Where do you go little bird
When it snows, when it snows
When the world turns to sleep
Do you know, do you know
Is there something in the wind
Breathes a chill in your heart and life in your wings
Does it whisper 'start again'
Start again

Where is the sun in the night
Is it cold, is it cold
Does it feel left behind
All alone, all alone
Does it wander through the dark
Does it wait for the dawn, wish on a star
Does it stray very far
Very far

Where is your home restless wind
Is it there, is it here
Do you search for a place to belong
Search in vain, search in fear
Or is your spirit everywhere
Is your voice every tree
Your soul of the air
If there's no home is there no death
Is there no death
- the wailin jennys 'arlington'

posted by bluematrix at 03/30/05 11:36 | link | comments (1)

"you gotta enjoy yourself now. Because that's all you basically get in life - a few superior kegs, a few worthwhile hangovers, a few nights when other crap fades into the background and it's just you and the moment and the moment is righteous."

posted by bluematrix at 03/30/05 11:13 | link | comments (1)

as a follow up to the last post (and to some of the comments) 'the dancing wu li masters' by gary zukav, was a book that had a profound influence on me. it was the first book that took the analytical, scientific, always probing side of me, and beautifully meshed it with my eastern philosophy studies, and underlying spiritual thoughts about the nature of the universe.

in each chapter he would attempt to explain in laymans terms the farthest edge of scientific thought, like quantum mechanics and particle physics. then at the end of the chapter he would say something like, 'and doesn't that sound a lot like the buddhist principle of such and such?' and i would be blown away to see that the farther science probes into the intricacies of the way the universe is ordered, the more the ancient eastern schools of thought on the interconnectedness of all things seem to ring true.

my favorite imagery of this connectedness is that of the jeweled net of Indra where reality is structured so that each being is a jewel at each node of the net, and each jewel reflects all the others, reflecting back and catching the reflections (just as systems theory and fractals show that the part contains the whole).

'we know that we are not limited by the accident of our birth or the timing of it, and we recognize the truth that we have always been around. we were present back there in the fireball and in the rains that streamed down into the primordial seas. we remember that in our mother's womb, where we wear vestigial gills and tail and fins for hands. we remember that. that information is in us, and there is a deep, deep kinship in us, beneath the outer layers of our neocortex or what we learned in school.' - joanna macy, ordinary magic

posted by bluematrix at 03/28/05 14:17 | link | comments

its all a matter of perspective. let's pretend there is a microbe - let's call him Michael. Michael lives on a large bug we'll call Benny. Benny and Michael are totally unaware of each other, but they both live on the bark of the same tree.

the tree is named Terry. Terry is huge compared to you and me, and even larger compared to a bug or a parasite. she has thousands of leaves, hundreds of branches, and scores of roots. all of them are visited by bugs like Benny and Michael.

Terry is part of a forest. the forest doesn't have a name, but for convenience, we can call it Frank, and pretend that it is a male forest. Frank has millions of trees and seedlings, along with countless bushes, plants, and flowers. he also has animals and birds. all of them, too, have microbes and bugs like Michael and Benny and their friends. when you put all of this together, you can see how big the forest is compared to anything that lives in it, but that is just the beginning.

Frank is one of thousands of forests, and all of them are part of a larger picture. the larger picture has more than just forests. it has oceans and deserts and mountains and prairies. all of these have microbes and bugs, too. no matter how big the picture gets, its the same story. there are little parts of the picture and big parts. there are also in-between parts, but its all the same picture. so far, we all know about this picture. it is the Earth. aboriginal people call it Mother Earth, and they see all of us and everything on it as her children. but there's more.

we can continue the analogy larger and larger to planets within solar systems, solar systems within galaxies, and galaxies within super clusters of galaxies and so on. or we can go small and see that Michael the microbe is made up of molecules and the molecules of atoms and the atoms of subatomic particles and so on.

the picture is really big and really small at the same time, but it's still the same picture. now here's the point. even the galaxies, which have millions of planets, need atoms and molecules. no part of the picture can get along without any other part of the picture.

you are part of the picture. you may think that the picture can get along without you because it was here before you were born and will be her after you die. that's true, but it still can't get along without you. it can't get along without anything that is in it, ever. when you look at yourself as your Earthly body, it seems that the picture can along without you when you die. but when you see yourself as a soul, you see that you are always part of the same big picture, and everything in the picture needs you. this is multisensory perception. - from soul stories by gary zukav

posted by bluematrix at 03/22/05 13:25 | link | comments (5)

poor blog. my 3 weeks in dallas did not leave me as much room for you as i had hoped. but hopefully my trip will pay off soon...in spades. but for now, excerpts from desmond morris' book, 'the human zoo'

in any organized group of mammals, there is always a struggle for social dominance. as he pursues this struggle, each adult acquires a particular rank, giving him his position or status in the group hierarchy. the situation never remains stable for long because all the status strugglers are constantly changing - growing older, smarter, senile, stronger, sicker, etc., leaving gaps in the hierarchy. the result is status tension.

under natural conditions the tension remains tolerable because of the limited size of the social groups. but if the mammals are placed in artificial environments like a zoo (or a city), things get strained. in small groups the strugglers all know each other and the quest for status was relatively straightforward and based on personal relationships. but in large cities the struggle becomes highly impersonal and thus very stressful and complex.

if you are to be successful in your struggle for status whether you are a baboon or a dog or a human, there are 10 golden rules you must obey.

1) You must clearly display the trappings, postures and gestures of dominance.
2) In moments of active rivalry you must threaten your subordinates aggressively.
3) In moments of physical challenge you (or your delegates) must be able to forcibly overpower your subordinates.
4) If a challenge involves brain rather than brawn you must be able to outwit your subordinates.
5) You must suppress squabbles that break out between your subordinates.
6) You must reward your immediate subordinates by permitting them to enjoy the benefits of their ranks.
7) You must protect the weaker members of the group from undue persecution.
8) You must make decisions concerning the social activities of your group.
9) You must reassure your extreme subordinates from time to time.
10) You must take the initiative in repelling threats or attacks arising from outside your group.

posted by bluematrix at 03/15/05 16:00 | link | comments (3)