On Aug 26, for the first time since Willow arrived Aug 21, I left the bedroom door open as I settled into bed so the animals could freely come and go.  Each dog settled onto a dog bed; then Joey arrived and jumped onto my bed. There was a sense of peace. We’re becoming a family. I’ll try to get a photo, but it’s hard as they are scattered around the room and I’m in bed, unable to get all in one picture, but I hope you can get the feeling.

Journal, Nov. 1994: From Vimalakirti: “That which has no intrinsic substance and no other sort of substance does not burn, and what does not burn is not extinguished; such lack of extinction is the meaning of peace.” I find this one of the most beautiful lines I’ve ever read! The deeper I go in my practice, the more I experience that there is nothing to burn and never was. I create “something”, or the illusion of something into which I mire myself, when I greet that arising without mindfulness and fight against it.  Resting in pure awareness, I see the anger as fireworks going off over the hill. Just watch it!  If it sets something afire the relative human is responsible and must put out the blaze. If awareness is fully present, there’s nothing to be set ablaze.  The fireworks must always be attended and yet they mean nothing!

Within the Unconditioned is not just the lovingkindness but all the putridness one can imagine.  That, too, is part of Buddha nature. When I stub my toe, there’s pain. Conditions are present for its arising…etc. When certain conditions are present, such as ignorance, there’s anger or greed. The arising of anger or greed makes no difference when I know it makes no difference. Then there is no contraction, just the ripple of the water, no seed planted. Pure Mind. The always-still water that sometimes reflects the ever-present ripples.

Returning to my 1995 journal. Sitting: Mind in much turmoil for about 45 minutes; just watching it without trying to stop it. Slowly opened into a sense of space, the tumultuous mind as the waves on the surface, resting below where there is a stillness. No preference for surface or depths.  Seeing contraction around the contraction as what creates karma. There was an itch on the forehead. Could see unpleasant and then aversion arising. Just the natural flow as the wind touching water creates ripples. When no contraction around that aversion, it doesn’t mean anything. Nothing to do. No seed is planted. It arose. It will go. Meanwhile, skillful to scratch.

Aaron spoke into that stillness.  He said I see the shit/sugar dilemma better. I’m still trying to protect, to stay safe – thus still locked in duality. Meditation takes me to non-duality. That’s pretty threatening. The idea that there’s nothing to do is terrifying. It means abandoning the illusion of control.  I never was in control but as long as there was an illusion I could feel safe.

A: Did that change the taste of the shit?
B: No

A: But there was hope it would?
B: Yes.

A: Can you see how that hope keeps you emerged in duality? There’s going to be something better…. If only I can get this or that “right.”  Child, there has never been anything bad from which you must create the “better.”
B: What about the shit?

A: One taste… Enough words. Please return to your meditation.
Feb. 4, 1995:  I’m finding that when I stay with this “one taste” I don’t need to stay below the surface to experience that deep peace. Waves, depths – one taste!

Written today August 28, 2026. Our whole world is a family, but we seem unable to live that truth. Hal is a history buff and today we watched a three-part documentary series of Theodore Roosevelt  Googling him: He  won the Nobel Peace Prize (1906)

Roosevelt championed domestic reforms aimed at helping ordinary citizens, a platform he called the “Square Deal”. It focused on three core areas: [1]

• • Trust Busting: He aggressively used the Sherman Antitrust Act to dissolve monopolies, gaining fame for forcing the breakup of unfair corporate combinations. [1, 2]
  • Consumer Protection: Spurred by public outcry over industry practices, he signed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, establishing initial federal protections for food safety. [1]

• • Conservation: An avid naturalist, Roosevelt protected approximately 230 million acres of public land. He established five national parks, 18 national monuments, and created the U.S. Forest Service. [1]

He spoke up for the “everyday” person against  those who were trying to use their money and power for themselves.  One hundred twenty-five years later, we’re in a similar place. We tend to think we’re the first with such struggles: greed vs generosity; service to self vs service to all.

Here we are over 100 years later, still in the same ruts. Not our first rodeo! Billionaires and special interest groups are trying to wrest control for themselves, and we are saying no with rage and hatred. It’s a vicious circle. What has to change? We still think and live in the idea of separation. But there has to be a better way. Our world shrinks and we are all of us a pack, sharing a bedroom and bed.  We look at “the other” with fear and distrust and criticism comes quickly. Do you look at yourself with judgment and criticism too? I do, sometimes.  “Don’t be angry; don’t be scared…”  Where is that dynamic compassion, “satyagraha” or soul force, that can say no with love?  We cannot ask for what we need with the expectation of it  showing itself,  until we truly know our worth, that of every living, sentient being in our multiverse, and that love is the most powerful force. Aaron tells us this is the age of compassion; that is our primary learning and tool for change.

And yet when I hear something like “Lake America” or see the post with Trump naming himself as “the greatest president…” rage  still arises, or at least dislike and contraction. But he is a bedmate, or at least an incarnation mate. How do I say no without hatred or separation. “That which has no intrinsic substance and no other sort of substance does not burn, and what does not burn is not extinguished; such lack of extinction is the meaning of peace.” Can you see it? One taste.

Banner hanging over Willow’s smaller bed

Willow (look how relaxed she is!)

Two collies, two beds, 1 bedroom, Joey asleep nearby, peace…