tao1776

This Being Human.... Sometimes, it would appear, that I have an over inflated sense of injustice; or justice. I am forever the champion of the underdog. I want to right every wrong. Ignorance and want needs a champion. So much so, that I often exhaust myself. I also often find myself in opposition to how things are; swimming against the current. I once thought that I knew better. Perhaps I did. Maybe I just lost me way. Remember the yoke being easy and the burden being light? I'm tired. As we face the new year, I would like to leave you with this Taoist parable. Chew on it.... There was a man who was so disturbed by the sight of his own shadow and so displeased with his own footsteps, that he determined to get rid of them both. The method he hit upon was to run away from them. So he got up and ran. But every time he put his foot down there was another step, while his shadow kept up with him without the slightest difficulty. He attributed his failure to the fact that he was not runn...

Several of you are aware that I have three blogs. Two with Blogger and one with Wordpress; http://artisan1865.wordpress.com/ the latter being more of an experiment in trying to issue my Lodge of Masons into the new age. I started to post some of my Taoist/Buddhist and healing attempts on http://theresurgenceoftao1776.blogspot.com/ In the words of the Allman Brothers Band; Sometimes I feel, sometimes I feel, Like I been tied to the whipping post Tied to the whipping post, Tied to the whipping post, Good lord, I feel like I'm dyin. Often, you just have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and as my friend Michelle says, You just begin again." I've been reading some of the works of Osho as of late. Especially when it comes to Chuang tzu. I have begun to realize (again) that I add complications to things that have no inherent complications. But just to add some balance, there ARE complications. Take Mitt Romney for instance. The Great White Father that used Massachusett...

All the great rivers on reaching the great ocean lose their former names and identities and are reckoned simply as the great ocean.

Recently I had my son install some foam board insulation under the flooring of my mudroom which has been at one time part of the porch outside of the kitchen door. You see, we expanded the kitchen by tearing out the partition that separated it from the small mud room and pantry making for one large entry way in which you could take off your boots and hang your coat. He tore this picture away from the poorly insulated wall. It is from a 1914 newspaper. It is Winston Churchill. The headlines tell of the allied victories taking place in France against the German war machine. Of course this made me think of my father's involvement and eventual p.o.w. status during the second world war. Do we ever stop killing each other and fighting for one cause or one country against another? The answer is, "No." Then I thought of this story from an old Taoist sage; It seems there was a man who came upon a "stinktree" on his property. Looking up to its tangle of leaves and branche...

Ah! The Presidential election is here once again. If we only possessed the power to ride them out on a rail or to tar and feather when they proved themselves worthy of resignation and they refused to do so. When American oil companies are making record profits while fuel and heating costs are crippling middle and poor America, something is wrong. If calls are made for funds to help those that are unable to afford heat, the "Socialist" name calling card is thrown out. Why should those that have, pay for help for those that don't? Its a good question. No one is asking for a free ride; if those at the bottom of the economic trough have to tighten their belt a notch, why is it that those at the top are in need of a few more holes in the belt to accommodate their added girth?

There is no pretense to infallibility in Masonry. It is not for us to dictate to any man what he shall believe. The obligation of the candidate is always to be taken on the sacred book or books of his religion, that he may deem it more solemn and binding; and therefore it was that you were asked of what religion you were. We have no other concern with your religious creed. No one Mason has the right to measure for another, within the walls of a Masonic Temple, the degree of veneration which he shall feel for any Reformer or the Founder of any Religion. We teach a belief in no particular creed, as we teach unbelief in none. Albert Pike A s I have it stated in my profile, I've been baptized into Christianity, energized by Taoism, swallowed up by Buddhism and shit out as what you now see. What has attracted me to the halls of Masonry, besides its long history, one is free to believe in God in whatever way his mind and experience have led or concluded for him. There are many who have...

It has always been my place to extend forgiveness and grace. Roll over Beethoven. My siblings may act as they will. Roll Over. People will act as they may. Roll over. I'm not perfect. Never claimed to be. But you have assumed too much. Or have assumed too little, You are on your own. I will go on without you. If the powers that be, are really the powers that be; then they will have the power to show me the error of my ways. Until then, FUCK OFF!

Like many of you, I hate the holidays. The only solace I have is my Granddaughters. I went to the store today with Brielle. She wore her Princess Island dress, her crown, her sunglasses and her necklaces. She was beautiful. It is the mystical joy and innocence of the babes that make life so worth it all

Little Sister, As we pass deeper into the dark time of the year, it is no wonder that we find it analogous to that period in our lives when things come to a close and that we often find that our memories consist of the times of warmth and the youth of the year. And to all this, I can only say that it was never my aim to sound harsh or to be dismissive of your attempts to stay in touch with the members of your family. It is always the wish and hopes that family fulfill their roles as the protective clan and nucleus within society. It is more a reflection of my view and not a personal dig towards you. As the matriarch passed on from this world, I found that the attacks against my grace and patience with our older siblings was more than I was willing to accept. It does, I know, sound righteous and perhaps condescending. As if my being contained any grace to be given. Perhaps I should state that my patience had just come to a deafening end. It has nothing to do with forgiveness, I don'...