In terms of truth
everyone thought the world was flat
except (of course) the
wise man
who saw the world was round
In terms of space
everyone thought from separation
except (of course) the
wise man
who perceived that he was sound
In terms of experience
everyone thought they had (and were not actually) the experiences
except (of course) the
wise man
who joyfully went beyond mere experience
In the backyard. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Often, in the backyard, there “is” the trees, the birds, and animals and no “me.” The space between things (then) — like the clear parts of a dragonfly’s wings — does not separate them.
Beyond what was taught. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Not long ago, one posted an article about Tweetie Pie, a Yellow Naped Amazon Parrot who lives with us and who seems to have well developed comprehension and language skills. That previous article mentioned how Dr. Irene Pepperburg’s research on avian psychology suggests that many parrots have the mental understanding of a (human) 5 year old and the verbal capacity of a 2 year old. We play learning videos and movies all day long for Tweetie and the two other birds who live with her. They often, by the way, watch full length movies with as much interest and zeal as any human would. When one walks into their room during a good movie, they don’t even look at what you are doing; and they watch the movie throughout its entire duration. Anyone who lives with parrots (or dogs or other similar animals too) has the responsibility of exercising their minds and bodies daily. With parrots, one can daily hold their feet and move them up and down and around repeatedly (so they vigorously flap their wings), so that they get substantial exercise; additionally, toys and fun objects can be given to them to play with often. Being intelligent, they need a lot of attention and social interaction daily. Be sure to daily exercise yourself too; many people don’t!
I am retired, and usually home, but earlier this week, Marla and i went to the doctors. Later, that evening, i said to Tweetie, “What were you thinking about today, Tweetie?” Tweetie responded with: “About you!” I then said, “How sweet; thank you, Tweetie!” Later, while i was preparing the birds’ food next to a large perch that she was on, i said to her, “Do you want a piece of apricot?” She said, “I do.” Earlier, when we were at the doctor’s office, one of the nurses we were talking with said that her parents have a parrot that talks with good comprehension. We sure know what that is about! Whenever Tweetie talks, it always has relevant meaning; it is not just mimicry.
I used to be a teacher of students who were multiply handicapped and who had mental retardation. I know, good and well, that correctly answering a question pertaining to the abstract concept of “thinking” takes a rather high level of cognitive processing. Lately, over the last few days, one has been talking to Tweetie about simple philosophy and perception “beyond thinking.” One, of course, has kept things very simple. When i first told Tweetie that one can look at things without thinking — such that everything is “one thing” — she looked all around carefully as if she got something out of what i said. A few nights ago, i again talked about philosophical things — you know how it’s in my blood — and suggested looking at everything as not just being separate, but together as one. I held my hand, with fingers spread, in front of her, and said that each finger was different from the other fingers. Mentioning that each finger can look and act differently, i wiggled my fingers in different ways. Then i pointed out that though each finger is different, they are all connected (and not separate), and all are together as one hand. I said that all of us are like the fingers — all being as one thing. I said that it is good to go beyond thinking now and then, and to look at everything as if for the first time, without just seeing things as being separate. As i turned away from her to prepare their food, Tweetie said, “You are right!” (This was the first time she has ever said that… and we didn’t teach it to her.) She wasn’t brown-nosing, either; she is brutally honest. One day, recently, for instance, i reprimanded one of the other parrots for screaming too loud, and later in the evening, Marla opened the door to the avian room to reprimand me for having their TV on too loud. I was in their room preparing their food at the time, and said, “Marla, is like an old grouch today.” Tweetie then said, “You are too!”
A couple of days after her response to my philosophical talk, i went into their area as they were watching the Muppets on television. As i was sitting there eating a salad and watching it with them, there was an episode where western ranch hands were riding on top of cows and saying how much they loved the wonderful horses they were riding. I laughed out loud, and said, “They’re not on horses; they are riding on cows!” Tweetie said, “You are right!” She was correct about her judgement of this last (factual) occurrence; whether she was correct regarding what i said philosophically is debatable (though very interesting). Perhaps intelligent animals are more appreciative of going beyond dead symbols — and of seeing the value of direct perception — than most of us humans. Tweetie will not likely ever go through profound enlightenment; but, then, neither will the vast majority of humans. Usually, when i take Tweetie out for her daily exercising, i ask her how she is doing. Her usual reply is “Pretty good!” I’ve noticed that on those days that I’ve talked to her about going beyond thinking… she, instead, says, “I don’t know!” Perfect answer! People might easily say that i am nuts for talking philosophically to bird brains. However, i have received more intelligent responses from my avian friends, lately, than i have from local humans in our area.
Eye of perception. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
So many of us imitate others. We do this so much more than we realize. Everything that people see (in terms of patterns), think (in terms of patterns), and take for granted… is transferred to us. We absorb what they are. (We become what they are. Our thoughts and desires are what they are.) We absorb what they are from their teachings, their traditions, their mannerisms, and values (or lack of values). To go beyond all that is extremely arduous. However, it is very necessary if one is to be more than a mere second-hand shadow.
So many of us want to show off our accumulations to others. We think that these accumulations — often the result of grueling work at the job — reflect our ability to be successful. Real success, however, may not (unlike what we were taught) lie in material possessions, large families, or monetary wealth. To discover what is truly priceless, will one merely rely on others… who, themselves, are clones of innumerable others?
Real success, ironically, may exist beyond the measurable. However, most of our calculating minds have no clue as to what that means or entails. Most of us live in (and “as”) comparison and measurement. However, to merely accept comparison and measurement as the essence of one’s life — as so many, unfortunately, do — may be a sign of indolence and superficiality. Additionally, rigidly clinging to comparison and measurement invites (and “is”) sorrow.
Infinite joy is a measureless blessing that is beyond the grasp of mere greed and superficiality. It cannot be earned or acquired (like some silly, limited stuff), and that is part of its immeasurable beauty. Don’t ask “how to get it,” because — unlike so many of our ostentatious, limited accumulations — there is no “how to get it.”
These goats, at the county fair, were repeatedly jumping out of their stalls. They were not merely content with remaining in the limited. Should you be?
Beyond the Limited. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
In the poignant circulating of the cosmic wheel
only a small portion exist pliable enough to feel
In time’s perpetual murmur along the mutated stride
only a small handful passionately perceive with eyes open wide
In the inept fervor of politic’s frantic flames
most cling to shadows rarely stuttering their names
In the isolated prearrangement of the seeing of the same
most reside as separative symbols that stylish inattention helps retain
Only the Fruiting Part. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Only the Fruiting Part. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Don’t let them pull you down
the cold ones and the crazy ones
the twisted politicians and the elephantine pundits
Soar away often from all their heavy patterns
concrete symbols and fixed rituals
and fly free as if you have wings
Then you’ll be beautifully glowing and warmly radiant
and (as you feel) the pulling weight of their dead images leave
be free of the burdensome gravity of their self-importance
Beyond their weighty burden (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c.2015
Beyond their weighty burden (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c.2015
There is a timeless, radiant, boundless, eternal energy,
beyond all patterns and demarcations,
beyond all violence, disorder, and chaos.
It is an infinite, miraculous flame that cannot merely be described
with the shadows of limited words and symbols (and all words are limited).
Though many would call it “God,” it is beyond (and has nothing to do with) held beliefs;
it belongs to no country, no world, no religion;
it has no gender; it is not of any one species, nor organization.
It did not create this universe, and it is beyond the reactions of any organisms
(of highly evolved or barely evolved types);
and their shadows cannot infringe on its unadulterated immaculateness.
Mere reactions cannot perceive it or recognize it,
for it is an action beyond all mental forms, patterns, sorrows, and devices.
No systems or methods can capture it,
for it is beyond cause and effect paradigms,
beyond what mere groping can achieve.
Its immeasurability places it beyond all mental yardsticks and psychological gauges.
It is well beyond the musty, shadowy residue of symbolic thought (and all thought is symbolic).
You cannot visit it, but it can visit you.
However, that “you,” that it may visit, must effortlessly be beyond the limitations of symbols,
residual reactions, and mechanical responses.
Desire it… and it will not manifest.
The limited cannot have a true relationship
with the unlimited.
Profound, living mystery is beyond jaded reactions
from (and “as”) the stale past.
To live without always (exclusively) depending
on the symbols and images of the stale, dead past
can be true joy.
That joy may be (or may not be) visited by that profound mystery
that is beyond time’s limitations.
Damsels not in distress. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many thoughts she didn’t know what to do.
She gave them all her energy without much feeling;
And kept all her deposits and left the world screaming.
There was a young man who danced in his shoes.
His still mind was glowing without having the blues.
He gave the poor broth with plenty of bread;
And kissed them all soundly and put them to bed.
Symbiosis. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Fear. You can run from it all you want, but — if you do — it will always be there (in one form or another).
There are intelligent forms of fear and other forms of fear that are largely unintelligent. If you are walking through the woods and see a cluster of poison ivy (and have gotten severe rashes from it before) you naturally avoid it with (and “as”) a fear that is sensible and intelligent. If you are going along with others in an activity that you don’t really deem wise or wholesome, but are doing it just to “fit in” and not be rejected (as so many do with drugs, for example)… that may stem from a form of fear that is rather unintelligent and lopsided.
So many of us were taught that we are separate from our fears. When fear takes place, is it truly something that is separate from what you are? Instead of running from fears, or merely trying to manipulate them, it may be prudent to be in relationship with them… to carefully understand them and examine them (without manufactured distance and learned concepts, without fleeing). Fear often involves time; fear feeds on (and is) time. So many have fears about what the future may be (or may not be). Interestingly — though fear feeds on, involves, (and is) time — fleeing from fear involves time.
Separation from fears may go along with separation from other aspects in life… such as hopes, aspirations, dreams, speculations, and the images of others (that one deems separate from oneself). Hate often springs from unintelligent fear, for both are intrinsically bound in modes heavily involved with separation. Mental separation breeds both hate and indifference. When there is a wall of circumference around a (supposedly) separate self apart from fear, images, aspirations, and others… friction and turmoil often ensue. We can grow and wisely flower beyond the fragmentation and needless friction — internally and externally — if we perceive beyond mere separative and primitive processes.
Instead of merely just running from boredom, or fear, or loneliness, it may be prudent to remain with them (effortlessly observing) and learn from them intimately; then (out of the intimacy) if relationship with them truly changes naturally, they may flower into what transcends mediocrity, tradition, and fragmentation; then boredom and fear are no longer what they were (as part of broken, fragmentary isolation and separation).
Fire and ice. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Most minds, as we were previously saying, often, unfortunately, exclusively remain as what is second-hand. So many of us merely copy the patterns of others and — with these patterns and symbols — we function and perceive. There — as has been the case for millennia — are all kinds of politicians, teachers, religious leaders, philosophical and psychological experts who are more than willing to tell you how to live. However, with all of these so-called experts and leaders, the world remains in quite a lot of turmoil, confusion, violence, and chaos. To step out of this quagmire, however, and truly be beyond it, calls for being a mind that is not merely second-hand.
From the day we were born, each of us has been encouraged to imitate, to absorb, to utilize the symbols and patterns by which — and through which — we can function well in this world. It was drilled into you that you are separate… separate from everything else out there, separate from your thoughts. With these absorbed patterns, we can dominate and succeed. Real success, however, may not be merely clinging to these basic, rudimentary things. For instance, constantly looking via separation and concrete images/symbols might make you a wealthy businessman; but it may do little to free you and the world from sorrow and the superficial. Merely ruthlessly adhering to learned separation and absorbed symbols/images leaves the mind barren and hand-me-down.
To really look and perceive as a fresh, non-imitative, compassionate, wise human being — which so few of us have ever done profoundly — is not something that you can merely rotely learn or absorb. If it is merely something that can be absorbed or soaked up by the mind… then it is not really fresh (but, rather, second-hand). So many of us have blindly depended upon others to tell us how to live and function that — for the most part — we perceive and react via second-hand methodologies, images, symbols, and patterns. Second or third, or fourth-hand, however, (especially when seeping in separation) is not real living; and perception from that is always from the dead past. Our violence, in society, stems from the learned separation, learned space of limitation, and learned separative symbols that we have absorbed and held as consciousness. Being content to remain in (and “as”) that is great sorrow, for nothing that is second-hand (and a mere reaction), mentally, is ever what is truly fresh, pristine, and joyfully alive. No wonder so many are depressed and go to drugs.
Any method, by any teacher, or priest, or guru, to help you get beyond all the second-hand images, and patterns, and reactions… is still a process involving time and learned images and systems. Only you can look afresh at (and “as”) life without the second-hand images and patterns of others. Be very careful, however, because if that “you” is another absorbed (separate) image (or set of images) that was learned, then it too is part of the second-handedness and part of the quagmire.
To look, without the contamination of the “absorbed past” does not take time. Learning the techniques, the images, or self-images, methods, patterns, and symbols of others takes time. Being second-hand takes time. When one looks through — and “as” — a learned, separative image, one is using the fossilized past… which is intrinsically (in a big way) dead; that past is a part of conditioned/mechanical/accumulated time. Going beyond being second-hand does not depend upon procedures learned from others (or from an image of self that was additionally learned). Going beyond being second-hand is not turning into some kind of vegetable; it may be true freedom and true, highly intelligent independence (from dead imitation).
Again, to look, without the contamination of the “absorbed past” takes no time; for, regarding it, there is no process or method to copy or robotically imitate. Going beyond being second-hand is timeless, and it does not depend upon procedures learned from others (or from an image of self that additionally was learned). Recognition — from stale and rather dead images that were copied over (and “as”) time — can never come upon the new, the truly sacred and pristine. What looks from mere fragmentation, symbolism, and the dead past… cannot ever perceive the timeless, the new.
Watching (1). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Watching (2). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
It is good to be in “right relationship” with everything. All too many were educated wrongly, and they continue to view the world with a psychology immersed in separation. Beyond the basics, in education, there must be an exploration into what “right and true relationship is.” Without this the mind remains rather lopsided and trapped in falsities; then all kinds of problems emerge in society… with violence, theft, deceit, indifference, drugs, and abandonment being common.
It is interesting, in a big way, about how there are a good number of people who say that they are “one with everything”… that they are “one with the whole;” yet, for most all of them, the benediction of enlightenment has never taken place. One of the fundamental reasons for this (among other things) is that even people who maintain that they are “one with everything” are still perceiving the world through concepts, symbols, and images that they have learned (and have absorbed from others). It may be that, with these conceptions and symbols, they look… and what they see is what they were taught. When they say that they are one with that… it may be that they are one with all of these myriad (learned and second-hand) images, symbols, concepts, and frameworks that others have helped to instill within (and “as”) what they are. There is nothing very profound in that.
Being “one with everything” is to be admired and appreciated. However, we have to be extremely careful with this. Because if we are merely continuing to view everything with isolated images, symbols, and concepts… being “one” with that is not sufficient; and it may not be being in “right relationship” whatsoever. Too many of us view the world through, and as, and from, symbols and learned images. One can say, as so many easily do, that everything is sacred. However, once again, we must be extremely careful with this. It could be that everything we perceive consists of recognition based on learned images, patterns, and symbols (that were taught). The truly sacred, however, may not merely be something that is within the relatively superficial realm of images, symbols, and learned patterns. Learned symbols and concepts — though very necessary for daily functioning — may not ever be in a direct relationship with what is truly sacred. That flame of timeless blessing exists beyond mere symbols and dead concepts… and shadows can never be in direct relationship with it. It is, fortunately, possible to perceive without mere learned recognition, without the shadows that such recognition exclusively consists of. Most all of us are locked in (and “as”) recognition; we see through (and “as”) second-hand symbols and patterns. We can, if we are prudent and truly perceptive in the deepest sense, perceive without mere second-hand symbols and images; then pristine, uncorrupted perception (though not necessarily sacred in itself) may open the door for what is sacred to visit. The sacred will not visit, enter, (and be in direct relationship with) what is second-hand, symbolic, stale, and rehashed. It is too fundamentally pure to be able to be in direct relationship with what is very sullied and tainted. That is one of the reasons why so few are ever directly visited by that majestic, uncorrupt, infinite energy of timelessness.
We human beings are something else! We are always thinking about and using energy (from what we taught each other). However, we are never the actual energy. That energy is timeless and (unlike the energy that we think we use) it is beyond the corruptions of man.
Eye 2 Eye. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Eye 2 Eye. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Do we have free will? Most of us would get quite irritated if we were told that we do not really have it. To be free is to be unhindered; it is to not be tethered to parameters that bind, blind, and limit you. To truly be free, one must have expansive intelligence beyond common boundaries. To truly be free, the cause and effect relationships that constitute one’s environment must all be understood and accounted for (without bias or flaws from one’s past education or from one’s genetic — including mental genetic — makeup). To truly be free, there must be no distortion or fragmentation in the way that one perceives.
As it is, most of us see and react from learned (and inherited) modes involving separation, fragmentation, and views that are cemented by culture and tradition. With all this limitation, we think (and feel) that we are free. So many are enslaved — in more ways than one — without ever realizing it. To perceive that you are not free may be the beginning of wisdom that brings freedom. Merely craving for freedom, however, does not bring it (i.e., psychologically). If you are conditioned — and we all are — perceive and examine that conditioning throughout the day. That conditioning is what you are; it is not merely something that can be accurately viewed with separation, from a distance. Distortion, that sees itself for what it is (without the further distortion of imagined separation, without the projection of ideals or of fanciful utopian freedom) can — through clarity and understanding from direct relationship — change and transform. Distortion, however, that clings to learned modes of internal (and external) separation and false images of freedom (which are unreal)… likely will remain in (and “as”) the conditioning that it is.
Intelligence that (without mere separation and pre-conceived ideals) perceives the conditioning and distortion that is what it is… may transform beyond that conditioning and distortion. Distortion that merely looks (with learned separation) from that distortion and thinks that it is free… mostly remains in (and “as”) distortion. By the way… harming another organism intentionally and using the excuse that one has no free will (because of being conditioned) is a cop-out; it’s a song and dance. We are all, whether conditioned or not, responsible. We can respond either from (that spaceless place of) direct relationship and compassion (beyond mere division) and intelligent caring (beyond learned and absorbed boundaries)… or from cold indifference, learned separation, and hatred. (Separation and friction that is internal — in the brain — can express and project itself outwardly, as conflict and hatred.) We can go beyond crude, unrefined patterns. We are all capable of growing.
Ant Domain. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
There was a man
so wise
that every time he
walked
he always limped
and the whole universe limped too
There was a woman
so whole
that every time she
blinked
the skies always settled
and the churning seas would settle too
There was a past perfect
so present
that every time it
moved
it always returned
and the bygone future returned too
There was a flower
so beautiful
that every time it
unfurled
it always opened
and the blossoming of understanding would open too
Explosion in Pink. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Explosion in Pink. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
What is distance? There is distance between you and another living organism. There is distance between yesterday and today. There is distance between one cloud in the sky and another. However, is there really separation? There is, for instance, distance between your index finger and your ring finger. However, is your index finger really something separate from your ring finger? When I was very young, I used to be an avid fisherman… until I realized that the distance of the fishing line did not contribute to any separation whatsoever. Supposedly separate countries (that are divided up upon this globe), by man-made demarcations, might not be in such friction with each other if they deeply saw the interconnection involving all. Separate islands, for example, may seem very separate until one probes deeper and perceives how (under the water surface) they actually connect and are one.
Many people were taught that they control their thoughts from a distance (or from something separate). However, the actuality of the matter is that there is no distance (or even separation) between the thinker and the thoughts (if the thinker is part of thought — is a protrusion of thought — which it is). How we perceive is often (or usually) dictated by (and shaped by) thought. Many perceive — both internally and (therefore) externally — with a learned separation that is fragmentary, erroneous, self-oriented, and rather robotic. (We are not talking about foolishly blending in and walking into walls here; we are discussing about going beyond inelegant, unevolved perceptions.) Many of us “think” that we are very modern and sophisticated; but the fact may be that we are still very barbarous, deeply primitive, and crude (with gross separation and archaic division drilled into our psyches). Look, for instance, (and read the current news) at what humans are doing in the world. We can do better.
Soldier Beetles patrolling the area. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
In every miraculous eternal blink
beyond the very primitive world of think
the joy of order
and the order of joy abides
In every cadaverous indifferent stare
leaden within pre-worn underwear
the anchor of self
outweighs the swimming of we
Halloween Feat (i.e., Feet) (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Halloween Feat (i.e., Feet) (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
It is good to be perceptive, to be observant. Many of us, who take photographs and share them, reveal certain detailed (and often unique) perceptions that we have… (that we are appreciative of). To be perceptive is to be sensitive. Even our cameras have a certain innate, intrinsic sensitivity, wherein they pick up (and convey) many of the intricacies that a scene or area displays. To be a real human being, however, calls for much more sensitivity than what a mechanical camera is capable of. Interestingly, there are many people who go through existence being perceptive in more of a mechanical, mechanistic, camera-like way. They focus upon what others have directed them to focus upon; they capture (and hold) what they were developed to capture and hold. Like digital cameras, they store the data and their depth is artificial; they assimilate and grasp according to the way they were programmed. Their stored data depends exclusively upon imprinted patterns.
A truly insightful and reflective human being, on the other hand, may go far beyond a mere mechanical, superficial existence. The depth of a truly insightful, reflective human being would be amazingly real and beyond mere simulation. Real sensitivity has tremendous depth. That depth and real love/real living may not be different things. That depth shatters the separation between the viewer and the image. That sensitivity helps others in profound ways (that are not merely what can be photographed… although photographing may be part of how that sensitivity shares). That sensitivity penetrates far deeper than what any mechanical device can calculatingly and premeditatively (artificially) capture.
Last night, this movement was observing a science program on television concerning the universe. A lot of top scientists were talking about where the universe was going. They said that there is absolutely no evidence that there exists any eternity in the universe and that it is more than likely that everything will disappear entirely (and that is that). Unfortunately, they don’t understand what certain wise individuals understand; they (to a very large extent) don’t understand their own minds, and they don’t know what most of the cosmos (such as dark energy) consists of. If a mindlenscamera is constructed and programmed by the superficial, what it picks up and captures (to share) will often be rather superficial. Sometimes superficial and two-dimensional is very nice and excellent to visit… but one wouldn’t want to exclusively live there. Superficial snapshots from distortion impress most who are truly discerning and deep (only to a limited extent). As for those scientists, well, unfortunately, they are very good at capturing and conveying what they’ve discovered from limitation.
So, what transforms beyond the limited focus of the camera-i… is real integrity. Real, living integrity comes about only when the mind naturally becomes orderly beyond some dead blueprint or formulated mold. When real integrity comes about, the universe and its deepest magic comes to you; you don’t have to seek it. True integrity, which is wholeness, allows for (that deep order which is the entire universe) to flower within. That brings true bliss and enlightenment. The limited camera-i cannot do it, for what it perceives is little, separate snapshots here and there (according to some limited, manufactured programming). When real wisdom occurs, then the camera-i doesn’t merely try to capture things (with what it focuses on)… because then its instrument is not separate from all the mystery that takes place in the world (and all the mystery that is beyond place).
Tree Frog on brownish house siding (blending in quite nicely). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
To be in rapport with truth, one must (obviously) be parallel to the nature and dimension of truth. Profound (not relative) truth may not at all be something that is merely acquired… like some kind of result (by way of a process), like some type of petty thing that comes about (by way of accumulation or calculated endeavor). The immensity of profound truth is not of the realm of standard and ordinary results. So, in a very real way, this negates a lot of what people do (in terms of ordinary meditation and orthodox religion… all of which provide you with concrete ways to come upon truth).
A very serious, truly intelligent person (unlike the indifferent masses who are caught and lost in rather superficial details) is extremely interested in the profound truth. If that interest is a deep passion to find out without merely depending on others, then that passion may be beyond mere accumulation and calculated endeavor. The others depend on people of “authority” to tell them what to do, how to behave, what and how to think, etc. However, an individual with that rare passion (that does not depend) is truly standing alone. (“Individual” means single and not dependent.) An individual who does not merely depend upon the symbols, images, and patterns that others provide regarding truth… may be truly standing alone.
You know, when I was a follower, going along with the crowd regarding orthodox traditions and all that popular stuff… nothing happened. Nothing truly miraculous occurred whatsoever. It was only after one had gone beyond all the bourgeois orthodoxy, beyond all the popular cults, beyond all the gurus, experts, and specialists, that something very special, immense, enlightening, and extraordinary happened. Of course, people can say, “Well this bloke is merely deluding himself, imagining something or fantasizing about something profound.” There exists palpable proof consisting of reflections (over the years) of the actuality of this; but people need to go in depth and discover it for themselves. People each need to take the initiative and examine deeply for themselves; if they don’t do it (with tremendous passion) there is plenty of the ordinary for them to mundanely continue to experience (and remain as).
Most of us do not realize the depth of the accumulations that we have psychologically absorbed from others (who, themselves, absorbed from previous others). With this stockpile from the antiquated past, we look; and what we perceive is circumscribed by the extreme limitations of symbols, patterns, images, and fragmentary, archaic concepts. (One has stated this time and time again.) To be truly independent calls for going far deeper than merely going beyond outside authority… because the processes and ways of outside authority are in (and constitute) what you actually are. (Our “inside authority” is an extension of — and it is — the outside authority.) Our very concepts of self and of time are composed of crass, primitive patterns stemming from the musty past. (When you look through the lens of the musty past, what you see will be very distorted.) Only in the unconditioned intelligence of standing alone does the deepest magic truly manifest. This standing alone does not merely seek a result; it does not merely attempt to catch truth in its web designed for contrived results to acquire; there may then be (within it) intrinsic beauty that is not merely acquired through calculation.
Halloween Arachnid. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Existing in fallacy is to remain clinging to learned or absorbed false systems or mistaken beliefs. A truly dynamic, liberated mind is one that likely transcends beyond all (given) beliefs and manmade patterns… being a mind that perceives without contamination that has been absorbed from others. It is easy to exist in a slapdash way, merely allowing others (many of whom want power and control) to tell you how to do things. However, unless one looks with the purity of non-contamination, then what one perceives and believes in may merely be extensions of what others (with motivations involving power and suppression) have planted. When one supposedly has a belief, it is very likely that one is that belief… not merely something separate (from some kind of manufactured distance) “having” it.
The beauty of real innocence and pure perception (which is what is truly unsullied) is that they — together as one — are beyond secondhand values. Real innocence transcends self-importance, pompous display, and it goes beyond mere accumulation. In mere accumulation — including the gathering of images and beliefs — there is a “getting more and more,” which inflates the self (via increments of images, internal components, and others’ patterns). With uncontaminated, innocent perception, there is a seeing beyond the self and the accumulations that fill (and make) the self. It may be that profound relationship goes beyond any mental accumulations that constitute the self. Real relationship and true selflessness may not be two different things.
Dragonfly and Damselfly. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Though the body ages, creaks with pain, deteriorates,
slowly withers like a flower…
one can have a youthful, budding, blossoming smile
on one’s face
Energy, action, movement
which make up the body
is, as Einstein suggested, eternal;
but eternity runs deeper than that
It permeates much deeper than the superficial
will ever realize;
and as they (unfortunately) continue to deteriorate
both mentally and physically
something (warmly) eternally eludes dullness, indifference, and
deadcold callousness
At the fall of one’s life. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
It is great to go out and enjoy nature, being very appreciative of all that nature offers. There is tremendous beauty and order in nature. Even the more brutal, violent things that occur in (and “as”) nature are part of a larger, overall order that is truly immense. Those who are not at all interested in nature, who are not interested in the outdoors and in the many diverse plants and animals, are not to be envied; they are missing something in their lives; really, a life without “life” may not be much of a life at all.
When one experiences nature, how does one experience it? If one merely experiences it as an outside “observer,” then there is a very good chance that one is looking with distance and separation. However, if one looks passionately, deeply, without the contamination from the way that one was supposedly “educated,” then there may be real perception, real contact and relationship with (and “as”) what nature is. Then you and nature are not merely two separate things. Nature is alive; but if you look at it through a bunch of dead (learned and absorbed) images, are you really perceiving the immensity of nature? It is easy to look via distance and separation, and with learned, dead concepts and say, “Oh yes, indeed, I am one with nature, one with the whole!” However, that may be rather meaningless unless one profoundly goes beyond what was instilled in (and “as”) one throughout the past. With (and “as”) the past is how most of us view nature. We look with preconceived symbols, stiff images, learned distance and separation, labels, and lifeless concepts absorbed in the past… and so we are not really looking much at all; instead, our perceiving is contaminated. Our very concept of self — that thinks it is doing the looking — is (in itself) a learned, separate, rather defunct thought/set of thoughts.
Interestingly, through intense awareness and keen insight, if one gets to that point (which really isn’t a “point” at all, by the way), then one is beyond where boredom, depression, and indifference can take a hold. Without being dependent upon dead, internal images and symbols, one is where real life, fortunately enough, truly blossoms, just as it does in profound nature. Then one doesn’t need to take mind-altering drugs or cling to artificial, unnatural, man-made things, leaders, and systems. (Many, unfortunately, are like walking graveyards, and they don’t even realize it.) Then — unlike most, who were taught to cling to (and supposedly live as) dead symbols, musty conceptual images, and stagnant, repetitive patterns — one is where real living flowers. Then one doesn’t even need to constantly experience nature (or constantly experience anything, for that matter)… because there exists a flowing vitality, immensity, and intensity that is beyond (at times) the need for images, experiences, and “absorbing more and more, and still more.”
Silver-spotted Skipper (or something beyond a mere label). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
it was hiding in plain sight
the unconditionedwhole
but she never really saw it
like she did the littlegreen bowl
it was always to be seen
beyond cadaverous illusion or disjointed dream
but separative frag ments can not be it
like a drop ped b owl that was gre en
it’s popular to show off your wares
to all you know, to many friends of natty seg ments
but real joy is not to splinters shown
nor can be vis u ally ad mired by bro ken frag ments
Bowl Mushroom (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Bowl Mushroom (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
So many of us live in — and “as” — fear without ever fully realizing it. Most of us remain in the structures and patterns of what we were taught… and comfortably remain there; we are either afraid or indifferent about going beyond. The older we get, the more set in our ways we get. So many of us — as we age — lose our mental pliability and flexibility; we become rigid, rather robotic followers of old, worn-out traditions that supposedly exist to save us and protect us. (Unfortunately, many of these traditions keep us in our place and fill certain individuals with power, money, and prestige.)
When fear exists, are you something separate from what that fear is? Most of us were taught that we are separate from our fears, desires, and systems of thinking. A truly wise human being can realize that fear (and what he or she is)… are not two separate things. (Of course, one is not merely just “fear.”) We run from our fears without truly facing them, without really being in an orderly relationship with them. A man might say, “I am dealing with my fears.” Therein, a learned image, involving self, is a separative part of a conditioned system that includes conditioned fear. However, one part of a conditioned system cannot “get rid of” (or “adequately resolve”) another part of a conditioned system. There might be alteration, subjugation, and the appearance that it did (get rid of something), but two wrongs don’t make a right, not in the long run. Ultimately, there is still disorder in (and “as”) what uses disorderly (i.e., false) means as a way to resolve psychological issues.
Real, pristine awareness, without needless friction, can shed a light on things and renew the mind (helping it to exist as order). However, if one is burdened with needless friction, conditioning, and false separation (and overburdened with symbols) — such as a concept of “me” or “myself” being something separate from the fear — then conditioned, learned images interfere with that spontaneous, pure awareness that is not merely a part of some (man-made) or primitive process of reaction. So, the enlightened being perceives without all that accumulated rigamarole that takes time. Transcending false values and conditioned reactions need not take time; but using erroneous, internal, false procedures depends upon time. For instance, with a wise being, there is often an intense awareness wherein conditioned, manmade (internal) symbols instantly (without taking time) dissipate (without some separate, internal entity trying to end them). (Any images “trying to end them” are merely part of the whole of the conditioned structure. One part of this conditioned structure thinking it is separate from another part — trying to control it — furthers erroneous division and extends conditioning.) So, with an entity who is truly wise, there exists a timeless “dying” or “ending” of the conditioned. No separate image of self or absorbed method is doing this; (otherwise it is merely just a part of the conditioning). Most people (in their acceptance of tradition and as part of their conditioning) put “dying” far away from daily life. However, a truly perspicacious individual is daily dying (with a huger than huge smile)… psychologically dying to (and “as”) false, dead symbols, methodologies, and rudimentary reactions. Such timeless dying (beyond any archaic, dead methodology of the stagnant past) is what is truly living (in the deepest, true sense). Observation without a pattern, without a method, without learned separation and symbols… is effortless and does not involve a technique to robotically practice over time. The masses, with their conditioned, fossilized methodologies and antiquated systems: that may be where the nasty (most real) kind of death is. That (unfortunately) is the fossilized matrix where most of them are buried, while thinking they are alive. Unfortunately, for the most part, pointing out about leaving it, to them, is like explaining the value of gold to frogs.
So, in this, living and dying are one. (The previous statement has a double meaning.) However, for the masses, they are something separate… as are so many things (for them), including their limited concepts of self.
Tree Frog climbing around the porch (1). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Tree Frog climbing around the porch (2). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
(This posting is dedicated to the late Professor David Bohm, Theoretical Physicist, who specialized in Quantum Mechanics. I used to have some very good one-on-one conversations with David.)
In quantum mechanics, when a separate observer looks at (or tries to measure) subatomic phenomena, the (endless) waveform collapses and there is an object that, for instance, exists in a distinct place, duration, or time. (The waveform can exist at many places at once and has qualities of infinity.) We are perpetually measuring things, even when we are not fully conscious of doing so. Labeling things, identifying things, naming things, existing from one word-oriented symbol to the next… are all (in their own way) forms of measuring, categorizing, and assessing. We were taught that the observer is doing the measuring, doing the categorizing, and doing the assessing. However, is the observer truly separate from what the measuring, categorization, and assessment are constituted of? Without measurement and assessment, without the usage of symbolism, the (separate) observer does not exist. (Selfishness, by the way, requires the measurement that forges and invents a separate observer; therein, limitation is involved.)
Measuring (and all that type of process) is necessary at times. Measuring, calculating, labeling, assessment (and all that) was drilled into us throughout our education. However, they never taught us, or seriously suggested, that there are times when we can go beyond these things. They had us live in thought, exist in thought, and worship thought. They never suggested that we need not put all of our eggs in that one basket… the basket of thought (as measurement, categorizing, and assessing). They never suggested that thought and thinking is a tool… (and need not be the essence of the organism). You know, when you make tools all important, and forget about the living thing, you become rather robotic and mechanized… rather unalive. Our “self concepts,” too, are all (basically) learned symbols. Symbols are not the actuality; a description of an insect isn’t the insect. But so many of us exist from one symbol to another; even when we look at things, we tend to see through (and “as”) a screen of learned symbols.
We can exist beyond symbolism, measurement, and tool utilization… though symbolism, measurement, and tool utilization is often very necessary and prudent. This is not some fanciful living the the here and now. (Psychologically clinging to the here and now is rather like the collapse of the waveform; often involved in it are learned measurement, categorization, and assessment.) Most minds will not be appreciative of this. Most minds were indoctrinated by measurement (“with” and “as” measurement). This is unfortunate, because the measureless has a quality of true infinity to it. Limited — rather virtual — symbols (involving “self” or “not self”) can never capture or grasp that nonsymbolic, real, illimitable quality.
Empty Exoskeleton of a Grasshopper (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Empty Exoskeleton of a Grasshopper (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Deity did not create this universe
and is not responsible for
what takes place within
(and “as”) it.
Simple organisms
and rather more complex organisms
are in the same boat together.
Deity may not be of a prejudice
that favors one over the other.
One, not sophisticated enough
to pray, is not favored over
one with propensities to pray.
One that is beautiful
is not favored over one
that is ordinary or rather ugly.
But complex organisms
(themselves)
can
(with real action and affection)
directly help simple organisms
and complex organisms too…
and both the beautiful
and the not so beautiful.
Don’t duck the question. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Most of us, in existence — because of the way we were educated (or miseducated) — are immersed almost exclusively in the conceptual, rather than in what is of real energy and substance. Our concepts (and our perceptions that are based on concepts) are almost always about virtual patterns and images; they are seldom (or never) of the essence of actual energy. Our modes of consciousness are almost always based around “patterns” within energy; we are seldom (or never) pure and unadulterated energy. Certain people and groups maintain that you should strive to exist in the “here and now” to better come into contact with that pristine energy (or the essence or source behind all things). (They’ll give you all kinds of techniques or methods for getting to the “here and now,” which is so ludicrous, as if a technique from the past can fabricate the present.) Really, for many, the “here and now” is often the result of more concepts, more propositions and proposals put forward by others to absorb and react to. Then such a “here” or such a “now” becomes a learned frame of mind or mindset (that seems to be divorced from the past), but that really is an extension from (and of) the past. Perhaps the conditioned recognition of the “now” (as being separate from the past and the future) requires reactions (from the past) that negate the actuality of really being in (a now that is not merely part of the past). So there is a strong possibility that the moment you recognize that you are in “the here and now”… you really aren’t in (or of) it.
Most of us are endlessly talkative (to ourselves), endlessly chattering (or visualizing mental images) throughout the day (and night, as we sleep). We thrive on these endlessly chattering patterns… we are these endlessly chattering patterns. We are used to being the past, endlessly restructuring itself from (and “as”) patterns that were learned and absorbed. If the mind (naturally, without method or effort) is quiet (at times) throughout the day, (extremely aware and alert, but without endlessly chattering to itself internally), then at night it can really rest and sleep (without any continuing and habitual, conditioned chattering). Then, when it sleeps, dreams (and the many absurd patterns that they entail) need not take place; then the mind can really rest and gather energy, without friction, without fears, inner struggles, needless conflict, and all that clutter. Then, when such a mind wakes, it is naturally (without any effort whatsoever) quiet. In that quietness, there is no conflict, struggle, friction, control, or domination. Then there’s no recognition of a “now” separate from the past or the future; but there is an intensity (an intelligent awareness) without dependence upon anything — not even dependence upon recognition and knowledge (which so many are frightened to leave) — (and this includes being beyond the patterns that were poured into it when it was younger). Then, when it looks, it doesn’t merely robotically perceive what was taught. Such a mind is truly alive and doesn’t exclusively perceive through (and “as”) the screen of the learned/programmed past.
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Downsideup. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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The wellspring of truth isn’t to be found by secondhand thoughts and formulations… (and all thoughts are directly or indirectly secondhand). One can’t discover the new with an instrument ingrained in the old.
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Together. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Experience is good oftentimes, especially when it is occurs with sensitivity and learning. However, too many fall into experiences, exclusively, just like moths into the flame. A mind that does not habitually, robotically blast into experience… goes beyond it at times. It might seem odd or strange that one suggests that going beyond the realm of experience is beneficial and healthy… (but it is). Many of us seek new and “more exciting” experiences. In doing this, one thinks that one will achieve happiness. However, once something is experienced, its supposed “newness” tends to quickly evaporate and when we experience similar things, they tend to lose their quality of being beyond the same old patterns; so we seek new and different patterns, different experiences. However, different patterns are still mere patterns. A mind that clings to various series and strings of patterns (to be stimulated) becomes dependent upon such patterns. A brain dependent upon mere patterns, for its happiness, is a mind that is not at all independent and free; it is enslaved with dependency upon the patterns (as so many people, unfortunately, are). Then boredom, frustration, and depression often easily slip in; for a mind that is based merely upon patterns (an their recognition) easily gets fixated in robotic cause and effect reactions (based largely on what the patterns may or may not provide). Inevitably, they never provide enough. The experience and the experiencer are not two separate things.
A mind beyond mere experience — and there are few such minds — is really independent and free. It goes beyond mere patterns and the recognizing of patterns. It doesn’t do so out of volition and will; it just happens; intelligence is a factor. When it happens, the mind is still (though highly active and aware); however, it is not merely absorbing or rearranging patterns. Being beyond sequential reactions and patterns of recognition, it is an explosion of the new and immeasurable. Joy and insight, beyond dependency upon experiences, exists then.
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Moth Head Study. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Interesting, isn’t it, about how perfectly the universe works with orderly sequences creating the higher elements via nuclear fusion, with supernovas (creating rare elements) and the like, all with immense order and precision? Yet isn’t it curious how we humans — many of us — live in tremendous disorder, with wars, violence, deceit, damage to the environment, manipulation via power, and all kinds of disorder that is willing to let others be harmed? So amongst all of the order, there is the continuing disorder of man; and that needs to change.
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Facing it. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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One of the fundamental problems — which was observed even when one was rather young (in college days) — was that people who were trying to transcend beyond the self (in order to meditate or merge with the whole) were still clinging (in various ways) to the notion of a central “I” or central “ego.” Innumerable people would each say things like: “This is my form of meditation which I practice daily.” Or: “I am observing my behavior throughout the entire day.” Or: “I watch thoughts as they take place and vanish from consciousness.”
Separating the “I”, psychologically, from the rest of thought/thinking and maintaining that it has control is a waste of time and energy, and it contributes to friction and separation within (and “as”) the mind. A dog perpetually trying to catch its own tail wastes energy (though in such a case it may at least be getting some needed exercise). As was stated before (in previous posts)… one can function quite easily without the ego (which is, in itself, inherently false anyway). Thoughts are tools used by organisms in order to achieve certain ends. Maintaining that there is a central agency that is “separate from and controls these thoughts” may not be at all accurate. (See my previous posts about the corpus callosum.) Thoughts are conditioned responses; the manifestation of the “I” or “me” is another conditioned response, another thought or projected symbol. Ego projections overly utilizing the “I” or the “me” are manifestations of brains that have some transformation or evolving to do. The ego, being a falsity, tends to create an erroneous psychological radius and circumference around itself… (which tends to involve separation, learned space, and indifference). Nullification of the “I” or the ego does not destroy boundless intelligence nor the eternity and timelessness of dynamic wisdom.
Though one can still use the term “I” in conversations with people, one may not — if one is fully aware — use it as a reference to a central point. When not talking or communicating with others, this movement — while thinking internally — often uses “we” instead of “I.” Or one can use the term: “this movement” (instead of “I”). Of course, the “I” can represent all of one’s thoughts; but one is actually far more than conditioned mental reactions… and far more than some temporary, biological mass. This isn’t some kind of mental game. If we were educated wrongly and cling to primitive falsities, we will remain in what is a circumscribed circumference that perpetuates limitation and disorder.
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Ant on Lichen. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Effortlessness is essential in regard to being a mind that is open to real wisdom and harmony in (and “as”) the universe. Effortlessness occurs when the mind is not merely regulating and performing things from what seems to be a center (i.e., central point) and as mere fragmentary reactions. Effortlessness exists beyond measuring and copying (i.e., imitating what was learned). The moment one knows or thinks that one is in a state of effortlessness, effortlessness is likely negated. In effortlessness there is no imagery of an observer separate from the observed; and in deep effortlessness, the observed undergoes a transformation into what exists beyond mere categorization and rote recognition. A wise individual in effortlessness is not merely lazy; on the contrary, true effortlessness is tremendous, majestic/intelligent action; one can do many things while effortlessness is taking place, wherein the acting and the actor are not two separate things. One can be diligently watering and caring for some garden plants, for example, and be in a state of effortlessness. There can also be effortlessness while sitting or sleeping.
Involved in all this is an effortless psychological dying from moment to moment. Deep psychological creativity manifests as a measureless, unbridled dying from moment to moment. Only a mind engaging in such psychological dying can be renewed from moment to moment, without merely carrying the burden of the past. A mind that is not of such dying is likely stuck in the past, (which is stale, rehashed, and what is truly fundamentally dead). A mind that clings to being a separate observer, that clings to merely being “known and accumulated patterns that react” (and project themselves from a supposed center that was learned), is not likely to be the joy of the measureless and the freedom of profound depth. A mind of effortlessness, unlike innumerable other minds, does not often waste energy (with internal friction involving conflict, fields of separation, and mere fragmentary struggles).
Only a mind of effortlessness is what is immersed in profound grace. Minds not of such grace are involved with friction, conflict, rigid images, separation, and psychological energy wastage. A mind full of feelings of domination from a (supposed) central point is composed of patterns of subjugation and tyrannizing influences that eclipse pristine perception and waste time and energy.
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Insect in Lily. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Insect in Lily – crayon version. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Protecting mysocalledself
from all that’s ever bad
perhaps with wisdom’s razor-sharp points
that innumerable many never had
In a world full of violence, destruction,
dull ignorance and some joy
a coating of fine needles
is unblunted intelligence to employ
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A point here and there. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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The understanding of how the universe functions doesn’t, interestingly enough, merely come about by way of a process.
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Tulip Study. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Tulip Study. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Instead of going
out
and seeing a tulip
go out
look at everythingtogether-
withoutseparateformslabelsnames-
andwithouttherebeinganyseparation-
fromwhatyouactuallyare
or
you can
go
and
with a very
sep
a
rate
ego
see
what
you
were
taught
by
sep
a
ra
tion
.
Whatever. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Whatever (2). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Peace is everyone’s responsibility. We must all go beyond violence and care for one another. One is different from, but not separate from, whom one perceives.
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I’m 63 years old and I’ve kept tropical fish ever since I was in the 5th grade. I even had an aquarium in my college dorms when I went to college. For a long time now, I’ve been keeping, raising, and breeding, various forms of miniature catfish called Corydoras (“Cory” catfish). In terms of peace, all of the species of the genus Corydoras are totally peaceful and non-belligerent; I have never, in all the years that I’ve had them, ever observed them acting aggressively or being hostile to one another, or toward other fish. I was taking photographs of my miniature Corydoras Reticulated Julii Catfish when I noticed them laying eggs. In the bottom photograph, the female is with a male (doing their thing); look closely at her bottom ventral fins; she is holding two eggs in those fins (as the fins are held together in a prayer-like fashion). Later (after they are fertilized) she will (carry them around for quite some time) and then secure them to plant leaves or upon the aquarium glass. (These catfish are definitely good for going green while keeping aquarium fish. They do not require aquarium heaters, and two separate aquariums can be maintained with a 4 watt air pump.) Corydoras are, like I mentioned, extremely peaceful… (plus they are beautiful and are always comical in their actions).
Trio of Corydoras trilineatus. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Corydoras trilineatus mating with eggs below clasped in female’s bottom fins. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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To look, on a fine Spring Day,
at what you are not
from what you are…
takes an assimilated separation
of “me” and “not me.”
But that looking isn’t “looking”…
it’s merely repeatedly hurling what was absorbed.
To really look, on a fine Spring Day,
at what’s real,
is to look without separation,
without the gobbled “known.”
And that means looking
without the ingested “me” or “I”…
for otherwise, it’s habitually regurgitating
what was consumed.
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Together as one. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Together as one. (Color Pencil rendition). (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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the Heart of the Truth) flower
Rhythmically beats Blossoms
for
who(ever) is caring
enough
too
(Deeply Perceive
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Heart of the Flower. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Open yourself to Spring
Let your mind blossom to unfold
Go beyond stale words and symbols
Look without that learned and stuffy past
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Open yourself. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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a microscopic mushroom
growing on a tree
is an umbrella for someone little
who is large with joy and free
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Micro-mushrooms in Moss. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Micro-mushrooms in Moss. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Your concept of “I” is not truly what dominates over your other supposedly subordinate (supposedly subservient) thoughts. All thoughts — including the concept of “I” (or that internal “me”) — are conditioned responses… and, as such, one does not (in reality) truly dominate over the others. Profound awareness and immense intelligence transcends conditioning (at least to some significant extent) and goes beyond the deep misconceptions that the aforementioned sentence suggests. Via erroneous (primitive) education, billions are saturated with such substantial misconceptions and delusions (of a “central controller”)… and this, in turn, causes much needless friction and deceit (within the brain) which often projects as additional disorder both within the brain and out from the brain. Better education could help to change things for the better. We, as a society, have a long way to go before we transcend out of very psychologically crude, primitive realms. True freedom lies not in the concept of free will, but in the daily, intelligent (method-free) understanding of the mind, which may allow one to actually joyfully exist (at times) beyond the limited field of total conditioning. With such freedom comes real goodness and order (beyond mere reactions).
(Added note: This is one fundamental reason why so very few, throughout the world — over time — have truly been enlightened. A process or technique developed or utilized by a fictitious center cannot ever find profound truth; the profound truth comes only when conditioning and needless conflict, friction, and deceit are dissipated… and not dissipated by some supposed central agent that is — in itself — a major result of ignorance and conditioning. For so many — for so long — it has been like throwing water to drowning people in order to save them!)
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Jumping spider in Lily. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Jumping spider in Lily. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Grace is decency, consideration, compassion, and goodwill towards all. Grace is enjoying life and not harming it!
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Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Love has no boundaries
Love is joyous life
Love makes little pollution
Love is not conformity
Love is beyond separation
Love does not hate
Love illuminates the truth
Love has no jealousy
Loves helps the needy
Love does not kill
Love is beyond words
Love protects its fledglings
Love is the whole
Love doesn’t crave power
Love brings life’s mysteries
Love is eternity unfolding
Love is ever renewing
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Not separate. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Strolling under vast skies of blue
one’s self disappeared into everything new
Running through thick fields of green
one saw oneself in everything seen
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Viola Flowers. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Breathtaking, exotic vacation views are not what is important. Deep understanding and heartfelt compassion are what’s important.
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Clinging. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Clinging. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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To run parallel with the implicit order of the universe is to dynamically act with intelligence and compassion.
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Silver-spotted Skipper. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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Ignorance often doesn’t recognize its own ignorance. Wisdom often goes unrecognized by those who have little wisdom. Many even indifferently pass by the beauty of flowers and nature. Be beyond that!
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Beyond the stigma. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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One man, a complacent, indifferent man,
looked at life as if through a distorted, little peephole;
everything he saw was of limitation;
everything he saw was fragmentary and small.
Another man, a dynamic, caring man,
looked at life as if from a majestic, magical mountain;
everything he saw was from a panoramic, unbroken view;
everything he saw was connected, limitless, and extraordinarily special.
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Top of the World. (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Top of the World. (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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The wise mind goes beyond constant symbolic thinking. It does not — therefore — necessarily need to always be recognizing things as it was taught. Constant recognition involves constant thought, mental labeling, categorization, and residual attribute manipulation. Constant recognition is a form of reacting; and reacting is second-hand and is not essentially original.
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Together as one (2). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Together as one (1). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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To a truly wise mind, many supposedly tantalizing sensations are often — though not always — rather trivial and unnecessary… because a truly wise mind is fully content in itself, not needing extraneous stimuli to (eventually) make it happy. It is only a very empty cup that constantly craves being filled…
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Propeller. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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There are innumerable charlatans out there — claiming all kinds of ludicrous things — so take the following with a grain of salt. Don’t believe anything; find out for yourself.
A being who truly experiences enlightenment is someone who is visited by that immeasurable, holistic energy which, if anyone would be filled and visited by it, would make one feel a trillion times more alive than what occurs as regular consciousness; and one so visited would feel the undeniable, sacred quality of that indescribable, eternal energy. Thoughts (being symbols) are always “about” energy; they are virtual (in a big way), are symbolic representations, and are never the actual energy. (If one continues to crave enlightenment — turning it into a mere desire — it will never happen. Just be open, orderly, and passionate about life, and it may happen.)
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Stepping Stones (2). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Stepping Stones (1). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
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The sacred exists — call it God if you want — but it didn’t create this universe and so remains forever blameless, innocent, and perfect.
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Timelessness is. Photo by Thomas Peace 2015
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