We visited one of the places on earth where there is a true litmus test for one’s humanity, Hiroshima. A person who visits here and does not suffer with the Japanese people is already up to their neck in hell, and they are too dead to even know it. We Read more…
Religions exist to provide a template for its adherents to find their “higher power”. Far too many people despair of finding it, and end up accepting the husks discarded from other people’s minimal understandings of God, Truth, Buddha, Jesus, or whatever spiritual light seems to beckon to them. There is Read more…
We made it to the top of the Mt. Misen, on Miyajima island across from Hiroshima, where a legendary Japanese monk, Kobo Daishe, of long, long ago found enlightenment. We have found our own unique versions of the same. The trip down was a challenge, taking nearly 2 hours and Read more…
We spent a couple hours at the Zen Master’s museum today. In high school, Akiko studied Suzuki, as well as one of his disciples, Nishida. Akiko did not become conscious of Suzuki’s implications and teachings until later in life. I would have loved to study with Suzuki, and engage in Read more…
A little “secret” about each gate to a shrine, is that the guardian creatures always are in pairs, one with mouth open (alpha, or ah) and mouth closed (omega, or ohm). In the sacred silence, there is the internal humm of the energy of the universe, which busy minds just Read more…
“Roll out the barrel, we’ll have a barrel of fun, roll out the sake, we got the blues on the run . . .” We are back in Tokyo for this one. One final “shriner’s tour”, and there was enough donated French wine and Japanese sake stored on the two Read more…
These photographs are from a Tokyo inner city meditative garden. I purposely placed the beauty of nature against the background of Japan’s finest building technology and engineering. Our technology will always be with us, yet, so too must our appreciation for the infinite gifts of Nature, that Mother Earth provides Read more…
The following writing is about my perspective on aspects of the spiritual disease within American consciousness. It not just about Christianity, though I will write at length about aspects of present day political hijacking of the faith. I come from a Christian background. I have studied and practiced aspects of Read more…
Edit This has not been edited, but is published so that I can access it from another platform Marty and Me Over the years, I have become deeply disturbed by the developments within our shared world, within my individual consciousness, and the points of connection between self and other, through Read more…
Atomic weapons don’t kill people, people kill people. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. These are equivalent arguments, only differing by the degree of devastation that their use creates. As a world civilization, we try to regulate our atomic weapons, yet we let other weapons of mass destruction run Read more…
(excerpt from my book) If it’s painful for you to hear my story, it’s OK. That’s part of the process because my story includes pain, so don’t stop listening because you are uncomfortable. If you would just move past your discomfort you might learn something about empathy and compassion and Read more…
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? — 1 Corinthians 3:16 Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned—1 Corinthians 2:14 Prolific Read more…
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? — 1 Corinthians 3:16 Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned—1 Corinthians 2:14 Prolific Read more…
Fools find no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing their opinion. — Proverbs 18:2 (CEB) One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end.” ― Krishnamurti Who would want to wake up, to become more “consciously aware”? What happens when an Read more…
(inspired by our trip to Belize in January, 2019) I AM I am the brightest of mornings, I am the cloudiest of days, I am the silent night altar upon which mankind prays and preys. I am the Olmec and Mayan of times old, recent, and new, I am all Read more…
A human being may have had a perfect upbringing, yet that fact does not have ultimate significance in the evolution towards good mental health and well-being as an adult. Avoiding a childhood characterized by physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse is certainly a desirable and necessary foundation for strong, healthy children, Read more…
Make no mistake about it. The real, immediate threat to national security is global warming, and the oil industry, and nations supporting the continued overuse of oil, coal, and natural gas. The border wall is a “Trumped up deal”, designed to confuse and obfuscate the issues, and its primary intention Read more…
Resolutions are the music playing in the background while I go about the business of living my life fully, with global awareness, spirituality, integrity, and good physical health. Resolution Number 10 I commit to running a 10K race (6.2 miles) this year. I commit to running the race for fun Read more…
Happy New Year to all! How about creating a “New Year’s resolution” that actually has some value to more people than just to ourselves? Don’t let the following Bible verse scare you away, It is non-threatening, and it is about everybody’s friend, the rainbow.. “and I will remember my covenant Read more…
After recently witnessing, experiencing, or hearing about several incomplete, unloving, and/or alienating family gatherings and situations, and being uninvited to another, I have decided that,in the interests of maintaining the limited and questionable quality of family relationships that I presently have, I will get a dog, and instead focus all Read more…