I have a few questions. I have been working on some of them for decades, ever since they were first asked of me. What is the essence/nature/definition of God? How does one define existence? What is Reality? How does one define Inspiration? Where do stories/music/meaning come from? What is the relationship between "What?" "How?" and "Why?" How do you know which question to ask? How do you know what to ask for? Why do you ask? What is an ideal? Are ideals important? Why? Are all ideals equally important, or are some ideals more important than others? What is "The Good Life?" If you have any thoughts about these questions, I am all ears. Peace and Love

I spent my senior year of college (1994-95) in India. I would live there again in a heartbeat. Indian culture has dimensions that we in America don't even have names for, much less a well-developed tradition of understanding. I see this changing, however.

I would love to live in, or at least visit, Israel. So much history, so much significance. Another land from which America could learn something of priceless quality.

I would love to live a year or two or ten or more in England, my ancestral home. There just something about it that pulls me. Maybe it's the food . . .

I look forward to America becoming, once again, as great as it's promise.

Peaec and Love

I wish people spent more time discussing their highest ideals and how they are realized - who and what they love, what inspires them, their creative efforts, real world acts of wisdom, good ways to improve the bonds of community, good ways to healthy, expansive consciousness, individual transcendence and universal unity.

Oh, and humor, religion, politics, art, science, music, current events, baseball . . . and recipes.

My Wife's . . . (mmm???) . . . laughter!!! 

A thousand songs. A hundred guitar chords. The color wheel. The Muse's aroma. The rules of baseball. The recipes for bread, chai, gravy and pesto. The sound of one hand clapping. My inner child. The way home.

Sh'ma Y'srael, Adonai, Eloheinu, Adonai, Echad!!!

Peace and Love

Idealism, Mysticism, Abstract Thought, Awe, Language, History, Culture . . . Exegesis . . . and thumbs.

We live in a meaningful, abstract, inspired reality AND a sensory, physical reality . . .  And, there is nothing we can't learn, despite the all-too-frequent, contrary evidence.

Peace and Love

An enlightenment section.

It would be full of consciousness-expanding ideas, good news, inspired arts (music, film, books, and any other creative pursuits), scientific breakthroughs, community-building activities and creative problem solving in politics and policies.

I believed someone had a good answer to every possible question. I believed that one day, maybe, I might get to ask the big questions and hear some of the answers.

I believed all grown-ups were good, smart and wise. I believed there were good reasons for everything they do. 

I believed all children were playing all of the time.
 
I wondered where the music came from. I believed that maybe there were tiny musicians (who could play everything) who lived inside the radio.

I still believe in whatever or wherever or whoever it is that the music comes from.

I believed all bands were named The Beatles.

I believed the Moon Landing was the coolest, most important thing that ever happened.

I believed nature was sacred (I still believe this one), that all things are, somehow, sacred.
I believed there were many things I didn't know, but the unknown was often far better than I imagined. I still believe this.

Peace and Love

I believe truth and fact are the same "thing" existing two different ways. The two ways are not interchangable, but they almost always coexist.

Facts are specific, truth is universal.

A fact is a verifiable unit of infomation, truth is the meaning of that information. 

Facts are reductive, truth is transcendant. Facts are required to mean only what they mean, and little else. Truth is meaning in all contexts.

Some believe facts define the limitations of existence, that nothing more or less than the facts can be said to exist. Meaning is nice, when it's available, but the ideal truth may be so hidden, so difficult to perceive, that the existence of meaning in all things is simply not provable. 

Others believe truth exists with or without facts, that there are truths that cannot be realized without defying facts. According to that view, meaning does not have to exist in fact, meaning does not have to exist in all things.

Both of these accept, erroneously, the separation between truth and fact, between meaning and reason, that there are meaningless facts and unrealizable ideals.

But, of course, everything is meaningful.

Strangers reflect you who you are. You see in the unknown what you are prepared to see, you see in the unknown some form of what you "know."
 
So, if a stranger appears to be wonderful, it is, at least in part, because you are full of wonder. If you see beauty, or danger, or simplicity, or complexity, it is because you are inclined to see these things.

In my experience, I have learned to trust and respect my instincts, just not exlusively.

Of course, good strangers become friends almost immediately.

Peace and Love

Nothing is missing, there just doesn't seem to be enough recognition, respect, appreciation or nurturance for our truly inspired, creative ideals, or for our idealists, those who realize what a good world this is if we just let it be.

Maybe all we need is, simply, to see it for what it is.

Of course, there is always a place for more enlightened humility, especially from the powerful (empowered enlightenment?), for more love, respect and curiosity for the unknown, more critical thought. There is always a home for more consciousness, more wisdom, more compassion, more creativity, more unity, more transcendence . . . more . . . 

Peace and Love