spiritual practices offering salvation, miracles, liberation

bind us in "golden chains of spirituality".

beautiful to wear, with its inlaid jewels and intricate carvings, but it imprisons us.

People think they can wear the golden chain for decoration without being imprisoned by it,

but they are deceiving themselves.

As long as one's approach to spirituality is based upon enriching ego, then

it is spiritual materialism, a suicidal process rather than a creative one."

Chögyam Trungpa

Mindful birding

intentional use of birding for cultivating mindfulness.

Anyone who has been entranced by seeing a murmuration (a phenomenon in which a flock of birds, sometimes thousands of individuals strong, flies in perfect harmony as one shifting, undulating mass)

has had a taste of the wonder and grace available in such moments.

These kinds of experiences can connect us with the present moment, and the gentleness and appreciation.

https://shambhala.org/community/blog/the-art-of-mindful-birding/

“We can use everything that happens to us as the means for waking up.

We can use everything that occurs

to show us where we are asleep and how we can wake up completely, utterly, without reservations.

“When the world is filled with evil, all mishaps, all difficulties, should be transformed into the path of enlightenment.”

Excerpt From
When Things Fall Apart
Pema Chodron

https://drive.proton.me/urls/QCBKM1F1YM#L8Sstl7odaC1

“Notice your opinions. If you find yourself becoming aggressive about your opinions, notice that.

Cultivating a mind that does not grasp at right and wrong, you will find a fresh state of being.

The ultimate cessation of suffering comes from that. Finally, never give up on yourself. Then you will never give up on others.”

Excerpt From
When Things Fall Apart
Pema Chodron

“When I talk about noticing opinions, I’m talking about noticing them as a simple way of beginning to

pay attention to what we think and do and how much energy comes along with that.

Then we can also begin to realize how solid we make things and

how easy it is to get into a war in which we want our opinions to win and someone else’s to lose.

It is especially tempting to do this when we’re engaged in social action.”

Excerpt From
When Things Fall Apart
Pema Chodron

opinions.

“Opinions are opinions, nothing more or less.

We can begin to notice them, and we can begin to label them as opinions,

All ego really is, is our opinions, which we take to be solid, real, and the absolute truth about how things are.

doubt about the solidity and absolute truth of our own opinions,

introduces us to the possibility of egolessness.

We don’t have to make these opinions go away, and we don’t have to criticize ourselves."

When Things Fall Apart
Pema Chodron

the aliens are here
in Black Leather Jackets
to poison our species.

Twilight Zone.

perhaps this pleases the planet, or the entire universe.

i routinely escort intruder felines from my garden, keeping a watchful eye from windows above.

the birds and squirrels give warning.

i caught one lurking in the bushes beside the feeders.

surprised by the long poking stick supplied by last year's Catalpa growth.

this year's prnings are even longer‼️😈🤨

here they are sans feline presence.

homage
to
the nameless
beyond concepts or images

to which
surrender
in ultimate trust
and love

fills
being with love
joy peace eternal light.

overhead pale blue mixed with washes of white

homage
to the buddha-nature
being tree

our ancestors
still caregivers
airgivers
foodgivers

the green lions
here long before us.

without them
no us.

the twilight zone revisited.

enter at your own risk

https://youtu.be/jo0H3aIooU8

highlights at
The Raccoon Saloon,

porcupine, wild turkeys,
and raccoons show up
today.

https://youtu.be/-KbsHabP1Ss

“doing tonglen for what we are feeling and for millions of other people just like us who at this very moment are feeling exactly the same misery.

Maybe we are able to name our pain

nwe breathe in for all the people who are caught with that same emotion

we send out relief for ourselves and all those countless others.

contact what we are feeling and breathe in, take it in,

for all of us—and

send out relief to all of us.”

Excerpt From
When Things Fall Apart
Pema Chodron

here's a cooper's getting stalked by a couple black squirrels

here's one of the engineers who i may finally have convinced it's not worth the effort.

what you see there is only the tip of the contraption below i've had to improvise. i had to gorilla tape the seams because he was popping the rivets.

unreal.