When your mind is full of assumptions, conclusions, and belief's, it has no penetration, it just repeats past beliefs. - unknown And images. Images of what's supposed to be. Images, for me, are almost always about the way things should be. I rarely have images of the way things shouldn't be. In fact, never. But... Continue Reading →
"Some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, or end." - Guilda Radner The power was out, and that meant traffic lights weren't working. And although there were backups and delays, everyone was showing how spatially talented they were by zipping through four way stops without a hitch. How polite... Continue Reading →
"Our intention creates our reality." - Wayne Dyer I despise these statements. Well, perhaps despise isn't the best description. Perhaps they open up a sadness. An intent says nothing, it's another idea about life, but life is never based on ideas. "I intend to be kind today" I can announce grandly, and later on that... Continue Reading →
"Happiness is a state of mind. It's just according to the way you look at things." - Walt Disney Really? The group yesterday was focused on happiness and what it took for us unhappy humans to be happy. After a long discussion about happiness the Zen person who was running the group announced that "In... Continue Reading →
Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor." - Thich Nhat Hanh Lately I've been noticing that constant flow of emotions, moods, and feelings that have such a profound impact on my perspectives of the moment. Noticing how these mysterious "feelings" and moods rise and "color" my experiences... Continue Reading →
"A 'teacher' is one who progressively makes themselves unnecessary" - Thomas Carruthers Who's your teacher? A question that gets asked a lot in some circles. Along with "What's your practice?" I follow so and so, I went to a retreat with so and so, I spent a lot of time with so and so, and... Continue Reading →
You begin saving the world by saving one man (person) at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics. - Charles Bukowski (and Gautama) OK. But who said I needed saving? Saving from what? I could say "I" need saving, but there isn't a permanent self to be saved from. It feels like what... Continue Reading →
There is an update to the page entitled "tasks" if you are following the process. It can be accessed on the page entitled Tasks.
"Impermanence is the only permanence." - An Observation We, the Gautama alike people, arrived at that same conclusion, there is no permanent self. People seem to believe that not being permanent is a problem. It's not. But what is a problem is that although we might meditate mightily every day to achieve "oneness with the... Continue Reading →
"The future starts today, not tomorrow." - John Paul Yes, that John Paul, the second one, not the bass player. I love this simple statement. Yet the future doesn't really "start" or "stop" does it? I have all these ways of describing our experiences with time but none of them are or can be accurate.... Continue Reading →
“Opinions are fantasy. They may be based on fact or not. Opinion presents personal bias and pre-conclusion. Opinions are language trading cards, we use them to gain value and hope to make them true. – People’s Dharma Circle
“The quality of your life will depend entirely upon the focus of your attention.” – Huber
Visions of a People's Dharma 