Trapdoor Spider

The Trapdoor Spider is doubly wise
   Hiding beneath her lid from enemy eyes.
Springing upon her victim with sudden surprise
   Yields her another day of life via ants and flies.

O.

REFERENCES

[image] "Trap-Door Spider" everythingabout.net (Accessed August 12, 2009)

[ * ] A slow-motion capture of a Trap-Door Spider in action.

Practice for the eternal state

{ Podcast } Crickets constantly remind me by their song that soon enough night will come along and force by habit that temporary death called nighttime slumber, my required rest.

[image] "I got crickets" by Bill Adams Flickr (Accessed 8/23/2007)

O.

Lao Cai monk climbs a mountain

{ Podcast this essay } A monk who lived near Lao Cai owned nothing but a short walking staff and the clothes on his back. One day he decided to walk to Sapa, and cross the beautiful mountain there. As he started up the mountain, some younger men were eyeing him casually. "Where do you walk today, old man?" They called out. "To see the bright side of this mountain in the morning, and to see its shadows when coming down again this evening." He replied.

The three younger men wished him well, but when he had gone out of sight they conspired with one another on whether to rob the old man upon his return. "What does he own but a single stick?" Asked one. "He has his dignity, and as long as he has such, we feel our lack at the very sight of him." Another retorted.

Some time later, at twilight, the youth spied the old man returning, slowly making his way down the mountain. At a moment of their choosing, they all descended upon him as one.

When the first of the three awoke, he noticed three things: Morning had come. The old man had not left. And his two (still unconscious) companions were lying nearby, battered and bruised.

Noticing this slowly arising youth, the old man address him. "When coming to a new area, it is only proper to grieve with the sad. Or to celebrate with the joyful. But when coming to an unfamiliar area, one must maintain an open mind and a transparent respect for its traditions." The old man explained, his face brightened by the morning sun.

As the old man arose and turned to leave, all the young men were now awake, smarting with pain. Immediately, each noticed a large, newly formed bruise on the back of the old man's neck. So too were there now three walking sticks laying near at hand.

[image] glasvleugelvlinder by patries71 Flickr (Accessed 8/19/2007)


O.

Therein lies the One point

{ Podcast this essay } Were a sage to have even a thousand eyes, and could he float on the wind at but a moment's whim, even so -- from such high vantage, he would not gain sight of the center of all things. Yet in the silence between breath and breath, at the moment of inward attention, focused, and observant -- there even a simple man may be the center.


REFERENCES

[image] "Fly: Supermacro" by Kenn Wingle Microscope.org (Accessed 8/17/2007)


O.

Contemplating the first, deadly strike

{ Podcast this essay } The discipline of emptying the mind, just before the strike, demands either superb mental control, gained by years of practice; or, it requires merely a very small brain, one that lies empty, devoid of all but the most metabolic of thoughts, one trained to kill without even the distraction of remorse.

[image] Samuel Yung photos.

O.

Professional reapers teach of death

{ Podcast this essay } Have we not all seen death? Death is the fuel that powers life; that event which is fated for all things, and which makes life possible. Death at the small scale is easily overlooked, and thus our stunning upset when macro death -- death of people, of loved ones, even death of the self -- breaks from the horizon of the possible into the probable, and finally into the actual. Small scale death is death, nonetheless. And there are a host of professional reapers just waiting to teach us that single lesson that we must all learn, even if just once.

[image] Samuel Young.

O.

The Professional Soldier (mash-up comics)

Click the above image for full size.

The purpose and character of the use of comix herein is for nonprofit, educational purposes, as subject to limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the Copyright Act (title 17, U. S. Code). Character likenesses adapted from http://cobb.typepad.com

O.

On Teaching Others (mash-up comics)

Click the above image for full size.

The purpose and character of the use of comix herein is for nonprofit, educational purposes, as subject to limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the Copyright Act (title 17, U. S. Code). Character likenesses adapted from http://cobb.typepad.com

O.

Autonomy and Teaching Character (Mash-up Comics)

Click the above image for full size.

The purpose and character of the use of comix herein is for nonprofit, educational purposes, as subject to limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the Copyright Act (title 17, U. S. Code). Character likenesses adapted from http://cobb.typepad.com

O.

Earth and the Development of Character

Click the above image for full size.

The purpose and character of the use of comix herein is for nonprofit, educational purposes, as subject to limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the Copyright Act (title 17, U. S. Code). Character likenesses adapted from http://cobb.typepad.com

O.

Token identity and second-order logic (mash-up comics)

Click the above image for full size.

The purpose and character of the use of comix herein is for nonprofit, educational purposes, as subject to limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the Copyright Act (title 17, U. S. Code). Character likenesses adapted from http://cobb.typepad.com

O.