NOT JUST SOCIALISTS

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

And we always assumed anarchists were all Socialists? Think again! The Tea Party’s full of ’em.

Now, tell me: Are anarchists all destructive, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake?

The right’s rife with ’em.

Sounds like a fit, the anarchists, matching everything they’ve been fearing.

 

STILL LOOKING FOR AN EMAIL EQUIVALENT

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 9 Comments

Anybody have an effective suggestion for handling this email InBox conundrum?

With physical mail, I could divide the incoming missives into piles marked

  • Act
  • Delegate
  • File
  • Toss

and respond accordingly.

Another version made a distinction:

  • Respond now
  • Routine or schedule
  • Reflect
  • Trash

What I’m finding with my emails is whenever I’m uncertain how to answer, I put it aside – where it’s likely to wither and die. That is, if I don’t respond immediately, the message gets lost in the clutter.

I’ve thought about setting up a basket specifically to hold these cases, but once they’re out of sight, they’ll be out of mind. From my perspective, there’s no place to really put something aside, at least where I’ll see it but it won’t get buried. A pile for reflection sounds like limbo.

Anyone got a workable solution? Help! Tell us all!

OVER THE YEARS OF SITTING SILENTLY WITH OTHERS

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

When I first took up the practice of meditation, my goal was to get high – a natural, chemical-free experience, but a kind of escape all the same.

Moving to the ashram took that a step further. The goal became to transcend this mundane experience, entering into hours of unconscious ecstasy and returning to daily life with a heavenly vision.

Over the years, though, the practice has shifted. Yes, I still value those moments of natural high and clarity and oneness with the universe, but my bigger aim these days is to get grounded. To sit and move in that which is eternal, or my true nature. To be open to the divine around me. To be authentically loving and kind and …

The practice itself still means sitting with others in silence. That hasn’t changed!

ENDLESS PERSPECTIVES

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Rarely do you stand at the summit. It’s a lesson of life.

Even on the trail, the climax awaits, somewhere overhead.

We need something to look up to, from infancy on.

And then there are clouds – or the surrounding range.

Or the streams, threading together, below.

Mountain 1~*~

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REGARDING THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITUAL REALITY

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 4 Comments

A materialistic outlook misses so much. As does an emphasis on concrete reality or causality.

How would you explain love, for starters? Much less admit passion? Why does music move us the way it does? And pain, be assured, is more than a neuro-chemical calculation. Why does social injustice to others spur our own anger? How could those who own all the creaturely comforts ever feel lonely?

The materialistic reaction to these, I suspect, prompts what we call addiction. Though it’s not always to alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, food, or even sex.

For liberation, a spiritual dimension will open. Or else.