...bigger and better wars?

"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." - g w bush 18.06.02

"There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says 'Morning, boys, how's the water?' And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, 'What the hell is water?' "

from 'Plain old untrendy troubles and emotions' -commencement speech Kenyon College, Ohio; - Saturday Guardian 20.09.08

the cats

Is there a 'best way'? 'love' is not conditional, is it?

what's the difference? future = modified past.

"What would the person you're in the process of becoming say to the person you are now?"

Don't believe a word of what I am saying. Same 'stiermist', different wrapper. lol

psychologically?

knuckle-draggers

me.

compassion: what we think we feel when dropping a coin in beggar's cup.

dharma: is everything to everyone and therefore nothing to no one or as a wag was once heard to say form is emptiness -- emptiness is form, or some such absurdity.

emptiness: fullness, in the sense of, -- not the antonym of emptiness.

enlightenment: the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, or so it is thought to be. and just as illusory, or so it is thought to be.

karma: the name given to the events and circumstances, that do not fit into the remembered version of experience. karma is broadly differentiated into good or bad depending on the perception of the perceiver.

killing-the-ego: the unpremeditated forgetting to remember who you think you are.

letting-go: an interesting sleight-of-hand, performed, at lightning speed, giving the perceiver the impression of truly letting-go, while in reality one hand is always securely anchored.

master: master ===student. the experience of which, does not alter the ===..

meditation: the joy of knowing less and less about more and more, or is it the other way around?

non-attachment: the finely honed ability to insulate oneself from anything that causes dis-pleasure, usually accompanied by a dollop of smugness.

practice: delusion transforming delusion, delusion-ally.

re-incarnation: a convenient concept, the belief in which numbs the mind and allows one to put off until the next-time-around whatever one should be about this-time-around. this concept presupposes the concept that there is a 'next-time-around'. does anyone know? oh well, maybe the next time around.

(the) teaching: the cookbook approach to getting what we wish to get -- at the moment.

training: a delusion where practice (see above) is practiced to perfection.

wheel-of-life: it's what is rolling over you while you are waiting for re-incarnation.

we have just gotten back from a couple of days wandering the mountains in the
south of switzerland. the experience of which seems to have caused some
tectonic shifts of mind.

it is time to take a sabbatical from this place in space.

i have enjoyed trading thought with all of you.

and i wish you all...

the best-
basho

--Impressions--
......
the mountain stands.
river swirling,
shades of blue.
play at its feet.

the mountain stands,
covered in green.
falling leaves
dance the space between.

the mountain stands,
as silence deep.
the sound of which
mind cannot keep.

the mountain stands.
thought splits aseam.
an arcing sun
marks space serene.

......
sound of thunder
sky of blue

cloud of granite dust
hiding stone hewn anew

men shaping mountains
mountains shaping men
each the epitaph of the other.

........
the museum stately and tall
nestled in a mountain wall.

stone, wood, glass
squared edges, all.

conveniently arranged
to display the dead.

......
steeples of stone
piercing the sky.

ancient bronze bells
tolling the hour.

faded frescoes
depicting gods long dead.

surrounded by graveyards
with flowers bedecked.

monuments all.

......
honey bees pausing
in their labor
to sip cold water
in the town fountain
pay no mind
to tired feet
soaking beside them.

......
a mountain pool
surrounded by poppies

tadpoles at depth
sunning and gliding

a loose stone carelessly kicked

tadpoles at depth
swimming and hiding

......
hands in gestures - describing,
eyes in contact - abiding,
smiles and laughter - deciding,
italian and german - combining.