MY BLOG

Happy Solstice! Common ground, and Ira Sullivan. Language ensnares mysteries compounded proffering a glimpse under the hood, but only useful if not confused with truth. Colorless. Vibrational. Mechanistic. Form and formless alike as expressions of what cannot be named. The same forces that condense particle clouds into neurons, coalesce subatomic forces to twinkle against the background of night. We forget. Sense wetware by which we engage creation, the gift for which we cann

Take the leap, and Caetano Veloso First flight on tender unused limbs, beautifully unaware of awaiting heights, and with no concept of what a moment could be once wings take wind. What is known is now distilled through the instrument of mortality. Cells respond with ancestral knowledge, the unproven theory: this body is meant to fly, guarantee free. Jump. One or one hundred feet falling or flying gravity works the same. The terrestrial home remains, as does the open container

Screaming profanities at the sun, and Focus. Remember to marvel to bend towards the ground. Apparently below, but actually itself suspended somewhere sandwiched in not-so-empty space, and a self-consuming floating fusion reaction. It would blind us if we looked; our eyes cannot see the source of light, we know it by reflection, refraction, and diffraction. How fascinatingly forgetful we are. We look without seeing, confirming and conforming our vision. We conjure who and what

Let's get started, Metta Sutta, and Jimi Hendrix Here are a few simple offerings for reflection in the coming days, weeks, and months ahead: All ideas, thoughts, beliefs, or any other concept born of human imagining have the same weight: none. Nothing human beings can do has the power to create or destroy existence; no matter how much effort, we could never turn a cooked stew into raw ingredients. What we regard, through our mind, body, and senses as separate can nor ever wil

Memory, and Irma Thomas The premise of wisdom traditions, at their core, is that no story, however intricate or outlandish, can accurately contain the power, mystery, and possibilities of how, what, and why everything exists as it does. Ultimately, we must come to terms with being willing to be blind, to some extent, to the broader context of life, and must be focused on and open to life as it arises and unfolds within and around us. We are always present and participating in

What is between us? and Aretha Franklin It's said people are divided, but what is between us? A Marianas trench of some kind; a hidden world of conditions so extreme only barely recognizable and horrific lifeforms thrive. Do we measure the space in microns or miles? Amidst the immeasurable galactic curtain of space hidden in the absence of light, nothing on this planet is truly so far. Or is time between us? Halcyon days or holocaust, tribal paradise or valorous conquest, mod

Wisdom from clouds, and The Pointer Sisters. If you live in the US, you are probably aware that an election is underway. It's tense. Vote if you can, and haven't already. I have nothing more to add. When we have done what we can do, and it is time to surrender into the flow of natural forces beyond our will, what do we do with ourselves? There is a dance of cosmic forces moving through everything that exists. Wisdom traditions from every part of the world have persisted to ad

No one is disposable, and Stevie Wonder. Hear me. No matter how much we disagree, or what cause we are a champion of, our worthiness to live on this planet is not up for debate. Whatever alignments or allegiances we might claim, no one is disposable, or beyond redemption. We cannot discard whole groups of people, forms of life, or segments of our planet. It feels like the divisions between people are beyond repair, but looking forward to our planet's history there may be no o

Humanity in puberty, dark fluid and magic, and De La Soul Our daily lives are fraught with information that is largely unsettling. In such a charged environment it can be hard to understand what needs to be done, and also to find the motivation or conviction to take action at all. If our enthusiasm arises from a place of obligation and social norms, it unlikely to be something we can maintain without becoming frustrated, disappointed, or disillusioned. However, if we are able

Love in action is creativity and possibility, and George Harrison Deep bows, friend. As we round out a year that has revealed so many aspects of human life we ordinarily take for granted, we must be focused and deliberate with our thoughts, words, and deeds. We cannot spare ourselves the pain of knowing the grief and sorrow of our world. There is no distraction, or temporary refuge, that will guide us from confusion to clarity. Narratives and talking points are falling around

Raise the white flag, limitless power, and Ash Ra Tempel Oh restless mind, oh heart full of passion and terror, may you find steadiness in the stillness out of which all things arise. Regimes, seasons, clouds, all phenomena arising and subsiding waves breaking. Lives precariously dangling, caught clinging to promises of being and becoming, forgetting the power of presence freely available every breath. Like Coelho's Santiago searching everywhere but where we are. We will war

Dawn refreshes chances, Hexagram 8, and Curtis Mayfield Every day the same sky above us, the sun and moon distant to us enough moving and changing taken for granted. We fixate on clouds; obscuring clear vision beyond even our most distant shores. Looking at the horizon, or prone gazing, do we drum up meaning from snowfall, from rain? A cypher in starlight or pristine jewel amidst clear blue? Or is there nothing save what our eyes and brain conjure set against seemingly endles

There is no other way but forward, and The O'Jays. Our way of living does not afford a perspective that allows us to see the whole view. The conditions that gives rise to existence, the principles of nature, and the cosmic unfolding that arises out of them, are beyond our reach because we are not separate from them. In other words, seeds and the ground they live in change each other. As one thing changes, so does everything it is connected to because all things exist in relat

Choices, and Eddie Kendricks It is only right now that we have choices. Past choices are beyond our reach. Future's choices aren't ours to make. Love arises out of grace. Pain, hurt, hatred, and harm are the invitation to meeting life's process of opening hearts. We are equal participants in this world, but we do not all participate equally. Even the light of the sun fluctuates, but it is enough to give rise to life on this planet. Beyond conditioning and identification with

"Face the troubles but keep yourself steady," and Purple Image The troubles of our era on this Earth are offering us a powerful opportunity to adjust our collective and individual course. Not everyone can feel the waves of change as they wash over us, but it is happening. "A powerful disturbance in the force" is upon us, as we examine new ways to care about each other in the wake of growing acknowledgement of past and present forms of inequity and violence. What we do with ou

Rain and Link Wray A cosmic call came in to investigate, with humility and curiosity, how to invite compassion to arrogance and judgment. High holy beings lauded on altars, beyond reach. Clamored barbs whipped at each other keeps us grounded in struggle. We could lift each other up instead. We might say rain falls as a blanket, coating everything it touches. Countless separate drops in truth, one form of water transforming and expressing itself. Why do we see ourselves alone

Everything shares a common thread, and Lonnie Liston Smith Existence arises out of intelligence. Everything shares a common thread; Past, present, and future are one tapestry. History is emergent patterns of movement and energy on the canvas of intelligence; outlines of images made visible but indistinguishable without distance. Life only gives us so much distance. We cannot escape the margins of shared history. Every breath contained in the same space. Ground beneath us, sky

Call me naive if you must, and Dr. John Call me naive if you must. I trust human beings have the capacity to hold complexity and simplicity simultaneously. I trust we have the capacity to embrace the contrary qualities that each of us possess, and that there is space for us to be fully present with each other. I trust we can find ways to embrace our fallibility and vulnerability as well as our conviction and courage to live together. I trust interdependent arising provides th

Ancestors watch behind our eyes, and TWCPAEB May we feel the presence of life surrounding and supporting us in every breath. May we have the humility to accept the grace that gives us the opportunity to be alive, and in the company of life's boundless expressions. May we embrace change as we embrace our own breath. Adrift through boundless space, the currents of time carrying us destination and duration unknown. Our world a swirling crumb collection elements ejected from fusi

Life's clarion call, and Manu Dibango Glorious gift of body and mind, may I never take them for granted. Even when I wish to trade or flee, may I find reverence for reverie. Veil of phospholipid bi-layer contains a bioelectric universe. Fluttering leaves swaying through treetops Dance with secret sensual power. On butterfly wings and whale song life whispers it's clarion call: "Embodiment is temporary, but life is infinite. Participation is mandatory, but understanding is opt