Random Thoughts and Wild Imaginings

Waskosim's Rock

SwampGuy — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:17:48 GMT

Waskosim's Rock (Martha’s Vineyard - was there last week) is the site of the legendary treaty between the Wampanoags (ancestral tribe) and the Mayhews (European settlers). They gathered at the rock in 1669 (yeah - 1669) and marked an imaginary line ("The Middle Line") between the rock and Menemsha Pond. Everything on the Vineyard Sound side would belong to the tribe and everything southeast to the settlers. I guess the treaty didn't last more than a quarter-century. The rock came from ancient glacial melting. The fissure in the rock looks so cool - one of my friends said it was from an ancient lightning strike. "Waskosim's Rock" means "new rock" in the Wampanoag language. This place is cloaked in history. Seems so eerie standing small against this huge rock, and realizing that in this special place settlers and tribal people met each other and tried to make a life together on this amazing island centuries ago. It's like there are ghosts here. I'm thinking: What kind of lives did those people live back then? What were their hopes and fears and dreams when they stood around this sacred rock?

Summer Travels

SwampGuy — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:10:00 GMT

Been traveling. Visited Martha's Vineyard's last week, and spent time with friends and hiked some awesome natural spots. And of course, brought back a load of photos. Just realized again (with frustration) that I can't post photo blogs here. So - whoever is on MySpace, you can see my photo blogs there. If you're in MySpace, the link to my first summer '08 travel blog is: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=174227360 If you don't belong to MySpace and want to check out my photo stuff there, you can join! My site is under "SwampGuy," same as here, or: http://home.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user&Mytoken=DE1C2DE3-9D48-492A-B1BE0C68776C112A26754311 If you're not on MySpace, it would be great to hang out with you there too - I do a LOT of photo stuff there that I can't do here!

These Sentences

SwampGuy — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:04:35 GMT

"The sentence could not exist without the oceans, the rivers, the air, the life forms, and all the thousands of years of human cultural activities. Every sentence is spoken by the whole earth." (Brian Swimme) Think about it. Everything comes from the earth. Everything. Food, clothing, shelter, and all the things that derive from those essentials -- the structure I am living in, the keyboard I am using, the power that turns keystrokes into digital reality and then to images on this screen. The earth brings life. Life brings thought. Thought brings this very sentence. Like the quote says, "every sentence is spoken by the whole earth."

Stuff that Bugs Me

SwampGuy — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:59:59 GMT

- Tailgaters - especially when they flash their lights. Why don't they just pass? - People who take up two parking spaces - Sales clerks who chew gum while talking to customers - Tax-happy politicians - People who call you in the middle of the night and say "hey, did I wake you?" - Catchas - are they getting longer or what??? - Bad karma - Waiters/waitresses who come over when your mouth is totally full and say "how is everything?" - Talking on cell phones in weird places - Littering - especially in wild places - B.S. - Trying to get the plastic off a new CD - News commentators who don't pronounce things right - Shouting - Bad coffee - Long speeches and sermons - Telemarketers who think I'm their buddy - Thought police Hey, I'm in a good mood. Not on a rant or anything. Just thought I'd start a list of stuff that bugs me.

Is Blogging Good for You?

SwampGuy — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:35:24 GMT

Someone just sent me this article from Scientific American about blogging. Seems that researchers found that people who blogged got beyond their illnesses faster than non-bloggers. So maybe this means that doing blogs is good for you. Just like eating your vegetables, exercising and getting plenty of sleep ...

Friday

SwampGuy — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:13:36 GMT

OK, so I wanted to do all these ambitious errands yesterday afternoon. So I left work about an hour early and figured I'd get everything done in about two hours and I'd be back home in time to do some Friday evening stuff. First stop was my favorite camera store way across the other side of town. I wanted to look at a new kind of filter. Got to the store. They were fresh out of the filters. Better part of an hour wasted. Next stop was to get a new pair of black dress shoes. I'm not a shoe fan. I'm probably one of the few people in the Western world who doesn't keep shoes in the house (they're in the breezeway). I only wear them when I have to. But my old black shoes are, well, old. Very ragged. So I went to a big national retailer's shoe department (store will remain nameless) and told the bubble-gum-chewing sales clerk what I wanted. Took her almost ten minutes to bring out three boxes of shoes. Then she wandered off to socialize with two of her friends. So I tried on the shoes. One pair seemed OK, but I had a question and wanted to know the price. So I walked around the sales clerk and her two friends in a circle a few times, tried to catch their attention, then sat down near them, then stared at them, then walked around them again - but they were totally engrossed in their conversation. So after about four minutes I went back, took the shoes off, and walked around them again a few times - she still didn't realize I was there. So I just walked out of the shoe department totally pissed off. They might still be talking and laughing. Jeez, I don't expect sales clerks to be at my beck and call, but I'd kind of like them to pay at least minimal attention. Couldn't find another shoe store nearby. OK, so no shoes. More time wasted. I get back on the expressway and traffic is pretty much at a standstill. I figure there's a bad accident or something up ahead. I was on that three mile stretch of freakin road for about an hour. No way to get off. Just inch ahead. We never have those kind of traffic jams in Upstate NY. Next, I wanted to get someone a gift. Stopped at the bookstore with a title in mind. Couldn't find it. Now, on to the grocery store to pick up seven or eight things. One item out of stock and couldn't find another. Now it was 7:30 p.m. Got hardly anything done and wasted most of four hours. What a pain in the you-know-what. Anyway.

Playing with My New Macro Filters

SwampGuy — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:04:39 GMT

I am psyched about the set of macro filters I got for my Nikon. Played around with them yesterday and ended up taking more than 300 shots. Mostly common stuff, but I liked about two dozen of them. The shots are all about tiny hidden universes -- the wilted weed that seems vividly alive, the single blade of grass stretching to the sky, the lightning beetle chowing down, the nasturtium bud that looks like a reptile, and the the fiery petals of a summer flower that shout out the season. Tribe only lets you post one photo in the blog - so I'm posting Fiery Breath of Summer. But I'll get the two dozen shots posted in my Tribe album over the next few days.

Jean Paul Sartre

SwampGuy — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 09:41:59 GMT

According to my history calendar, Jean Paul Sartre’s birthday is June 21. In case you haven’t met Jean Paul through his words, he was a great French existentialist author. Wrote a bunch of stuff, like The Wall and Roads to Freedom (which, ironically, was immortalized in a Monty Python skit a ways back). I don’t totally understand existentialism, but I think in oversimplified terms this philosophy holds that there is no Greater Power. No transcendent reality. Nothing greater than ourselves. Existentialism holds that each man and woman is totally “free,” and able and responsible to find whatever meaning life holds for himself or herself. In its ultimate form, existentialism says that any search for ultimate meaning is absurd – and humanity’s seemingly deep-seated search for meaning brings dark cosmic humor to our world. I don’t buy into existentialism at all. Not into Sartre, or his buddy, Albert Camus, or their philosophical forerunners, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. Just the same, I’m blown away by the depth of their thought and their commitment to ideas that I think are so fundamentally objectionable. I guess existentialism is a strange, but inevitable, philosophy given the despair that darkens so many people’s lives. And it’s strange that existentialism has become so well known and so immersed in much popular literature. No particular point to this blogging session, other than to point out the existence of existentialism. And maybe to mention that I believe in the opposite – ultimate goodness and power and light, and a reality far greater than ourselves.

Summer Paradox

SwampGuy — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:24:45 GMT

Summer is here again. The sun is high in the horizon. Everything is bright and warm and growing. Dew graces the grass in the morn. Life is everywhere. The beginning of summer is a deep time, a time to think about new possibilities, about going to new places, about adventure, about shirking the cares of the cold months and turning toward the light and wildness. So. In that deep philosophical vein, I wonder: Why is it that, in our quest for green fields and deep forests and God-given wildness, we spend so much of our summers taming our lawns, perfecting our gardens, and turning our yards into yuppie versions of something out of Hollywood? Is there something about humankind that makes us crave what is raw and wild, yet at the same time entice us to conquer it? No answer. Just a provocative question on this magical first day of summer.

Random Thoughts on Wildness

SwampGuy — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:52:27 GMT

Robert Bly says that to be wild is to be "mad as the mist and snow." Wildness is feeling the fullness of the here and now. It is to revel in the depths of the unknown and unexplored. It is to hear the voice of the deep stillness.

Thoughts About Imagination

SwampGuy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:36:33 GMT

I was thinking that knowledge is a great thing - except when knowledge limits us. Sometimes we get too preoccupied with what we know to realize the depth of what we don't know. We get so into what defines and limits us today, and forget the power of the imagination and the possibilities of what seems impossible. Here's what got me thinking about this subject: authoritative pronouncements by some great thinkers and leaders: - "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." (Ken Olson, founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977) - "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." (Decca Recording Co. statement rejecting a new group known as The Beatles, 1962) - "Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy." (Drillers who Edwin Drake tried to enlist for a drilling experiment, 1859) - "Everything that can be invented has been invented." (Charles H. Duel) - "Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." (Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology, 1872) - "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." (Western Union memo, 1876) - "640K ought to be enough for anybody." (Bill Gates, 1981 - !!!!) So I guess the message is to try to move beyond the here and the now and the ground, and let the mind travel to the sky and the future and the universe. Who knows what can happen?

New Tree

SwampGuy — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:29:37 GMT

So I planted this tree (and a few more) the other day. It will take at least 50 or 60 years for this maple tree to reach maturity. I won't be around to see it. Planting a tree that will outlive you - that's a really strange thing when you think about it.

Random Thoughts About Trails

SwampGuy — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 09:32:18 GMT

There are many reasons for spending time on trails. You see things and learn things. You have time to think. You get out of the rut of everyday life. You can have adventure. You can experience spirituality. And even transcendence. You can take pictures. Don't you always wonder: What's around the next bend? We are all explorers. "The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for." (Unknown) You meet really good and interesting people on trails. You sometimes meet some amazing birds and amphibians and insects, too. Bushwhacking is making your own trail through deep wilderness. It can be risky. A lot of the guidebooks say you should only bushwhack with at least three other trained and experienced people. Trails can be a metaphor for life. Trails are life. Walk the trails of your soul, and you can explore the most vast reaches of the universe. "Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." (Ralph Waldo Emerson) You can listen to music on a trail if you want. Just bring an ipod or cassette player. Or listen to the birdsong and the wind. When you're on a trail and far away, you lose your power. You feel small and insignificant. And everything gets put into perspective.

Thoughts on Power

SwampGuy — Sat, 31 May 2008 13:56:34 GMT

"You cannot hear the waterfall if you stand next to it." (Unknown) "There is no knowledge that is not power." (Ralph Waldo Emerson) "He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still." (Lao Tzu) "When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt." (Unknown) "Only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit." (Chuck Palahniuk)

Ralph's Wisdom

SwampGuy — Sun, 25 May 2008 23:17:27 GMT

Some great thoughts from Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), philosopher, author/poet, naturalist, transcendentalist, whose birthday we celebrate today (May 25). What you are comes to you. To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. We must be our own before we can be another's. Little minds have little worries; big minds have no time for worries. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. Every wall is a door. Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else. Thou art to me a delicious torment. It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children ... to leave the world a better place ... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Moss Lake

SwampGuy — Sun, 18 May 2008 10:15:11 GMT

I've been to Moss Lake (Eagle Bay) four or five times, hiked around the lake and the nearby trails. Centuries ago, the shores of Moss Lake were sacred grounds of part of the Iroquois Confederacy. (As a matter of fact, Mohawk Indians occupied the land back in 1974). It's always a strange feeling to walk on sacred ground. I remember walking toward the north shore of the lake (my picture, Site of the Ancient Song, below) and almost seeing the blaze of ceremonial fires and hearing the wild sound of chanting and beating drums. And then everything was still.

Listen to the Mist

SwampGuy — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:31:46 GMT

Listen to the whispers of the mist. But not with your ears. OK, what do you hear?

The Abyss

SwampGuy — Wed, 14 May 2008 09:36:43 GMT

Sometimes we have to risk and dare, and just enter the unknown. Like that crazy philosopher-dude Nietzsche said - "It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure."

Intuition

SwampGuy — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:10:07 GMT

What is intuition? Is it … - Knowledge based on seemingly forgotten past experience? - Instinct that’s somehow part of our genetic code? - Some mystical archetype (like out of Jungian psychology) that cuts across all of humanity? - Some kind of survival mechanism? - Just sharpened senses? - A “sixth” sense or “seventh” sense that’s not really “discovered” yet? - A spiritual gift? Loads of people, even people who seem totally linear and uninspiring, experience intuition, either in flashes or in raging streams. And when Albert Einstein talked about what was valuable in learning, discovery and life, he said: “The only really valuable thing is intuition.”

Roots

SwampGuy — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:11:58 GMT

"For a tree to become tall it must grow tough roots among the rocks." (Nietzsche) "The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness." (Dali Lama)

Awesome Guest Blog: My Vision, by Rishi Sankara

SwampGuy — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:19:15 GMT

My Vision by Rishi Sankara (his blog from a few days ago) The sunrise that dawns to a heart, awakened to boundless love, will be the most beautiful sight you will ever see in all your days. Live compassionately from the heart, and a whole new dimension of experience will open up to you. For centuries humanity has looked to the physical and the mental as a means to solve our problems; now it is time to live from the heart. Both the physical and the mental divide us; it is love alone that will unite us. It is our common gift, our common purpose, and our common vision. Do not keep a full mind and an empty heart; rather, keep an empty mind and a full heart; this is the way to eternal bliss and to the peace that passes all understanding. The depth and capacity of the intellect is finite and limited. The depth of the heart is infinite; the capacity of love is boundless. Thought has created all the problems we see in the world today, and these problems cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them. Love alone will overcome all obstacles. Light the flame of your heart and all who come into contact with you will find love kindled in their own. Just as a thousand candles can be lit from the one flame with out diminishing the lifespan of the original candle; you can give love endlessly without diminishing your own supply; it is inexhaustible. Cycles of anger and hate cannot be extinguished by anger and hate; such response only serves to perpetuate those very cycles. Love alone ends anger and hate; love alone heals our long histories of pain and suffering. There are no geographical borders and boundaries to love. It is not of one nationality, gender, race, or creed. Love is not confined to one belief system, ideology, world view, or a particular socio-economic status. Love is found present in all life everywhere, in every heart. Love is humanities universal language. When we speak and act from the heart all people everywhere will understand without question. Love it is our greatest teacher, our highest blessing, and our greatest joy. Do not let the sun set on your anger and hatred; the winter night of pain and suffering is long and cold. Humanities infantile age of fear must come to an end if we are to mature into divine wisdom. The eternal message of all religions is this: Love thy neighbor, thyself, and thy God with all your heart. Weather you choose to do what you love, or to find the love in what you do; the most important thing is to find the love in who you are...find it and share it with all the world. You more than anyone in the entire universe are worthy of your own love and compassion, this is the teaching of the Buddha. The greatest treasure of all is hidden in the heart. Treasure this gift in yourself and you will come to recognize it in others. I too have a dream; perhaps not as eloquently spoken as Martin Luther King's; but too have an eternal dream. That dream is very simple. And, it is this vision I wish to share with all of you; dream friends I dream of the day when the sun will rise to find love present in every human heart, in every human action, and in every relativistic relationship we bear with each other. I dream of the day when all mountains of the ego will be made low, and all valleys of the heart will be exalted. I dream of the day when the noon days sun will no longer cast shadows of doubt and mistrust in the human mind. I dream of the day where the sun will never set to a continuation of humanities pain, suffering, and indifference. I dream of the day that there will be no turning away from the heart, all that we hold dear inside, and in our lives. I dream of the day when the whole world; our global village will stand unites as one, and there will be no more turning away. I invite you all to dream with me, to share in this vision. The day the sun rises a world where every heart everywhere is awake to boundless love, it will be the most beautiful sight our planet has ever seen. Trust in the unfathomable power of the human heart and this dream will explode into reality with such force no obstacle will be able to remain in its path. Let a river flow forth from every heart and we will create an ocean in which all life can rejoice. Live compassionately from the heart and a whole new dimension of experience will open up to you. This is my eternal Dream and this is my eternal message. And, this is my deepest wish for each and everyone of you; may we all watch the sun rise to the dawn of love in every human heart together. Shanti; in AUM and PREM.

Tech Support - Some Crazy Sunday Morning Thoughts

SwampGuy — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:18:01 GMT

Since we're really into outsourcing tech support to India these days, maybe we should outsource the U.S. government. Think about it. We could eliminate a bunch of controversy, wasteful spending and bureaucracy. Let's take the president of the United States to start. (No - this is not a political statement. All presidents and presidential candidates get equally dumped on here). Instead of the White House, we could have a little white cubicle in some call center located in, say, Bangalore, India. No more huge presidential staffs. Just a computer menu. No more red phone. Just a call center headset. No political campaigns. Just a call center interview. Worried about who will answer the phone if there's an emergency somewhere in the world at 3 a.m.? It will be a highly-motivated guy by the name of Vashun, working the U.S. president graveyard shift. Vashun will earn $3.24 an hour, with a possible bonus for call volume and productivity, and a commission on any products he can sell. He will have a heavy accent. He will get trained inside and out on what to do and say in all situations (supplemented by an elaborate computer-driven instructions which he can access by menu anytime). He will always be totally polite. If you wanna call Pres. Vashun and tell him the economy is in the pits, I can see it now ... "Good evening sir. My name is Vashun, president of the United States, night shift." "I am very sorry sir but I do not understand. What type of fruit contained the pit?" "Yes sir, I understand. Give me a moment sir. [computer keys clacking]. Sir, let me suggest a strongly inspirational speech urging consumers to increase their spending. We currently have seven speeches available." "Of course sir. I understand sir. After diagnosing the problem, I would suggest that we issue tax rebates." Early Sunday morning ramblings. OK, that's enough.

Tech Support

SwampGuy — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:06:57 GMT

I was talking to a guy on the Tech Support line of a large computer company that I won’t name yesterday. Vashun, or something like that. The paper wouldn’t pull through my photo printer correctly, and I figured it had something to do with new printer driver software that another Tech Support guy put in the day before. I told the guy at the start what I had done to test things, and I told him I was pretty sure the problem was with the new printer driver software. The guy went through a bunch of stuff with me – testing the printing, testing the scanning, plugging and unplugging cables, etc., etc., etc. Picture me in front of my computer at my work table, listening to this guy from India. (P.S. – nothing against India – it’s just weird that most tech support comes from there). OK, so here we are 12 or 13 minutes into the conversation: Me: “I really think there’s a problem with the printer driver your tech support person installed yesterday.” (About the 10th time I said this). India Guy: “Oh yes, I understand sir, but we are properly analyzing the issue and diagnosing the problem. I would now like to try another highly recommended approach to analyzing the problem. Is that acceptable, sir?” Me: “Sure.” India Guy: “Sir, do you have a vacuum cleaner available?” Me (not sure I heard right): “A vacuum cleaner?” India Guy: “Yes, sir. A vacuum cleaner. Do you have one available?” Me: “Are you serious?” India Guy: “Oh yes, sir. I will remain on the line while you locate your vacuum cleaner.” Me (can’t quite believe that he wants me to vacuum-clean the printer): “I really don’t think we need to vacuum the printer. It works fine when I make a copy. The problem is with printing and scanning. I’m pretty sure it’s the printer driver software.” (For about the 20th time). India Guy: “I understand sir, but we must properly identify the problem and correct it. May I ask you to retrieve your vacuum cleaner?” Me: I go downstairs and get the VC. I’m back in about a minute. Me: “OK, I have the vacuum cleaner.” India Guy: “Very good sir. Now would you plug it in?” (I already did that and told him). India Guy: “I see, sir. Now, do you have an edging attachment? (I did – already attached). India Guy: “Very good sir. Now would you place the attachment on your vacuum cleaner? (Told him I already did that). India Guy: “Sir, would you locate the power button on your vacuum cleaner and press it?” (I told him I knew how to turn the VC on). India Guy: “Sir, may I ask you to carefully run the vacuum cleaner around all four edges of the paper tray, and at the back of the printer.” Me: “I really think the problem is with the printer driver software.” (This is for the 25th time). India Guy: “I understand sir. But let us attempt to clean the machine with the vacuum cleaner. I will wait on the line while you complete the procedure.” Me: I did exactly what he told me. Now picture it: I am standing here running a vacuum cleaner around a piece of high-tech equipment because some guy on the other side of the globe told me to. I should have a picture of this! Me (after a minute or so of vacuuming): “I vacuumed the printer. What do we do now?” India Guy: “Very good sir. Now, may I ask you to turn the printer off and unplug the power cable.” Won’t go into all that happened next – it was pretty much a repeat of the first 10 or 15 minutes – disconnecting and reconnecting cables and power switches, and testing the printing and the scanning. Told him a few more times – I think the problem is the printer driver software. Result: Exactly the same as when we started. The printer didn’t print or scan. We are now about 35 minutes into the service call. India Guy: “Thank you for your cooperation, sir. My initial diagnosis of the problem is that we may have a problem with the printer driver software.” So he uninstalled the old driver software and reinstalled it. And then we tested the printer and, sure enough, the printer and scanner worked fine. Call took about 44 minutes.

STILLNESS AND UNIVERSAL SPIRITUALITY (GUEST BLOG BY ADAM PEARSON)

SwampGuy — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:26:42 GMT

Always thought stillness and silence and isolation and surrender must be part of just about every religious/spiritual tradition. Stillness takes you to new places, and opens up totally new ways of looking at the world. So last week I came upon Adam Pearson's great blog on this topic, and he told me it was OK to repost here. It's a great reminder about something that might be central to all spirituality. By Adam Pearson In Psalm 46:10 of the Hebrew Bible, we find a wonderful passage that reads: "Be still and know that I am God." The Hebrew stem here translated as "Be still" has the connotations of "cease striving," "surrender," "let go," or "make oneself weak before something" (a variant of submitting, surrendering). This is the essence of true prayer in Judaism. This ties in with the Hindu teaching that the search must be called off in submission to what is, surrendering, letting go, and realizing the Self in silence and stillness. It also connects with the Arabic root s-l-m. Arabic uses a nonconcatenative morphology so when vowels are inserted into this root, various words are generated, eg. salam (peace) and Islam (surrender). This of course, is the root from which the word "Islam" is derived, and so, combining the semantic meanings of "salam" and "Islam", we find that the Islamic tradition teaches that the essence of Islam is really deeply surrendering to God in peace, that is, "being still and knowing that I am God." The Muslim is also enjoined to be fully present in the 5 daily salah prayers, so this is a very mindful, present, surrendering to the eternal. And meditation in the Buddhist tradition is another variant of "being still and knowing," where the "being still" part is interpreted as "sitting in upright posture," and the knowing is interpreted as "being mindfully present." In Zen, it is in this state that the ever-present Buddha nature reveals itself to itself. Finally, Taoist practice, at least in the strand of Taoism called Philosophical Taoism, also involves being still and knowing, and this is at the heart of the Tao te Ching, since the "Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao," and only when the mind is quiet is the Tao realized. So we find the great historical traditions of the world all agreeing on the importance of this point, and may even claim that "being still and knowing" is an integral part of the human religious life more generally. By being still and knowing, re-ligion (re-connection with the eternal) is effected, and the realization of the ever-present is free to occur when reality wakes up to itself and knows itself as itself.

Places

SwampGuy — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:21:29 GMT

When you think about the place you live – or ANY place – you first think about the geography of the place, or maybe famous landmarks, or what the place is noted for in the historical or geographical annals. I just finished Mark Moran’s and Mark Sceurman’s "Weird New York. " The book gave me a whole new outlook on beautiful New York State. It didn’t focus on the NY highways, natural settings, cities or great landmarks. Instead, it was all about unexplained New York State water serpents, bizarre wilderness beats, roadside oddities, ghosts, and haunted places. Like the mystery lady of Lake Ronkonkoma. Or Pine Bush, the UFO Capital of New York (I never even heard of this place before reading the book). The alligators found in New York City sewers (yes – there have been some found there). The mysterious tunnels beneath Montauk, where bizarre mind control experiments have supposedly been conducted. Or the Lake Champlain serpent. Not that I think this stuff necessarily defines New York State. What I read mostly appeals to my curiosity and imagination. And maybe I’ll travel to some of those strange places this summer or next. But as I was thinking about the book, it got me thinking that the meaning of a “place” isn’t about where or what it is – but what it’s noted for. A “place” is all about the lore and myth and legends that defined it in the eyes of people who lived there 50, 100 or 200 years ago. Any “place” has greater meaning than its physical location or appearance. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a state, a city or town, a region, a neighborhood, even a house. The “place” is all about its longstanding meaning and perception (that big term again) and position in the collective memories and the soul.