Clouds

Life From The Lifeless

Spirits and illusions have died,
The naked mind lives
In the beauty of inanimate things.

Flowers wither, grass fades, trees wilt,
The forest is burnt;
The rock is not burnt.

The deer starve, the winter birds
Die on their twigs and lie
In the blue dawns in the snow.

Men suffer want and become
Curiously ignoble; as prosperity
Made them curiously vile.

But look how noble the world is,
The lonely-flowing waters, the secret-
Keeping stones, the flowing sky.

By Robinson Jeffers

Sea……gulls

 

I love the sea and I love seagulls.  I have always been fascinated at how the two seem so much alike in color and spirit.  Although one is inanimate and the other animate…it is clear to me that they are completely connected…as is the Great White…and the Orca…and the dolphin…and us????  What about us?

Unnatural Borders

I have often thought about and expressed my opinion that our man-made borders are unnatural, or falsehoods, or near-sighted.  Think for a moment about all the countries throughout the world that divide seven billion people into sub-groups.  Indeed, in the distant past, isolated cultures and countries were the seeds to variation and diversity.  This was good.  Variety is beautiful.  But, we are becoming through technology, economics, and politics, more homogeneous.  We are becoming more and more dependent on each other.  There are fewer resources like fertile land, fresh water, clean air, and employment opportunities to care for seven billion people.  And, our technology has the potential to wipe us off the map if we make some poor decisions.

I often look to the inanimate for clues as to how we might approach thinking about our existence with one another.  My first thought is plate tectonics — might it make more sense for us to form borders along the earth’s moving plates?  We would have to merge several countries to adhere to the earth’s natural borders.  Of course, this is also a bit near-sighted.  If we rise above the earth, we will see that earth’s plates really become less significant.  The environment outside our earth is a cold, dark, and unforgiving place.  If we thought more consciously or unconsciously on the cosmic level, as a species, we would be far wiser in our approach as to how to construct our momentum to ensure not only our survival, but also our quality of life.  There are no separate oceans — all ocean water circulates through the currents and becomes one.  The wind and air circulates around the entire planet.  The rivers flow to the sea…the sun heats the sea…clouds form and circulate with the winds…the rain replenishes the rivers.  There are no separate continents.  All are in motion.  They separate…they collide…they are never static…they are never the same.  Change and borderlessness is an inanimate truth that we should consider when contemplating the fruitfulness of our joint future momentum.

The Purpose of the Soul

All that the eyes see, all that the ears hear, all that the tongue tastes, all that the nose smells, all that the body feels, impacts the soul.  The soul, which instructs the mind (best case scenario), which in turn instructs the body, further impacts the soul.  The external environment therefore is the source of a soul’s energy.  If there were nothing external for the virgin soul to take in then it would simply remain as it was upon birth and die in the same condition, neither growing nor depleting.

All inanimate things (majority of the known universe) have no soul for they just are.  The sun takes nothing in rather it just burns until one day it will burn no more.  The ocean takes nothing in so it just sways back and forth with the wind and the moon.  Inanimate things simply are and provide unintentionally for the animate.  Why then, should my soul find such an attraction and reverence for the soulless inanimate objects like the stars, the ocean, and the mountains?  Why does the sun sparkling on the expansive ocean fill my soul with sublime joy?  Why does my soul find more nourishment and growth when it instructs me to depart from humanity and walk alone amongst nature?  Why does my soul expand when I watch the clouds flow and transform effortlessly above?  Why do I find the universe’s chaotic creation and destruction so inspiring?

Because I am trying to understand my parents.  Because I am trying to understand that the creator or creators don’t have any expectations, opinions, or judgments as to how I decide to live my brief existence.  My uncaring creator or creators gave me life with no guidelines or restrictions.  The creator simply set the stage with no script, the orchestra with no score or conductor.  It is therefore the purpose of my soul to decide how to enjoy this short breath of freedom.  It is therefore the purpose of all souls given their present form to make the same determination.  For many souls, like the hawk, the Orca, or the dolphin, the decision seems to be made with beauty and simplicity.  For other souls, like those of the human form, the decision seems to come with much complexity.  Only when man discovers how to unwrap the self-imposed bondage will we finally understand how to interact with one another.  Only when we see each other as individual souls seeking our own definitions of fulfillment will we be able to interact with one another to enable rather than disable that boundless, difficult, yet joyful quest.

“God’s” Worthy Opponent

Beautiful ruler of the seas

Power and grace supreme

Perfect form slicing the expanse

Stealth shocking death

Turns Ocean blue red

Shiny black mysterious night

Glistening white glacial ice

War paint

Dreams from wolfish past

Howling at the moon

Terrifying raw freedom

Roaming wild intelligence

Natural strength embraces abyss

No fabricated tools or laws

Noble opponent to inanimate might

Bright beast confronts infinite chaos

The eternal Battle of the Titans

Man merely a misinformed spectator

Or long gone

Failing to comprehend the Grand War