Hi David - I have just read this piece at the beginning of 2026 - - having returned on New Years day from 4 days silent meditation retreat - at which the teacher spoke of the commonality of the deeply mystical traditions (though she learned with an Indian teacher in a tantric yoga tradition -) her guidance in meditation was profound, and in her teachings so many traditions were wound - from the TAo, to ancient Bhuddist sutras, to Tibetan Buddhist teachings, to Christian mystics, Meister Eckhardt, St Augustine, St Theresa, Hildegaard von Bingen - and yet what spoke most was the guidance to a depth of the question - who am I - seeking in deep and profound silence to be a witness - to all that comes through experience whether thought or feeling, or sensation - and to know that these come and go - and yet the essence of the I - witnessing itself witnessing - the I that can be aware of being - is where the truth lies. Your piece here is movingly resonant of that awareness of the true nonduality, and oneness of all being, the ultimate consciousness of the cosmos. thanks, Jo
It was a commentary on Daoist cosmology that helped me with that, David.
Coming from my cosmological background, I wasn't getting that the '10K Things' was a-cosmological & entirely spontaneous. That they didn't have a concept of *Cosmos* with a coherent, single ordered, enclosed or defined thing. The xtianity & Sagan I was offered in youth did, lol. The Daoists I was trying to understand weren't trying to assert the existence of a 'One Behind the Many' substratum, just a largely consistent cadenced flow of Becomings.
I'm always suggesting metaphorical "guitars" to fill voids. Best of luck. <wave>
Ah yes, these superstars could only be so because of those who reflected the light back to them. Which is more important? :) Your brilliant line "listen for the whispering of the night oceans" prompted me to share one of my favorite paintings on the wall in my house: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BKnxKfYKFw7zDkz66
Sorry, David, but this piece is too solipsistic for this ole doc. I fly much closer to the ground and let nature and my better angels drive the two wheeled cart of my life. We are what we do. So, I'm a retired physician/psychiatrist/addictionist/cancer and stress researcher/recovered addict/alcoholic/childhood sexual-physical-mental-emotional-spiritual abuse survivor, and, lately science/psychology/environment/climate collapse author. We are what we do and have done. Best wishes and have a blessed day!
Thanks for that! My concern is with the self-absorption of the comments and replies that I see on my daily rounds on the net. My eldest son directs a computer game design shop in Brisbane and is lauded for his "Destroy All Humans" production. We are so very alienated from the natural world and its rhythms that most of us meet the criteria for psychosis and are as lost as you allude to in your essay. Nature is, afterall, the only reality and we are just one aspect, but have become 3,000 times the numbers of our Hunter-Gatherer/pastoral clan/band living ancestors. Climate collapse is in the process of driving us off of a de-evolutionary cliff, like so many lemmings. "Mind" won't matter then.
Hi David - I have just read this piece at the beginning of 2026 - - having returned on New Years day from 4 days silent meditation retreat - at which the teacher spoke of the commonality of the deeply mystical traditions (though she learned with an Indian teacher in a tantric yoga tradition -) her guidance in meditation was profound, and in her teachings so many traditions were wound - from the TAo, to ancient Bhuddist sutras, to Tibetan Buddhist teachings, to Christian mystics, Meister Eckhardt, St Augustine, St Theresa, Hildegaard von Bingen - and yet what spoke most was the guidance to a depth of the question - who am I - seeking in deep and profound silence to be a witness - to all that comes through experience whether thought or feeling, or sensation - and to know that these come and go - and yet the essence of the I - witnessing itself witnessing - the I that can be aware of being - is where the truth lies. Your piece here is movingly resonant of that awareness of the true nonduality, and oneness of all being, the ultimate consciousness of the cosmos. thanks, Jo
Thanks for your kind words, Jo. I’m happy to hear you are finding satisfaction in your practice of the perennial wisdom!
It was a commentary on Daoist cosmology that helped me with that, David.
Coming from my cosmological background, I wasn't getting that the '10K Things' was a-cosmological & entirely spontaneous. That they didn't have a concept of *Cosmos* with a coherent, single ordered, enclosed or defined thing. The xtianity & Sagan I was offered in youth did, lol. The Daoists I was trying to understand weren't trying to assert the existence of a 'One Behind the Many' substratum, just a largely consistent cadenced flow of Becomings.
I'm always suggesting metaphorical "guitars" to fill voids. Best of luck. <wave>
Ah yes, these superstars could only be so because of those who reflected the light back to them. Which is more important? :) Your brilliant line "listen for the whispering of the night oceans" prompted me to share one of my favorite paintings on the wall in my house: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BKnxKfYKFw7zDkz66
I love this piece, it is deeply moving for me. I love the surrender, the vulnerability, the portrayal of agony that lies beyond the accomplishment
Thank you David for sharing, again… for your being 🙏🏻
Dark night of the soul? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Night_of_the_Soul#:~:text=The%20dark%20night%20of%20the%20soul%20is%20a%20stage%20of,the%20withdrawal%20of%20God's%20presence.
Sorry, David, but this piece is too solipsistic for this ole doc. I fly much closer to the ground and let nature and my better angels drive the two wheeled cart of my life. We are what we do. So, I'm a retired physician/psychiatrist/addictionist/cancer and stress researcher/recovered addict/alcoholic/childhood sexual-physical-mental-emotional-spiritual abuse survivor, and, lately science/psychology/environment/climate collapse author. We are what we do and have done. Best wishes and have a blessed day!
Thanks for that! My concern is with the self-absorption of the comments and replies that I see on my daily rounds on the net. My eldest son directs a computer game design shop in Brisbane and is lauded for his "Destroy All Humans" production. We are so very alienated from the natural world and its rhythms that most of us meet the criteria for psychosis and are as lost as you allude to in your essay. Nature is, afterall, the only reality and we are just one aspect, but have become 3,000 times the numbers of our Hunter-Gatherer/pastoral clan/band living ancestors. Climate collapse is in the process of driving us off of a de-evolutionary cliff, like so many lemmings. "Mind" won't matter then.