. It may be that real innocence exists when there is no psychological “me” put together by accumulated boundaries, separations, images, and traditions formulated of limited (symbolic and sequential) thoughts. It has been accumulated boundaries, separations, and traditions that fabricated images of the “me.” The limitless of eternity is never seen by any conditioning that is limited, bounded, fragmentary, and that is merely an accumulation within (and part of) a learned sequential movement through (and “as”) space/time. Insight is beyond the accumulated. Insight is beyond the limited.
On the River Bank … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
We all want security or some kind of stability in life. If someone asks you — such as is done in this blog — to consider transcending beyond the image(s) of a central “I” or “me,” it is normal to have reservations about doing that. Since very early childhood, images of there being a central “I”, “me,” or “central controller,” have been poured into us and have been heavily reinforced. People have a psychological defense mechanism regarding protecting that supposed “center” that allegedly controls everything that each one does or decides upon. That defense mechanism is built around the need for stability and security. The “I” or “me” seems quite permanent and seems to be what one can always identify with (and depend upon).
For centuries, many of us have each existed in a country that we identified with and looked to for security. “Our country” will keep us safe; “our country” is better and has the right systems and traditions. “Our country” is protecting us… providing the necessary security for us. However, these countries, worldwide, have not really given us security to any very significant, long-lasting degree. The world remains full of conflict. Crazy leaders, who are power-hungry and who have child-like minds, still (in this so-called modern age) pull people into deadly wars. Separative countries, for eons, have contributed to conflict and wars between humans. We are so programmed into following leaders (who promise security) yet who merely maintain the separative division that puts man against man. Countries are essentially, by the way, manmade. There really isn’t such a thing as Scotland; it is what man concocted.
Organized religions, too, are what man concocted. Just like with countries, they have plenty of leaders who (like deceptive politicians) offer you security (especially in the after-life or in their “here and now” that is promised). Like the image of a central “I,” one’s religion is what one can identify with and depend upon. Like with countries, organized religions have caused much friction between human beings. There have been many wars in the name of religion. This still goes on.
These things that promise security may, with closer more vigilant observation, not provide much real security at all. The world is not a safer place to exist in currently (with these manmade systems full of rigid practices and formulations that separate one group of humans from another). Ignorance constructs walls and barriers to separate people and this inevitably causes conflict. It may be, in reality, a small world… a global world.
Many may easily think that going beyond the concept or idea of a central “I” will somehow negate our security. We are afraid of giving up what we think is so fundamental, so very permanent and lasting. That “I,” however, creates psychological walls (and a bounded circumference) that can (and easily do) cause conflict in the world (and internally). It may be that real security and real relationship with eternity can take place, however, without the illusory (limited) circumference and psychological wall that the image of “I” or “me” manifests as. The reaction of “I” or “me” is a new projection or reflex of thinking each time it takes place, yet we take it to be the same-old, reliable (egocentric) essence of what we are. Like a cigarette lighter flame repetitiously brought into existence, the flame is new and a bit different each time it burns; however, we tend to identify with it as being always the same, permanent thing… which it isn’t. The “I” causes walls of indifference, walls of callousness. Intelligence and a real sense of bliss and eternity can live quite nicely (thank you) without dependence upon the “I,” “me,” or a spurious center… (except during times of superficial conversation where it is still commonly used).
Beyond its limited circumference exists what is beyond borders and concocted walls. Real love transcends the “I,” transcends walls and borders that divide and cause conflict.
Captured but Plant-based (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Captured but Plant-based (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
[Special Note: Happy New Year everyone! Though we need to go way beyond “happy” into deep perception, compassion, and environmental awareness (that matters).]
The passion of awareness — real awareness, not all of that phony stuff — perceives beyond the known. The known consists of preconceptions, traditions, and limited patterns of the past. Profound awareness goes beyond all those things. It goes beyond the mundane and commonplace. It is not enmeshed in repetitive, rather mechanized habits that dull the mind and expand sorrow. (Most people are caught in sorrow and perpetually try to run from it. Interestingly, they always run from sorrow in a particular direction, and that direction is always limited; then, sorrow remains.) Awareness is a motiveless inquiry without superficial direction or desire. Any inquiry with direction is calculated and limited.
Many people have preconceptions about the way things are; with (and “as”) those preconceptions, they look. What they see, then, will inevitably be limited, predetermined, and partial. To perceive without conclusions is real humility, real innocence in action (beyond mere reaction). The constant labeling of things, mentally, is a repetition of memory and the known (which is the past recurring). All thoughts are symbols that are both fragmentary and limited. Limitation can never see the whole… but so many cling to their limited preconceptions and fragmentary patterns of thought/thinking… just as they were taught to. Many remain circumscribed within the limits that were given to them as their foundation.
Recently one saw a science program about artificial intelligence. In the near future, there will nanorobots (nanobots) — at sizes smaller than the cellular level size — that will enter the brain and connect with the neural pathways. People then will be composed of minds that are part computer… part machine. Ray Kurzweil, who works for Google, and other computer experts/entrepreneurs claim it can begin happening very soon; the year 2029 has been pinpointed as a date for when it can really (more fully) take place. All kinds of beneficial things are allegedly supposed to happen because of this. However, one questions whether is it taking us to a better place. Human minds are heavily conditioned and mechanical enough; implanting the brain with machines will only make them more robot-like… more prone toward programming by the powers that be. Some scientific reports maintain that 50% of the earth’s wildlife has been killed off by humans in the last 40 years. Immersing ourselves in virtual worlds, which is what computer implants will likely do to us to a significant extent, will not help wake us up to what is alive and precious in the real world. Additionally, people wishing harm to others will — more easily — access ways to make deadly viruses and nocuous substances. We need to intelligently put a leash on technology; however, that is unlikely to happen unless more of us wake up; the leash, so far, is on us.
Awareness, real awareness, is action… not merely secondary reaction. Very many of us habitually react all day long (like robotic, mechanized, programmed instruments); and they want to implant more mechanicalness, more man-made concoctions into our (already programmed) brains!
It is only the uncontaminated, pristine, innocent mind that can be entered by the whole, the timeless. That which is limited, fragmented, sequential, partial, and prejudicial, is not open or unbounded enough to be visited by that miraculous, impersonal intelligence.
Bee Flight (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Bee Flight (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Special Note: Happy Holidays to everyone worldwide!
We sure hope that the coming new year brings, with it, more sense and more compassion in people. People, unfortunately, are very gullible and it is easy for the fat-cat bureaucrats to get people to believe just about anything. Please do not get all wrapped up in belief; please intelligently go beyond all belief and tradition-oriented presumption. Do not ever merely believe what i write within this blog; i do not wish to be your authority. (There are plenty of charlatans out there who will gladly be your authority, if that is what you wish.) Each one of us has to deeply question things and look beyond all of the propaganda. If the world has any hope at all, we need to go beyond the ruts that we are mindlessly entrenched in. Governments that rob the poor to feed the filthy rich (and that neglect environmental health and global unity) need to be radically questioned/altered. The world is very small and fragile and it will not last — in its balance naturally as it has — if we continue to lack seriousness and continue to act with negligence regarding the delicate whole. Despite what you were “taught,” you may not be anything separate from all of the fragile creatures and humans of this planet; it may be that you are them. If you do not care — and continue reacting as the fat-cat bureaucrats want you to — it may be like the right hand not at all caring about the left hand (and thinking it is separate).
Alleged saying of Jesus… from the ancient Nag Hammadi Gospel of Thomas (that the hierarchical fat-cats rejected):
Jesus said: “The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. During the days when you ate what is dead, you made it come alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?”
Do not ever think that you are something separate. Wash clean of cold deception, false accumulation, and dead tradition.
Mostly alone… Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Everyone seems to exist with many psychological walls. In the aforementioned sentence, the word “exist” was used and not the word “live.” One is not sure whether existing with all of the psychological walls (that society had us absorb) is really living. We… early in life — in grade school and similar places — learned how to incorporate these walls into (and “as”) our consciousness. As adults, these walls have become heavily imbued into each one of us. We perceive — without even realizing it — with (and from) these walls of separation.
What do these walls consist of? They consist of a myriad of things; however, they are essentially ingrained thoughts. We perceive largely via separation and a wall of division. Each one takes for granted that the perceiver is separate from the perceived. Many of us think that humans are somehow separate from the animals. Many function with separative countries, religions, and traditions, and such people then look — despite saying that they do otherwise — with division and fragmentation. We were taught that we are separate individuals.
When a psychological fear takes place, if it is seen via psychological distance, then a manufactured psychological wall exists. That wall divides the perceiver from the fear. In actuality, the perceiver is not something separate from the fear. The fear itself is a protrusion or swelling of consciousness… a consciousness that one is. If jealousy takes place, the average mind sees it as something that it “has,” not as what it actually is. “Having” the jealousy — in the mind — puts it at a psychological distance. A psychological wall, in (and “as”) the mind seems to place the perceiver at a distance from “his jealousy.” That very wall, which separates something from the jealousy, helps manufacture the image of a separate perceiver. That may be a waste of energy; the perceiver is not (in reality) something separate from the jealousy. (This is not to say that a human being is just jealousy; that would be ludicrous; each of us is a unique dynamic). So, what is rather ludicrous — which, unfortunately, most people do not see — involves looking at what you actually are from a distance (as if it is not actually what you are). This is really not complicated. When you look in a mirror, you do not think, “There is a separate image at some distance,” … do you? Yet, partly because of faulty education, when hatred occurs, most people see it as what they “have” and as what they control from a “center” at a distance. We extend that inner separation outwardly (into the world, so to speak). We were taught that each one of us is an individual and that each one of us is separate from all other life forms in the whole world; that may not be true whatsoever. Manufactured walls, however, make it seem true. (Transcending the falsehood of separate individuality, by the way, does not negate the beauty of eternity for us whatsoever.) The world is in real chaos/decline because of accepting many (false) deluding walls as things that are true.
Many people can look at a hurt animal without any empathy. Such people inevitably look with a callous wall of indifference. That wall involves space. It is a very limited, distorted space. It is a very confined, circumscribed space that “exists,” and one would not immediately jump to call it “living.” There is, in most of us, a sensed distance between “you” and “what is seen.” This applies internally (such as involving fear) and externally (such as seeing a creature of nature). Either way, that sensed distance (too) makes up the consciousness that you are (and so does the image of what is seen); so there really is no wall, especially internally where the fear or hatred is an extension of the mind.
Though he harms others, even an extremely cruel man — in his isolated, cold existence — usually takes great pains not to harm himself. However, for such a man, false walls have isolated that so-called self to a very disconnected, limited (fallacious and fictitious) realm. We need to be more intelligent as a species; we need to go beyond our primitive walls and limited boundaries and stop butchering each other in archaic wars; we need to stop polluting the whole of nature, which we are not segregated from. We can be truly intelligent and live in the holistic eternal.
Jumping Spider (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Jumping Spider (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
There is an immeasurable energy
a sacredness that cannot be created or destroyed
and it is a field beyond thought/thinking
Its essence is an indescribable eternity that is
beyond words and mere mental patterns
It rarely visits the realm of man
When it visits
it fills the cup of the mind/body for a while
and departs as quickly as it arrives
but leaves some perfume of itself
that forever affects the mind
Its intrinsic order will not visit a concocted silence
nor any copied meditation
nor any secondhand distortion or twisted corruption
It is of an immense intelligence
beyond fragmented limitation and stagnant beliefs
It is not of the separative fabricated religions and countries
that divide man
Thinking is always “about” energy
Thinking is never (the actual boundless energy
with all of its holistic beauty)
Thought/thinking is limited fractional
and symbolic
Lichen near a pond (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Lichen near a pond (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
All of us, in (and “as”) a succession of moments, in a series or sequence, react. In a very wise entity, however, these reactions are not always habitual, are not always the only activity taking place. In most people, conditioned into habits, what they actuate is always caused by some prior (usually some group of) antecedent factors. They may think and fully feel that they are dignified and elegant and in total control (for what they allegedly “choose”); however, they usually are a reacting part of a calculated, complex matrix devised by a larger society. Many then get stuck in mundane, dull routines and then often try to find various escapes to temporarily pull boredom out for a while. These escapes then create further reactions, many of which do not fundamentally benefit the earth nor those upon it.
What can go beyond this is real integrity, real wholeness, and soundness. To perceive integrally is to perceive beyond the fragments. Thought, being symbolic and partial, is inherently limited and fragmentary. However, most are habitually composed of (and habitually dependent on) thought and thinking. These habitual thoughts go much further (in their extent) than most realize. Thought often separates one group from another, oneself from so-called others at a distance, and the so-called central controller from what is seen (from an alleged distance) as his or her fear.
In a divisive, mad, chaotic world, can the mind exist as more than mere fragmented reaction? There is a quietness, a vast humility, beyond the shadows of spurious control and manipulation. That quietness is not the mere result of any kind of reaction, nor the product of any kind of intention or contrivance. You cannot make yourself be quiet (as so many try to do); the so-called “maker” of the quietness is a protrusion of thought; the concocted reaction from a protrusion of thought can never be genuine quietness. There must be a motiveless (effortless) perceiving without mere habitual rigamarole.
Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Real mindfulness, real meditation is not sitting cross-legged on a yoga mat. Such sitting is calculated and is structured to gain something… (which is greediness). On the other hand, innocent, pristine awareness throughout the day (that is not merely influenced by the patterns and symbols that others have provided) may be very prudent. Is it real awareness when one is looking with what other people have poured into one? Is real awareness, real living, what can take place through the secondhand edicts or patterns provided by others? When perception takes place through mere symbolic images and via learned psychological separation, is such perception what was copied from others and (additionally) limited and superficial?
It may be that secondhand has little to do with actual living. However, many rely on (and habitually exist “as”) secondhand, without question.
0.5 cm Scarlet-and-Green Leafhopper (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
0.5 cm Scarlet-and-Green Leafhopper (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Most of us each look with psychological space between a posited “I” and what that “I” — which is actually manufactured — supposedly sees from a distance. Even when a psychological fear takes place, we each tend to see it from a distance, as what each one of us “has,” rather than seeing it as what we actually are. (This psychological distance exudes a false sense of control.) However, if that central “I” is spurious, is mentally manufactured and not really central… and is essentially a projection of the thought process, then erroneous perception is taking place. An illusory “I” often may necessitate a concomitant illusory (psychological distance). The absence of a central “I” helps to curtail unnecessary psychological distance.
We are also separated by organized (concocted) religions, countries, cultural groups, rigid beliefs, systems, and prejudices… many of which we are willing to fight and die over.
Very few of us are truly simple (in an intelligent way) beyond the absorbed conflict, rifts, and illusory boundaries and spaces that were provided by way of direct or indirect indoctrination. The wise mind that transcends the very crass and illusory notion of a central “I” or “me” will live among many who habitually cling to absorbed images of a central self. Such a wise mind usually must function in a vast population of delusion and falsities. It may be that the very essence of those habitually expressing unnecessary psychological space consists of duplicity and inaccuracy. Deep compassion and profound holistic relationship occur not a moment sooner than when (psychologically) the limited “I” is wisely and fully transcended. When the limited “I” is wisely and fully transcended, needless separation and wasteful conflict end.
Snout Butterfly (Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017)
Here I am riding on the Solar Sunflower Express
in first class.
Down below,in third class,a lowly soldier beetle rests;
he has connections on the web
but he is way below my esteemed riches.
I have my feelers out for the lush,green cash to be had,
and I feel secure in my dominance and expertise.
As for the servile soldier beetle,well,
he better hope that he is fit enough to fight in the
battles that I decree.
Now please excuse me while I give some
top-rate tobacco a little chew.
Riding the Solar Sunflower Express (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Riding the Solar Sunflower Express (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
A lot of us go through unbelievable hardships in life. Very many of us have had to go through tremendous turmoil, unfortunate tragedies, and unbelievably tough times. For some of us, maybe our parents were rather cruel and unstable; or perhaps such was the case regarding some of our teachers or classmates. Or maybe some of us have had to deal with significant physical or socioeconomic handicaps. Many of us have had to face real pain involving the loss of a loved one or dear friend. Most of us were shaped to be programmed by a society that is competitive, money oriented, and extremely superficial (in terms of deep meaning and real integrity). Most of us have been harmed psychologically (by cruelty and indifference); many of us do not even realize the vast extent of the damage that has been done to us. Beyond the past, we all, whether we like it or not, are facing a very precarious future. The world is getting more and more dangerous, more and more divided; we have not fundamentally changed (psychologically) since our early barbarian ancestry days. And now, with nuclear armaments being able to wipe out billions and with germ warfare a real possibility, here we sit. Violent winds and ferocious storms and wildfires are increasing as pollution gets far worse, as many politicians are indifferent, and as fossil fuelled homes and vehicles run rampant.
Given the aforementioned circumstances, it would be very arduous to be truly stable in such a tough, unstable world (such as it is). It would be very easy to remain truly stale in such a tough, unstable world (such as it is). One cannot really blame others for their staleness and lack of depth; they were educated and programmed to be that way. Many cannot change; many do not want to change. We were taught that we are separate from each other. We were taught that we are different. Within all of the vast darkness, there can be light and real intensity. That light must shine from you; it cannot merely be given by another. Such light is never really just secondhand; however, darkness can easily be secondhand (or of a residual, shadow-like, cold recurrence). To be a truly bright human being, here, has little to do with intellectual capacity, with copying and mimicking.
Struggling in Life (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Struggling in Life (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
There is a psychological cessation that is beyond the parameters of motivation, desire, or striving. It involves a timelessness that is beyond sequential methodologies and practices. Such a cessation is a discontinuance of the same-old mental symbols, same-old perspectives involving separation, and same-old mental traditions. Such a cessation is natural, healthy, intelligent, and is not merely what can be measured. Those who perpetually and habitually function in (and “as”) the parameters of thought (endlessly using dead sequential symbols to cogitate about things) cannot be of such a living timelessness.
There is no path to such a cessation, such a timelessness… for, if there was, it would be reducing such a timelessness to being just another part of the continuum of temporal manifestations; there are plenty of charlatan priests, gurus, and so-called religious masters who are all too willing to give you the path (and methods), however. A lone Bumblebee went from flower petal to flower petal, caught in a sequence of endless reactions that never were transcended, never fully understood.
Immersed in reaction (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Immersed in reaction (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
In an intelligent inquiry as to whether or not there is anything really sacred, the mind must be free from limited patterns of conditioning and opinion. For such an inquiring mind, there is no room for belief or conjecture. Both belief and conjecture are based upon supposition or primarily baseless, unscientific conclusions. This transcendence beyond the limitations of conditioned belief and conjecture additionally includes going beyond any formulated methodologies that one may be lead to believe are worthwhile. Very many have, with blind faith, clung to the structured methodologies and ideologies that various organized religions — such as Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and others — have provided over the years. Asking people to go beyond the conditioning of these organized groups (with their leaders) usually falls on deaf ears.
In such an inquiry, the mind must be supremely healthy; additionally, it must be beyond being influenced or programmed by any group or by any person. It may be that only a very healthy, balanced, unconditioned mind can discover what is truly sacred. Such a mind brings about its own order (and not according to what someone else says). It may be that to truly come upon the sacred, the mind must have its own natural, intrinsic order. Such order may not be the result of mere accumulation. No accumulation of beliefs, or structured methodologies to live according to, would be of interest to a truly orderly, unconditioned mind. In a big way, perception without dependence on accumulation is perception beyond the parameters of time; all accumulated beliefs and structured methodologies require (and depend upon) time. The timeless, unconditioned, truly free mind is beyond all of that (but don’t just take my word for it).
Can perception take place that is not the mere result of — and not dependent upon — past accumulation (as stored memory)? It may be that if one looks without all of the past accumulated memories and hand-me-down patterns of others then such a one is stepping out of the confinement and incarceration of conditioning. Such confinement was a limitation, a barrier; “mostpeople” refuse to let it all go. They cling to their so-called religions, groups, beliefs, and methodologies and refuse to let them go. The pristine, untainted mind goes beyond this conditioning and no longer uses others’ methodologies to “get something.” I, for one, will not give you patterns to follow, edicts to live by, or beliefs to cling to.
Accumulation, in any psychological form, is usually a manifestation of greed; greed, in any psychological form, likely negates discovery of the sacred. When one — not theoretically or idealistically — sees this, all organized religions and methodologies that are learned are out. There is a non-concocted silence that can never be brought about by the accumulation of memory, nor by learned patterns, nor copied procedures. That silence is not the result of conditioning and practice; it is not derived from greed or acquisition over time. Don’t waste your time in believing in such silence. Find out if there is such a silence, but not by mere abstraction, not by mere “idealistic image-projecting.” That “finding out” may have nothing to do with what you were ever taught. An elderly Great Blue Heron was looking for his next meal as the placid pond was getting ready to settle-in for the evening.
Great Blue Heron (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Great Blue Heron (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
The silence of a very aware mind is not what can be measured. Such pure silence goes beyond recognition; recognition (of separate things that the mind labels and pigeon-holes) is — or involves — measurement. The mind can, at times, beautifully function without merely relying on measurement, without exclusively relying on recognition, patterns of experience, and interpretation of stimuli. “Mostpeople” would not likely be involved with this immeasurable silence because remaining in sequential thinking, recognition, and constant comparison and measurement are what they were educated (i.e., programmed) to be. Leaving the domain of the known would seem frightening to a lot of people. Many may equate such silence, such emptiness, with ignorance; however, a vast, immeasurable silence, in actuality, is profound intelligence. “Mostpeople” rigidly cling to patterns of recognition, symbolic thought (and all thoughts are symbols), labels, and separative images. Going beyond these would seem unthinkable to most.
One cannot “know” that one is in such silence when it takes place, for such “knowing” would be in the realm of recognition and would negate the very essence of a silence beyond mere measurement. Such silence is beyond merely calculated patterns and sequential formulations concocted by man; this is why gurus and so-called holy men who want to provide you with techniques to “get there” are definitely out (including the fees that they often fraudulently charge)! One who is lucky enough to be involved with such silence is not in any way harmed but, rather, may be blessed to be in relationship with a timeless energy that is forever renewing itself. Such silence can never be brought about by an act of will; will is (fundamentally) desire… and desire can never attain such unadulterated silence via effort of any kind. It would be like trying to catch the wind (or catch love) in a bottle. The highly intelligent mind, through seeing and understanding itself in relationship (and in seeing itself, without deception, in everyday occurrences) may, with understanding, move beyond the psychological dependencies and repetitious mental habits that most exist as. Understanding transcends mere measurement and will. The immeasurable may occur for the man (or woman) who goes beyond the limited, the merely symbolic, and the stagnant. In the immeasurable, eternity abides. The immeasurable and the eternal are without confining borders. The gurgling sounds of the drinking Mallards are not something separate from a vast, immeasurable silence.
Mallard Ducks (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Mallard Ducks (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
A nonmediocre novelty lasted for relaxed nonseparative miles
as we drove past steady sunflowers who sweetly worshipped the sun
In a divided disorganized planet of perplexed savage wars
omniscient order majestically does nevertheless easily run
Multitudinous millipedes mingled in the downbelow grasses
as businesslike bumblebees hurriedly bustled in blossoms far up above
And the saintly sun’s devotees seemed to move like precision clockwork
with a passionate proclivity for life and for love
Sunflower Time (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Sunflower Time (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
[Note: Currently we are thinking of the victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, regarding the human species (and other animal species). We donated to the Red Cross for each specific area. Please consider donating if you haven’t done so already. Additionally, please do more to help curtail global warming. I’ve been warning, for a long time now, about the winds and weather getting substantially worse due to man’s neglect regarding clean energy; things will get far worse if we do not radically change our ways.]
A lot of minds are unbalanced these days. Most minds, really, are very unbalanced. A truly balanced mind is like a rare, precious jewel. Unfortunately, very few minds, in this rather rotten society, are truly balanced. To be truly balanced means not to have a mind that has been conditioned by the current rotten, immoral society in which we currently live. It involves having (i.e., being) a mind that has stepped out of the morass of selfish values, indifferent separation, cold competition, and crude status quo beliefs. A balanced mind does not follow the crowd, especially when that crowd has been indoctrinated to accept and hold orientations and tendencies that have been going on since ancient times. Many people, these days, would be able to fit in quite nicely into the ancient Roman culture; the changes necessary — to so fit in — would not be very dramatic in the least.
The balanced mind that goes beyond all this, that largely transcends beyond conditioning and fragmentation, is far from what the ordinary man can understand or discover. Real balance goes beyond unnecessary internal friction and conflict. The balanced mind is not composed of learned (i.e., absorbed) barriers which separate it from all life, or which separate a supposed controlling center from other thoughts. The balanced mind is not what looks from (or “as”) a screen of mere prejudices, edicts, beliefs, pigeon-holing labels, or hand-me-down values. When a balanced mind looks, it looks without the mental-programming that dictates to others about how they should look (with certain preconceptions). A balanced mind has its own intrinsic, natural empathy, holistic perception, insightful understanding, and unbounded wisdom.
Can the unbalanced mind, the conditioned, corrupt mind, step out (mentally) from the quagmire that it is in… and be balanced? Can separative, crass concepts and preconceived viewpoints go past the crude limitations that they are? The mind can psychologically die to its own accumulated corruption. Such a psychological dying is a real innocence, involves silence, and is real living… and it does not involve a learned method that takes time.
Chillin’ (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Chillin’ (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
It is very easy to come to conclusions about things. Some things that many come to conclusions about seem like cut-and-dried facts that can be taken for granted. Often we come to conclusions about the behavior of others… when, however — over time — they have changed far from what we have “concluded.” In past postings, one has often written about transcending or dissolving the central “me” or “I.” Some people, no doubt, have concluded that doing so is foolish or even very dangerous. Many cling to that fabricated image of self and are terrified and very frightened about letting it go. It is very likely that their love of the absolute truth is likely not nearly as strong as the love and attachment to that image. Really perceiving — not merely intellectually — the falsity and delusion that a supposed central psychological controller inherently consists of, we maintain, is neither foolish nor dangerous. On the contrary, it helps eradicate the very root of conflict that causes so much indifference, neglect, and hatred in the world of man. Perception beyond such a fallacious center does not, as many might presume, tend to negate eternity for us. On the contrary, it may be that the eternal can more readily be perceived and appreciated once the supposed central “me” or “I” is truly transcended.
One read a post by someone, recently, that matter-of-factly pointed out that everything is temporary and that we all must die and come to a complete end. Coming to a complete end is, so they say, coming to a conclusion. Many people, while they are alive, come to conclusions — about many things — without ever having deeply and independently inquired. They absorb what was poured into them by others… and from there they — as self-appointed experts — spew out more and more myopic conclusions. However, we may presently live in a very primitive and crass world culture and a lot of what the so-called educators say may be utter rubbish. If, as most do, you fall into the standard or common lines of thinking (about things)… then it may be that you are making a grave mistake and are fundamentally making very deleterious decisions with (and “as”) the essence of your life. As one has stated before in some of my previous postings, some of the world’s top-notch scientists have said that reality is likely far different, in its fundamental nature, from what many of us have thought or suspected. Indeed!
Question everything that people tell you and everything that i say. Go beyond all the standard ways of looking at things and looking at the world. Perceive without looking through the screen of perception that others have built for you to look through (and “with”). Then, if you are very lucky, you will go beyond most of the fundamental conclusions; and then eternity will not merely be a representational symbol as part of your brain; then your essence will never come to any final conclusion.
Beyond Conclusions (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Beyond Conclusions (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
There is often a fine line between erroneous judgment and prudent perception. Profound perception cuts through erroneous judgment and dissipates it. There is no “how,” set in stone, on “getting” profound perception. Like humility and real love, it is not something that one can merely cultivate. However, if the mind is passionately aware of its own workings — without merely depending upon the patterns and judgments of others — then, perhaps, that untethered awareness opens up (or manifests as) profound perception. A mind that is keenly interested in this is naturally and concomitantly interested in a correct relationship in all matters (internally and externally). By “correct,” we mean in accordance with real fact and truth. Naturally, deception, falsity, and illusion are not things that one would be eager to cling to and exist as.
Distorted minds, broken minds, fragmented minds, relatively superficial minds, will not be (at all) interested in this. They will be content to remain — and wish to remain — as the ordinary, everyday mundane things that they were programmed to deal with (and be). Going beyond this limitation will not suit them well. They won’t care to be bothered. Minds beyond this (limitation) may be somewhat interested in things, such as what is often written about here… or, perhaps, (though rarely) they may be extremely interested. This interest must flower into a real passion for any real significant change to take place. That “flowering” has little to do with retaining stale memories, old traditions, beliefs, or standardized procedures. Those four are best suited for those who wish not to be bothered.
A mind that looks without all the fragmented patterns, outlooks, judgments, and structures that others have poured into it is a very untethered mind. Such an untethered mind is free to see everything as it really is (beyond limitations and distortion). Such a non-separative, non-partial, holistic perception often is (and often exists “as”) undistorted relationship. That kind of relationship goes beyond those that think that they are in relationship with the world but actually are not. We are not really separate from what we perceive; and if what we perceive is dictated by the limited patterns and symbols that we have absorbed from a primitive society, then what we see will (inevitably) be second-hand, narrow, and circumscribed. We can be beyond such inaccuracy.
I eat a lot of green things too!
Eating a Green Lunch … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
It is essential to be attentive throughout life. If one is a mind that endlessly chatters (internally) about trivial things, with a lot of “noise” going on, which one is only half-aware about, then the mind becomes more and more cloudy, more and more dull. If reactions are going on, internally, it is prudent to be aware of them, not to have them occur while one does not perceive their occurrence or implications. Most of us are addicted to being in a realm of reactions; we crave more and more reactions to cling onto (and to exist as). Without merely resisting reactions, be attentive to them; perceive how the mind habitually depends on them (and exists as them). Merely resisting having reactions is another (additional) reaction. Without merely resisting, but just by simply observing without separative friction, the mind can be extremely attentive and alert. That attentiveness, that great alertness and listening may, at times, allow the mind to exist without merely depending on reactions.
So, many are — and exist “as”– mere reactions. Reactions are always secondary, mechanical, reactionary, residual; merely being “them” may not be real living whatsoever. There can be a stability that is beyond the mere limits and fragmentary attributes that mere reaction entails. That stability can be deep and profound. That profundity will perceive beyond all of the superficial illusions, all the fallacies, all the nonsense, all the petty escapes. It will be compassionate, caring, sensitive beyond measure, and will perceive far beyond the ordinary. A rather ordinary mind who meets such a mind, who meets a person with such a profound mind, will likely merely see “someone” who just seems to be another regular person. However, that profound mind is far from regular. It will have seen so much more than what most have seen or will ever see. It will have done so by not traveling an inch (to get something).
[Note: The top photograph is of a young Praying Mantis on a Lily Flower. The photograph below it is of a young Praying Mantis fossilized in 20 million-year-old Dominican Amber.]
Young Praying Mantis on Lily. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Young Praying Mantis in 20 Million-Year-Old Dominican Amber. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
In great humility, there is an emptiness that exists beyond the “me” and “mine.” That emptiness is, in actuality, the absence (i.e., the non-existence) of the “me.” “Mostpeople” would feel frightened about the psychological absence of the “me,” or even about the possibility of the psychological absence of the “me.” To “mostpeople,” it would seem to be an “insecurity” to go beyond the “me” or beyond the supposedly “controlling center.” However, for the (truly) wise man, mere security is not a factor… truth is a factor. To the wise man (or woman), it is truth that is where the real beauty, the real treasure, exists.
Many years ago, in the early ’70s, when i was in my 4th year of college, i read an article about split-brain operations and how these surgical operations resulted in two totally separate fields of consciousness in one human being. Reading about how the corpus callosum could be surgically severed, resulting in two distinct, separate fields of consciousness — with each not knowing what the other was doing — pulled one even further away from the ancient orthodoxy that so many of us were indoctrinated by. It was back then that my insatiable quest for truth began (in the deepest sense), though even when one was much younger one still saw through a lot of the madness and falsities in the things that they tried to indoctrinate into us. Real humility occurs when the mind intelligently doubts and asks profound questions without relying on what one’s family or culture provides as the truth. If one largely relies on what one’s family or one’s culture has provided, it reflects a form of arrogance (which is far from true humility); one’s family and culture can, indeed, be a component or facet of oneself and, for sure, being certain of their validity is — in a big way — just a form of self-admiration and arrogance. Intelligent doubt goes beyond all this. Such intelligent doubt reflects the way Albert Einstein discovered things, by wisely questioning many things that were taken for granted as facts. Albert Einstein understood what it meant to “stand alone.” To really inquire into that which is truly sacred, immeasurable, timeless and uncontaminated, one must, of course, do it with an instrument (i.e., a mind) that is itself uncontaminated. It absolutely must be untainted, healthy, uncorrupt… that instrument (i.e., that true mind of inquiry). That, then, means no belief, no arrogant assumptions about the validity of one’s own faith, religion, culture, family creeds, and spiritual blueprints; so it means no beliefs or presumptions. However, “mostpeople” are totally unwilling to be that way. They want the comfort and security of “knowing.” It can be the “knowing” of others that they absorb and take on for themselves… it doesn’t matter. However, it may be that the real quest for truth lies beyond security and “knowing.” That is why so few ever come upon that real treasure.
Standing alone (without depending on others), going beyond the crowd, understanding the mind, going beyond mere images of the “me” and “I” — and mere images and learned concepts is all that they really are — may seem like abandoning security. However, a truly wise mind, that transcends beyond beliefs, realizes things that involve the only real treasure. That treasure has an essence of real eternity, immensity, and bliss in it (that “mostpeople,” unfortunately, have no clue about whatsoever). The scientists were, as it turns out, likely right about one thing; they said: Reality is probably radically different (i.e., far different) from what most of us assume it to be.
Crab Spider blending in (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Crab Spider blending in (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
There was a very rich man
(a man with a cadaverous, cold heart)
who walked along the barren, indifferent sidewalks
and, while he walked, he passed
the splendid flowers and trees by,
(without looking at their immense beauty).
As he walked, there was a limited separation
between what was considered to be “a central I” and
the other thoughts that occurred;
there was also a large gap or separation
between his consciousness and profound nature.
There was a rather poor man
(a man with a beneficent, warm heart)
who walked through the amicable gardens and meadows
and, while he walked, awareness
examined the magnificent flowers and trees,
(smiling at the immeasurable beauty).
As he walked, there was no separation
between a supposed “central controller”
and the occurring thoughts;
additionally, an effortless silence often occurred;
there was no gap or separation
between a “his consciousness” and natural beauty.
And here is a sweet, little secret that can always unfold:
The very rich man wasn’t really rich at all,
and the rather poor man wasn’t poor
what
so
ever.
Beyond words (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Beyond words (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
As we have stated before, one must (in deep spiritual/philosophical inquiry) stand alone; one must go beyond seeking direction or blueprints from others (i.e., from supposed “experts.”) We are used to taking direction and following direction from others; it is our habit. We are obstinate in our deep dependence in regard to seeking and following direction. We have followed religious and political direction for eons and we remain lost and in disarray (fitting well into this immoral society). Inquiry beyond the direction and guidance of another requires that the mind stand alone.
Not following or seeking direction involves a directionlessness that most people are not used to or comfortable with. We have associated directionlessness with confusion; we see it as a jumble that is without an intelligent goal. However, there is an ineffable, intelligent directionlessness that is not a product of others. This directionlessness may be a real key to unlocking and perceiving the whole.
When one looks for the whole in a certain direction, it is not there. In quantum mechanics, if an electron isn’t measured it exists in many states (or places at once); once it is measured, it is in a limited state in a limited way. We want to understand the whole by following direction from others… which is a form of measurement; it may essentially be an erroneous process.
Psychologically, we each think that a central “I” or “me” provides necessary direction as to correct behavior. Yet such a center — being nothing more than a learned image — is a fallacy that does not exist. Split brain surgery, severing the corpus callosum, substantiates this. Holistic awareness, without dependence on a fictional center (or absorbed outside authority), may be what functions far more accurately and healthfully, without the ruse of a (false) directing controller. Even those who purport to “transcend” or go beyond the ego are (for the most part) just like everyone else; they constantly use images of “I” or “me” in a learned, automatic, passive-associative process. They constantly operate from what seems to be a central “I” or controller, whereas deep awareness would see this as a lot of inherited, automatic-associative processes. Going beyond this psychological ruse is nothing to be feared; going beyond any fallacious, illusory process need not involve fear.
Holistic perception beyond the false exists as true health, harmony, and bliss; eternity is one with it. Is there a manufactured method to get there? No! However, there are innumerable charlatans who are all too willing to tell you or sell you the way. They tell you how to pray, how to chant mantras, how to concentrate on your breathing, how to behave… with their stale methodologies; and many people, being very gullible, easily follow their directions, edicts, and stale blueprints.
Stability (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Stability (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Today, unfortunately, if you talk about the sacred, people look at you as if you are completely off the beam. We, as a society, have shelved spirituality into the potty toilet area. If you are different from “mostpeople,” if you are truly interested in finding out if there is anything really sacred, what will your first step be? If it is to merely look within the parameters of the particular edicts and beliefs of the organized religion that you happen to have been brought up to accept, then that “looking” will be dictated — like an old, worn out, secondhand pair of pants — by what others want you to believe is the truth (which may not, at all, be the truth). There are so very many different religions (and sects), each with their own versions and beliefs as to what constitutes the truth.
If you look for a great philosopher, a wise man, a guru, a special kind of Zen monk, priest, or authority to lead you to the truth, your choice (of that person) is based upon supposition and confusion. If you were not confused, you would not need to pick someone else in the first place; enlightenment, and its absolute and concomitant certainty would already be a part of you. Out of your confusion and lack of having been enlightened, you choose another to guide you; that very choice (of that other person) may be — since it does not come from absolute, clear certainty — erroneous and very foolish. Even Hitler “felt right” to a lot of people. (A lot of people quote others and say things, concerning what they are sure is “truth,” and, it may be — as far as the rare individual, who was truly enlightened and visited by that profundity, is concerned — that what they say is often very erroneous and unfortunate.)
So what is one to do? If one is not very passionate about this… if it is merely some minor inquiry, then (of course) not much will happen; it will just be some rather trivial pattern on the marginal side of a large group of concerns. If one is not very passionate about this, one will merely remain as “mostpeople,” who all get wrapped up in the details and only seldom (or never) care about looking into the whole. They have children, they have money, they have impressive homes and automobiles, but they do not have any deep understanding of the whole; (nor do they really care to.) So then, essentially, they are in (and exist “as”) sorrow; because a mind without that profundity is, by absolute and natural law, a sorrowful mind… an empty shell.
So what is one to do? Obviously, the mind that deeply inquires into this must first examine the mechanism that is doing the looking. If the mechanism of the mind is distorted (and not clear) then, obviously, what it sees will be tainted, perverted, contaminated and not true. So the mind must understand itself. It must understand itself as it actually is (in life and in relationship) and not according to the opinions and beliefs of another. If the mind merely analyzes itself according to set and held patterns that it has absorbed from others, it is looking with (and “as”) others’ patterns, which may not be looking with an untainted, uncontaminated background whatsoever. Unfortunately, many of us depend upon others for instructions, for patterns. This inquiry, however, if it is to be pristine and honest, may demand that one stand alone. That means not depending on anyone. Most of us have no clue as to what it means to truly stand alone.
Inquiring Wild Canada Gosling (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Inquiring Wild Canada Gosling (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Most of us see things in fragments (just as we were taught to). The intrinsic nature of thinking is, in itself, fragmentary. Thought, being symbolic, being limited, being merely representational, can never perceive the whole. Since most of us cling to thought, worship thought, and are tied to thought… we seldom, or never, perceive the whole. The whole cannot be seen through — or by — the fragments. People enmeshed in (and “as”) this fragmentation often then choose a priest, a guru, a zen monk, a leader, or an authority (and some techniques) to lead them to truth. Out of their fragmentation, out of their confusion… they choose someone to lead or guide them; or they choose some technique or method. (Out of their confusion, they choose.) It may be, however, that there is no path or map to the pathless… no authority, no procedure — in time and that takes time — to get to the timeless.
Few truly stand alone without depending on outside authority. Few, further still, go beyond inside authority. One can easily say that one is free and is not influenced by outside authority… while, all along, one is heavily embellished with structures (internally) that were — long ago — poured into one by outside authoritarian influences. One can maintain that one is untethered by outside authority, yet (internally) be riddled with conditioning stemming from outside structures and patterns that came from others early in one’s life and over the years. A mind that truly goes beyond the outside and accumulated inside molds and patterns is quite extraordinary and blessed. Eternity and the sacred then manifest. No one can take you there… not even your accumulated structures and sense of self. It takes real humility to go beyond your own accumulated patterns and judgments… real innocence and freedom. That true freedom, that true humility and innocence is a psychological dying; there is no method to “do” it. That unshaped (non-concocted) psychological dying is nothing cadaverous or to be afraid of; it is majestic life beyond canned, dead molds. The profound magic and the bliss are not in the limited patterns — including your own — that anyone can give.
Up close and personal (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Up close and personal (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Of course,everything that we ever warmly saw
was exactly what we were
With this,clocks might disagree
or limited walls of where
just as when the frost yawns
or the tide jumps
or the winds,in their caprice,
change their minds about moving
Suddenly they shouted
and their shout was what we were
and always will be
as when the sun and flowers
dance so close that each
the other is
or how birds fly in unison
as one organism
together but not
as many
Like when the poetic words
and the reader are
not two separate things
when why the she and he
of love is not
the cold separatist
apart from analysis
Dancing (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Dancing (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Appearance matters. However, what is much deeper matters much more. To look elegant and spectacular on the outside, yet to have an inside that is corrupt, uncaring, tainted, depressed, and disorderly… is a bit of a sorry waste. Many wear fancy suits and ties or fashionable dresses that look sensational; however, sensations are one thing, real order and profundity are another. To have a marvelous house, an impeccable lawn, a stunning car, and name-brand clothes is one thing; to be internally rich, orderly, caring, perceptive, and sagacious… is another. Most of us were groomed and tutored to chase after — and care about — the outward things. Most were not deeply encouraged to care about the inward things.
Though many have riches, possessions, and fancy clothes, a huge number of them are not beaming with ongoing joy and compassion. It may be that real richness, in life, has little to do with possessions and things; rather, it involves order beyond separation, accumulation, groping, and mere desire. A profound, inward order cannot occur when the mind merely falls for outward appearances and ordinary values. The real treasure is not out there “to get”; distance and time have nothing to do with it. Why have so many of us depended, so heavily, on distance and time? At the precise moment that the mind seeks pleasure… joy is gone. We are not suggesting that one should not do pleasurable things now and then; just don’t get mesmerized by a pursuit that may often not be necessary at all.
With the real ending of distance and separation — not the mere abstraction of an ending or intellectualization about ending — joy is blossoming, compassion is blossoming. Then there is no striving for superficial things. Depth does not cling to superficiality. To see this, one must perceive beyond the surface.
Just beeing (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Just beeing (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
A mind that is not constantly groping may be a deeply profound mind, a sapient mind, not merely a mind that is lazy or unproductive. Most of us pursue more and more entertaining experiences, more and more sensational things to see or partake in. It’s our habit. Once something is experienced, we usually then (eventually) get bored with it to one extent or another, and then want different experiences… further things to experience. Few of us ever delve into this whole process and examine it deeply. We were, for the most part, educated to strive for things the way we do, and we take for granted that that is the way everyone functions as.
Of course, it is healthy and prudent to investigate into things, to have some interesting hobbies and interests to explore. Few of us, however, perceive the wisdom that involves — in addition to striving and exploring — perceiving beyond mere experiencing and mental-cataloguing. When he (or she) who is “experiencing” realizes that he (or she) is not really separate from the experiences… then a different kind of intelligence may be functioning. That lack of separation may also involve, in a very sagacious mind, the cessation of time… (since it takes time to merely continue seeing things via separative psychological processes). Psychological distance, for so many — such as between an ego and an object — involves psychological time… such as the time it takes to label or mentally categorize (i.e., recognize) an object from a so-called center, the time it takes to crave a certain ability, the time it takes to deal with (or come to terms with) a certain fear, or the time it takes to crave a certain pleasurable experience. A mind that understands directly, without internally fabricated separation, is beyond these internal, contradictory sequences and, hence, is not merely involved in fragmentary, psychological time. Ordinary psychological time always involves separative, fragmentary, mental constructs (that often grope, avoid, judge, resist, and pigeonhole). A wise mind goes beyond these separative elements (internally) and often is beyond mere “reactions” and conditioned responses. In such a mind, there is not always mere striving for more and more experiences, amusements, or entertainment; such a mind, being beyond mere separation and groping (which take time), may be what real bliss is. This bliss has nothing to do with achievement, categorization, gain, or recognition.
For so many, experience is like a carrot hanging by a string, attached to a pole; and the donkey endlessly keeps going after the carrot. However, the donkey never perceives that the pole is attached to the donkey — that there is no real separation there — and that the donkey and the carrot are not separate whatsoever. Groping and experience are splendid, at times, but so is not groping and not being a mere puppet to endless experience. So many of us, though, are so immersed in the habit of experiencing and groping… that we are at a loss for existing as anything else.
Resting (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Resting (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
People who belong to a cult will — as members of the cult — insist that they are there of their own volition, and are not (in any way) being brainwashed. They will inform you about how secure and happy they are. The leaders of the cult will inform them about what is what and how things should be done, and they (the leaders) will not (under any circumstances) invite them to question everything and to go beyond the patterns provided.
Society, as it currently exists, is largely like that; it is very “cult-like” in the way it operates. However, most people do not want to go into that possibility… just like the way cult members do not want you to question their position within the cult. Whether we care to admit it or not, politics, religion, education, and similar branches of society are very cult-like. Suggesting, for instance, that the Catholic Church — with its (pointy hat) bishops, with its robed members who claim to be middlemen between you and God, with its symbols, methodical (esoteric) gestures, ringing bells, threats of punishment/eternal damnation, and strict practices/beliefs — is a cult would shock and disturb many people. However, just because something is immensely popular does not nullify the possibility that it is, indeed, a cult. So many of us are mesmerized by our orthodox religions, by nationalism, by ingrained educational precepts (that we adhere to without question) that we would even fight or kill for them. In fact, this is what is largely going on in the world right now — as it has been for many crass generations — this fighting for what they taught us to believe in. They don’t tell us to intelligently question our patterns, to go beyond our divisive patterns and beliefs and to love without promise for future rewards.
When you accept being a pawn, and have accepted it for many years, it is very disturbing when someone challenges you to transcend beyond being in that rigidity. Most of us were educated by those whom (themselves) have been produced by (i.e., indoctrinated by) the system. Some of this education, of course, has value. However, some of it is extremely deleterious; yet we accept all of it without question. Most of us were educated about what to think… not how to think. Most of us were educated to be specialists and to react in certain definite ways, not to be what sees and acts holistically. Most of us were educated to accept and to believe… not to deeply question. The end result, of all this, is that most of us are not dynamic, whole individuals but, rather, are brainwashed puppets (who think that we have freedom).
Psychologically, the very way we look at the world has been heavily tainted by others (and by the language that we absorbed); and through that second-hand screen, we look. Instead of considering that the observer may not be separate at all from the observed, we look — as we were taught to — with separation, division, and symbolic labeling. Where ingrained separation and division exist, there must be friction. The world is full of friction and conflict and is far from being an orderly place. Few of us flower beyond all of the cold, programmed rigidity. That must change.
Frozen in Time (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
Frozen in Time (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017
There is an indelible energy that is safely beyond the conflict and turmoil of our world and universe. It is beyond the grasp of corruption. It exists beyond the time and space that involves competition, strife, friction, separation, and domination. For it to visit one, one must be of an innocence and emptiness that is not a result of what others have fabricated. Mere reactions, mere imitation, will never help it to manifest in oneself. Reactions and any form of imitation are part of the conditioned responses that are components of the cause and effect continuum of sequential time (in limited space). Its timelessness, its spacelessness is not what can be harnessed and captured by the limited concoctions of man. Any methodology to “get it,” including any organized religion or plan of philosophy… is likely highly erroneous, as it is beyond sequential methods, systems, and practices. It is too alive and immense for any dead system or calculated procedure to bring one to it.
It is not at all likely to come to one who is immersed in corrupt and antiquated psychological frameworks involving separation and conflict. A supposedly separate ego that (through a screen of concepts) sees itself apart from the whole of nature or mankind is not likely to be visited by it. A (non-global) mind that clings to man-made, separative countries and religions that (directly and indirectly) divide man against man will not likely be visited by it. A mind that thoughtlessly pollutes life or that indifferently harms life’s creatures will not likely ever be visited by it. Although many distorted minds have no real relationship with it, they pray to (images of) what they think — and were taught — it is. Not having an ego, it (of course) would not ever want to be praised or recognized in terms of devotion. Additionally, it may be that it does not readily bestow favors to those who pray or ask for benefits… since it may not (at all) be biased to favor intelligent-oriented species (who can ask for favors) as opposed to equally precious species (or individuals) who do not have the intelligence to ask for favors. Additionally, it would not likely interfere with a cause/effect universe that it is not a part of (nor the cause of). Too many, always remaining in (and “as”) their conditioning, have no actual relationship with it, yet they anthropomorphize it and project their corrupt attributes onto what they fabricated it as being.
Few are ever visited by it. Few are open and pure (beyond the desires and methodologies implanted within them by others). There is no “how” for getting it to visit one. Indeed, when one is truly wise, stable, joyful, and mindful (without constant measure and mere calculation)… then one does not spend “time” desiring its presence. Without effort, real awareness goes beyond falsities and delusive boundaries. Without those boundaries, reactions are not as prevalent (i.e, they lose their shadowy hold on one), superfluous (habitual) thinking ends, experiences are not merely depended upon for consciousness, space between things loses much of its significance, and the infinite is (beautifully) easier to perceive.
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eternalfountainofyouth.com
Bumble Bee on Purple Cone Flower (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Bumble Bee on Purple Cone Flower (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Passionate lipstick Dreary clouds
Angry vehicles Bored jail bars
Smiling birthday cakes Careful tightropes
Dancing shoes Hungry enchiladas
Swearing beer bottles Patriotic flags
Sleepy beds Frightened darkness
Apprehensive boxing gloves Giggling lollipops
Complimentary babies Relaxed swimming pools
Melancholy psychiatrists Laughing balloons
Lost neighborhoods Generous donation containers
Indifferent guns Conversing ketchup bottles
Impatient intersections Whistling dogs
Proud properties Disappointed traffic tickets
Thirsty deserts Indoctrinated religions
Upset bronze medals Disenchanted politicians
Peeing fire hydrants Crying coffins
Thankful presents Listening walls
Reaching sandals Talented pianos
Lying used cars Flying flower blooms
Inquisitive computer screens Excited carnival rides
Nearsighted soup directions Farsighted oak trees
Insightful questions Stagnant presumptions
Bee & Bloom (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Bee & Bloom (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
If you are truly innocent and perceptive (without motive), the mystery of the universe will come to you (and pursue you)… you won’t have to seek it. Many others, out of boredom, out of groping for more, come up with methodologies for coming to the sacred. Unfortunately, their mechanical blueprints, their dead systems, their fallacious fantasies, make an impression on others… and more and more mischief and nonsense ends up getting hammered into others.
Having a humble, quiet mind is beneficial, as it enables perception to occur without being jaded and tainted by the fabrications of others. However, unlike what many believe, a quiet mind does not bring about that which is sacred and illimitable. That illimitability is far too dynamic to merely be brought about by way of silence (or by way of anything else). A quiet mind is important, but no petty actions, inactions, reactions, methodologies, systems, absurd prayers or incantations, practices, or fabricated schemes can conjure it up. Yet, it may visit a mind that is orderly, sane, innocent, living, and whole.
Beware of those who tell you exactly how to find it or who write or talk about their struggle to come upon it. It may not be a product of any methodology; it may not involve struggle or effort whatsoever. Order of the mind is not a mere calculated product; it is a living, profound thing. An orderly, living mind is not the result of some concoction or blueprint. The result of some dead blueprint or mold is not living. Any purposeful meditation generated or fashioned intentionally by the mind… is not meditation whatsoever.
Jumping Jack Flash (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Jumping Jack Flash (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
An enlightened man — one of only a few in this
particular solar system —
walked across the street.
He didn’t particularly care much for the pavement;
it was hardened, callous (like many, uncaring people),
and it covered a place where there used to be
lush, living things of great (soft) beauty.
There was awareness of the distant, oncoming traffic, but
unnecessary thoughts were (intelligently) not there;
there was no center, no authority to
merely see with (and “as”) separation.
As the street was being crossed, a wren came flying by.
Awareness was that little wren… not something separate from it,
(not something seeing it as being separate).
After the crossing of the street, a few steps were climbed.
As the steps were climbed, a curious squirrel was seen in a tree.
Curiously, that beautiful squirrel climbed the steps,
though it never left the tree.
What U R 2. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
What U R 2. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Thought and thinking, though very useful at times, is a form of resistance. Thought originated, in mobile creatures, such as invertebrate and vertebrate animals, in order to acquire and manipulate… and in order to struggle against and contend with (or dominate) other organisms. Most people, having evolved from (and “as”) the aforementioned developments, would tend to think that it is errant and reprehensible to suggest that one move beyond thoughts and thinking. When immersed in the framework and network of thought, it — for most, unfortunately — seems ludicrous to deeply consider going beyond that realm (that actually is what they exist as). In Socrates’ Parable of the Cave, those who believed in shadows and who took shadows to be reality — thereby existing as shadows — scoffed at those few who suggested perceiving beyond the shadows.
Most people are rigidly set in their ways; they will cling to these ways, in comfort, without question. They exist in (and “as”) fractional, symbolic thoughts and mental constructs. However, when you fervently accept limited ways, without question, you are what limitation actually is; you are of blockage and restriction… not something separate. The wise man (or woman) conversely, has perceptual range. In perceptual range is liberation, real freedom (not the phony, orchestrated appearance of freedom that so many cling to and think that they enjoy). The wise mind transcends boundaries; in doing so, mental constraints vanish, separation and hate end, confines of thought’s images disappear, and even the limitless may magically happen. When boundaries are truly transcended, one goes beyond mere robotic reactions (and all reactions are intrinsically robotic). Our reactions and inherited beliefs — which occur as conditioned responses — are what separates us, what divides us. In going beyond them, one is no longer of the fractional, conditioned ways that divide people; then one is global; then one is truly universal. Such a universal individual doesn’t merely belong to little, separative races, regions, or any one country; such a universal person doesn’t belong to one of the many fragmentary religions that separate people. Most people do not want to go beyond their inherited and accumulated beliefs; they would much rather cling to and fight over the reactions that they have absorbed from others. We can live in peace and harmony if we (worldwide) go beyond inherited beliefs and fabricated boundaries; however, many do not care about doing that. Beliefs (and primitive, separative identifications), for many, are more important than actual peace. In the light of perception, one stops fighting over mere shadows; for that to happen, one must see the shadows as shadows and transcend beyond them; or you can see what was promised in (and by) the shadows by others… and live in (and “as”) the shadows forever… forever clinging to them and forever fighting over them. However, is that really seeing?
Emergence beyond patterns (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Emergence beyond patterns (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
We’re all a part of the spectrum of holistic light
and just like the color yellow will never
permanently fade and disappear from that spectrum
each of us (including all life forms)
will never permanently disappear
With all the colors of life’s palette (life’s rainbow)
with all the dimensions of living light
we are there
There will always be yellow
and though yellow (and green) may fade now and then
they will always be there
Of Yellow and Green (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Of Yellow and Green (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Do you take up residence in the antiquated, fabricated, and absorbed patterns of man? Or are you sagaciously swifter and more dynamically prudent than that, where they can’t (no matter how hard they look, with their old-fangled ways) ever find you? Though it’s really not a mere place, are you where they can’t ever know you? Concrete images of self are much of what they cadaverously exist as. Concrete images of self are what they taught you to absorb, and such images and devised schemes of inner dominancy are petrified and calcified. The solidified, isolated center of inner self-ish-ness (which really isn’t a center at all) is endorsed and condoned by ruthless others (who, themselves, absorbed from conditioned others). To go beyond conditioned ways, significantly, requires that the mind shed its primitive caterpillar/chrysalis ways and, instead, soar (as a fresh butterfly) free from all the inertness.
The beautiful butterflies and the colorful flowers of this marvelous earth are not separate things. Please don’t merely yank the flowers out of the soil and shove them in cold vases; please look at them where they grow (and connect with them). Please don’t net radiant butterflies and coldly stick them in framed wall-display-mounts; please enjoy them as they vibrantly fly (and please soar higher too). Please don’t try to isolate yourself in a dark, dead little corner (of self, of “me”) and think that you are somehow separate from (and different from) the living whole. Please blossom and open up your wings beyond mere stagnant (enclosed) ways.
We are each other (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
We are each other (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
True perception involves seeing the whole in a sensitive way without the contamination of isolated (taught, habitual) images. Distortion occurs when the supposed (but false) whole is seen fragmentarily through a mental screen of conditioning. For instance, it is in vogue to say that “I am one with the beauty of nature”… or to identify oneself in a special connection with magnificent, towering trees or a breathtaking mountain range. One fragmentary image, however, identifying itself with other images… is what it is: a sequence of fractional image making. (Few, by the way, identify themselves with people who are mentally or physically handicapped or with disappearing coral reefs; maybe if they observed them without a mere fractional center… more good things would get done). Real wholeness exists beyond the boundaries of thought. These boundaries include the fallacious center that feels in control of what are considered “subservient thoughts.” Thought/thinking projects this center as being separate from other thoughts and as being separate from what is perceived (through the screen of thought); this center has (and is) an essence of separation. Real wholeness does not put a separative, isolated image of a (fallacious) center on a psychological pedestal; real wholeness does not have a supposedly central image that merely identifies itself (at times) with other chosen, select images — like breathtaking mountains — while (at other times) it purports to be domineering over “other” images (whether they be internal or external) from a distance.
Most people don’t care deeply about true or deep perception; they have accepted crude, mundane ways, (and they continue to perceive through — and “as” — these mundane, superficial ways, without going deeply beyond them). In these banal, mundane ways, most inevitably get bored and feel unfulfilled, which is (obviously) due to clinging to the old and stale. They continue to cling to the old and stale ways, and they are afraid to let them go. Untold many, over centuries, have each relied on and believed in a domineering and manipulative center that is (supposedly) in charge of the rest of thinking… and the world remains in crisis; deep harmony rarely emerges out of distortion. The irony in this, unfortunately, is that most will not care to delve into this and transcend the fractional center; yet it is this very so-called center (because of its unnecessary friction and conflict) that keeps them in psychological isolation that is dull, lonely, distorted, second-hand, deceitful (and that is not dynamic while it creates a space of limitation that directly leads to boredom and inner sorrow). The serious mind that sees the falsity of such a center is, on the other hand, joyous, harmonious, original, whole, and beyond deep deception. Falsities are not just in some of the age-old, infantile beliefs of man; they go to the very essence of what consciousness entails. Transcending them is true liberation and bliss… not all that phony stuff.
Sharing (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Sharing (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
That nameless, eternal immensity that is beyond mere labels and symbolic words, rarely presents itself to humans. Too many of us are of violence, separation, distortion, and fallacies to be open to visitation from that enormity. Our psychological demarcations, which promote false, separative, supposedly dominant centers (i.e., the many obtrusions of “me” and “I”), tend to nullify any possibility for that boundlessness to be revealed. Mental superficiality and illusion negate clear perception. A false center builds a wall around itself and there is nothing much seen beyond the limited confines of that wall. Too many of us have accepted limited viewpoints, patterns, boundaries, and methodologies… and to those we cling. Fortunately, it is beautifully possible to emerge through the rigidities of miseducation and stiff falsities.
Fruiting Bodies (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Fruiting Bodies (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
My wife and i never had kids (because the world is way overcrowded with humans as it is), but we are concerned about them deeply. If i had only a few short moments — or a bit longer — to tell a child what to care about, in life, here is what i would likely say:
Mistrust everything anyone has ever told you about truth… and find out for yourself.
Go beyond the dead symbols that they provided; be intelligently empty, stay young, and don’t lose your innocence (as so many adults do).
Don’t just look through the screen of what was taught; use thoughts often, but go beyond them.
Love the whole and not merely a few isolated parts.
Let effortless silence be your oasis from internal patterns that were planted in you by others.
Help others (so-called other life forms) to go beyond suffering.
Help (and care for) Mother Earth; she is all we have, and many are making her sick.
Ask serious questions beyond merely comfortable answers.
Don’t be ordinary (even if it is more comfortable and easy to be ordinary).
Never lose that youthful feeling of eternity (that most adults have lost long ago).
Perceive with (and “as”) dynamic emptiness without a mere center.
Look without mere separation between you and what is perceived.
Perceive with a warm heart, not merely (as so many do) with a cold mind.
Note:
[These are fish in a large pond in our area. There is a small creek that flows into the pond, and the fish love to hang out by the mouth of the creek to get oncoming food and to enjoy the current. I like how one of the fish — unique, with the purity of white on its head — in the top section of the video is (especially) enjoying a burst of water current, creating surface swirl! There were many more fish than what is seen in the frame.]
Fish of Gold. Video by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Wonderfully then
came upon now
beyond images of “I”
beyond everything anyhow
Magically beyond wish
floated limitless dying
finishing dead symbols
in an alive not just trying
Sweetly far from measure
burst a timeless moving
not of stale thoughts
not of physic’s proving
Beyond the Sedentary Way. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Beyond the Sedentary Way. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
When we are violent and mentally formulate an ideal of nonviolence, we set up an “idealistic image” for the center of self (which is itself an absorbed, learned image) to strive towards. That “idealistic image,” being a fabricated construct of the brain, is a symbolic pattern that is not — much the same as the image of an isolated (controlling) center — real (other than being a fabrication of the mind). It may be far more prudent to give attention to the actual violence as it is occurring (without merely looking at the violence with separation and imagery). Then violence is not merely something that you have; it is what you actually are. Then you are not separate from the violence. Giving all of your energy to understand it may require that it be seen without a fallacious center trying to do something about it from a distance. In this, there would be no distance of space, nor any distance of time; (there, in other words, would be no spatial distance between a fabricated “center or ego” and the violence… and there would be no psychological time for the fallacious “center” to “have” to try to get rid of the violence.) Superfluous ideals of nonviolence need not (necessarily) be manufactured; if they were, they likely would create space, time, and conflict in the mind, sway attention from the actuality of violence, and would likely tend to support a false (isolated) center that focuses away from the learning, understanding, and true relationship regarding violence; a false center is (in itself) a form of violence; it is a man-made (isolated) image (that projects indifference, separation, and conflict).
Instead of being aware of violence and deeply learning about it (and therefore fundamentally going beyond its many ways), merely mentally saying (with that old, procrastination trick) that one will be “better” in the future involves (the space of time). The false center additionally forms (space) between itself and so-called others. This space and the space of time (psychologically) are intrinsically the same in many respects. Intentionally hurting so-called “other” life-forms is a form of violence. Jealousy is a form of violence. Envy is a form of violence. Racial prejudice is a form of violence. Indifference is a form of violence. Violence exists in many formats. If one fragment merely tries to get rid of another fragment (that is seen with separation)… then conflict continues (in one form or another) and the mind remains immersed in violence. Most have no true relationship with others and no true relationship with violence; so the violence continues (in society) as it does.
Eastern Amberwing. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Eastern Amberwing. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
once upon a twice
wings folding unfolding
here within the universe’s
folding unfolding
twice upon a once
universes folding unfolding
here within the wings
folding unfolding
Pearl Crescent (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Pearl Crescent (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
*********** This writer would just like to say, “thank you!” to those of you who have been liking and/or commenting on my posts, while being open-minded about it. Of course, to go beyond the superficial, one goes beyond my photos; we are well aware that many are merely satisfied with the photos; it’s not (fortunately) just about the photos. A lot of what is written here, we know, is way beyond the norm; thank goodness for that! Many of the best scientists have said that reality is likely way different than what we have been lead to believe up to this point… way different than what we can imagine. (That is for sure!) I am very appreciative of those of you who stick with this and continue to read, even though, at times, it must be very difficult to swallow or stomach. I’ve always deeply cared about the truth, no matter how uncomfortable the answers may be, no matter what was revealed. Those who do the same, this movement deeply admires. (Truth is beautiful, and there are real treasures if one is open, independent, passionate, honest, and not afraid to go beyond the primitive, antiquated ways.) Too many of us are like clay that (over time) hardens after it has been molded by (equally desiccated) others. *************
Thinking — as a process — is fractional and sequential. Thinking involves a sequential series of patterns; these patterns are always symbolic, limited, and (unless rare insight occurs, influencing them) merely dependent on banal, past memories and ordinary experiences. Patterns, in a sequence, constitute time; thinking and time are not two separate things. Experiencing, in most minds, is dictated — as to how it takes place and manifests — by implanted, past memories. When, as it does with most people, a learned and supposed static self-image seems to be claiming (from a supposed psychological distance) to have control and be dominant over moving, rearranging, sequential, symbolic thought-patterns that thought/thinking considers such a self-center to have power over via managing and authoritatively manipulating… deception takes place. If the supposed central image is not — in reality — central at all, and if it is merely another one of the images (which it is), then things are not as they appear and there must be a significant paradigm shift; otherwise, all kinds of misbehavior and distortion occurs.
A dominating center that — in reality — is not truly dominating and not, in any way, central… creates a tremendous amount of havoc for the (unfortunate) mind miseducated to contain (and “be”) such an array. The havoc involved manifests as needless inner friction, inner conflict, fabricated space, needless dominancy, false glorification, and needless separation. When one segment claims to be dominant and “in control” of other sections (from a fallacious distance)… inner tyranny, friction, struggle, and pseudo-power-control materialize; these often manifest (outwardly) as conflict, outward dominance, and violence in the external world. Additionally, such a false center inevitably leads to the cultivation selfishness, jealousy, and competition; it fosters inner self-aggrandizement, indifference, and isolation. The supposed center is considered permanent, most important, and lasting, while the other thoughts and feelings are considered subservient, more or less temporary, and as something to be used. Surgeries on the corpus callosum within the brain, resulting in two fields of consciousness, are indicative of the falsity of a permanent center. Yet, psychiatrists and psychologists still promote antiquated methodologies which continue to constrain the mind into practices promoting a fallacious center.
A true and intelligent paradigm shift would transcend these false bonds and conceitful ways. A genuine, beautiful psychological transformation would occur when the mind acts — not merely reacts — as a whole without false separation and delusive, fallacious space. Then, when reflection takes place, one is not something separate from the reflection; then, when compassion occurs, one is not something separate from compassion. Since so many thoughts are fractional, limited symbols… the holistic mind would often intelligently go beyond them; the whole is more than the sum of the parts. In this, no crude, dominating part would exist to stupefy, tyrannize, manipulate, or intervene. In this lack of friction and loss of falsity are bliss and integrity. In such wholeness, wisdom manifests, eternity manifests.
Looking Downward (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Looking Downward (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
When this WHAT IF
rumin
8ed on what MIGHT BE,
a
f
ear
interrupted and re
main
ed
as some
thing unpleasant
2 be elimin
8ed
by what considered
itself
2 besomewhat sepa
r8ed from the
f
ear
that thought thoughtithad
& also con
sidered it
self
separatefrom(&controlling)
images projecting the
possible future
& also
separate from the
whole of
time
toc
tic
Mommy Shortlegs. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Mommy Shortlegs. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 