Compassion when Interacting With the Sum of a Person's Experience

 Compassion means you got out enough to see why people are in. Why? Because you were in and you can see how you were when you were in. 

How do you interact with compassion? You understand. The first step is to say, "I am interacting with the sum of this person's experience". 

Michael A. Singer

I wanted to stress that my entry yesterday was me...an imperfect and yet to be evolved human being...beginning to see clearly beyond ego. I was able to see how my own reactive ego was behaving days before. Then when I decided to stop struggling against what Life was offering...I could see my ego even clearer...I could see the samskara that was so triggered by this other ego behaviour.  When I committed myself to using this to help release taht blockage...knowing the only way through is through... I could so clearly see the ego of others. Because ego is just ego, right? I do not want to have my reactive ego standing toe to toe with someone else's reactive ego.  That is nonsense. More importantly, I do not want to be consumed with anger and resentment. I want it all out of me.  What is happening here , for me, anyway, is a positive thing because it it is allowing for a samskara release.  It is cleansing me of at least one samskara. I am therefore, lighter, freer, and a lot more clearer becasue of this. 

The resentment is pretty much gone. I can have empathy and compassion for the people involved. I can have more empathy and compassion for myself.  I can. Not because I am better than them or anything like that...only because I too was caught in that ego mind frame for most of my life.  I did, said, and sent out many unwholesome things when I was in it. And now that I have a few toes out of it, I can see clearer why people get caught in it.  

I love this:. 

How do you get mad at a baby for peeing in their diaper...how do you get mad at someone for getting caught in their ego. [Both are natural for the stage of devolpment the person is at.]

All is well!

Michael A. Singer/ Sounds True/ Temple of the Universe. (October, 2024) Beyond the Mask of Ego: Embracing Pure Awareness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKK9stjiOm4&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=4

Becoming A Servant of Reality

You took birth on Earth to evolve...are you working with evolution or against it? 

Michael A. Singer

In the midst of a very challenging situation (one, like I said, amongst many) I felt the snipping of a tether recently ...followed by this amazing clarity. 

Just when I was getting so overwhelmed ...so at the verge of "losing it!" and questioning out loud why people were doing what they were doing...I felt this sudden need to relax into what is. When I did, something amazing happened. I could suddenly see the patterns of human behaviour occurring in me and around me...I could see and understand why certain people who seemed to be stirring up this drama we were all unwillingly assigned roles in, roles that did not fit, were doing what they were doing now and in the past.   I could see the personality at work in myself and others. I could especially see it in someone I knew for years and whom I always felt guilty, less than, and ashamed around for some reason. Most importantly, I could see, thanks to this experience, that I  was carrying around a deeply rooted conditioned belief in my imperfect self; a belief that said that I did nothing but hurt this person in the past and that they in their superior and more moral, as well as much more intelligent state, were kind enough to forgive me and tolerate my presence on this Earth. For 45 years I had that in me! 

When my imperfect loved one ...whom the drama is being created around...first entered that family dynamic I feared for some strange reason that both of our human imperfections would be placed under the microscope. I encouraged my child so strongly to " be good". They weren't always good. They instead  made mistakes, some of them big  and this person from my past in their superior moral development, I believed, was forgiving and tolerant as any martyr should be.  That was before I began seeing the transference of that same core belief I had in me, in my loved one.  And then with this incident I could see so clearly why my loved one thought that way...what this belief was doing to them.  Though my loved one is 100% responsible for anything they did that was self or other destructive, that was dishonest or unkind (and they did not handle this well with kindness and honesty), I began to see, especially with a bizarre incident that happened a few years ago,  how the relationship and the family situation they found themself in was so toxic. I my loved one then, "You need to get out of this relationship, away from this toxicity, but you need to do it with honesty and kindness". Years later; it did not end with honesty and kindness but they are out! 

Despite the way the ending of it was done...which they will remain responsible for... I see how much lighter my loved one is to be out of it and away from these personalities, even with all this chaos going on now over custody. My loved one is seriously changing their life around. Though the other human beings involved are by no means responsible for anything my loved one brought into the relationship and what they said, did, or put out there while they were in it - and my loved one screwed up big time more than once- the belief that was insidiously absorbed would have swallowed them alive if they didn't get out. So, this was an ending that was needed for everyone's sake. 

I did not see the toxicity right away and blamed my loved one for making another big mistake that threw us under this judging microscope once again...I did not make the connection right away between that belief in them and the one in me.  I did not connect the pieces to find the common denominator. Most importantly, I did not clearly see the samskara with all its tentacles that I had stuffed within me and therefore I did not see through all the pain and confusion of this very challenging situation the gift the universe was giving me to free myself of it. That is until the other day when I expressed that I no longer wanted to communicate with that person from my past. Something lifted.

 Throughout the mixture of intense emotions that followed: confusion, guilt, shame, anger, blame, resentment, frustration (I was being pulled up one emotion at a time to acceptance and then peace), it was like this belief was suddenly lit up inside me. I could see it all so clearly.  I could see how much I suffered because of it...how much I tried to deny it. I could see how I was not being honest with myself or others over the years, always trying harder than I had to do to make things alright in that family dynamic, scolding my loved one for not being better in their eyes, and how I, and my entire family actually, always walked away from their family gatherings feeling less than.  I could see how the present situation - the unfair way this person from my past was trying to turn my loved one into a villain by creating story so they could not only control custody but control  how this situation appeared to society, how they appeared to society... was activating my samskara. When I stopped resisting what was happening and just observed it...the samskara came up to the surface and was released. My 45 year-old samskara was released!!! I felt so light and so peaceful! It was amazing!

 Then the way I looked at this person changed so much.  I went from a perspective of thinking she was so much better than me, to thinking she was so much nastier, controlling and more manipulative  than me, to just seeing a person hurting, doing what she can to get by using her unhealthy coping mechanisms...I could see a human being, no better than me, no worse than me...just another 'me'....needing to create stories of villains and victims so they could resume a self-protective role as martyr and rescuer. I could see how this habit tendency of manipulating the world in such a way was always being done so that this one individual didn't have  to look in at their own pain...so that they didn't have to accept reality.  If they were on a mission to save someone, they could prove to themselves and others how sacrificing they were...and once again how moral, how wise, how giving they were. They would establish a false sense of control over the world around them. Without that protection of a martyr's self image to cling to, where would they be in all the pain they were going through? 

I feel the pain of all involved I do.  Like I literally feel the pain of my loved one's ex-partner.  It's palpable.  Though, I knew my loved one was only responsible for so much of it...I could see clearly how what was done was triggering old samskaras and stirring them up. The sense of abandonment would be crushing!  I could see and feel how the thought of no longer having full control over the parenting situation, as a shared custody would entail, would increase that pain ten-fold.  I could see and feel that.  I wanted so hard to assist in any way I could to ease that pain. I was trying to support but then the family stepped too far over the line that was comfortable. They didn't just step on my puny little ego's toes they stepped right in front of my center and my center encouraged me to use this as a way to grow and evolve. When I said, "Yes! I will." ...a deeply entrenched samskara lifted.  It was amazing.

Don't get me wrong...this human that I call "me" is still around reacting...still feeling bouts of intense anger and resentment over this...still feeling guilt at times (so conditioned)...still feeling confusion...I have work left to do...but for the most part I feel so much lighter, so much clearer and so much more peaceful. I am so grateful for this experience and for these people and all they are doing for taking me here. 

I am not sure how this situation will turn out but I have faith that it will turn out the way it is meant to: "May Thy will, not my will be done!" 

Ironically, I listened to Michael A Singer say the following today in a podcast (maybe not in these exact words but listen for yourself).  It left me thinking, "Yeah, there is some divine order here, isn't there? Even in apparent challenge, injustice, and chaos there is some type of order being worked out. Man, this is so cool!"

If every single thing is exactly the way you want it to be you are stagnant. 

We need to learn to assist evolution not resist it...to  peacefully say and mean it, "Not my will but Thy will be done." 

There is no growth without change. 

Helping evolution is about being more conscious....

Self can handle this stuff the human is going through...and the self that this human too often sees itself as can handle it too...as long as it seeks to go where Self is before dissolving into it. 

When you can accept reality, you become a servant of reality....

All is well!

Michael A. Singer ( October, 2024) The Power of Acceptance: Evolving Beyond the Ego. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SZY51ONgpQ&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=4

Crooked Hearts

 'O look, look in the mirror,

O look in your distress: 

Life remains a blessing,

Although you cannot bless.

O stand, stand at the window

As the tears scald and start;

You shall love your crooked neighbour 

With  your crooked heart.'

W.H. Auden from As I went Out One Evening   https://poets.org/poem/i-walked-out-one-evening

I wrote a big spiel this morning about the crookedness of others hearts. Oh, I briefly mentioned mine but I made it a point to point a finger and call the others crooked, self-righteous, and acting out of pain and vengeance. I made it a point to talk about what they were seeing in us and how they were judging us as crooked.

Hmm! Does that not echo Auden's words beautifully?  Here I am with my crooked heart (full of samskaras: stuffed and stored feelings and events) looking out the window at others  and judging them  as crooked as they are judging me.

Sigh! I don't know what these people are seeing and thinking. I can feel the pain and I can justify anger and resentment in this, I can...but man oh man...it is hard to deal with their crooked agenda because it is hard to deal with my own crooked heart.

All is well

Dealing and Releasing What is Holding Us Down

 You can't go up as long as that thing[samskara] is holding you down.

Michael A. Singer

I agree with Michael A. Singer as I listen to this morning's podcast. Spirituality is not about feeling good all the time and never experiencing difficulty....it is about how we handle life when things are not feeling so good and how we handle reality when difficulty arises. Can you live the teachings in time of difficulty?

I am trying to, but it isn't always easy. My heart is breaking with all the things I am dealing with, and I just want to protect it. I want to scream in protest over the slander and defamation of a loved one's character I am constantly being made aware of by certain others. It has been brought to my attention that unjust accusations, lies, and self righteous judgement is being spread through the community. This often, apparently, goes on in professional settings.  Though this loved one is responsible for what they have done in the past, for how unwholesomely they ended a relationship, and for how quickly they have started another...there is no fact or evidence associated with why this individual is not fit to have their children. So past mistakes are being used in a very repetitive and unwholesome way so these individuals who have this idea that they know more, are somehow brighter, more ethical and moral, and more capable than me and my loved ones can have control of the situation.  It is like OMG...open your eyes and see what you refused and denied to yourself before.  Stop judging, stop creating story and look at the truth. I know what the truth is.  I have evidence and am collecting more and that, if anything only puts these individuals in a very negative light. I can empathize with their pain and their concern. I can but this goes beyond what is morally 'wholesome'.  I have no choice but to fight and use the evidence I collected if I have to to defend this truth. I believe in truth.  I am not denying, suppressing any reality because it would make it more comfortable inside here for me...I am beyond all that.  I took every concern to heart and investigated it. I objectively looked at both sides (though I could not help but be somewhat bias). I find myself concluding that what they are doing is not fair.  It is not morally right, and it is not fair to anyone. Then, I put away my judgements and say...it is what it is. I don't want this battle.  I don't...but I have to stand up and deal with this.  Where am I going to get the energy to do that?

I want to put my energy where it is needed most? Is that at the side of a dying loved one, in the support of other suffering beings in my household, my own health, these personal things I am trying to accomplish here (writing etc), trying to make an income so I don't go belly under, or on the battlefield?  (I am reminded all of a sudden of what Lord Krishna said to Arjuna before He sent him out on the battlefield.) 

There is nothing more auspicious for a warrior than a righteous war. Only the fortunate warriors, O Arjuna, get such an opportunity for an onsaught war that is like an open door to heaven.  (Gita:3:1, Humanities Libre Text)

Right now, I am trying to deal with it all. Am I bothered?  Yeah

So where do I start dealing with all this stuff? Definitely not on the battlefield though I will go there when it is time. 

I start with me...inside me. I am bothered.  And I am closing my heart. All these things happening at once are showing me that I still have some work to do. The real question isn't what do I do about all these things Life is throwing in my direction. How do I make it stop? The real question is:  What have I still got inside me that all this stuff is bumping against? 

As long as those samskaras are inside us, we will not feel the real love within that makes us who we really are. We will constantly be closing to that love beneath the blockage because we are constantly selecting what should come in and what should stay out ( preferring). We will not go higher. Hmm! 

For the sake of holistic wellness (which includes a certain degree of spiritual freedom in this lifetime) we need to learn to accept all that Life gives us or shows us by simply  staying  open as we do. We do not ask the lower energies within us to relax (this worry, anxiety, grief, pain, and pressure I am feeling now); we learn to relax in the face of these lower energies and stay open!!

Spirituality is all about getting rid of the stuff inside you. It is about can you handle reality. ...It is about letting go of ego self...that which you built around your real self...("the masquerading self"' as it is termed by  Yogananda).

We tend to build a 'me' out of our past experiences, don't we? 

The thing is there really is no "bad" experience or no "good" experience.  There is just all these amazing lessons that will help us to let go of this 'me' we built so the real being can shine through...so shakti is released and the love that is who we are has a chance to flow freely. 

Michael A. Singer reminds us to use everything...so called "good" or so called "bad" ...as a tool to go to God.

He also reminds us we don't need to dwell in guilt about things we  have done in the past when we were unconscious. Instead of guilt and shame, we should ask ourselves, "Would I do that again? " If we can say no, with gusto, we can rejoice in the fact that we can look back and see how much we have grown, that we can now see the so called "wrongfulness" or unskillfulness of that which we were feeling guilty about.  That unconscious, hurtful, or unwholesome thing we participated in, has led to a certain degree of growth.  Put away the guilt for celebration.

My loved one now says with gusto that they wouldn't repeat the  mistakes of the past. I believe the sincerity in that answer.

We don't need guilt and shame! If, however, you go out right now, Michael Singer says, and maliciously commit some hurtful action against another...by all means feel guilt.

The same thing with resentment.  We need to embrace the reality of what has happened in the past that has hurt us...the people, the events, the situation...see it for what it is and was: a wonderful learning tool, a catalyst for growth and change, something that took us closer to God. 

Learn to appreciate the things in life that help you to grow!

That doesn't mean we don't deal or do something about stuff that happens...it means we always deal with our selves first. We recognize what is happening as reality, noticing what is happening inside us as we do. We observe our reactive tendencies etc. We do our best then to use this situation to help us to grow which is equivalent to letting go.

"I am going through this situation, and I am intending that when I go to bed tonight there will be less 'me' inside me than there was when I got up this morning."

That is a mantra I am going to keep repeating to myself. 

At the same time, we need to have compassion for the fact that that being inside us is a mess because we made it a mess.  It wasn't the other person or that thing out there...it was us.  Whatever they are doing or saying, whatever is happening, is just happening and that happening is knocking at our closed hearts saying "Let me in". Our broken little me identities are hiding in that mess terrified of whatever is out there. They locked the door and locked our love and our ability to live fully, healthily, and with the abundant love that we are inside. We are not a mess because we are overly defective humans (all humans are defective in this way). We simply shut the doors to our heart to avoid pain. We need to have compassion for that little me that shuts the door!

When we shut the door, however, all the stuff we stored inside that is making a mess and making us 'sick' can't get out. We are weighed down by these lower energies and we cannot go higher until they are gone.  We need to accept what is happening 'out there' and keep the door open so the stuff 'in here' can be released.

If something is getting hit that is good..."I love growth"

I am constantly getting hit but I am determined to stay open. I am determined to use these so-called challenges to take me higher. I am determined to grow through this because I do love growth. I am determined to let go of this 'me' that holds me down.  

After all,   

"I took birth to go to God. My purpose is to leave this Earth with less than I came down in." 

All is well in my world.

Michael A. Singer/ Sounds True/ Temple of the Universe ( ) Beyond the Barriers: Reclaiming Your Inner Esctasy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI-wV6ESBkM&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=7

Seeing Clearer

 

Experience is the key to learning; without it, its impossible to gain perspective. 

Sadhguru

My eye is so much better...just in case you are wondering lol. It still hurts.  I feel that yucky but familiar pressure in it and above it but it looks better.  The swelling and most of the redness is gone. I can aslo see and look up into the light. Yeah! 

My family is urging me to get it looked at before it happens again and it will happen again, that I know...but I find myself resistant.  I hear myself saying: "It is just an eye...a body part in a body that has so many other things going on in other 'more important' parts...a body that is just one part of this human being...something temporal, ever changing, on its way to perishing like all physical things do. This body is a part of an identity I have of a "me" that is probably more in the way of who I truly am than anything else. Isn't my goal to dissolve this 'me' I am using now for more important things...to serve those in need, to grow and expand beyond it? Why would I put energy that I could best put into serving into seeking help for an eye?" I do think that way but there is more to my resistance.  Isn't there always more to resistance than meets the eye? lol

 I kind of diagnosed myself...I have a good idea what it is.  

What is it crazy lady? Do I even want to know?

I have had a life long history of cold sores (Herpes Simplex 1)...bad outbreaks... and a few years ago during an out break I got some vessicles on my eye lid.  At first I was like, "Oh no...that isn't good!"  but when it cleared up so quickly  I was like no big deal.  Then it happened a couple times after that...just the eye lid during a cold sore outbreak. I was convinced that it wasn't going to be a risk factor for me. Then it happened  without cold sores on the lip.  Still just the lid.  When I started getting the pressure in the left eye, the pain, and the swollen lids with no vessicles I never thought it was connected. I did go to my optometrist once during a painful red eye episode and together we kind of concluded  it was just dry eye and my eye lids were turning in a bit. There were no vessicles on the eye lid at that time so there was no way he would make that connection with Herpes. He gave me some tips on what to do  about it and off I went.  The pressure in the eye, however,  kept coming and going and then I started getting the flashes of light to the side. Again I made no connection between the cold sores and the eye.  I  thought I had  a possible retinal detachment and off I went again to my optometrist.  It was just a vitreous detachment. Which relieved me, though I did feel a bit ashamed for being such a drama queen. 

I went home and put it out of my mind again until the pressure got worse during the next episode. I had a few more bouts of eye redness and swelling with pain in the center of my eye so I told my GP about it. He referred me to ophpthamololgy.

 There was no inflammation what so ever when I had my appointment. The retinal detachment was ruled out right away (I felt like a fool for making a fuss). But being the thorough doctor she is, she noticed some cupping and wanted to keep testing me for Glaucoma ( my brother has normal tension glaucoma). I also have cataracts.  So for the last couple of years that is what I have been seeing her for.  I continued to have these flare ups in the eye every few months and each time they seem to get a little worse.  I almost feel physically sick with them.  But I have never mentioned them to a professional again. That's on me. 

So, it just dawned on me this weekend during this big flare up. "Oh...I know what this is!!!" I had  dental work done last week which is a big trigger for this.  All the pieces of the puzzle flooded into my awareness. Well, I also now know I need to do something about it.  I am likely doing some damage with each flare up.  Anti-virals might be in my future...but first ...I have to have a doctor tell me what I already know.  That's the part I find hard.  

I hate accessing health care, as you would know if you read any of my other blogs.  It is not that these wonderful people won't help me but I have an irrational  fear they won't believe me or they will diminish my symptoms.  Sigh!

Man...how did I get on that ramble when I just wanted to say I can see? How can I use this boring story to serve the purpose of this blog? 

This blog is all about being able to look inward and ask "why am I not okay inside", right? 

Through this experience, I do see something that is not okay in me.  I see what happens in this 'me' when I have to deal with anything health related.  When I thought I might have a retinal detachment and then Glaucoma I was obsessed about my eye.   I was obsessed not so much over the process of losing my eye sight but over  trying to prove that I wasn't making too much of things, that I was worthy of the specialist's time; that what I was experiencing was real probably more so to myself than any professional. There was so much shame when I was told there was no need to worry. As I did before, I began to doubt my own experience, question these signs and symptoms. I, later, after I was assured it was not a detached retina, thought the flare ups and pain  I was getting were psychosomatic and not real ( I wrote about it). I just felt so much shame for worrying about something that wasn't even real.  When it was real. 

I hesitate to seek help for this eye even though I know I need to look after my body...because I fear I will just activate the shame cycle again. That once again I will be told ...by myself...that I made too much of it and it is nothing. 

Anyway, I would like to say all those old samskaras are gone but obviously they are not.  I have some more work to do. I am, gratefully, gaining more perspective through each experience of health related concerns I encounter. I am truly beginning to see clearer in more ways than one. 

All is well. 

In the Eye of Karma

 Remove the plank from your own eye first

Not sure what is less pretty: the look of me inside this video or the way my writing has turned out. lol

This human is having a time let me tell ya. Amongst other things to deal with, my left eye is all wonky again and everythme it gets wonky, it gets a little worse and nasty looking. I really need to do something about this to slow down these flare ups...think they might be doing a bit of damage each time. For now, though it is one eye that is affected....  both eyes are not liking the light...so  lol  Each "flare up" lasts about a week. I am so determined to do something "normal" right now despite so my blog is it...right? So I cannot see and I said I aam going to write anyway.  It will be a test to see how committed I am and how much I can do without clear eye sight lol.

Anyway...of course there all kinds of other things going on despite teh ey thing in my body and outside my body....Karma, I tell myself  am burning off karma...and now taht I am committed to waking up ...the karma is like right in my face lol.  literally...like right in front of my eye/eyes lol. 

I want to attempt to write regardless and I would like to see how what I have going on is impacting my daily life right now...like my eye it isn't going to be pretty. I am a bit sight dependent when writing

so...it ain't going to be pretty: 

Again...I go back to trying to understand two ideas on karma I have gathered from Alan Watts.  The first one is that karma is just illusion becasue of that "becasue" in teh statement...This happens becasue this happened is just a group of  words that humans developed in their mental papttern of language taht they use to makse sense of things.  We have a tendency in a mentals cshemaa to fit things into it rather tahn simply accept the random order of things.  He quoted Wittegenstien...bit Icant find those quotes. So he argues we cannot say karma is all about cause and effect because effect doesn't have to follow cause????

In the second video he is discussing the yogic, Buddhist, Vendanta's view of Karma and then eloborates on teh Gaoist.  ( Not his view but scriptual view)

This arises, this becomes ....Buddha

Once the individual stops doing tings looking for a particular outcome he will be released from karma

karma means your doing....unreal way of looking at it as a law of cause and effect ...or it could be looked at as "action".  Of course, certain things go together...this arises, this becomes...

there is a kind of necessity in nature...there is no necessity in nature for one thing to happen because someting else has happened...Wittgenstien ( couldn't find that quote)

can we lay the gjost of necessity? "Any living creature needs food?" is more like "Are you consistent with your environment?" An organism is food...constant transformation of food into the pattern of that organism...as long as it is eating it is still becoming food..."it exists"

An animal eats when it is ready to eat...and hunger is a way of perceiving this readiness to eat...

when food is no longer being transformed into teh pattern of the organism ...we say the organism is no longer there...it dies.  we say the organism dies becaus ethere is no food....the organism's death is teh cessation of food being transformed into its pattern 

not really desrbing causes ....death is one event...not having enough food...is another event...but why do we say one is the cause and one is the effect?  two different events.

How does a cause bring on an effect? 

When I let go of the stone it falls to the ground but when I say "The stone falls to teh ground because I let it go" I create illusion. When we define a stone as something taht  must fall to the ground becasue we let ot go...   we are just "defining" something using words...the "causal determinism answer"... using a mental schemata pattern to describe...not the innate things in nature.

Language is an eloborate pattern with a certain degree of regularity that attempts to sort things in teh world so they make sense to us...assimilate teh world to these patterns...converting nature into our pattern.

Things are just happening simultaneously not necessarily becasue of each other. 

Nishkama Karma

Let not your left hand kno \w what your right hand is doing...We need to start acting without premediation...getting free from karma without making any previous announcement

The Taoist gets rid of Karma without challenging it...shows the shortcut...how to do it the easy way using cleverness instead of muscle

The great way is not difficult for those who have no preferences...Buddhist perspective

This is terrible, I know...I do use my eyes to type and am discovering that when teh eys are struggling to organize what they are seeing...the mind struggles to organize thoughts etc...I am almost nauseated lol with trying to do so.  Will leave it as such and come back to it when I can.

This impulse to share I suppose could be taken care of with a video...couldn't it?  Eye is not pretty but there might be a message in me taht is??? Do you think lol? lol 

All is well

Alan Watts/ Simply Art-Inspire ( January, 2024) What is Karma? Alan Watts About the Mysteries of Life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4dm9Gsuu68&t=4s

Alan Watts/ Daily Spiritual (October, 2023)Alan Watts on Laws of Karma. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4AA_v3HTrk

Action and Intention

 Action must be simultaneous with intention

In order to stop building up Karma quickly and effeciently action must be simultaneous with intention.  It can't be premediated because as soon as you think about it...the 'devil' will find out and man or man is all h # ll going to break out lol. 

I listened to that from Alan Watts as I meditated ...once again...over the question, "Why are so many challenging things always showing up in my life at the same time? Is this my karma?"   

Ass soon as one starts to commit to cleaning up the inside house...that is when the s*%t hits the fan. So the more things that show up for me to deal with the better?  Well, at least I am telling myself that it is a sign I am on the right path lol 

And I just have to learn to go with the flow and act without concern for outcome. Hmm!

Will think more on that one.

All is well in my world. 

Alan Watts ( )...I heard these words on spotify but when I looked up some of teh quotes I found this site that transcribed that podcast...go figure. https://forums.delphiforums.com/realmofbeing/messages?msg=32894.1

Do You Know You Are In There?

 When you are not being pulled down, there is a force pulling you up.

Michael Singer

Are you in there?

Yes.

Do you have thoughts and feelings?

Yes.

Is something "bothering" you? Are you down?

Yes.

How do you know? 

Your thoughts are something you look down at! You are not what you are looking at. You are the one looking.

If you were capable of being in there, aware of what is going on in there, you would be an enlightened being.

All is well.

Micheal A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe/ Sounds True ( October, 2024) From Thoughts to Awareness/ Reclaiming Your Divine State. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLQvNB92h-A&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=4

Being Love

Once you love all of it, you disappear into being love.  Be love!  Be love! 

Ram Dass

Is our purpose in this lifetime...to "get" whatever we can from the world in order to serve  this idea of 'little me' or is it to remember who we really are...which is love...and to serve ourselves and the world by being that love?  I do think it is the latter, don't you? 

First we must, according to Ram Dass's formless friend Emmanuel, fall back in love with our Selves. Once we remember who we are ...light and love...not seperate little entities with big fat neurotic egos...we can radiate that love and light onto the world.

Hmm! Keep your mind open and have a listen.

Ram Dass ( August, 2014) Ram Dass Webcast with Jo Clarkson/ Emmanuel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfHRTuObTvw&t=1s

Recognizing the Formless 'I Am'

 I am without form; without limit. I am beyond space; beyond time. I am in everything. Everything is in me. Everywhere I am. I am existence Absolute, knowledge Abosulute, bliss Absolute. I am That. I am That.

I am without body or change of the body, I am neither senses, or the objects of the senses. I am existence Absolute, knowledge Absolute, bliss Absolute. I am That.  I am That. 

Swami Ram Tethra ( from: https://www.inner-quest.org/Ramatirtha_I_Am_That.htm)

I basically use this as a mantra when I hold my breath during Kriya every morning.  I say in the center of that held breath "Tat Taum Asi"...then ..."Sat Chit Ananda"...then "Tat Taum Asi" again. 

My intention during every practice is simply to expand my ability to find peace in  what is.

Ram Dass, this morning, echoed my intention and desire in the below linked podcast.  He built his talk around  this mantra "Love it as it is!" from Thaddeus Gollas, in  The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment.

Allow "it is as it is"

Who would we be if we could live life in that way?

Dass tells us in order to truly live like that we need to do so from the formless state of "I am". 

Beyond the causal plane there will just be "isness" being.

We are not these forms we have come to identify as.  We are not bodies or personalities. We are simply using these things for a period of so called time. We are not individuals, nor are we the many.  We are not a "me", nor are we an "us". We are simply part of the one "I am".

I seek to find peace in the isness of Life but as long as I identify as a body and personality, as form, I will not truly be able to do that. 

It is only from the place of "I am" that you and I can be here like it is.  It is only from the place of "I am" that you and I can look at Life and death and pain and suffering and see it all as the unfolding of law...the laws of form...because 'I am' has no form.  Who you are has no form

Your container is a lawful container including your thinking mind.  Everything you think is lawful but everything that you are is beyond law.

There is one "I am."

All is well. 

Ram Dass/ Be Here Now ( April 29, 2024) Ram Dass on Accepting Life As It Is- Here and Now Podcast. Ep 250. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTdyVPM_ti4&t=1805s

Steps to Transforming the Lower Self

I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.

Einstein

How do we handle those lower self energies we tend to push away like anxiety, tension, and insecurity?

1. Pay attention to what is bringing you down and closing your heart. See how you are letting the lower part of your life run the show...how you are feeding this energy. 

2, Recognize the energy you have expended over the years running from it, hiding it, resisting it, struggling against it only to make it stronger.  

3. Commit instead to work at the root.

4.Intend to work directly with this lower energy, this lower self. Mantra="I am willing to feel with this."

5. "My intent is that I will do work on this thing that keeps closing my heart,  so I stay open and allowing no matter what happens."

6. Recognize that you cannot ask anxiety or any of these lower energy emotional experiences to relax.  That is not in their nature.  They are just doing what they do.  It is not anxiety that needs to relax.  It is you that needs to relax.

7. You...not it...relax. Relax around the edges of the emotional experience.  This nature energy may be taking over your core...so relax around it...hands, shoulders, jaw, feet, arms, legs etc

8. Learn to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

9. Breathe. "Put a nostril on your heart and breathe into and out of it."

10. Next, allow yourself to feel what is there. "This is my opportunity for dealing with this lower part of my being that keeps holding me down."

11. Then be kind and compassionate with this lower energy. See it as a suffering entity that was created by your own unconscious need to protect self. Treat the lower self with compassion and understanding...befriend it ...change your attitude about that part of yourself you are most uncomfortable with. See it as something that needs your support. Think of helping it to get better. 

12. Say: "Its okay.  I will take care of you," to the part inside that is freaking out. Reach down and get underneath all that mess and lift it up...bring it higher...bring it to God ...offer it as a gift. 

13. Stop closing and running away from the uncomfortable. Know...you can handle it. 

14. Realize spirituality  is never about running to God or staying open.  It is simply about choosing not to leave God or to close.

All is well. 

Michael A. Singer/ Sounds True/ Temple of the Universe ( September, 2024) Transforming the Lower Self Into Spiritual Liberation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f7EMrI7hvI&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=7

The Practice of Handling Reality

What lies before us and what lies behind us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I woke up thinking about reality.  I was thinking of "this human's" ability to handle it at times, and its inability to handle it at others.  I see now when  this wonderful expanded consciousness within this body and mind is pulled down to lower energy things and when it is focusing up and away from the lower energy.  Two totally different experiences. 

In the first scenario, Life seems to be pollutted with problems and negative things. Consciousness is pulled down and identifies with what it is watching. I see myself as the problematic self then  and I feel afraid, insecure, depressed.   I feel  down. I resist reality.   In the second scenario,  I see nothing but the beauty of this Life experience, allowing and honoring all of it. There is no good or bad...just Life with all its contrasting colours. This human feels "up" or at least not so identified with lower energy, with what is going on. "I am", at those times,  moving towards a higher experience.

 

Which do you think is the most life affirming way to live Life? Being stuck with face down in the mud or standing on a mountain summit with face turned up towards the sun?    I much prefer it when I am not distracted by lower energy. I much prefer it when I am allowing reality to be as it is, when I am accepting and appreciative of all of it. I much prefer the higher energy.

So why do I still get pulled down into the lower energies when Life hands me these multiple things to handle all at once?  Why do I resist and say things to myself like, "This isn't fair. I don't know what to do here to make this better.  I wish thisng were different.?"This amazing consciousness of "I am" still gets pulled down into lower energy things. It still reacts in an unwholesome way to Life. 

I know what I want and need.  I want to learn to accept reality. To allow and appreciate all of it.  I am so tired of building my life around catering to the lower energy vibrations. I want to keep my focus up.  That is why I practice yoga. It is obvious, then, that this practice I have committed myself to is a life-long learning journey. Hmm!

This is what I heard today related to this thought topic from listening to Michael A. Singer

•  God is everything...and everything is everything
• Lower vibrations are just slower vibrations
• All of Creation is God...from the unmanifest (higher vibration) to the grossest manifetsed...(lower vibration)
• It is easy for the lower vibration to bring the higher vibration down...draws consciousness down
• Depression is a very, very low vibration of energy that a person identifies with
• Depression is a down slope we might experience...it is not who you are.
• Spirituality is not about getting rid of the low vibrations. They too are a part of God. The goal is simply to just observe and participate to some degree in these energy flows before letting them pass through
• "I dont wan't to be distracted by this....I do not want to devote my life to the lowest vibration rates inside me, any longer."
• Most of us are devoting life to distracting self from self...
• Consciousness is distracted by the lowest thing going on...because it is often the noisiest.
• Resisting is the yogic term for suppression.
• The answer to Life's so called problems is not in getting what you want so the garbage inside doesn't get disturbed. The answer is getting rid of the garbage. 
• You do not need to manipulate life.
• The life of spirituality is never about getting what you want and avoiding what you dont want. It is about allowing Life to be Life...reality to be as it is without resistance. 
• What are you doing with your mind?  You are allowing the lowest vibration rates to distract your consciousness. 
• You are resisting reality.
• Reality cannot be wrong because it is reality
• "I want to learn to handle reality!" Is the mantra of the yogi: person wanting to go deeper. 
• Your job is to honor and respect that things will unfold in front of you...if you can't handle it, then that thing  is for your growth.
• You are welcome to change the level of how you interact with things. 
• RAISE SELF
• Instead of beating up self when it pulls Self down, take self by the hand outside to explore the galaxy.
• When you see yourself condemning self...when you see yourself frightened or afraid...reach down and hug that self ..support that self , be self's mother...(Self -compassion is as important to yoga as it is to psychology).
• Observe yourself when you fear failure. Ask, "What is failure?"  Failure is the inability to handle reality....success is the ability to handle reality.
• Participate in Life fully without concern for outcome. The result is not what matters...what matters is doing the best that you can and honoring what comes back when you do.
• Yoga is a practice of handling reality...

There is so much energy flowing inside of you, you couldn't handle it until you learned to...That is what happens when you stop being drawn down to negative energies. You are a great being.

All is well.

Michael A. Singer/ Sounds True/ Temple of the Universe ( September, 2024) Overcoming Lower Vibrations and Embracing Spiritual Freedoms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMF1ZajBIx0&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=8

Testifying to Time's Relentless Melt

 To take a photograph is to participate in another person's mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs tesitfy to time's relentless melt. 

Susan Sontag

All is well!

Not a Problem

The organism is part of its environment...afterall is an object,a process in nature, in the cosmos just as much as anything in its environment.There really is no way of seperating the two. Instead of speaking in this terminology of doers and done to's, attackers and victims...we simplify things considerably just by confining ourselves to a description of what is happening, and as we do this we get a peculiarly clarified perception of the world without all sorts of ghosts. And it is in this way that we also begin to be able to have some preliminary intuition or sensation of the meaning of the fact that life is not a problem. In other words, not a contest between ourselves and our environments. 

Alan Watts

Hmm! I woke up at four (still on Eastern European time) with a perception of "problems".  Since I have been back from my amazing trip I have had a download of life problems unfolding in front of me. Some of the things were so sad ( involving illness, addiction, depression, death, and loss) and others just frustrating  (like a lengthening to- do list beyond what I feel capable of handling, the loss of luggage, money issues,  and an apparent diagnosis of osteoporosis).  Regardless, there were what appeared to be "many" so called problems to deal with, to solve, to accept.  My little human brain and body felt the pressure of it all. So I lay there at four feeling my usual body symptoms and on top of that the heaviness of this concept of "problem". 

So I meditated and then got up to listen to Alan Watts. I heard him speak this truth...that I am not a reactive human organism on this planet experiencing problems. I am simply just a part of what is happening in nature, and in Life.  Sigh!

I am not a problem ridden human. Life is not a problem.

All is well!

Alan Watts/T&H () Alan Watts for When You Think Too Much/Life is Not a Problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_Tv-VfP88&t=656s

Beyond Disappointment

 Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Well there will be no RAW shots. When I had set my camera on jpeg compression I didn't select the "and RAW" choice...so the camera thought it just had to shoot in jpeg.  That is very disappointing but I guess it is what it is.  I will work with what is and do my best not to cling to what could have been. 

Another disappointing thing is that they lost our luggage on the way home. In that luggage I had some dress clothes, my favorite jean jacket ( preference...I know) , shoes, sweaters, jeans, all my sandals and sun dresses, as well as my fitbit watch that I was quite dependent on to get around with. It has been days with no word. Sigh! 

Anyway two disappointing things out of a host of many positive things is not too bad is it? 

All is well in my world. 

Moving Along Like Water

 In reality there are no seperate events. Life moves along like water, it's all connected to the source , like the river is connected to the mouth of the ocean. 

Alan Watts

Falling Freely

 Mana eva manusyanam karanam bandha moksayoh

As the mind, so the person; bondage or liberation are in your own mind.

Sanskrit saying found in Satchinanda's translation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, page 5.

Or as Michael Singer would say:

If you stare at your mind, your mind becomes a prison.

Michael Singer

Most of us are staring at our minds. We are so focused on the noisy mind as it reacts to everything that unfolds in front of us, clinging and struggling, that it imprisons us.  It imprisons the consciousness that we are by pulling us into its never ending dramas, its preferences, its dislikes. When all of our attention goes there it limits  what we observe and expereince. It traps us.

Alan Watts once gave  the analogy of our journey through life as being like this:  When we are born we are pushed off a precipice and we fall to our deaths.  At the same time a large boulder is also pushed off. We spend our life falling as the  boulder falls with us. Instead of enjoying this amazing ride we spend our time terrified and worried. We cling to the boulder with all our might which increases tension and struggle...yet we are so afraid to let go.  We don't realize that letting go will make the inevitable  journey downward pleasant and relaxed, peaceful, and fun. Our struggle is not in the falling but in the clinging to this boulder. The boulder could be the mind or the mental modifications as Patanjali referred to them.

The thing is...with this clinging and preferring, stuffing and storing we tend to do...we create samskaras that lead to a further need to cling and prefer, to stuff and to store. This becomes so distracting and our consciousness gets pulled in to this drama and eventually trapped by it. Each samskara, Singer says, is like a bar in our prison cell.

The thing is it doesn't have to be that way.  We cannot change the fact that we are all falling to our physical deaths in this very temporal world. We cannot change the reality of the things that happened. The world will, afterall, unfold the way it unfolds. This is Life's reality, and has little to do with what this falling little me wants. The mind we cling to with its likes and dislikes, its fears and expectations becomes a prison when we focus like this. If we were, however, to use the mind to contemplate something bigger than us and our puny little fall...than it can actually liberate us. If we use the mind to focus on and explore consciousness rather than the boulder, we can be free.

Spending our time falling emptying and purifying the mind and then using it for higher purposes us can certainly set us free. 

The purified mind is no different than the Self.

RamaKrishna

All is well.

Allan Watts: not sure where or when I heard this

Michael A. Singer/ Sounds True/ Temple of the Universe (October, 2024) The Mind: Prison or Liberator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpU1N80-35w&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=3

Swami Satchidananda (2012) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Integral Yoga Publications. 

A New Way of Seeing

 

One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

Henry Miller

I am home now and trying to get the Circadian rhythm of body and mind aligned with the clock on this side of the world. I am also processing my experience away. I mentioned before how my mind works like my double card slotted camera. In one slot I shoot in jpeg...and the camera does most of the processing of data to come up with some acceptable picture quickly. In the other slot I shoot in RAW where all details are taken in and stored for me to process later on. I can't see the images clearly but later in Lightroom, I am flooded with detail. I am given the chance to select what details to enhance and what details to diminish.  I get to choose how I will remember this trip. 

I haven't taken the pics to Lightroom yet because that is a big endeavor to begin. It will take days. But I am beginning to process the RAWness of my memories. 

It was truly something else.  I absolutely love experiencing culture, language, history, and landscapes, different from my own. It offers me a wider perspective, a new way of seeing things.  It helps me to evolve.

Sure, it was nice to get away, to relax in the sun and I did.  That was truly healing...but what I truly enjoyed was immersing myself in all the above. I love exploring differences because it always brings me back to similarities...and similarities brings me back to this truth: We are all one. I see how small the world is now...how united all humanity is whether we accept that fact or not.

I do not believe I will ever be a fan of the touristy spots on this globe that offer superficial things.  I will, however, always embrace the depths of history and culture in an area that few see as a travel destination. That is why Croatia was the best place to begin my travelling experience. It is a hidden gem, for sure. I am a different person now because of it.

Anyway, all is well. 

Optimistic Sunshine on the Turgoise Sea

 There is nothing like a sea voyage to restore one's sense of optimism, a sense of being cleansed of your own past. 

Robert D Kaplan from Adriatic: A Concert of Civilizations at the End of the Modern Age

We did an Adriatic Island tour during our first week in Croatia.  It was amazing!! I felt my optimism restored and my being cleansed with every drop and breeze from the Turgoise water. 

From Trogir

Blue Lagoon

Solta

Coming Back to Trogir

Again, these pics will be so much better when I develop my RAW.

All is well! 

Using Nothing But Time

 

Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints, and use nothing but time.

Found on wooded placards throughout Croatia's National Park. 

Pure natural beauty that rivals, without surpassing, the Canadian landscape can be found in Plitvice Lakes, Croatia. Words can not do it justice and either can these jpeg photos.  Hopefully you will still get an idea how amazing this spot is to visit. 

                                                    

All is well!

Slovenia! Slovenia! Beautiful Slovenia!

 

God's blessings on all nations who long and work for that bright day!

National Anthem

Most beautiful place I ever seen. The JPEG pics do not do it justice...hopefully when I get into Lightroom with my RAW shots, I can display the true colour and texture of this little country that took my breath away. 

All is well!

In the Quiet Morning

 

U mojem srcu pjevale su ptice

U tiha jutra, za sunčanih sati.

Birds were singing in my heart, in the quiet morning during the sunny hours.

Dobrisa Ceasric (missing accents over the first s and the second c), Moje jutro u Maksimiru

The words from this sad poem written by one of Croatia's famous temporary poets seems to fit, in an odd way, with what I am experiencing this morning. In the quiet morning, during the sunny hours, I find myself sensing something in the air.

What is it that is in the air here? Something subtle yet soothing, gentle yet powerful.  It is true that it is my first trip to Europe and I have nothing to compare it to, but I feel this place is special in some invisible way I have yet to understand. There is something in the air carried with the aroma of strong coffee steaming from the cup I hold in my hands, with the salt from the Adriatic, with the hum of the native tongue vibrating in the background.   It is a peaceful feeling I am left with, a sense of being home even though I am thousands of miles from where this human I call me has circled a spot on the map and labelled as home.  I realize as I hear the ancient church bells in the distance that the world is a small place...much smaller than I ever imagined when I boarded the plane days ago.  That is what is in the morning air during this sunny hour, I guess: The truth of the inter-beingness of all humans. There is some connecting force carried by the morning breeze reminding me that we are no different, regardless of what language we speak, the colour of our skin, the religions we practice, where we were born on this globe, or whatever we tell ourselves and the world we are. There is only the superficial distinctions but no difference that matters. ...that really matters. Under our skin, our flapping tongues, the flags we wave in the air...we are all one. That is what the Croatian morning air has brought to my attention. We are all one. Sigh.

All is well in my world. 

Ageless Ragusa: Dubrovenik, Croatia

Non Bene Pro Toto Libertas Venditura

Liberty cannot be sold for all the gold of the world

I had the once in a lifetime opportunity yesterday to walk the walls of Dubrovnik. What an amazing, enclosed city.  In its ageless beauty it continues to survive, still, the onslaught of modern life outside and inside its walls. The walk was breathtaking and a photographer's dream. I had to soak up more of its history through research when I returned home. 

What I love about Dubrovnik history:

• Very, very old dating back to 616 when Roman refuges and the Slavs settled around the rock of Laus
• Touched by, dominated by, conquered  by  or protected by many different influences over the years from its Slavic and Roman roots to the  Byzantines (what  the Christian empire was called  in Constantinople), the Venetians (Venice was once a thriving state on its own),  the Islamic rule (when Islam gained and regained its power in Constantinople), to the Normans,  to the Serbians, to Ravenna, to Bosnia, to Russians, French, Austrian-Hungarian,to the  German influence,
• Pure in its intent for liberty. The words inscribed on Fort Lovrjenac built in 1038 and which proved to be the mantra of its people for centuries to come: Non Bene Pro Toto Libertas Venditura which can be loosely translated to, Liberty cannot be sold for all the gold of the world.  How beautiful is that coming from a renown trade center and an independent republic lasting for centuries. 
• It was accepting of  people other than Christians, like ...for example...the Jewish people.  Though the Jewish population is not given the due it deserves in the middle ages...there was a very important Jewish population in Dubrovnik dating back to 1352. The third oldest synagogue in all of Europe was later built in 15th century here.
• Democratic and non autocratic in its leadership (for the most part) until after WWI when Peter I of Serbia became its first sovereign. 
• Created an equal access for all social system that could make any Canadian pleased. The first public hospital in all the Balkans...Domus Christi ...was built in 1347. ( And just in time for the shadow of Black death soon fell upon the city (grad).) The first public school was opened in 1435. Protected its textile workers with a law in 1428
• Understood the necessity of disease prevention and health promotion. Was the first port to establish a quarantine in 1377. First pharmacy was founded in 1420. Clean water supply through the fountain that is still running clean water today was established in 1438. (I drank from that fountain yesterday...over a 1000 years later)
• Became completely built of stone as of 1413

• Home of famous art and artists like Blaz Jurije Trogiranin (painted the church in Ston), Marin Drzic (playwright) and Marco Marulic (poet)
• Self defended by the creation of magnificent walls and fortresses, that I walked upon yesterday, in the years between 1461 and 1570. The white gold manufactured in Ston was protected by the greatest and longest man-made wall, next to the Great Wall of China, in the entire world. 

• Had a long peaceful and prosperous history under the rule of the Turkish sultan from 1526-1808 where it remained a fairly independent state?
• Its creation of the salt market in Ston in 1581 which showed great ingenuity and innovation making it the greatest salt ( white gold) industry in the world...even today. 
• Its resiliency and ability to become stronger with adversity: It bounced back from the great fire, the black death of 1348, the great earthquake of 1667 and so many take overs and assaults on its walls...the greatest occurring during Croatia's War of Independence in 1992. 
• Abolitionist Mandate. Its mandate against slave trading was bought about in 1416.   The walls of Ston were built without slaves. People were paid for their work. 
• Was able to remain fairly independent as a republic until Napolean's conquest in 1808. It fell under French rule until 1813 when the Congress of Vienna gave it to Austria-Hungary where it remained until 1915 when it joined with other countries to become the Kingdom of Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes and later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. In 1943 during WWII it became a puppet state for the Axis, under Italian, then German occupation. After WWII it became a part of the Socialist Federal  Republic of Yugoslavia and a communist state until the end of the War of Independence on November 12, 1995.
• King's Landing in the Game of Thrones. That series was shot here. The filming of this amazing series has boosted tourism in Croatia allowing it to increase its GNP
• and so much more....

Wow! That is a lot of history.  I am just amazed by it all.

Please visit this amazing city if you ever have a chance, especially in the Winter time to help balance out the crowds and the tourist economy for this very special country.  It is worth seeing.  And you do not even have to be a Game of Thrones fan to appreciate it.  

The ghosts that walk the stone walls here, I am sure, will reach out and grab you as they did me. 

Again the pics will not do it justice until I get a chance to bring out the true colours of this place in Lightroom.

All is well.

Dubrovnik Online ( n.d.) Chronology of Dubrovnik fro 600 AD until 1808.https://www.dubrovnik-online.net/english/chronology.php 

Wikepedia ( Sept 12, 2024) WWII in Yugoslavia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_in_Yugoslavia#Axis_invasion_and_dismemberment_of_Yugoslavia

Wikepedia ( ) Hundred Years Croatian-Ottoman War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years%27_Croatian%E2%80%93Ottoman_War#:~:text=Nevertheless%2C%20the%20Ottoman%20Empire%20held,Herzegovina)%20which%20remained%20in%20Ottoman

dubrovnik -travel.net ( ) The History of Dubrovnik. https://www.dubrovnik-travel.net/history/

Prekrasna! Volim Hrvatska!

Hrvatska je prekrasna, apsolutno prekrasna.

 Wow!I did not realize how much I needed a break and how perfect this place was to offer a withering mind and body one. So, so beautiful. And the language is like music to my ears for some reason.  I am learning it. I had to try out the method I used in my book to understand this tongue. Definitely will never be fluent while here but I am recognizing and understanding the alphabet and the phonemes.   Croatian (Hrvatski) is so phonetic.  It is actually written in phonetic symbols....so, unlike English, this version of the roman alphabet ( Gaj) sounds like it looks.  Anyway...Learning a new language (jezik) is a fun way to pass a few hours a day in the sun. Oh...and I am shooting again. What a joy that is.  I got my camera working better...not perfectly...but better. I forgot how good it feels to capture life on this amazing planet in a few stills. I feel so blessd right now.  I am so very grateful....that this human I call "me"  has been given the opportunity to experience all this.  I will do what I can to share it with the world. ( Most of the pictures will have to wait, though, until I get home to post process on Lightroom...all good.)

All is well! Dobra!!

 

Inspiration from the Dalmatian Coast

 What inspires me most to write is the act of traveling.

Tea Obreht, Croatian author

Sitting here on the deck overlooking the Adriatic Sea.  The water is as blue as a clear sky and the horizon is outlined by a series of perfect green hills. Houses of white stone with orange terracotta roofs splatter the landscape on both sides of the sea. Sail boats float on the surface of what appears to be motionless water, their unneeded masts down while the land near the shore offers its bounty.  The world is rich with vegetation. In this yard alone I can see lime trees, pomegranate and olive trees offering up their abundant offspring to us the temporary guests of this ageless coastline.   The sun...bright and golden above my head shines down with its precious rays to warm the skin and the soul so quietly watching from within. The air is warm with a soft breeze blowing a tiny hint of almost scentless Oleander in my direction.   The Croatian tongue heavy with its Slavic roots humming around me feels as comforting and familiar as my own dialect, though I do not understand a word.  It echoes of a time long forgotten but that still vibrates off the ancient stone, reminding all who are blessed enough to hear it of the glory, the pain, and the splendor that will live on for ever.  Yeah, this is a place that soothes the soul, warms the heart and calms the mind emptying it of its ceaseless chatter. “Rest, rest, rest”, the ghosts of many ancestoral lines whisper and I can do nothing but obey.