Deus esse Quantum

2007-06-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

I pray you, know me when we meet again:
I wish you well, and so I take my leave.

The Merchant of Venice IV:I

Wm Shakespeare

JoHanna Littlewolf
1991-2007

2007-04-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

Reflection 6

Did I say she teaches me everyday?

Death is extraordinarily like life, when we know how to live. You cannot live without dying. You cannot live if you do not die psychologically every minute.
J. Krishamurti

Photo by Phin

Which is to say that that to be fully in the moment at all times - to accept each person, situation, feeling, event etc as if it were absolutely new (as,of course, it is ) - one needs to die to past experiences of people, situations, feelings events etc.

A mind that it is burdened with the past is a sorrowful mind.

J. Krishamurti

I hate housework. I have not died to my past with dirt in order that I may experience the possibilty of new joy in the dust bunnies and carpet debris of this moment. JoHanna, too, hated housework. It came to mean the caterwauling of the vacuum cleaner - an auditory chaos she could not abide. Even seemed afraid, ironically, as she was never bothered by the heavy power tools in my Shop or on the construction sites we worked. Nor did 3 - 4 hrs in a small room with a crowd of African Drummers and Dancers give her the slightest twinge of discomfort.

Well, I have known for sometime now that my venerable darling has gone largely deaf. Good? Bad? Maybe...

Yesterday, as I assaulted the house with the hated implement of noise and suction, I noticed I was having to work around her. She stood in my way, laid in my way and went so far as to trip over Hoover while I worked and she went about inspecting - her cool wet nose picking up feathers and bird seed I had missed. Obviously, she has forgotten the misery of the vacuum cleaner now that she can no longer hear it.

How many things do I remember hearing, feeling and experiencing that which is no longer part of this new moment? How many times do act/react on memory alone?

HHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhMMMmmmmmmmm.......

2007-04-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

Just my Luck!

The only man I've ever loved would be 443 yrs today....

Sonnet CIV
To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold
Have from the forests shook three summers' pride,
Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turn'd
In process of the seasons have I seen,
Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burn'd,
Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green.
Ah, yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand,
Steal from his figure and no pace perceived;
So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand,
Hath motion and mine eye may be deceived:
For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred;
Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.

If yet he lived... Wm Shakespeare 4/23/1564 -1616

Fill thy tankard, http://www.shakesbrew.co.uk/

cudgel thy brains, http://www.shakespeare-online.com/quiz/

and make merry insult

http://www.mainstrike.com/mstservices/handy/insult.html

that we happy few remember the day!

2007-04-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

Photo by Phin

Life is what happens…

while I’m busy contemplating the Universe.

I am lucky enough to have many Kindred Spirits kind enough to not only listen to my palaver but to also present ideas that they would have me explore. Many weeks ago I was in a conversation with one such man regarding the idea that God (read the Essenceof Spirit) is in the details of that which we do everyday. I told him I had a blog with that in mind.

Another friend posed the idea that I simply had to write of my companion JoHanna before such time as I could only write in the past tense. The synchronicity of these two subjects has been evident to me from the outset; making the time, well...

JoHanna is my companion of over fifteen years. We have a relationship that educates me everyday - perhaps the most meaningful relationship ever I have had; she truly knows the secret of unconditional love. It is this deep knowledge, I believe, that allows her to develop friendships and kinships with Two-Leggeds who, otherwise dislike dogs. For those who love & care for Dog People, I'm told she has invited them to look past the clothing and see the Soulful Being inside - that indeed each member of Creation's Peoples' are unique, have intelligence and emotion, can & do contribute to their communities in more than just impact on Nature's Balance. The stories I and others could tell of her would consume many megabytes and in the end, would probably require her very own ISP server.

A short story - I moved into this neighborhood in Nov almost ten years ago. I am given to smoking outside and at that time had a front deck. JoHanna and I are all but inseparable and she too, was out front; always staying within the boundaries of the yard - and sociable as she is - always inviting others or walking the length of the yard with those who passed by. I met many of my neighbors thanks to her; I am an isolationist by nature and would have been quite pleased to to nod silently and let them go their way.

When Dec rolled around, less than a month since we had moved in, a very gruff and grum looking fellow from across the street made his way over one evening as I sat smoking and JoH romped the yard. Low & behold he had a Christmas gift. Not for me, but for her... and the feline companions we shared our home with at the time. He is now one of my best friends. He's in hospital for a bit but asked me to skritch her for him - we have yet to speak on the phone when he doesn't send her a message.

God is in the Details?

Yep. Time goes on and my best gal is aging. Arthritis I expected. In her youth she was an Agility Champ and we free climbed rocks everywhere our truck could take us. She has however, also developed some neurological problems. A tumor is suspected but diagnosis would entail an MRI; that would mean anesthesia... and at her her age... no - I won't do it. Last anesthesia was two years ago and went dreadfully for her. Besides, she has taught me (or tried) about the joy in living; the simple stuff - quality of life is all. Would she enjoy frequent trips to and stays at the Vet? Chemo? Radiation?

Meanwhile she has what I call small seizures or strokes. God is in the details... if I can hold her head and cut out some of the external stimuli that bring these things on when she's vulnerable to them - you bet! Will I feed her by hand when that's what she'd like and needs? Oh yeah! When she's feeling good, can I take her on short walks to visit the neighbors & the 'hood she's become such a fixture in? Absolutely! I'll move her bed to the sun, the Shop, the firepit, the neighbor's driveway or front room, anywhere I am and/or our friends gather that she might be a part of it yet. God is in the details... once in awhile a short romp in the yard, all the goodies she'd like to have, my clothes thrown all over the floor so she can lay wherever she likes when I'm away and know that I'm with her - she chooses my coats over her bed always.

We have not so much time together as we once did. I am painfully aware of this. God is in the details... and anything I can do.

2007-01-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

Three for the Mystic Road...

Hermes Trismegistus: The Third Hermetic Principle

"Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates"
The Kybalion

Wm Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice

Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven

Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold:

There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st

But in his motion like an angel sings,

Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins;

Such harmony is in immortal souls;

But whilst this muddy vesture of decay

Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it

Mohandas Ghandi:

The divine music is incessantly going on within ourselves, but the loud senses drown the delicate music, which is unlike and infinitely superior to anything we can perceive with our senses.

The faces change... the mystery stays the same.

2007-01-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

Struck by the Nature...

"there's a special

providence in the fall of a sparrow"

Or indeed - in the feeding of them...

I did little I had planned this weekend. Somehow I became totally immersed in watching the very ripe persimmons disappear from my tree.

It began with three Waxwings; the first beyond help, the second apparently fine, and the third - just needing safe haven for an hour or so - after all had collided with my neighbor's bay window.

Once back in the air, the third joined other Waxwings in the stripping of the persimmon tree. In watching, I began to notice all the different species that had come to feast. The Robins are back, Woodpeckers, Yellow Throats, assorted Wrens, Sparrows & Finches. Cedar Waxwings come only in winter - lucky me - to encounter up close a seasonal visitor.

"If it be now,

'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now;

if it be not now, yet it will come: the

readiness is all:"

Hamlet V:II

Oh.. what wisdom might come if I had naught to care but to watch Nature...

2007-01-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

Reflection 5...

from a 4 yr old & skeeball

"If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself."
From Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

I found a blog recently that made me think, once again, about the comparisons and labels we give ourselves or allow others to foist upon us. I have a friend who refers to herself as a giraffe among a herd of cows (I love her giraffeness!). Some that I know of me are:

...the smart one - not the cute one ...schizo ...sweet but weeeiiiird! ...not altogether human

...normal-ish ...a coyote among dearly domesticated hearth dogs

...Bethlehem Steel ... marshmallow

...uncivilized ...English Major ... font of useless knowledge

... f*n genius ... mixed bag ...local color

...selfish ...loyal ...the anti-hip ...black sheep ...true friend ...icy ...big bear-hearted

...talented ...lost to Heaven ...bodhisattva ...original

How many of those came from me do you s'pose?

No matter. They've all obviously stuck with me - happily or not. And it really doesn't matter - they're only the words someone used to describe what they see from where they are... a reflection if you will.

"...there is but One Existence, and that One Existance seen through different constitutions appears either as the earth, or heaven, or hell, or gods, or ghosts, or men, or demons, or world, or all these things."

Swami Vivekananda

Thanks Phin!

So...

my younger niece turned 4 years old yesterday. The party was held at a pizza carnival pavilion the likes of which put Chuck E. Cheese's to abysmal shame; which is to say the food wasn't too bad. And games and county fair rides ad nauseum to boot. After the kiddie cars, my darlin' gal didn't get past the skeeball. Had never played - was totally hooked! The absolute GLEE when she made the ball go into even the lowest scoring hole, was positively infectious. At the end of the round, when she had earned 1 ticket... OOOOooooooooooooHHHhhhhh the joyous squeeling! You would have thought she'd won the Lotto!

See, never mind that her, sister, friends, Dad and myself, had REAMS of tickets. She wasn't lookin'. It was all about her game and her achievements and the fun she was having with them.

Ever wish you were four again?

2007-01-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

Crossing 2007...

for laughs while trying not to get splattered...

Heraclitus: Because it couldn't cross the same road twice.
Socrates: Tell me, why did the chicken cross the road?
Plato: For the greater good.
Aristotle: All chicken actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.

Epicurus: For permanent intellectual pleasure.

Nietzsche: Because if you gaze too long across the Road, the Road gazes also across you.

Heidegger: It sought without presupposition and thus crossed the road to find Nothing.
Carl Jung: The confluence of events in the cultural gestalt necessitated that individual chickens cross roads at this historical juncture, and therefore synchronicitously brought such occurrences into being.
Spinoza: Because it was time.

Albert Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

Schroedinger: He was looking for his cat.
Niels Bohr: The task is not to find out why the chicken crossed the road. The task concerns what we say about the chicken.
Jean Paul Sartre: In order to act in good faith and be true to itself, the chicken found it necessary to cross the road.

Steven Hawking: To get to another Universe

J. Krishnamurti: The chicken acted without thought; it saw the other side and so there was no road to cross. Sir, we have said that "seeing" is action and action is truth. The road may be understood to be the separation between thought and action. The chicken did not think; what I am saying then is that the chicken saw the truth.
Buddha: If you ask this question, you deny your own chicken
Confucious: To get back to the other side.
Lao-Tzu: Am I the Chicken dreaming I crossed the road or am I the Road dreaming of being crossed by a chicken?
Krishna: To save thousands of chickens the suffering they would have to endure if had it refused to fulfill it's Kharmic Duty.

Salvador Dali: The Fish.

Shakespeare: For a muse of fire that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.
Voltaire: Finding nothing pleasant, it was looking for something new.
Samuel Beckett: What do I know of a chickens destiny? I could tell you more about radishes.
Emily Dickinson: Because it could not stop for death.

David Hume: Out of custom and habit.
Henry David Thoreau: To live deliberately ... and suck all the marrow out of life.
Blake: To see heaven in a wild fowl.

Kafka: Hardly the most urgent enquiry to make of a low-grade insurance clerk who woke up that morning as a hen.
Swift: It is, of course, inevitable that such a loathsome, filth-ridden and degraded creature as Man should assume to question the actions of one in all respects his superior.
Douglas Adams: Forty-two.

MadMonk: OOOOoo look - it's a twistie!

2006-12-29T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hamlet Speaks...

of grief and madness

"I have of late--but

wherefore I know not--lost all my mirth, forgone all

custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily

with my disposition that this goodly frame, the

earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most

excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave

o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted

with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to

me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!

how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how

express and admirable! in action how like an angel!

in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world!

the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,

what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not

me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling

you seem to say so."

leaving me no more to say...

2006-12-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

On the heels of my Jesus rant....

Last Friday - late morning in Los Banos - a young woman and her two girls prepared to cross a busy intersection at the heart of town. They were returning home after renting an evening’s entertainment ( An American in Paris & Disney’s animated Three Musketeers) from the local DVD place. They had stopped to pick up a treat for the family canine companion and the woman had just given a homeless couple $5.00 that they might lunch at the nearby McDonalds.
Before crossing the street, the elder daughter got off her bicycle, as did her Mother. The younger daughter was safety harnessed in the trailer attached to Mom’s bike. They all wore safety gear and waited to use the crosswalk and the walking green.
At the WALK signal, Mom led the way with the small one helmeted in the chariot and the elder girl to bring up the rear with her bicycle in tow. The eldest had not yet stepped from the curb and what follows here is an account from her, and others near to the scene.
Walking east to west, Mom in front about halfway across, a north-bound semi trying to beat the opposing light rolled into an right hand turn; presumably looking left for on coming westerly traffic. He said he never saw them.
As the young woman realized what was about to happen, I’m told she turned, trying to push bicycle with chariot and precious blond child to safety. Waving and screaming to attract the driver’s attention, the wheels of the truck caught her squarely - killing her instantly. The children were, miraculously enough, unharmed physically - though the 3 yr old was dragged about 100ft. The 10 yr old witnessed the entire ugly incident and remembers, as the last of her Mother, her voice screaming "No No No!!!"

"What has this got to do with the Jesus rant?" you ask....

Well, this beautiful woman was a Christian. The kind that might well have sent the missive that set me off. That particular one was not her handiwork but through the years I had received many of similar message from her. She was a solid member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Los Banos. Among the folks in town, she was known for feeding the homeless; either giving them money or buying rotisserie chicken and fresh veggies from the local grocery for them. In her neighborhood and church community, she took food and care to the sick or elderly, reached out in fellowship to those who were alone in their lives, sang and played music with a band for services, celebrations and fun.

We shared a lot this lady and I - yet obviously not our spiritual beliefs and practices. She often told me she was too simple to ask the kind of questions I do. "If it’s in the Bible.." she would say "...I believe it. If God made the world in six days and rested, I don’t ask how long God’s days were. God created us in His image - we look like God and I don’t question whether God looks like a one-celled animal that evolved. We are now what He made then and that’s that!"

She gave up coffee (mostly ;-]), was a vegetarian, didn’t smoke or drink alcohol. She chose not to use profanity though she knew all the words and, if provoked, could use them unto burning the stone ears off of angels atop frozen monuments. For the similarities we shared, our differences were truly vast but she nonetheless would describe me as "Not a Christian, but leading a good Christian lifestyle."

Knowing me - warts and all - the addicted, the angry, the unsettled questioner that I am, I believe now that was her way of saying that she loved and accepted me not only as a Creation of the Almighty’s but, too, for who and what I am. While we did not share our belief and reverence for Jesus in the same way - I know she was someone Jesus would have been - or is - pleased to have invoking His name and among His fold.

While we did not share our spiritual ideals or practices, I’m grateful that she found Jesus to be her guide and Saviour for it is through Him that she also found a kind and wonderful husband, had a loving family with two beautiful girls, kept a safe warm, open home complete with garden & home made goodies - freely shared. She leaves behind all that and a town, a Church Community and countless friends that while they are bereft - they may find some comfort in knowing that she is welcomed into Jesus’ Kingdom.

My thoughts on the Almighty are well documented in these pages. Omniscient and omnipotent, all beliefs are made true for the believer through the awesome source that is the Creator. She has found her everlasting home and reward in the good company of Jesus and family and friends gone on before.... just as she would have wanted.

God Bless My Sister
1967 - 2006

2006-11-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

What would Jesus do… part II

I have simmered down a bit. Yes, it’s taken me awhile; Life is what happens while I’m busy trying to contemplate the Universe… Email text in bold black below and my remarks continue…

If you believe in God (yes – in all the names The Almighty may ever be called) and in Jesus Christ (Absolutely – He was/is someone worthy of the utmost respect and reverence. In doing what we are told was God’s will, he lived the life of suffering and acceptance spoken of not only in the Bible (Job) but in Buddhism and Existentialism as well.) His Son. Define Son. Was he God Incarnate, Man & God or a Man who had become fully one with Divine Spirit (Careful how you answer… you could be a Heretic)? send this to all your buddy list, if not just ignore... I can’t ignore it. Some of my "buddies" are Christian, some Pagan, some Buddhist and my dearest, an atheist I love still... Good people all – I think Christ would think so too. My Great Grandfather – a Methodist minister – once said "Wherever one finds God is fine with Him" . An opinion? Yes. But I can’t imagine Christ so narrow or the Divine so merciless as to cast out good folk according to the differing beliefs of humanity.

In the Holy Bible, Jesus says... "If you deny me before man, I will deny you before my Father in Heaven.." Define deny. Besides, if Jesus was/is all that is set down in this email, how could he be as self-centered and punitive as that statement implies. It's too bad Jesus had such poor editors.

May God Bless you always. Even when what it is isn’t recognized as a blessing.

Don't complain because you don't have what you want. Be thankful you don't get what you deserve, which is death. According to whose judgement? Sounds to me like Paul’s… who put him charge?

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Okay, defining sin not withstanding, we are imperfect; whether one believes that it is because we are physically manifested, or because early representatives of the species "ate of the forbidden fruit". If our Creator is Omniscient and Omnipotent, surely the Almighty knew that physical manifestation is limited and that was part of the plan. Or knew that Adam & Eve (so-called) would eat of the tree and could have prevented it.

No. I think that God recognizes the power in choice. Which one of us would that people were good and true and loving to us because they had no choice… they knew nothing else? How much more is one’s love and devotion worth when the alternative is known and, perhaps easier, yet our Spirit chooses the Beauty Way. The Creator’s greatest and most loving gift to us is knowledge, choice, our own free will; we are given not only life but the opportunity to live it as we will. I cannot imagine The Divine bestowing such a gift and then punishing for it’s use – I believe the intent was that we learn from our mistakes rather than make none, live in perpetual stasis and learn nothing. How kind and loving is your Creator? The Creator I know does not punish for mistakes, poor choices, lifestyles or beliefs – really, He/She doesn't have to - if we choose to, we can punish ourselves and allow other people to do so as well.

2006-09-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

What would Jesus do…

part I
knowing that so many of his Master, Teacher, Healer and Martyr brethren – all seekers of, and/or messengers for, The Eternal Spirit (God or what you will) – have been completely disregarded, often disrespected and sometimes down-right hated, by an entire population of people professing Christianity?

Angry…? Me…? You bet! I received an email from a well-meaning and, really, one of the dearest members of my family (see the bold back print below). But it set me off. I know this woman to be a Christian that I think Jesus would find employing his teachings in the best and highest of all possible intent; it's not about her. Somehow, the text reminded me of the missives circulated by folks that go to church on Sunday yet manage to ignore Christ’s many messages of compassion and acceptance the rest of the time. So with great regard for Jesus (as Master, Teacher, Healer and a Holy Man who walked his talk) and his teachings…

Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. (Luke 11)
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them (Matt 7:12)
The Kingdom is inside you and it is outside you (Gnostic – Gospel of Thomas 3)

and my best and highest of all possible intent to honor him, those that came before, seekers of the present and those yet to come– my remarks…

Jesus had no servants (they were called Apostles), yet they called Him Master. Language is fluid and subject to time and place. Many other notables in the history of religion/theosophy have been known by honored one-name titles. For example, Muhammad was called simply the Prophet. He had no servants either – those who would follow and learn from him were named companions.
Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher. As was the Buddha. In fact, the Epic Era in India (600 B.C. E.– 200 C.E.) gave us several called Teacher, who began other schools of thought and religions – Read more here
He had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer. The prophets Elijah and Elisha were not only Healers but capable of restoring life upon praying to God (I Kings 17:17-24 and II Kings 14:32-37).
Had no army, yet kings feared Him. I am reminded of Ghandi.
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world. Speaking purely in numbers, Christianity is the largest religion in the world (comprised, however, of many differing branches and denominations) yet the practice in Tibet, even suffering under Chinese occupation, is still Tibetan Buddhism and has been for roughly 1,500 years. Past that; define conquer. If we’re speaking in terms of the material world i.e. the physical body – don’t we all transcend the material, reverting to Spirit or Energy when we die? Good works and global recognition? Albert Schweitzer, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa...
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him. He was indeed an innocent martyr; worse than that, it was people of his own belief that called for his suffering and death out of fear for their own. Can we not call drafted soldiers the same? And what of citizen casualties of war? Would Christ be pleased that so many innocents have followed that particular path of his, dying in Crusades, jihads and genocides?
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today! So, according to Hermetics, do all live on after death. Micah was a brick in a wall, saved by Moses and eventually - after a very dicey term in idolatry - became a great Hebrew Prophet; see "The Crime of the Benjamites" here for the full story. But if we’re talking a Spirit and Message premise… just peruse The Sacred Text Archive for a bit.
Feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us! 1) I don’t think Jesus is after having servants – he asks for love and loyalty (In the Bible, Jesus says... "If you deny me before man, I will deny you before my Father in Heaven."). Moreover, if we believe most of Romans III, not one of us is worthy anyway. 2) If it’s true that "… God…gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth…etc" (John 3:16) it could be argued that ultimately Jesus served God in dying for humanity. Would we not be honoring Christ the more if we took to real activity? Developing a relationship with the Divine; living Jesus’ kindness and tolerance towards our brethren to the best of our ability rather than spending so much time merely mouthing his wonder and turning him into a martyred superhero worthy of an action figure complete with miracle kit !

Oh no, I'm not done yet; rant to be Continued.....

2006-08-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

Inspired by...
my Religions of the World T-Shirt

For a fun and more complete guide to Comparative Religions go here;
http://www.aeriagloris.com/Resources/humor/ShortGuideToComparativeReligions.htm

Meanwhile - I have applied the concept to Philosophers, Scientists and Metaphysicians thusly:

Lao Tzu: A journey of a thousand miles may begin by stepping in shit.

Heraclitus: There is no constant but shit.

Democritus: All shit is made up of smaller particles of shit.

Confucius: Present knowledge is shit.

Buddha: Right wisdom sees shit as it is.

Socrates: I don't know shit.

Aristotle: Get this shit organized!

Epicuris: Enjoy this shit while you're here.

Archimedes: Eureka - I've found shit!

Copernicus: The Earth is not the center of all shit.

Galileo: All shit falls at the same rate.

Shakespeare: Life is but a walking shadow; a poor player who struts his shit upon the stage.

Descartes: Doubt this shit.

Spinoza: Time is inexticably related to moving through shit.

Leibnitz: All shit is interconnected.

Voltaire: Optimism is shit.

Kant: Reason is the key to understanding shit

Schoepenhauer: Life is short - don't talk shit.

Nietzsche: Amor Excrementi - Love shit; it is in fact your life.

Kafka: Write your shit down.

Bohr: This shit cannot be described.

Heidegger: Where shall we seek Shit?

Planck: Shit is quantum

Einstein: Shit is relative.

Camus: Find happinesss in this paradox of shit.

Bohm: Relativity is shit. Quantum Mechanics is shit. We need to find new shit.

MadMonk: Shit is potentially infinite.

2006-07-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

Reflections... on Illustration Friday - Sacrifice

Reflections on Sacrifice actually started a week before Illustration Friday ( http://www.illustrationfriday.com/ 7/21/06). At Happy Hour that night, one neighbor ask another about the afterlife.

I was hit by the very unpleasant flashbackof when I was "saved" - Born Again as it were, that I might " ...rise in the Rapture to sit with Jesus and The Father in the glorious kingdom of Heaven!". I was 8 and scared into it by horrifying stories of Armegedden.

Before I realized I was really Now, at Happy Hour, I mumbled "Ah Shit". The very dear and disengenuous lady who had queried squeeked pleadingly "Don't be mean". Still peevish with remembering I grumbled "Y'know what? The afterlife is what you make it. This here is what we got. I figure I'll take care of this life and see to the afterlife when I get there."

Which brings me to Feuerbach (whom I recently became acquainted with over a bowl of fine cavendish). Ludwig Feuerbach(1804-1872) professed materialism but did not consider that Philosophy the "reality in it's truth and totality." He did not deny the existence of a Supreme Almighy, but considered the idea of God to be conceived by humanity, in it's physical existence, to help reconcile the questions and contradictions in the physically manifested life that we lead. Read Above Religion here:
http://radicalacademy.com/adiphiloessay58.htm

In a nutshell, Feuerbach believed that strict coherence to a Religion denied (read sacrificed) the sacred nature of feeling the immediateness of this life, this person, this relationship to others and to Nature itself. Ergo, In Ludwig's world, a baptism was divine not because a "holy man of the Church" performed it or blessed the water, but because the water itself was sacred - in it's power to refresh, to cleanse, to slake the thirst etc. it is a gift in and of itself. If I said it thusly: "The Creator is not the Mountain. The Creator is not in the mountain; The mountain is of the Creator, divine for it's material existence alone." I think Feuerbach might agree. If not, I'd invite him to bring out his best pipe tobacco and we'd discuss it.

2006-07-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

Faith... the latest recurring theme

Heraclitus

Dictionary Definition:
1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.
3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's supporters.
4. Often Faith Christianity. The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.
5. The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.
6. A set of principles or beliefs.

Faith is often inextricably linked with Religon and yet, in the As Above view, I find it larger and far more complex.

Recently, I was told the true story of a man who would seem to have nothing going well for him: not health or happiness, not employment, seemingly no close relationships, he even had great concern for the safety and security of his home. Outside that home there was a fire hydrant. The man attached his faith to that hydrant. He believed that whatever happened, the hydrant would be there every morning and in the evening returning from his day, whether all things were goodly or poor - the hydrant would be there. Moreover, it was a physical thing that could be seen and touched. Faith, it would seem, manifests itself around constancy.

What is Constant?

Heraclitus (about 540-480 B.C) says:

All is flux, nothing stays still.

You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.

Those were some of his observations almost 2,500 yrs ago; The Bible says this:

Ecclesiastes 1:6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

Schoepenhauer: Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.

And last week, Phin sent me this - an article entitled "Scientist Question Nature's Fundamental Laws"

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060711_science_tuesday.html

The gist of the article being that there may be no such thing as a scientific constant.

I've been thinking lately that if Faith is about constancy, the only faith one can truly hold is a Faith that things will change as in "This too shall pass" . I don't even care to assign any hope to that faith. Will the change be better? Worse? I find that in an evolving Universe, I try to walk the shifts keeping my eyes on the Taoist "Maybe".

2006-07-04T15:11:00.000-07:00

Deus Esse Quantum... ( con't)

As to God and Science
In some ways it would seem that God and Science have always been mutually exclusive; Galileo believed that mathematics was the language of The Omniscient and we know what happened to him. Had Newton’s views on God and Jesus been known, he would have lost his Fellowship at Cambridge at the very least – conviction on a charge of heresy is probably a given. Yet upon reflection, it is not Science and God that are irreconcilable – it is Science and Religion.

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it with religious conviction."

Blaise Pascal

Galileo and Newton are, by no means, alone. Today’s Science and Philosophy, are built on the work of pioneer thinkers who, nonetheless, held a belief in a guiding force, intellect or interconnectedness that is Universal: Heraclitus, Xenophanes, Aristotle, Spinoza, Liebniz, George Washington Carver, Nietzsche, Planck, Einstein, Dirac, and Bohm.

Can the existence of and Infinite Being be proved quantitatively? Can it be disproved?

Perpend: (From http://searchsmb.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid44_gci332247,00.html) "The two major interpretations of quantum theory's implications for the nature of reality are the Copenhagen interpretation and the many-worlds theory. Niels Bohr proposed the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory, which asserts that a particle is whatever it is measured to be (for example, a wave or a particle), but that it cannot be assumed to have specific properties, or even to exist, until it is measured. In short, Bohr was saying that objective reality does not exist. This translates to a principle called superposition that claims that while we do not know what the state of any object is, it is actually in all possible states simultaneously, as long as we don't look to check.
To illustrate this theory, we can use the famous and somewhat cruel analogy of Schrodinger's Cat. First, we have a living cat and place it in a thick lead box. At this stage, there is no question that the cat is alive. We then throw in a vial of cyanide and seal the box. We do not know if the cat is alive or if it has broken the cyanide capsule and died. Since we do not know, the cat is both dead and alive, according to quantum law - in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and see what condition the cat is that the superposition is lost, and the cat must be either alive or dead." This is it! We cannot see or measure an Omnipotent ergo; under the superposition principal The Creator is in all possible states simultaneously - read in every where, when and thing possible... Is that not Infinite? This too gives rise to the loosely adjectival definition of quantum as something so infinitesimal (immeasurable) that it is indeed infinite.

"The second interpretation of quantum theory is the many-worlds (or multiverse theory. It holds that as soon as a potential exists for any object to be in any state, the universe of that object transmutes into a series of parallel universes equal to the number of possible states in which that the object can exist, with each universe containing a unique single possible state of that object. Furthermore, there is a mechanism for interaction between these universes that somehow permits all states to be accessible in some way and for all possible states to be affected in some manner. Stephen Hawking and the late Richard Feynman are among the scientists who have expressed a preference for the many-worlds theory." Beautiful! Ergo; as long as there is potential for an Almighty to exist, He/She/It does. It hasn't escaped me that the multiverse theory specifies object. Can we consider something/one that is Infinite an object? If we unify the two interpretations we must. Copenhagen says that if we cannot confirm something's state - it is all states... yes an object being one them. Ah....... but Copenhagen also says that if we cannot measure we cannot assume existance. Oh, but there's that fabulous word potential in multiverse... surely as we cannot prove or disprove, confirm or discredit a God (or moreover, I believe, anyone's notion of what God is or isn't) the potential exists for all possible manifestations or no God at all. Hence if potential exists... all exist simultaneously. One could say Infinitely... or as Shakes would say "It's all one"

I live in a Universe where The Creator can and does, use scientifically calculable means to manifest; there is no proving or disproving. There is only faith.

2006-05-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Thoughts...

Memorial Day. I believe I read/heard somewhere "Lest we should forget" . Implying "Always remember". Such credos force a certain amount of living in the past... or at least being influenced by it. Good? Bad? Maybe... Where then sits living in the moment?

For myself, Never/Always are two sides of the same coin. As I live with a Creator for whom all things are possible, I cannot embrace Never or Always. Never & Always are inherently a part of all possibility but alone, they exclude any possibility at all. Where there is no possibility - there is no hope. And I ask myself then, Why try if the cage is all there is.

2006-05-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

Gettin' Out ... Steppin' Up!

An update on my Lovebird Companion

Well, Orlando is adjusting. After talking to my Vets and Avian Caregivers, they're pretty astounded at her progress. First off - very healthy physically (all still in wonder that she's not dead) outside of a still elevated white count which may take some time to drop; lower than last though. More blood work pending.

As to her mental & emotional health, Dr. Fern is pretty pleased... "Keep doin' what your doin'." and Dr. Bellinghausen counsels time and patience before looking into a companion for her... "You may just end up with two birds in different cages 'cause they don't get along."

So the journey continues. I'm trying to learn more of his language and he is learning more of mine. He now comes out of his cage with less (if any coaxing) and will walk over to me or step up on a perch with a bit of millet in the offing - still happier about the perching than the getting too close to me but progress is being made. He has a new, larger cage which we're transitioning to; making him comfortable and "safe" there with favorite toys, perches, food cakes, water and a head dunking crock (his version of bathing). We've also played hide the millet in there so he becomes accustomed to moving around the larger space.

She's also learning to try and play me ("Would you play upon this pipe?" - Hamlet). If she chooses not to work out with our training and games sessions, I take the millet away and sit down to read or I do chores. Very soon the irritated screeching and flapping ensues and I'm met with "the back" when I investigate. When she settles down, we start again. Smart bird; my creature family have always been my best teachers.

2006-05-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Another Reflection on Cages…

Recently my neighbor and I caught a lovebird; obviously hurt but we weren’t to know how sick, too, until the next day. Thanks to all the Vet’s and Caregivers at For the Birds. http//www.forthebirdsdvm.com and to the Mended Wings non-profit organization for helping with so much of the treatment cost. Short version: After five days at the Vet – fully three of them in an oxygen tank – two weeks of antibiotics and antifungal meds, a healthier diet and loads of good wishes and encouragement from all involved, Orlando is – against all odds - seemingly healthy physically. We’ll get the last official okey-dokey next Sat.

But that’s not what’s niggling me. This Big Spirit in a little Orlando bird body was probably hand-raised as he is handled for, and takes meds, like a champ. Yet he/she (no telling gender in this species without a blood test – I will use he or she as I choose) doesn’t seem to have had much contact with human companions; handling outside of necessity upsets him greatly. As he was a foundling, there is no known history and no one seems to be looking for a lovebird hereabouts. I began to wonder how long he lived wild with no way of answering my question save observation…

Now that she’s healthier, she’s obviously bored, frustrated and wants out of her cage. Toys are not much help – doesn’t seem to know how to play with them and most often ignores them. Every gentle taming /socializing technique I know at the least irritates her and at worst frightens her terribly. She knows and responds to all the neighbor hood birdcalls for waking, happy chatter, nightly roosting and distress. And she uses the distress call often when I’m about – though that’s lessening. As her wings are clipped (for her safety for the time being) I open her cage for her to come out in living room to exercise and she refuses to leave the cage without coaxing and bait of her favorite treat… spray millet. Even so, when anything startles or she hears a distress call from outside, she immediately retreats to her cage.

He hates the cage; but that’s where he feels safest in the strange world he came to in need. It’s a sad and painful irony to be a party to.

Orlando, with his health compromised as it was, is probably not a candidate for life in the wild. Yet birds that won’t leave their cages or adapt to human company are miserably unhappy, get mean and usually go a bit crazy. Unacceptable for both of us. Another lovebird companion for him is probably the best option – don’t we all need someone to share a safe space with...

But still, now and again, leaving our safest space, (hers and mine) is imperative; Food, shelter and security isn't good enough to call living.

2006-05-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

Reflections...

from the Cage

Caged
she paces
Impatient for her
ferocity to return
or in hope that
today
in craving the meat
that is tossed
it will taste good
Savory
like from the wild

Like when bars
were only Creation’s
ebony palette knife
marking a coat of
fire as she rippled
power through the brush
Muscle and sinew
catching glimpses of
sunlight and
flashing it back into
the eye of God
as if to say
Your stripes may
cage my shape but
I walk as I will
You made me so

She is embedded in
my flesh and
I know that gift
and curse are one
in Creation

That is too much
to know

Caged
she paces
You who would
feed her kindly
for your own sake
remember
Even a friendly cage
is redundant

Copywrite 2005

2006-04-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

The Creator speaks with as many voices as there are ears to hear. Acts in as many ways as there are eyes to see, and can validate as many truths as there are souls to witness.

So, Happy Hour Friday evening became an illustration…

I came in on a conversation between neighbors. It started with a particular religion and became about Creation and one’s relation to an Infinite Being. My Brother Craig said he felt closer to "a Supreme Being or whatever you believe in" when he was wading upstream with a fly rod and feeling the river and seeing nature; minks, otters, beaver etc.. "than one could ever feel in a chapel". Brother Tobe agreed, but made it about a singular connection – as opposed to a larger multiple connection - to another being. His example was the soul feeling he got when meeting the newest member of our gathering that night… a lovebird named Orlando (He/She has brought a message so there will be more on Orlando later).

While they agreed, I wondered if they realized it. Craig finds His Creator in the natural world especially when he's feeling a part of it all; the As Above perspective so to speak. Toby too, finds connection in the natural world but Spirit seems to speak loudest to him when he makes a one-on-one kind of connection; So Below.

Seems it takes all kinds to make a world. What crappy place this would be if we were all accountants. And if we were all painters...? Just think of the struggle between realism, impressionism and abstract; that could become a full out war. It must take all kinds of a Creator for this world... for all of us.

2006-04-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

It's Bard's Day

In honor of Shakespeare's birthday...

"It's all one"

"To see how God in all his creatures works!"

"Love all, trust a few, Do wrong to none"

"I feel within me a peace above all earthy dignities, a still and quiet conscience"

"Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie"

"We know what we are, but not what we may be."

and of course

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy"

There are so many quotes that show the writer (and no, I don't care about the theories) to be a deep thinker... indeed I believe much of his thoughts to have been "...cavier to the masses" and yet he was a popular playwrite among them; due perhaps to his scathing insults and bawdy jokes. I like those too.

2006-04-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

The Essence of the Creator is Quantum

...continuing About Religion

In the seat of Humanity’s current experience and understanding, the existence of The Creator or a single defining belief system defies the methods of quantification normally used to analyze information and arrive at "the truth".

God 2. in monotheistic religions, the creator and ruler of the Universe, regarded as eternal, infinite, all-powerful, and all-knowing; Supreme Being; Almighty

As Above: If our popular definition is to hold true, we cannot expect to prove the reality of an Infinite Being within a finite scope. And, what relics to date have allowed us absolute proof?

Ancient scrolls exist from almost every religion or spiritual philosophy but none of these has been determined, unequivocally, to be written or produced by an Almighty or omnipotent miracle. Consequently, there is no basis to proclaim one Sacred Account more "true" than the next. There is no evidence of any One Great Truth. Nor is there one shred of irrefutable proof from God that any of these beliefs are wrong. Ergo, each accounting is either equally true or equally false. Truth becomes a choice to believe it or not.

Those who would have us believe one secular account or another ostensibly provide us a switchboard connection to Creation wherein we're asked to remain on the line and God will answer our call as He/She see's fit - read we're told to have faith. Moreover, often the faith we are to have is often expected to be in the dogma itself; few organized religions ascribe to the policy of "Anywhere one finds God is okay" - they would hardly be organized religions if they did.

So Below: Ultimately, each individual comes into their own interpretation of Creation anyway. Choosing, based on their personal experience, to practice and believe either all, some or none of the teachings given them by doctrine. So it is a matter of faith; it is merely a question of whether we put our faith solely in a secular belief system or whether we put it in our own experience of an Infinite Being. In any case, the proof and the truth becomes our own reflection of how we see the world around us...

Is it possible to prove another's experience of something right or wrong?

2006-04-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

Reflection 4a

Lessons in Beaver Barf... as it pertains to the ribbon or the spider...

Lately the preponderance of my free time has been spent building a bookcase for some folks. They're remodeling and requested the material be melamine (pictured here) as it matched their existing office furniture. Melamine is rough particle board (thus Beaver Barf - it is what beavers might barf) covered with a thin and brittle coat of white something-or-another. I hate it. That may be the primary problem. Other issues include chipping and full-bore break out when cutting, routing or drilling the stuff. Despite all my wood butcher tricks the piece, while huge @ 8ft x 16-1/2in x 28in and absolutely solid, it was a bane to my woodworkers margin for error, not to mention ugly for all the chips. I spent more time touching up then actually building. I decided not sign it - hence I told my clients they owed me nothing.

A bit of history: The bookcase was designed by the homeowner to filling a useless and problematic architectural space created in the remodel. I'm told it will be used to house a stuffed penguin collection and some random books...

So I deliver to my clients what I consider to be the spider - read not what I wanted it to be; though certainly not easy from my point of view - I wanted the ribbon. Well, these dear people think I've delivered them the ribbon! They love it; and despite my protests pay me the full amount and tell me they may have more work for me...??

So the upshot is - one person's spider is another's ribbon. Is the piece good enough to house a stuffed penguin collection and some random books? Obviously yes. Sure makes it a bitch to know when good enough is just that... Good Enough.

2006-04-03T07:04:00.000-07:00

Recflection 4

This is Elam. Like most Feline People, he's pretty complex and he's certainly a oner - I've never met anyone like him. My friend T (the only other person who's lived with him - two days and that was enough for her) says we're a good match...

So I've been thinking of taking up the sword again and Lo and Behold, my neighbors have a goodly selection of fencing foils for me to play with. One is right handed and when Tobe found he was a left handed fencer, he tied some ribbon @ the tip of the sword and a string dangling a rubber spider. Tobe and Tanya share their home with cat's too.

Hanging in my Shop yesterday, I was baiting Elam with the sword-spider toy. He was getting angrier and more frustrated by the minute so I mellowed out and tried to make it easy for him to get the creepy crawly. Go figure, that's not what he wanted; he was after the strands of ribbon at the tip of the foil, something I hadn't considered and was making really tough for him fixated on the spider as I was.

I'm thinking that's the struggle between me (maybe all of us) and the Creator. I got choices hanging from the end of the foil and I want the ribbon; I'm getting angry 'cause it ain't easy. Well, it ain't easy because it would seem that Creation is intent on me having the spider. Am I BAD because I want the ribbon? Read - would I be me if I just settled for what seems to be the Universal Intent? Would it be GOOD if I just accepted the Creator's gift of the spider? Read - if it comes easier, is it ultimately the better choice for me? How can I create the happiest existence for myself; by choosing the ribbon and going for it or by taking the spider and making it work for me - perhaps in ways I'd never imagined?

I don't know... MAYBE. The questions go on...

Photo by Phin

2006-03-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

Reflection 3

So many mirrors in my woodshop...

This bowl of Spalted Maple was made by Bel Sulzer of Louisiana -www.bayouwoodturners.com - really shows the beauty in the figuring and color of the wood.

Out to Southern Lumber the other day for a client's bookcase and, of course, I couldn't stay out of the hardwood section. Had to touch and smell the amazing variety of grain, color and texture up one aisle and down the next.

I spent alot of time with the maples; birdseye, tiger, curly, quilted, spalted and even burls. What an irony; the spalting in maple comes from fungus growth; white rot - the same kind that yields Shitake mushrooms. And burl? Happens when the maples sprout an unusual and knotty growth. These things maybe not healthy or attractive for the tree but look how stunning mold can be when someone sees the whole picture and creates something that is becoming to it; smooth, golden maple and the fungus so-called flaw that lends contrast and depth.

"Hold the mirror up to nature as 'twere". Shakespeare

People are like that. How often do we see the whole picture in folks - what we judge to be GOOD, what we want to call BAD - and then recognize them for the beauty they are, made in Creation's Shop.

MAYBE... maybe things look different from there.

2006-03-26T02:45:00.000-08:00

The Essence of The Creator is Quantum

continuing Theosophy...

Our species seems to feel a need to justify our beliefs; hence as we evolved, we took our Myths and Creation Stories, recorded them, and thus made them Holy for ourselves.

The Creation Stories as told in Sacred Texts:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.

The Bible - Revised Standard Version

"Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution."

(VII, 6)
"I am the source of everything; from Me the entire creation flows." (X,8)

The Bhagavad-gita

There was something featureless yet complete,
born before heaven and earth;
Silent- amorphous-
it stood alone and unchanging.
We may regard it as the mother of heaven and earth.

Tao Te Ching

He, then, alone who is not made, 'tis clear, is both beyond all power of thinking-manifest, and is unmanifest.
And as He thinketh all things manifest, He manifests through all things and in all, and most of all in whatsoever things He wills to manifest.

The Corpus Hermeticum

The line is obviously drawn. Whether fanciful fabrication or not, Myths of Creation provide the foundation for Religious Philosophy and the many texts held sacred in cultures throughout the world.

We now reckon ourselves to be in our 21st century (Yes? No? Maybe...) and still we discuss, expound, try to quantify and war over our beliefs as if the loudest or the strongest could ultimately prove their own version the everlasting Truth. What is to prove?

Photo by Phin

2006-03-23T08:56:00.000-08:00

Reflection 2

A steady paycheck not withstanding, working a corporate job has it's drawbacks. I've adjusted fairly well but on the way home yesterday - imminently frustrated and not long from being told (albeit gently and with not so much disagreement from me) that I'm abrasive and perhaps it's no wonder folks don't necessarily care enter the Maintenance Shop that is my lair - I made a note to myself to print a sign for my toolbox that would read "This is not where I live; this is not who I am". For me, a kindly reminder of the As Above perspective. Read... "The world is wide and this place is really just a gnat's bellybutton - chill darlin'".

Well on the other hand, friends and neighbors have said that to find in me my not-so-state-of-the-art Workshop at home is to find me as close to Zenning & Creation as most have ever seen me; the overly caffeinated, all-but-chainsmoking, cranky hermetic seeker of enlightenment that I am. Again, not much disagreement from me...

So Below... I am not my protruding and painful cervical discs any more that I am my gifted hands that just seem to know how to build furniture and carve beauty. I am not my knee that dislocates at will any more than I am solely my brilliant IQ. I am not my sour kidneys, overworked liver or decreased lung capacity to any greater degree than I am my chrome bicuspid, cast-iron stomach or the heart that some say is o'erly kind. I am all of these things and none of these things yet Mind, Body, Emotion and Spirit are often capable of some transcendence regardless of the totality; all the gifts and shortcomings of the Inconsumate Work-In-Progress Incarnate that walks around here and calls this life.

"This is not where I live; this is not who I am". But for the time being, I am choosing the gnat's bellybutton; in much the same way I happily choose my Workshop as is, as I choose a willful knee rather than have surgery. How is it that I can achieve a modecum of Zen & Creation in my Workshop with it's limitations, with my leg and it's drawbacks, and yet lose most of it at my job and the less-than-ideal it often is?

Better question - How to hold my modecum of Zen & Creation in the face of the paycheck I'm choosing?

2006-03-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

Zen and the Art of Telephone Avoidance

I unleash my shadow
and twist
pushing mortal mechanism
through the grinding of
my own gears and
into a 112mph
void

All things are different
here and yet
they are the same
I become a part
of it all – I am...

the fog that reaches deep into asphalt curves and rolls Gaia beneath me
I am the sea in waves of sweet mustard and particles of sand both finite and infinite
in Creation – I am at once a feathered stone snow storm
formless human fire and leaves that weep color in timeless season – I am...

four-legged sense memory stalking ev’ry quantum possibility
each rooted cell by
wheeling cell in
the treads and tar
of now

I become a part
of it all and
the sound of your
voice comes closely
armored from far away

Everything is different and yet it is the same

Don’t thank me for
resignation into good enough
That is your Creation

Photo by Phin

2006-03-19T06:29:00.000-08:00

The Essensce of The Creator is Quantum

continuing...

Myth: 1. a story that is usually of
unknown origin and at least partially traditional, that ostensibly relates
historical events usually of such character as to serve to explain some
practice, belief, institution, or natural phenomenon, and that is especially
associated with religious rites and beliefs

Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary
Unabridged 2nd (New York: Simon & Schuster 1983)

In the beginning Earth and Heaven were great
world-giants, and they were parents of numerous offspring.
Celtic

The Great Spirit first made the world, and next the
flying animals, and found all things good and prosperous – He is immortal and
everlasting.
Seneca

Cagn was the first being; he gave orders and caused
all things to appear, and to be made, the sun, the moon, stars, wind, mountains
and animals.
African Bushman
In the beginning there was Apsu, the sky god and Tiamat,
the chaos goddess. From their union came all gods.
Babylonian

The earliest myths and legends were oral traditions passed down by people seeking to understand their world and their place in it. Any sampling of Creation Stories from various cultures will reveal the cosmos, the earth and her family and even other gods, created from chaos, nothingness, mist or vast expanses of water. The Being responsible is diverse; pure thought, two Beings (often polarities; male & female, good & evil), an Element or an Animal. Nonetheless the shared foundation remains - Someone/Something brought to bear.

Is any one story more true than any other?

2006-03-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

Maybe...

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "Maybe," the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "Maybe," replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "Maybe," answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "Maybe," said the farmer.

http://www.utah.edu/stc/tai-chi/stories.html

2006-03-14T21:32:00.000-08:00

Reflection 1

Could be a somewhat early for this but here's a bit of what I mean.

So Monday I spent the morning glazing and sealing fake rocks for under the fruit trees in my yard. How ironic... fake rocks for landscaping. Okay, well 1) they were free 2) they were going in the landfill if I didn't take them so GOOD; A) I'm not taking rocks from their home to populate my suburban environment. B) I'm keeping them from ending up in our considerably overfilled dumps.

Ah... but they're fake and I'm using prodigious amounts of noxious chemical to protect them from the elements. Thus - BAD; What kind of unknown crapadoodle will be leaching into the soil near my beautiful fruit trees...

Nonetheless, it doesn't escape me that if this the "As Above" so to speak, the "So Below" begs the question "How much time do I spend glazing and sealing parts of my personality that, while genuine, I do not necessarily display in their real proportion?" Read - how much curmudgeon, marshmallow, pessimist, comedian, monk et al do I live accurately and what do I exaggerate for my own protection? And further... is it GOOD or BAD....

MAYBE...

I aspire.

2006-03-12T16:09:00.000-08:00

Literally...

"God being Quantum"
The Essence of The Creator is Quantum

I live in a Universe where The Creator speaks with as many voices as there are ears to hear. Acts in as many ways as there are eyes to see, and can validate as many truths as there are souls to witness. The Omnipotent orchestrates and, is at all times, the perfect balance of grandeur and detail, of matter and nothingness, of order and chaos. The ultimate Yin and Yang.

The power of the exquisitly simple "As Above…" is in it’s invitation to observe the world around us as a reflection. To contemplate only the diversity in plants and animals, each with their own unique place in Creation’s scheme, is to know that the paths that lead to relationship with the Divine Spirit are many, varied and all of them true.

To be continued...