how much blue is enough
thousands upon thousands of square miles of ocean
endless reaches of blue sky

how many stars are enough
the Universe is filled with countless points of Light

and fresh air by the lung full
how much freshness can one breathe
at any given time

in abundance is Creation endowed
as mere mortals how can we deplete God's bounty

The asphalt rises and winds
before me
but the Black Hills beckon
invite a deeper penetration
So tempted i veer off the hard-top
and pick my way

among valleys and streams cliffs and ravines

no trail before me no trace behind
indeed the Wanderer's Way
is the "road less traveled"

the Way emerges from the dialogue
between man and Nature
between me and the Wilderness

an emergent path is quite personal

the way, the path
arises out of the moment itself
yet it is left for us to determine
just when the moment is right for seizing
if poorly timed, we lose the way
drifting in errant meandering

Right Action/Right Moment
are opposing sides of the same coin

STURGIS or BUST

(a great American Fantasy)

Thru heart and hand
Spirit leads us to our
significant other
hands are heart's extensions
bidding us to reach out
in mutual clasp
forming a relationship
born in Heaven

WALL STREET BANKER

he's a bottom-feeder
double-dealer thiev undercover
taking his cut up-front
...behind his back

i've just ventured to the water's edge
and there's a sea to cross
...a sea to cross

with consciousness we begin to awaken
to our own inner worlds
yet we are only half awake
to who and what we really are
only half awake to our deeper needs
and how to attain them

most of us would like to avoid
pain and suffering
but we believe that how we feel
inside
depends on external circumstances

when we are awakened to our
true nature
we are freed from dependence on
the external world
both for our sense of self
and our inner well-being

we become free to act with
more intelligence and compassion
attending to the needs of the situation
at hand
rather than the needs of ego

once advanced we realize
that the world of matter is not real
and that time and space
are not ultimate reality

this state is known as Christogenesis
the birth of Christ consciousness

the spiritual birth of humanity as a whole

Peter Russel, WAKING UP in TIME

Did you not know
but then
you have always known
haven't you
I have been waiting
deep in the place of your dreams
when you called
was I not there, at once
by your side
in this place
us, where we are, who we are
remains eternal
only time changes
flowing like a river
in which we stand
ankle-deep

JILL

I saw the look
again
caught it in your eye
just a flash
a moment gone by
but...
you can't hide
what's in your soul
you can't deny
that over which you have no control
when you are loved by someone
deep and true
when your souls connect, merge
its really not up to you
anyway
I love you
beyond all time
beyond all rules

I love you
because I've seen your soul
looking out at me
when it gathered itself
in your eyes

musings, Crzy Hrse

All matter
is destined to dissolve
into that Great Energy
that is Love
dissolve the hardness of ego
into pliable accommodating Love

Oh My Sisters
My Beloved Sisters of the world
Beyond whatever physical pleasures
we may share
lies Spiritual Bliss
the foundation of our lives

For we are spirits
enmeshed in physical form
but it is out of body
that our true Natures are known
then and there are we home

"And the soldiers likewise demanded of him
saying, And what shall we do?
And he said unto them,
Do violence to no man..."

Luke 3: 14

listen ye to Nature all Creation
knowledge and wisdom she imparts
cultivate openness and receptivity
yield rather than dominate

all time occurs
concurrently
it is only the rational mind that divides
time: past present future
the heart penetrates the universal
thus we can chose among categories if we get above them
plot alternative courses, further diversify
if this-then-that

time is an unending circle upon a circle

once again i find myself startin over
as in the "seven year itch"
be it seven years, months, days
or just moment-to-moment

we all need periodic renewal

the remnants of past gone by
like old coffee dregs the day after
must be cast aside
on the Dawn of a New Morn

the Cherokee have a ceremony for such occasion
the Green Corn Ceremony
it was to start life fresh
to erase past mistakes
and to be forgiven for wrong-doing

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth
where moth and rust do corrupt
and where thieves break thru and steal
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt
and where thieves do not break thru nor steal

For where your treasure is
there will be your heart also

No one can serve two masters
for either he will hate the one
and love the other
or else he will be devoted to one
and despise the other

You cannot serve both God and Mammon
Matthew 6: 19-21, 24

Mammon: the false god of riches and avarice

we live in God's Kingdom
the GARDEN of EDEN
but blinded, unaware
of the Kingdom that surrounds us

awaken to consciousness
let that blind-spot
fall away...rejoice

don't take synchronicity
for granted
it is a strong primal message
saying:

"I [Spirit} am here"

synchonistic events are attempts
to awaken consciousness
a calling to Spiritual Life
lest we forget:
that first and foremost we are Spiritual beings
in physical form

moisture-saturates dew so thick
you could cut it with a knife
but only scattered showers fall
only dew materializes

then and only when we entreat it
does it rain in our consciousness
imbuing it with transformation
then inner consciousness
transforms the world...
and finally... it truly rains

like ZOMBIES seeking creature-comforts
we trod the earth

solemnly we plod along
caught up in our own daily delusions
ego-consumption threatens to swallow us

unaware of the KINGDOM that surrounds us

apply equal portions
of RIGHT to ANXIETY

the suffering that i am experiencing now
is no-more no-less
than that which i imposed on others
in times past

the LOVE for which i now yearn
is that which i did not GIVE

in the quiet security of heart
i rest my cares ambitions and sorrows
the fullness of this moment
leaves no time nor space
for yesterdays or tomorrows

never have i seen
such a day as beautiful as this
punctuated with sky-blue-clarity

even the rustle of autumn leaves
prodded by a warm Southern breeze
did seem to sing out in celestial harmony

on special days like these
Heaven comes to meet Earth
and in Divine copulation
lays down the foundations
of a New Earth and a New Dawn

miles from nowhere
guess i'll take my time'
oh yeah, to reach there

lord my body has been a good friend
but i won't need it
when i reach the end

miles from nowhere
guess i'll take my time
oh yeah, to reach there

cat stevens

the same friend i referred to earlier
(2 men and a mack truck)
according to his wife
would awaken in the middle of the nite
with extreme panic disorder
he dreamed he was still in 'nam
perched in a tree maintaining a nightly vigilance for charlie

i too have had my share of Night Terrors
the dark night of the soul
maybe our experience has not been that different
after all we were... teammates

The Earth by its mountains
lifts up flowing waters
to the Heavens above

i had a laminectomy and missed vietnam
i sometimes wonder how my life would have been different
had i gone

one of my best friends and fellow football teammate
lived with me during our senior year of high school
(he had intense conflicts with his father)
after high school he joined the marines
and took the proverbial senior trip to 'nam
when he returned he was in extreme shell-shock
(PTS in today's "political speak")
his wife said he would not be able to function without his meds
well, either his meds or his functional-disability
spurred him to single-handily carry sofas on his shoulder
anyway, after graduate school, i worked for him briefly
in his furniture moving business
(he specialized in apartment moves)
2 men and a mack truck: will move

so, long-story-short
i know i have a lot of baggage now from my life before
but it could be of a different sort
had i gone to 'nam...

ridin the bus is an archetype- like- experience
activating my inner muse
a non-stop conversation
between me and myself

"its not what you know
but what you can do in the moment
that counts"

musings from Crzy Hrse

the Repugs
by submitting to Partisan Politics
have renewed their ownership of Irrelevance

but the blue dog dems
are no better
licking the boots of Corporate interests

ain't but one way out baby
but i just can't go out that door
cause they a main down there
might be you main i dunno

lord i'm foolish to be here in the first place
i know some main goin to walk in and take my place
ain't but one way out baby and no way in the world
i'm goin out that front door
cause they a main down there
might be you main i dunno know

ONE WAY OUT, allman brothers band

from sweden alabama and maine
came they one and all
answering Last Century's Adventurers Call

on october 25 1842 indians killed whites
at what was to be Shoal Creek and 38th

but as well a texan settler from maine
bought some 1200 acres @ $.50 per
for some $600 cash outlay and built a Stone Bath-house
hot-tubs fed by Shoal Creek
and by a horse and buggy ride from the Austin Avenue Hotel
on Congress Avenue to Stone Bath-house
at 38th & Shoal Creek
they came

by divine sublimity
doth Penetration's candle burn

but there is a hole in my heart
by absence its presence known
otherwise unrecognized by penetration's eyes

the air we breathe breathed again
breathed anew
refreshed by the breath within

walking along the banks of Shoal Creek
there to lie down my weary bones
and to take up Nature's edifice, again
as was my way in days past
to which i have returned at long last

when the means become an end in itself
then the fool stumbles upon the True Way

i love you
not the pain and suffering
that this present moment brings
but the you beyond this moment
you as you truly are
you in the eternal heart of god
you in a safe secure place are loved

My Child
who is my child
is she not everyone, everywhere
anyone
who suffers and weeps
an Iranian child whose parents were killed
by explosive US ORDINANCE
black operations

Suffer the Children

the problem with an open heart
is that it is a receptacle
for pain and suffering
not just personal but vicarious

yet the hardship may be endured

if it but make resolve stronger

dying
as when you run out of breath
but need no more
no last gasp
for you have left it behind

every nite we practice
as moment-to-moment we forget to breathe
heavenly ghosts in between breaths
cloud-leaping-dancing until... we breathe no more

from time to time
i am submerged
by compassion unfulfilled
may we hear the Divine Hint
follow Impulses flowing from Heaven
and Compassion show

I have heard the LOST SILENCE
as my heart sounds out the Way
pray ye, listen for Silence

in war the end never justifies the means
only when the means become the end
is Justice attained

if i culd be as sturdy as a tree
out-reaching limbs over- arching all
no greater security culd i 0ffer
in answering God's call

yea, its not the growing old
that is the culprit
not just the passage of time
that robs a man of his life
but the quality of moments gone by
that's the measure of a life
rich and full

THE COMMONS

Humans in their totality are born of the earth
We are earthlings
The earth is our nourishment our support our guide
Thomas Berry

This we know
The earth does not belong to man
man belongs to the earth
Chief Seattle

The land must not be sold beyond reclaim
for the land is Mine
you are but strangers resident with me
Lev. 25:23

The profit of the earth is for all
(not just exxon)
Eccles. 5:9

Woe to them that join house to house
that lay field to field till there be no place
Isiah 5:8

Restore I pray you to them even this day
their lands their vineyards their olive trees
and their houses
(Palestinians one and all)
Nehemiah 5:1

The earth is given as a common stock
for men to labor and to live on
Thomas Jefferson

The land the earth God gave to man
for his home sustenance and support
should never be the possession of any man
corporation society or any unfriendly government
any more than the air or water if as much
An individual company or enterprise
should hold no more than is required
for their home and sustenance
All that is not used should be held
for the free use of every family
to make homesteads
and to hold them as long as they are occupied
Abraham Lincoln

as a species
we humans don't know how to take hardship
we struggle, wiggle, wrangle and sigh
but other animals in a hard world
know different
they accept, adapt and more than persevere
they experience a reality unknown to us

lights bursting rays

thru the forest dense
occasion to recompense
that which is too often missed

the saddest thing

is what could have been
that ego stands in the way
shuns the present moment in spiteful defiance
then all too late... what could have been

STOP THE KILLING

i wasn't there
why should she be

in the quiet security of heart

lies the most valuable possession of a lifetime

three angels arrayed

three angels arrayed
up in a tree over my shoulder
just behind me
they talked with child-like Innocence
making me blush at Purity so near

RETURN
there is a new movement afoot
the transformation of the old becomes easy
what is so hopeful:

The Movement is Natural arising Spontaneously

I CHING

When i'm not looking

beauty sometimes sneaks upon me

overwhelming

Commit to Child-like Innocence of the Natural State

mesmerized

by a beautiful song

mesmerized
by a beautiful voice
by a woman song-bird
mesmerized
by a woman so beautiful
as only woman can be

COLD FACE
blowin down my back

drizzle melting Summers' stores

An American Insurgency

Urgency in the making
all Progress is from and thru Crisis

The Beast, Capitalism, is in its
Death Throes
we but need deliver its merciful end

VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY/BEYOND MATERIALISM

mission: create an Alternative Lifestyle
by changing our patterns of consumption
no longer buy or buy- into the Corporate Brand
Voluntary Simplicity is living in a way that is

outwardly simple and inwardly rich

a new balance between inner and outer growth
the way of life embraces frugality of consumption
and a non-consumerist lifestyle based on

being and becoming not having

recognizing the poverty of abundance

Co-operation rather than competition

our consumerist search for identity, finally peaks
identity is no longer gift-wrapped in materialism
no longer is there a need to buy things
we don't really need
for too many Americans consumption is not only
an expression of identity it is identity

All religious founders (Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tse, St. Francis)
agreed that the pursuit of material wealth is a wrong aim

the madness can stop by initiating some simple activities:

organic gardening, recycling, natural foods, simple clothing
biking to work, backpacking on vacations, family oriented
engaging in meditation or other growth processes
both produce and buy local

cottage industries

the ideas presented here are only a beginning
meant by way of introduction
the way is much, much more extensive and rich
fundamental change

THE SIMPLE LIVING NETWORK

hmm...lets see a society based on not-wanting?

or maybe just tempered by not- wanting

a new balance between inner and outer growth

but what of the consequences to GDP?

Oh, you mean a Radical Redistribution of Wealth...hmm, lets see

SARVODAYA

a form of Radical Simplicity espoused by Ghandi

a compassionate community welfare of not wanting what the least of the inhabitants of this earth cannot have

What you do unto the least of these you do to me
MATTHEW 25: 40

ABSENCE SEIZURE

a temporary suspension of the conscious struggle for existence

brought on by an irrational moment of instinctive awareness.

No matter who runs, the same side always wins

...awakened deaf
when truly awake we are deaf
sense perceptions are shut-out
that Soul may speak

if soap is a cleansing agent

why does it leave scum?

same principle as white trash??

oh well, i'm off to church...at the laundromat this morning

you meet the best ppl there...thoz seeking cleansing
thoz who bare their filth:

outwardly, openly, in humility

but what about

"never air your dirty laundry in public"?

ah but, confession of inequity

that's true cleansing

by repressive regimentation reason creates civilization
and thereby self-conscious reflection sends man
hurdling down a descent towards death:
(Marcuse)

"...for wherever conscious purpose is seen
there, truth and innocence have been lost...
by devotion to the divine spirit within
(instinctual awareness) man attains
an unsullied innocence that leads him

to do right with instinctive certainty."

redemption (from death) is won
moment-by-moment by a mind
natural and true...unshadowed by reflection
I CHING

it is written, that man is engaged
in a conscious struggle for existence
plodding along a road to nowhere
we must abandon this paralysis
and re-discover the path awakened moment-to-moment
along the yellow brick road to instinctual awareness

EROS and CIVILIZATION, Herbert Marcuse

in so much as i did not show love

that same is taken from me

what if they gave a sale and no one showed up?

Forget Marx and Engels, the most powerful force
we have as agents for social change is as consumers

Wanna change the world?
change your patterns of consumption

brought to you by: The Voluntary Simplicity Movement

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and to see if I could not learn what it had to teach me, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Henry David Thoreau

in the Life of God, divine cognition
is but mere insipidity without suffering
patience and labour
of untroubled equality, unity with itself

in patience and humility
there is rear-ward
for the bowing of one's head
while standing in line at Walgreens or Walmart

Hegel, PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT, p. 10

Life Eternal
like catching the perfect wave, riding the Eternal Crest
wave after wave moment-by-moment
being there, natural and true
its only when you fall
in-between waves, in-between moments
when you are out-of-step, out-of-place
that death draws you into its clutches

"Wherever conscious purpose is to be seen
there the truth and innocence of nature
have been lost"
Anake--the conscious struggle for existence
is the origin of death

when we get caught up in conscious plotting
struggle and strive
we lay ourselves open to death

A mind natural and true is unshadowed by reflection
and nurtures Life-Eternal
I CHING

sweetness permeates the Texas air
a rarefied gift this time of year

Old-oaks heavy laden with character

so, i will designate one of them

as my Christmas tree, this year

the preacher was reading outta the phone book
today
no worries tho, the congregation is deaf

"Why do you not understand my speech?"
John 9:14

butterfly rainbows dancing in the sun
close one eye, then the other
butterfly rainbows dancing in the sun

darkness preys upon Light
sucking all the life from it
that is why Light must flood the darkness
bringing the fullness thereof
to bear upon it

and with this initiative

Light tames the Beast and darkness attains its Beauty

the id comes knocking on our door
blindly striving to gratify its instinctual impulses
while ego desperately co-ordinates
alters, attempts to control and repress
incorrigible impulses incompatible with reality

the id in a tempestuous borderline truce
held at-bay tenuously, moment-to-moment

at last, the id hands ego
its head-in-hand

primal instincts (the id) press forth
the ramparts strain
forces of the ego falter
stumble-upon and wear thin
finally dissolve
the individual rejoices in liberation

there were the usual lines
albeit with new faces
somehow new yet familiar...homeless
more were women and children...homeless
those by-passed by prosperity
faces not yet weathered and worn
still, too fresh, but...homeless

as we must reconcile ourselves to death
so must we commit to life
as a moment-to-moment proposition
it is imperative that we
sustain momentary awareness
for lapses in-between moments
is where death lurks gathering itself
repelled only by leaps of faith

CONGRATS

passion is of the moment
it fulfills itself quickly
being of the moment but not transcending...
if only, we could nail passion down
substantiate it
but passion is not so easily caught
rather, it is as elusive as the moment itself

passion like a butterfly
lighting on this then that
but captured not...

sittin at the bus stop, talking to myself
when i looked down the way
and saw a blind man playing air guitar
on his cane
which of us is more crazy...
sittin at the bus stop, talking to myself