Musings of a Middle Aged Man

David Olson

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate (Abandon hope all ye who enter here)

  1. 2d ago

    Conformity Is a Heart Disease

    If you were to ask my mother, she would say I was born with an appetence for rebellion. Where raising some children is challenging because they are strong-willed, I was doubly difficult because I was born with an equally strong won't. Thankfully, she was blessed with a fortitude of a saint, helping her steer me away from a life that could, under different circumstances, have propelled me into a life of incarceration. Plus, I was a bit lucky never to be caught...

    4 min

  2. 4d ago

    The Radical Concept of Competence

    Of all the world's religious leaders, I most admire His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Not because I consider Buddhism to be true, rather because the Dalai Lama has a propensity to not harass people to convert to Buddhism in any of its forms. In fact, he discourages conversion from other religions, arguing it is safer and better to stick with ancestral or cultural faiths because switching risks superficial adoption without true commitment. In his humble integrity, he opposes proselytizing because it exploits vulnerability, the very quality the Abrahamists manipulate to grow their flocks. The Dalai Lama's approach assumes...

    4 min

  3. 6d ago

    Thinking Beyond a Single Lifetime

    Mired, as I am, in Western linear modes of thinking, I have a difficult time grasping the circular time concepts comprising the Vedic texts and the Bhagavad Gita, especially the lifetime conjecture scope in the opening quote. I was indoctrinated with the belief the human scope consists of a single lifetime, where the Gita outlines multiple lives dictated by reincarnation cycles bent by Karma Yoga, driving the rebirth cycle. In Western ethics, the goal is moral order and autonomy for our one and only life. In the Gita, the goal is moksha, liberation from Samsara, the cycle of rebirth. It emphasizes...

    4 min

  4. Jun 5

    Truth Revealed in Grizzly Scat

    While I have never had the pleasure of living in Bear country, I have hiked and camped in Bear's world and had the ecstatic experience of seeing a Grizzly Bear sow and her three cubs. Seeing them in the Montana wilds, separated only by physical space, induced feelings of reverent terror coupled with awe that is impossible to achieve when viewing Bear from the safety of the protective barriers zoos erect to prevent the mayhem of the great bear harvesting a human or three. After all, it is difficult to feel reverent awe when viewing a clown in a cage or an incarcerated prisoner, a poor imitation of an authentic being able to snuff out human life with one swipe of its massive, clawed paw.

    4 min

  5. Jun 3

    The Boy in the Smoke

    Most mornings, I sit meditating at my altar under the watchful eyes of Ganesh, Buddha, Athena, the Venus of Willendorf, three skulls of two raptors, one corvid, and an obsidian Raven with yellow eyes. Today, my space is scented by a slow-burning, earthy incense stick. I generally wait until one stick is consumed by the subtle flame before lighting a second of a different ilk to prevent intercourse between the two scents. I changed my paradigm this morning. Rather than waiting to ignite a second stick, I put match to tip, watched it flare briefly before settling into the slow burn, releasing another aromatic fragrance from the slew of scents awaiting their turn. To my surprise, the two smoke streams coordinated, interweaving with each other in a corkscrew spiral until the two became one.

    8 min

  6. Jun 1

    Guard, Inmate, Executioner

    wonder, does the spider know the insect net it creates by first laying down the Y frame, followed closely by radial spokes, all connected via the sticky spirals, giving it the classic shape depicted in Charlotte's Web, doubles as its own prison? That madame spider is at once guard, inmate, and executioner? That she is simultaneously a bull and fish, patiently awaiting the arrival of fresh fish to ensnare before exsanguination? Not only is Spider a prisoner of the web, but she is a slave to the silken net raised each night then razed each morning...

    4 min

  7. May 29

    Starry Night’s Middle Finger to the Banal

    Too often, the word chaos is burdened with a negative connotation. Think: disorder, confusion, unpredictability, and lack of control that overwhelms or destabilizes. It is often associated with evil or malevolence, a consequence of what some call sin, undermining god's so-called perfect order. It is a view requiring walls to be arrow straight, all corners set at a perfect 90 degrees, all circles absolutely round, all hearts focused on pleasuring Sky Daddy, who defeated Satan, the one accused of being the author of ungodly chaos. The Devil angle is where the negative connotations are derived. This simplistic perspective overlooks...

    4 min

  8. May 27

    When Power Replaced the Sacred

    Modern religious expression has become as fouled by selfishness as carcass-contaminated water. All who drink from it risk their mental health from toxins that infiltrate and infest the mind, undermining the ability to be a loving human. It is no longer an individual path toward spiritual supremacy, but a performance where the believers accost the non-believers (aka thinkers) to boost the number of people in the pews, where they are expected to tithe offerings and adhere to strict political agendas imposed upon believer and thinker alike.

    4 min
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Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate (Abandon hope all ye who enter here)

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