jimwdollar

It’s a Shifting Perspective…

We are all fundamentalist fanatics at heart. We are all literalists at heart. We hate ambivalence and ambiguity, and want things to be nailed down, spelled out, clearly defined. We want things to be black or white, right or wrong, cut and dried, one way or the other—and to stay that way! We want toContinue reading “It’s a Shifting Perspective…”

Learning to be Individuals

As a species, we are moving out of the tribal orientation of group think —where no one had an idea of her, of his, own, and everyone lived the way life had always been lived before them —where everyone knew how it was supposed to be done, because nothing new was ever done —where theContinue reading “Learning to be Individuals”

Creating a Worthy Life

Brooks Vance advised his wife, “Don’t add up the liabilities, Louise. It will only depress you.” This is not denial. This is recognizing the futility of rehashing what has been done to us, of living with our backs to the future and our arms reaching out to that which cannot be. The spiritual task isContinue reading “Creating a Worthy Life”

Walking Two Paths at the Same Time

Distractions abound. I am continually amazed at, and dumbfounded by, how little it takes to switch me from the main track into the trackless wasteland. We have to be mindful of the distractions swirling around us, avoid those that can be avoided, wake up to those that blindside us, and bring ourselves back to theContinue reading “Walking Two Paths at the Same Time”

What We Get Is Who We Are

Wholeness is the goal. Wholeness is a function of integrity, congruity, at-one-ment with ourselves, and with each other. It is the hardest thing. To say “God is one,” is to say all we need to say about God. When God speaks to Moses, and Moses asks the name of God, so that he, Moses, mightContinue reading “What We Get Is Who We Are”

Of Dreams and Treasure

Pursuing the dream, we stumble upon the treasure. Will we recognize the value of that which is more valuable than the dream? We sail west looking for a short cut to India, and run into the New World. And see it, not as a treasure, but as a barrier to the dream, and keep lookingContinue reading “Of Dreams and Treasure”

Stay on the Beam!

The spiritual quest is the search for that which brings us to life, for that which grounds us in, and opens us to, life—connecting us with what is meaningful for us. It all comes down to getting our heart together with our life! We spend our life looking for life. Life lies all about usContinue reading “Stay on the Beam!”

Right Belief

Thich Nhat Hanh believes that we should eat an orange in a certain way in order to be mindful of the experience of eating the orange. You know by now that mindfulness is the cornerstone of my approach to life, living and being alive. “Mindfulness leads the way.” I use that phrase as much asContinue reading “Right Belief”

The Freedom to Be Here Now

We have been hearing from quantum physics over the recent past about the fluid nature of apparent reality, and how we invest facts and experience with meaning which colors the facts and the experience, becomes inseparable from them, and makes them into something more than they were by themselves, before we became involved with them.Continue reading “The Freedom to Be Here Now”

The Bible as Mirror, Map and Metaphor

The last time the world ended, only a few thousand of us survived. That’s probably the way it will be the next time the world ends. The world has ended at least five times (Near extinctions, the experts call it) since it evolved to the point where we would recognize a beginning and an end.Continue reading “The Bible as Mirror, Map and Metaphor”