tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-335267542024-03-05T18:57:37.228-08:00Loon's WayLoonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05751913585166549572noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33526754.post-59120432776525524262009-09-19T14:45:00.000-07:002009-09-19T21:24:31.241-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Karma and Kelp</b></span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Karma</i>: Sanskrit, act, action, deed; that which leads to the cycle of cause and effect.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Kelp</i>: a type of giant brown alga; on the California coast, a keystone species for the Kelp Forest ecosystem.<br />
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Perhaps it's because I'm uncomfortable with a word I didn't grow up with, I hesitate to use the word "<i>karma</i>" very freely. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Even though I've been "studying" <i>karma</i> and having the effects of <i>karma</i> explode up my nose times too numerous to grasp--- it's still a leap to assume someone will hear me or read me and not be put off if I use the word. Wikipedia lists it, though I don't find their meaning too helpful.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">My first impression of what karma meant was that it described the universe getting back at me for all the mistakes made in all my previous incarnations (if any), sort of like endless purgatory and punishments. Bad things, or good things even, were the result of stuff this soul was involved with in previous incarnations, which "I" in this life would never be able to remember. That just seemed to suck, and I rebelled at a philosophy that enshrined such inescapability of blameful pain. Also, I'm a scientist, and wonder how seriously I can take these qualities I can't verify or test.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">One of the most reassuring teachings I've been given about karma is that this word describes something we all have, unavoidably, from beginningless time, because we are all conditional beings. Our very existence depends on so many accidental conditions, conditions from unimaginably deep time. We'll never know what they are, or understand them. Contingencies beyond contingencies. Just relax and admit, everything I call "me" depends on so many conditions I'll never know or understand. And all those conditions are intertwined and interdependent. Twisted. Tangled.<br />
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Once a month, on the Saturday closest to the full moon, the gathered people at the Berkeley Zen Center recite Bodhisattva vows. These begin with the verse:<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>All my ancient, tangled karma</b><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> From beginningless greed, hate and delusion,</b><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Born through body, speech and mind,</b><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>I now fully avow.</b><br />
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This verse sprang into my heart-mind on a recent trip to the ocean, as I entered the presence of numberless tangled, twisted clumps of kelp washed up on the beach, dying, going back to earth.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">THIS feels like karma, said a voice inside.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">These tangled bunches were gently swaying fronds in the kelp-beds just a short while ago.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">They were part of the jungle-forest of the cold California Current and the rich nutrient upwelling and the sunlight and the stilling of the winter storms and the pruning of the furry sea otters and the munching of the sea urchins and the grasping of the abalone. These were part of the wilderness explored by wet-suited divers and white sharks, who have to learn how to navigate through the fronds without getting tangled themselves. All are conditional, all dependent, all impermanent.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Something tore these fronds away from their anchors. Conditions. Karma. Here are their roots, their hold-fasts. <br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">They floated away on the ocean swells. The intertwined with others like themselves. The currents carried them far, or near. The crashing surf tumbled them around. They became more and more tangled and twisted. All conditional, and yet, once tangled, never to be untangled in this body.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">The rising tide floated the tangled kelp-karma up onto the beach. The bouyant floats weren't above being caught in the sand.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sometimes birds or other beings became caught in the tangles.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">The tides come and go.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The sun and the fog and the air are at work.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Soon the bodies will release into other forms and be part of the ocean and earth and air again.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">From beginningless time.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">We are not different from this. Our lives have tangles less easy to see, perhaps, but the energies around us entangle and entwine us just as surely as they do the kelp.<br />
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There is no other life.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Loonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05751913585166549572noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33526754.post-43919116702341228342009-09-13T17:26:00.000-07:002009-09-13T17:26:22.634-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A Sunday Meme Page 123</b></span></div><br />
Reading with delight the meme posted by Dan Gurney at <a href="http://mindfulheart.blogspot.com/">A Mindful Heart</a>, which in turn came from Sara Lulu at <a href="http://serendipitylulu.blogspot.com/">Normal is a cycle on a washing machine</a>, I picked up the closest book with at least 123 pages, looked up page 123, went to the fifth sentence and now share <b>three sentences</b>...well, and just two more...<br />
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From Wendy Johnson, <i>Gardening at the Dragon's Gate, At work in the wild and cultivated world</i>.<br />
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I<b> go to the redwoods for a little breathing room; not to <i>escape</i> the garden, exactly, more to be able to see and hear it again, fresh. It is cool in the woods, and dark. The out-breath of the forest is thick with saturated oxygen.</b> I take my place among the elders, a gnat on the hide of God. A virgin's bower clematis climbs a hundred feet up from the floor of the forest and tangles overhead in the cathedral-like arched branches of the redwoods, where a pair of ruby-crowned kinglets have built their nest.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53Po72KHS7XyPWjfL0Gf3IpvmKdUi4kxaK2ueixccNKnXI6_y7OztOqVKBJDunbjAoLeYm_XNarT8ISkjwhydKbUg8VhhA1u6GJMk_TQ_8_zv5tfX2CjjJFF7xKKmElX9mKAQ/s1600-h/DragonCover.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53Po72KHS7XyPWjfL0Gf3IpvmKdUi4kxaK2ueixccNKnXI6_y7OztOqVKBJDunbjAoLeYm_XNarT8ISkjwhydKbUg8VhhA1u6GJMk_TQ_8_zv5tfX2CjjJFF7xKKmElX9mKAQ/s320/DragonCover.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The last instruction is to tag 5 more people to do this. If you decide to do this, please leave a post here and share with the rest of us what you've been reading, and the message from where this shot-in-the-dark arrow landed. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">On a Sunday filled with the moisture of a hurricane, preceded by thunder and lightning that "never" happen to us here in the Bay Area, and in the midst of unsettling times, I hope all will have a moment, at least, of true rest.</div>Loonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05751913585166549572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33526754.post-8830587983320935872009-08-28T16:41:00.000-07:002009-08-28T16:41:04.015-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A Walk in the Neighborhood with an Eye to the "Incongruous" (whatever that is)</b></span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Over at the blog <a href="http://mytownshootout.blogspot.com/">"Friday My Town Shootout"</a> it's incongruous photos in my town as the challenge this week. Taking up the challenge in a pedestrian kind of way, here are some ideas and some comments from the way-seeking mind.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVYhsYGJssa9FvNanglI-MF33ed-zwsFC0fMHlAcjo1i8UFwLaYNKrykgKMFPM8g_22q6J3l0LUX_elduuI1PhFGd-jrCD5MAABqWs-oBHn7Zv9fkXzljKum3W47oFbh6lU_PC/s1600-h/FenceLilies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVYhsYGJssa9FvNanglI-MF33ed-zwsFC0fMHlAcjo1i8UFwLaYNKrykgKMFPM8g_22q6J3l0LUX_elduuI1PhFGd-jrCD5MAABqWs-oBHn7Zv9fkXzljKum3W47oFbh6lU_PC/s320/FenceLilies.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Good fences make good neighbors?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Did the fence come before or after the flowers?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Xg4lTDFnUmpzth-MZ6-niWogqZBbQo63xST2JALO8O1SYKFYL8F4ceWQOnwi11GehoIN-a7GDLCEEN2cHRIVowy-0RHg4EzEH9AQ8OLdRGVS9tGuwC9TrSvhqoiqh5hSI9lq/s1600-h/Amaryllis2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Xg4lTDFnUmpzth-MZ6-niWogqZBbQo63xST2JALO8O1SYKFYL8F4ceWQOnwi11GehoIN-a7GDLCEEN2cHRIVowy-0RHg4EzEH9AQ8OLdRGVS9tGuwC9TrSvhqoiqh5hSI9lq/s320/Amaryllis2.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">These are amaryllis.</div><div style="text-align: left;">They bloom every year from baked dry ground</div><div style="text-align: left;">Where no leaves show,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Just at Lughnasad, beginning of August.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Around here we call them</div><div style="text-align: left;">Naked Ladies. Does anyone know</div><div style="text-align: left;">Where this name came from and when?</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">I admire how the spiralled slender stalks</div><div style="text-align: left;">Hold up the heavy heads of flowers for</div><div style="text-align: left;">A whole month or more, with no water,</div><div style="text-align: left;">No visible means of support. </div><div style="text-align: left;">They shine in the hot sun and don't wilt.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Amazing practice.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">I don't think they came from these parts</div><div style="text-align: left;">To start out with, though. Who saw fit</div><div style="text-align: left;">To bring these beauties here?</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrneGjv18AmjlboUhNKwZ2bkv6fjuPUMjnE1gkqt6ZlPS9ELk8BUfywbMrjVFeRzQrALZ0Ut96OKYJKVx_zurFeow0feYBkKyOWXouz7VxD4pJEasYiAdB8w0Tw0wNv9Q_PnAb/s1600-h/Amaryllis1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrneGjv18AmjlboUhNKwZ2bkv6fjuPUMjnE1gkqt6ZlPS9ELk8BUfywbMrjVFeRzQrALZ0Ut96OKYJKVx_zurFeow0feYBkKyOWXouz7VxD4pJEasYiAdB8w0Tw0wNv9Q_PnAb/s320/Amaryllis1.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgez8rsOahAWl2fdPz22FleP8kmvzr4F4RHWxr-QciW9pUIJhO60l6GySeEl1GLgLh5e7C0Mduk6_Crv90cCJtlOv51d68Zhyt7fb9Q3ebhCTMfks-vGJwzcHKIz4mMxPtwAW4X/s1600-h/Watcher.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgez8rsOahAWl2fdPz22FleP8kmvzr4F4RHWxr-QciW9pUIJhO60l6GySeEl1GLgLh5e7C0Mduk6_Crv90cCJtlOv51d68Zhyt7fb9Q3ebhCTMfks-vGJwzcHKIz4mMxPtwAW4X/s320/Watcher.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is the newest neighborhood watch sign.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ymh-BMG9xyZD45QcnuwJreLc0MsuQR3yQqYZ6gJ_IPBELsSSPijGMTUoiufJiF1sxhD4n_wWzkstn11ZcGC0zjpS3tUk2_9S4Xr_wa9sg6hZBZQrUHcTL-CRt53RbBrHw2mz/s1600-h/WelcomeSign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ymh-BMG9xyZD45QcnuwJreLc0MsuQR3yQqYZ6gJ_IPBELsSSPijGMTUoiufJiF1sxhD4n_wWzkstn11ZcGC0zjpS3tUk2_9S4Xr_wa9sg6hZBZQrUHcTL-CRt53RbBrHw2mz/s320/WelcomeSign.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And this is the Welcome Sign.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgAx2tMo8CkCwBzQ1vr-UsQuhyphenhyphenlWxZVlsNFtztRFlcv4NVKblBj8dDYVOpHmiwnaQR78iGDfCA62Dun7_gayf2LlcY74vrpnEeNZfki9GQ6ZWHGWpE0AVx4zwCaL0NXRdDeCR/s1600-h/Walker.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgAx2tMo8CkCwBzQ1vr-UsQuhyphenhyphenlWxZVlsNFtztRFlcv4NVKblBj8dDYVOpHmiwnaQR78iGDfCA62Dun7_gayf2LlcY74vrpnEeNZfki9GQ6ZWHGWpE0AVx4zwCaL0NXRdDeCR/s320/Walker.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Much appreciated by this gentleman on his rounds,</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJUfrv661PhGu5RfP1-koB-60DEaulhwpyQ5hrahDNI-dPFF30MYvG6yzUNSxXj-jrvIWtEcwuE27F0kNtL45XuFySx3VGnc5kVnXlCiF7LfmqZgYAYX6wtxkvKyZutoR2M1S/s1600-h/StepHeads.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJUfrv661PhGu5RfP1-koB-60DEaulhwpyQ5hrahDNI-dPFF30MYvG6yzUNSxXj-jrvIWtEcwuE27F0kNtL45XuFySx3VGnc5kVnXlCiF7LfmqZgYAYX6wtxkvKyZutoR2M1S/s320/StepHeads.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And these ladies, as well.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfCjNcK7LVQTvRVFfkgZfmbKn38MpScjVFCTDdnQVggUs_ByoC8WjegdsGz_RLpFfbG3ORowYgc61T6H44JU2IfLnJvcbYZKMHecdoQ3mGF48ClmbAJG1JQvi_3lp0DBSaaPU/s1600-h/SolarYurt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfCjNcK7LVQTvRVFfkgZfmbKn38MpScjVFCTDdnQVggUs_ByoC8WjegdsGz_RLpFfbG3ORowYgc61T6H44JU2IfLnJvcbYZKMHecdoQ3mGF48ClmbAJG1JQvi_3lp0DBSaaPU/s320/SolarYurt.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">For our final feature, analogous to the satellite dish</div><div style="text-align: center;">on top of the igloo </div><div style="text-align: center;">over at the blog <a href="http://wherescindynow.blogspot.com/">....Just Alaska,</a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">we have the neighborhood yurt on top of the</div><div style="text-align: center;">rockingest solar panel array in the East Bay.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are more and stranger things in our universe than we dare ever see.<br />
Incongruity is probably in the eye of the beholder, and if we had true beginner's mind, we would never be able to catch that incongruity--it's all just things-as-it-is, as Suzuki Roshi would say.</div>Loonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05751913585166549572noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33526754.post-334547267180628862009-08-25T21:28:00.000-07:002009-08-25T21:31:23.151-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Does a dog have true nature?</b></span><br />
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Freya and I live side by side, but hardly in the same world.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">At night, she gets up from time to time, circles 2 3 4 5 times and flops</div><div style="text-align: left;">gently oozing her body up against mine. It must help with my snoring.</div><div style="text-align: left;">By morning, she has oozed me over the edge of the bed.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Sometimes I wake to her vivid dream</div><div style="text-align: left;">Dodging, twitching, yipping, leaping for that squirrel</div><div style="text-align: left;">That just escapes, again. </div><div style="text-align: left;">What does the squirrel's tail</div><div style="text-align: left;">Look like or smell like to her in her dream?</div><div style="text-align: left;">What is the dog-version of squirrel's true being?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-pcUMAdCFU231Wgihi_ZW_aPU4JWT71di9Cz88TRYZAlAOQZ8E3CRUd98u9IjzMxYL8-d_96gkTdl7ICBfi5l_oo7oAvEyNBAKyrKONAz1USnNMSH_qOwv-A-QPDEL4LCfGG/s1600-h/squirrel3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-pcUMAdCFU231Wgihi_ZW_aPU4JWT71di9Cz88TRYZAlAOQZ8E3CRUd98u9IjzMxYL8-d_96gkTdl7ICBfi5l_oo7oAvEyNBAKyrKONAz1USnNMSH_qOwv-A-QPDEL4LCfGG/s320/squirrel3.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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I think her squirrel is not the same as mine:<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> bushy russet tail sharp sharp glittering black eyes,</div><div style="text-align: center;"> claws, twitching nose, patient regard for us</div><div style="text-align: center;"> down here below, total ownership of telephone wires</div><div style="text-align: center;"> and walnut tree, absorption in taking a nut to pieces,</div><div style="text-align: center;"> oblivious to the magnificent soaring leap Freya has made,</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"> so acrobatic herself but no match for squirrel's speed and balance.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxzCt6R99SPhArmj1e-6EPkYMLySPZvwV2Q8x63oMgFhLKzJ5FTJa3QFJ94Z5LACOGlgZbRbBO1Fu0fGoxx0KL8ZUryGWpzqYna7iikCaDTXssk-s7Z5vJHpVandmWASSVd-6/s1600-h/FreyaWalnut.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxzCt6R99SPhArmj1e-6EPkYMLySPZvwV2Q8x63oMgFhLKzJ5FTJa3QFJ94Z5LACOGlgZbRbBO1Fu0fGoxx0KL8ZUryGWpzqYna7iikCaDTXssk-s7Z5vJHpVandmWASSVd-6/s320/FreyaWalnut.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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I try to "see" squirrel from Freya's place. Just one piece of a</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Huge Puzzle. <br />
I can only see the way every hair in her is quivering, electrified. <br />
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And that she can Stop, totally Stop the World, body and mind<br />
totally dropped away.<br />
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Waiting for that squirrel to Come Down into her<br />
Irresistable Force Field.<br />
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No matter how many times squirrel has shown it is<br />
Above and Beyond Her Reach.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>What might Freya say if she had words?<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">We Dance together.</div><div style="text-align: center;">So great to have something small and furry </div><div style="text-align: center;">and quick-moving to go for. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Heart surges, gets huge in my chest. Every muscle waits. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I know one of these time I'll get my mouth on it. Chomp! </div><div style="text-align: center;">For this I was born, for this I came.</div><div style="text-align: center;">No life apart from now, now, now, the dance together.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Apart from that, boring boring boring.<br />
Same food every day. Chairs are soft</div><div style="text-align: center;">and don't fit quite right.<br />
Walks too short and too seldom, </div><div style="text-align: center;">but</div><div style="text-align: center;">I take what I get and I don't get upset.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mLGfuo1VWyRDX-ago6zpukdzCnNWVc1pOOHxSMKMzhDic24Yfqvvm1rII0sx7hUpxQRiqqkN9_wxZ2EaX7NXHs7ztdlUcFFXG6Af-9vdwqopKDarEQ11uEBqVWsPV1u0-rHs/s1600-h/CatStalk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mLGfuo1VWyRDX-ago6zpukdzCnNWVc1pOOHxSMKMzhDic24Yfqvvm1rII0sx7hUpxQRiqqkN9_wxZ2EaX7NXHs7ztdlUcFFXG6Af-9vdwqopKDarEQ11uEBqVWsPV1u0-rHs/s200/CatStalk.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqq9DaNZ3dQTbOYEVZkRA10M6vv83QbJE17645PPz9SF7e75YKJErYDOrH0Z2XmE7zTiwKVTJnGnc4xsXPdENn9TV8JlNDVLqHF69fHkvQDFN8mh-GRaz-E_scv-nFl9gM81yz/s1600-h/FreyaFish.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqq9DaNZ3dQTbOYEVZkRA10M6vv83QbJE17645PPz9SF7e75YKJErYDOrH0Z2XmE7zTiwKVTJnGnc4xsXPdENn9TV8JlNDVLqHF69fHkvQDFN8mh-GRaz-E_scv-nFl9gM81yz/s320/FreyaFish.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Squirrel and cat, moths, flies and bones, </div><div style="text-align: center;">the dead fish and dead birds on the beach,</div><div style="text-align: center;">so delicious to roll in.</div><div style="text-align: center;">There is no other life. </div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Loonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05751913585166549572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33526754.post-62099524655782606612009-08-24T10:30:00.000-07:002009-09-19T21:22:49.799-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>What can we say that's true?</b></span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhhrEFQ-vu2xApvdFFkydDoJw4sW8y6nVrBKY1MMEUC0MMJnmYu8VRYqinawCafPy2OHAv3K9HxTaB9JjXkxJ37lKyNrcGGi8XK2s1UAqMgLkktDe3q1EOmGaYkvTuN0pFFOV/s1600-h/crabQ.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhhrEFQ-vu2xApvdFFkydDoJw4sW8y6nVrBKY1MMEUC0MMJnmYu8VRYqinawCafPy2OHAv3K9HxTaB9JjXkxJ37lKyNrcGGi8XK2s1UAqMgLkktDe3q1EOmGaYkvTuN0pFFOV/s320/crabQ.JPG" /></a><br />
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<b> </b><b> <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"> Long ago I concluded that "god-talk" was delusionary. Human equipment is too small to grasp What Is, Is-ness, what moves the sun and the other stars, what time is, Before, Now, After, etc. etc. And our language is even more inadequate when we try to share intimations we've had. We continue to be the blind ones trying to talk to each other about the Elephant. Even talk not using the term "god" has the same problems.<br />
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Sometimes I get a glimpse of what being-in-itself might be, looming just outside perception. If each of us has this essence, this buddha-nature, it must always already be actually there. One night, I was taking in the fading light of dusk, looking west, and experienced the Dark emerging from the Light. All day we walk around under what we call The Sky, as if it were an object. The brilliance of the sky takes over our sensorium, our awareness. But the <b>Dark</b> is out there all the time. It never actually goes away.<br />
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All the stars and the galaxies are always already there, emitting their light, too, in the midst of deep space and void. (How few years we humans have actually had instruments to let us "see" them there.) All day long, the buzz of all the nearer sunlight in our eyes keeps us from seeing them. We think the sky is a solid sphere enclosing us. Illusion. Yet not illusion.<br />
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I'm off to walk through my day with this nugget to chew on. May all beings realize their true nature.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCuFDWLjpawxpQeuSXOPagNovPJyIs8FRdh0zszToMNKoeqMlMtT0t7SRwPk4zI-P4OyupCMCMcoaStlrHMZk1NJ4Sw0CZad3kZUsi-ZPhMMvjveB7Nxtc1I8tcTIvX0x9Uh1V/s1600-h/sunsetmoon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCuFDWLjpawxpQeuSXOPagNovPJyIs8FRdh0zszToMNKoeqMlMtT0t7SRwPk4zI-P4OyupCMCMcoaStlrHMZk1NJ4Sw0CZad3kZUsi-ZPhMMvjveB7Nxtc1I8tcTIvX0x9Uh1V/s320/sunsetmoon.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Loonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05751913585166549572noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33526754.post-72406529594988497882009-08-21T18:56:00.000-07:002009-08-21T18:56:41.275-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"> <b>The Odd Signs of the Times in California<br />
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Having delighted in the photos I just discovered on "My Town Friday Shoot-Out", I am uploading a few amusing sign photos, some local to the Bay Area, some from the "local" Sierra, in honor of this week's challenge: Funny Signs from My Town. Where is "my town" these days, anyway? Who is the "I" to have a town? Our dog, Freya, has her own take on these things.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihMIOjZ2WIHL3kgo7_sqhnjvYCzDKMqwWTWau2WdC6VaNrAwfUfN2DGpF9WWyF7ZsdbdD8PhXAjVKZ1djCIdyPJ4L55-k2w_Pf8Aw8nyOTwg7omr1shJux-_oMBOtlceb2f8cd/s1600-h/Ducksign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihMIOjZ2WIHL3kgo7_sqhnjvYCzDKMqwWTWau2WdC6VaNrAwfUfN2DGpF9WWyF7ZsdbdD8PhXAjVKZ1djCIdyPJ4L55-k2w_Pf8Aw8nyOTwg7omr1shJux-_oMBOtlceb2f8cd/s320/Ducksign.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That which is emptiness is form, that which is form is emptiness. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF22PP0BcY6ybVoC4pG0-3KqnevQ3SgML2L-hcZStuAyb5HDTxv-8RzxHnW2jzjWEceha3wBCJ_Yxzw1pdM7F2CtjrPaHO_V6O-hTrzqMtDx1heSDj7tu013-0xpT-EBRMge70/s1600-h/TellStory.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF22PP0BcY6ybVoC4pG0-3KqnevQ3SgML2L-hcZStuAyb5HDTxv-8RzxHnW2jzjWEceha3wBCJ_Yxzw1pdM7F2CtjrPaHO_V6O-hTrzqMtDx1heSDj7tu013-0xpT-EBRMge70/s320/TellStory.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'll bet there's a good story here. Let's see.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdO2IHWsCePReTcrgdAyyupMZTAmIHgAupZA12pW035wxOdXzj9DPYp-_b7BrrenXltPeDOQZfkNQGzpCNcybE2pvlbcEjoDJOt_qRPmpDN7alrd1zOQOe9yy0CJTZswgEoWh/s1600-h/WallStreet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdO2IHWsCePReTcrgdAyyupMZTAmIHgAupZA12pW035wxOdXzj9DPYp-_b7BrrenXltPeDOQZfkNQGzpCNcybE2pvlbcEjoDJOt_qRPmpDN7alrd1zOQOe9yy0CJTZswgEoWh/s320/WallStreet.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">They tell me the dogs of the Dow aren't welcome around here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1byKpSSs-0WUmjtFtpi_o5aAM6sHc0BSdKZP87KwdzupEFsLY3XAl4I-Ci-3KuKDHhYnSReIxaDBF7vO36jz7HoMnh4kZZdTo4QUWpSNIhy9uNoYqwZGz0JvYkKoTznrxqsxL/s1600-h/NoGuar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1byKpSSs-0WUmjtFtpi_o5aAM6sHc0BSdKZP87KwdzupEFsLY3XAl4I-Ci-3KuKDHhYnSReIxaDBF7vO36jz7HoMnh4kZZdTo4QUWpSNIhy9uNoYqwZGz0JvYkKoTznrxqsxL/s320/NoGuar.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In this economy, no guarantees.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVIrWUNBHhooP7uopu8MhTjkEkbpuetpOgX4yNBkTAs5EOW75ak42P13YxWyvsbRSeIv6JDVhvJcczhbFrtoW9ktaA9EbMT5u_FXl8ZF25sSlrmjLtf2LfvmfnqXvv7pAcFxG/s1600-h/WetDogsJPG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVIrWUNBHhooP7uopu8MhTjkEkbpuetpOgX4yNBkTAs5EOW75ak42P13YxWyvsbRSeIv6JDVhvJcczhbFrtoW9ktaA9EbMT5u_FXl8ZF25sSlrmjLtf2LfvmfnqXvv7pAcFxG/s320/WetDogsJPG.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It wasn't our fault we all took a bath.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">How do we get out of this mess?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWvGcPI6vHttjmCdxHKsP8ukL9HDFbaq13DJQznmxA6_e5n12IVt_KL1vIQQm29_qL1I8FwIbpFhNRzzp30dNGSVkbSWAuORXRLVCn1VA7MgleogFHtk9sBH0tQaVv8nCVQOx/s1600-h/LichenPeds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWvGcPI6vHttjmCdxHKsP8ukL9HDFbaq13DJQznmxA6_e5n12IVt_KL1vIQQm29_qL1I8FwIbpFhNRzzp30dNGSVkbSWAuORXRLVCn1VA7MgleogFHtk9sBH0tQaVv8nCVQOx/s320/LichenPeds.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">If the pediatricians look like this, what is the chance for the rest of us in the health care world?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Altogether, Signs of the Times are most amusing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">May you continue to live in Interesting Times, and have your eyes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">open for the funny edge of things! </div></div>Loonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05751913585166549572noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33526754.post-87539581180620007412009-07-16T14:47:00.000-07:002009-07-16T15:15:36.984-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTdkO6Z0t2nWrw4Ttra2finTinTTLPfOQy59l2MWmzMwNr92og56pcNHMhLHWGJE7jCme-Ijc-y7mkpB1XpL0LPAqwl5-OrH6GzG_Ew-E4QxWhPKPht1qoTd6xl2G5_wPi94g/s1600-h/ElephantWalk6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 131px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTdkO6Z0t2nWrw4Ttra2finTinTTLPfOQy59l2MWmzMwNr92og56pcNHMhLHWGJE7jCme-Ijc-y7mkpB1XpL0LPAqwl5-OrH6GzG_Ew-E4QxWhPKPht1qoTd6xl2G5_wPi94g/s200/ElephantWalk6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359180488390232034" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilT0elefysWZuZ4O3-Yw_MSi9losdUYNFOVvo_0ZaeWqTgKMsVleUtuxJkBawDF4XT9gJwuZ3ypWPIkwVFKCUIQpp-JrRU91-TgKMH6iZc6jWNw4tFi3XJrJEKszjiQkkG_ueb/s1600-h/ElephantWalk1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 129px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilT0elefysWZuZ4O3-Yw_MSi9losdUYNFOVvo_0ZaeWqTgKMsVleUtuxJkBawDF4XT9gJwuZ3ypWPIkwVFKCUIQpp-JrRU91-TgKMH6iZc6jWNw4tFi3XJrJEKszjiQkkG_ueb/s200/ElephantWalk1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359178592441627970" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLM2JmE1kE6tryhyphenhyphenatYRfb9nhwOv4qOoYgPoBuffzO_TmhgY1CtDvIxAe_L9Tm4zi43Ee3THYRPNVWwhcKDyqtvQjp4e-1D4FXMbWIuTOh8mae28rp9tTGdTaGyYBDvQaUJT2q/s1600-h/ElephantWalk5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 136px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLM2JmE1kE6tryhyphenhyphenatYRfb9nhwOv4qOoYgPoBuffzO_TmhgY1CtDvIxAe_L9Tm4zi43Ee3THYRPNVWwhcKDyqtvQjp4e-1D4FXMbWIuTOh8mae28rp9tTGdTaGyYBDvQaUJT2q/s200/ElephantWalk5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359180309471849794" border="0" /></a><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht50I0T9bwchfTdg4scpXs11VjJw5K10jEP6u1Z_GqQ3xz49VQ1LEyTVmbM91dxasTwHLWt8N-_8smbXH2H_OIOZXltWrIkxaq78pNs9lDg7IBd2VTR5eaXgUe1jDgl6zWqC-r/s1600-h/ElephantWalk4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 118px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht50I0T9bwchfTdg4scpXs11VjJw5K10jEP6u1Z_GqQ3xz49VQ1LEyTVmbM91dxasTwHLWt8N-_8smbXH2H_OIOZXltWrIkxaq78pNs9lDg7IBd2VTR5eaXgUe1jDgl6zWqC-r/s200/ElephantWalk4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359180114544591122" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuIvvxHB6xt6aByTyTlf1lR93hPgsUH9vPv-hwH_8r_QEETeI2MU3nAB7zbfl3WEqxECklbm6PoQPktuS9YovbJP6sgBXf0-uSfwwm9XaNLLLnMCUUveZdih4imdAgngOo_dD/s1600-h/ElephantWalk3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuIvvxHB6xt6aByTyTlf1lR93hPgsUH9vPv-hwH_8r_QEETeI2MU3nAB7zbfl3WEqxECklbm6PoQPktuS9YovbJP6sgBXf0-uSfwwm9XaNLLLnMCUUveZdih4imdAgngOo_dD/s200/ElephantWalk3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359179901109271618" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:180%;">The Elephants are Walking</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">How do Elephants do Kinhin?<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: normal;">Right foot, left foot, hum, ho, ho, ho.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The elephants are walking<br />in the morning slant sunrays<br />softly like rain through the dry savannah<br />walking to water<br />little ones at the feet of the mothers<br />the mothers' ears the tails the group<br />is the living animal<br />at the rear a lone male carefully keeps his distance<br /><br />Today the setting sunrays slant in my eyes<br />through California savannah oak woodland<br />I see the trees smell the smells hear the birds<br />delight in the golden glow<br />wonder why I feel the elephants walking<br />see them only with inner eyes not outer.<br /><br />Somewhere the elephants are walking and my soul wants<br />to walk out of here and protect the earth<br />Buddha nature we may each have,<br />we may all be equal in this, but something is very wrong.<br />My heart is breaking.<br />I don't know where to turn.<br />Joy and the song start sobbing.<br />Tonight I feel like the lone male, following after the family,<br />mothers, babes, rambunctious kids, restless teenagers.<br />There may be some Way,<br />walking together-apart.<br /><br />Be present, show up.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div></div><br /></div></div>Loonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05751913585166549572noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33526754.post-23080822736053053502008-09-03T10:51:00.000-07:002008-09-03T11:19:39.266-07:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Two years after the fact</span><br /><br />I started this blog while traveling in Asia in 2006. But managing to post and continue it while on the road turned out to be beyond me. To everyone who said I should be blogging and showing the visuals to go along with the story, deepest thanks and apologies for not managing it at the time.<br /><br />My daughter, Celia, is now breaking trail. She's got me inspired. To understand what I mean, <span style="font-size:100%;">visit </span><span style=";font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://celiasnotes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://celiasnotes.<wbr>blogspot.com/</a></span>. </span>Though I'm still in the US--Hawai'i at the moment--and other travels are still dreams, there's the chance to revisit the Asia trip, and to set up skills for future trips. Since wonderings are happening all the time on the internal journeys, no lack of material to share.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjcNXkf9qYWUP2daWG7NiDCPxpkDgSMx9Xp9dln1jMjGE-gvCuhXFo-uvypXbuUDVwlL8ig1oBRbuoxeguURGRXlZpKTN7SrGsNSo0xgHjbDJOWHSmcFfSTVRFrurrGT2xP8Y/s1600-h/LisaAvatar3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 174px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjcNXkf9qYWUP2daWG7NiDCPxpkDgSMx9Xp9dln1jMjGE-gvCuhXFo-uvypXbuUDVwlL8ig1oBRbuoxeguURGRXlZpKTN7SrGsNSo0xgHjbDJOWHSmcFfSTVRFrurrGT2xP8Y/s200/LisaAvatar3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241858208337432882" border="0" /></a>Loonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05751913585166549572noreply@blogger.com0