Pride

A certain amount of pride is commendable. One should do their work and live their life in a way they can feel good about. However, don't overdo it.

I have always been proud of my work and generally justified in my opinion. All well and good, but that translated, over time, into a great belief in self reliance, almost an arrogant attitude of 'I can do anything I have to. I don't need help. Worse, I expected the same of everyone.

Well, God, fate, karma, call it what you will, has a way of slapping you in the head when you grow that proud. Recently, I have had vision problems, to the poiny where I could read nothing and was having difficulty crossing streets that had even light traffic. This was, to say the least, disorienting, but it sure gave me time to think.

None of us are all that independent. We all need help and there is no shame in asking. Now, that doesn't mean we should do nothing for ourselves, but, never be embarrassed by needing a helping hand. More importantly, always be ready to help anyone in need. Especially remember those who have physical issues, the result of aging, injury, or just being dealt a bad hand at birth. Your body, no matter how healthy you are, will at some point start to break down and. as you ask for help. you will feel greatly ashamed at the way you sometimes ignored the needs of others.

My vision is returning. I still cannot read small print and can spend little time on line or watching TV, due to the glare, but at least I can cross a street without fear of getting run over and read the settings on the washing machine. Take care of yourself and take care of your friends, family and neighbors. Never begrudge the little bit of time and expense needed to help out.

Don't be overly proud because, in the end, we are all in this together. No one stands alone.

Eue Care

I have been writing very little due to some eye problems. O just want to remind everyone that our Cretor gas given is a beautiful World. Take care of you eyes so you van see every but of it.

Look Deeply

We hustle through our lives, always hurrying, always thinking, preoccupied with the details of our life. Okay, we have to do that, but not all the time.

There are many types of meditation, but here is my favorite. Go outside. Pick any living thing you see. Plants work best because they don't generally move from place to place. Look at it. Look Deeply into it's contours. Note the variation in colors, the shadings, the way the sun plays on the surface.

Look deeply at the veins of the leaves, the patterns in the bark. If there are blooms, look deeply into each, noting the variations in color and textures and the intricate arrangement of petals and sexual organs. Pay attention to seed pods. Examine the way the roots twist and turn into the soil.

Step back and see how the plant fits into its surroundings, how the structures play in the wind and twist and turn in harmony, and here and there, in discord with its neighbors. Watch the trails of insects as the travel around the plant.

Take as much time as you can. Two minutes will do your soul and mind a world of good. An hour may change your life.

Eastern Religions

I spent years trying to understand the Eastern Religions and have finally realized that I never will. I do not believe that this is possible for me because, while we live on the same Planet, and must show each other respect, my World is just much different than theirs.

India, and Hinduism, are ancient, dating back countless centuries. To me, they are a belief from a time lost, the distant past. It seems a jumbled tangle of thoughts, each piled on top of the next, with no direction. I do not write this to be insulting. I simply find it to be an incomprehensible, and unnecessarily complex, system of belief.

Taoism makes a bit more sense. It seems a system designed to teach us how to live in accord with Nature, This would be admirable, but it is unlivable. I love the Earth, but, to be honest, we do not always see eye to eye. If I am sick with a severe viral infection, I will seek medical treatment. If it is 98 degrees and I am in an enclosed structure, I will turn on the air conditioner. I do not and will not always go with the flow of the Natural world. I also find the acceptance of the way things are, as taught in the Tao, to be simply a lazy cop out. It simply is not the way humans are.

Buddhism is somewhat different. It's various schools of belief are all nonsensical musings on the nature of reality. As a religion, it makes no sense and seems to be a system of quasi-religious beliefs suited to those who want a religion without the bother of dealing with God. The metaphysics of Buddhism (and the Buddha told his followers to stay away from metaphysics, advice they ignored) is quite incompatible with what we have learned from scientific investigation. However, Buddhism, when stripped of the surrounding religious trappings, is a useful psychology, for now. It is the only system of thought that deals extensively with the relation between our mind and how we perceive the World. This will change as Western thought begins to explore this realm but, for now, there are some useful thoughts about this that can be gleaned from Buddhism.

So,  again, I have no wish to insult anyone, but I have to tell the truth as I see it. Our Western world and modes of thinking are just not compatible with Eastern thought. We are products of Judeo-Christian theology, Greek philosophy, the Protestant Reformation, and the Enlightenment. Works for me.