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<h2 style="margin-bottom: 0; font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:40px; font-weight: normal!important; color: #000080;"><a href="https://www.zoofence.com/index.html" style="text-decoration:none">
T<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">he</span> Z<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">oo</span> F<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ence</span></a> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zgrbird3.png" align="top" width="33" height="45" style="margin: -15px;" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br>
<apan style="font-family:Times New Roman; font-size: 13px;">Clicking on ‘<b>The Zoo Fence</b>’ at the top of any page opens this page.<br>
<span style="font-size: 15px;">For <b>Nancy's <i>Page</i></b> and <b><i>Art</i></b> <a href="https://www.zoofence.com/index.html#nancy" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: underline;">click here</a></b></span><br>
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<a href=#mail>‧ Contact us ‧</a><br><br>
</h2>
<a href=#mail>‧ Contact us ‧</a><br><br>
<span style="font-size: 21px;">A <b</b> <a href="https://www.zoofence.com/mobile/index.html" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none;">mobile</a> version of <a href="https://www.zoofence.com/mobile/index.html" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none;">The Zoo Fence</a> is <a href="https://www.zoofence.com/mobile/index.html" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: underline;">here</a></span><br>
<h1><span style="font-size:35px; vertical-align:middle;">· <a href="index.html" style="text-decoration:none;">
A Commentary on The Spiritual Life</a> ·</span> </h1>
<p style="margin: 50px 35px 30px 50px;" class="left"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;"> Why <i>The Zoo Fence</i>?</span> <span style="font-weight: normal; color: #000080; font-size:20px;">One night in 1974, in a fishing camp on the windward side of Moloka'i in the Hawaiian Islands, one of us dreamed of publishing a journal called <q>The Zoo Fence</q>. The name probably originated from the practice of the Honolulu Zoo to allow artists to display their work on the zoo fence along Monsarrat Avenue. <a href="#date" style="text-decoration:none; color: inherit;;">Some years later</a>, when <a href="san.html" onMouseOver="this.style.color='#FF0000'"
onMouseOut="this.style.color='#000080'" ><i><b>The Laughing Cat</b></i></a> issued a newsletter which evolved into this website, the choice of a name seemed already to have been made. Why <i>the laughing cat</i>? Back then, we shared our home with a cat that laughed.<br><br>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/honoluluside.jpg" width="250" height="170" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br>
<span Style="font-size: 14px;">the zoo fence at Waikiki</span>
</div><br>
<br>
<p class="center self" style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;"> <a href="itb04.html" style="color: #b22222; text-decoration: none; font-size: 17px;"><b>One day in Eden, Adam sees Eve for the first
time.<br>
“I am Adam,” he says to her.<br>
“Yes, I know,” Eve replies, “so am
I.”</b></a><br>
<a href="itb04.html" style="color: #b22222; text-decoration: none; font-size: 17px;"><q>In The Beginning</q> Chapter 4</a><br><br>
<span class="center self" style="color: #008000; font-size:20px;">• Most items ahead will say <span style="text-align:center; color:black; "><b>click here</b></span> but when in doubt, simply <span style="text-align:center; color:black; "><b>click</b></span>.<br>
If there is more to it, a <span style="text-align:center; color:black; "><b>click</b></span> will reveal it. •
<br><br>
<a name="links1"></a>
<span style="text-align: center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12""><br><br></span>
<a href="search.html" ><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:45px; color: #FF0000;;"><b>Search</b></span><br><span style="color: red;">·</span> <span style="color:#000080; font-size:129%;">The Zoo Fence <span style="color: red;">·</span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" ><br><br>
<a href="define.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #FF0000; font-size: 30px;"><b>Words I Use</b></span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 21px;">and what I mean</span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="../zoofence.com/gazebo02.html#desire"><span style="color: #015e8c; font-weight: normal; font-size:20px;" class="center">A spiritual seeker's rule of thumb:</span><br>
<span style="color: #015e8c; font-weight: bold; font-size:20px;" class="center"><q>If it can fit into my mind, it's too small</q></span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 18px;"><i>click here</i></a></a></span></a><br>
<br>
<span class="center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"></span></a><br><br>
<a href="../zoofence.com/define03.html#god"><span style="color: #015e8c; font-weight: normal; font-size:20px;" class="center"><b>Consider this</b><br>
The physical body is not <b>what</b> I am.<br>
It is <b>where</b> I am.<br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 18px;"><i>click here</i></a></a></span></a>
<br><br>
<!--
> <span class="center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"></span></a><br><br>
<span style="color: #015e8c; font-weight: normal; font-size:20px;" class="center"><b>This too …</b><br>
Apparently I am someone<br>
appearing<br>
as an apparently distinct embodied self,<br>
namely <i>Stefan</i> (substitute <i>your name</i>),<br>
living an apparently mortal life<br>
in an apparently material world<br>
for an apparent while<br>
and no apparent reason<br>
other than just because.<br>
<a href="define07.html#self" style="text-decoration: none; color: inherit;">Or <u>not</u></a>.
<br><br>
-->
<span style="text-align: center"><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br></span>
<span style="color: #015e8c; font-weight: normal; font-size:20px;" class="center"><b>I know that I know nothing</b><br>
<a href="https://www.history.com/articles/plato" style="text-decoration: none; color:#015e8c;; font-weight: normal;"><i>Plato</i></a> <span style="text-decoration: none; color:#015e8c;; font-weight: normal;">quoting</span> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Socrates" style="text-decoration: none; color:#015e8c;; font-weight: normal;"><i>Socrates</i></a><br><br>
<span style="text-align: center"><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br></span>
<q><a href="../zoofence.com/toys3.html">You say to<i>may</i>to, I say to<i>mah</i>to</q><br>
<span style="font-size: 24px; text-decoration: none; color:#015e8c;; font-weight: normal;"><b>to God it's all one, the One, I</b></span></a><br>
<span style="font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; color:#015e8c;; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://gershwin.com/the-gershwin-brothers/"><i>thanks to George and Ira Gershwin</i></a></span><br><br>
<span class="center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"></span></a><br><br>
<a href="acf00.html"><span style="color: #015e8c; font-weight: normal; font-size:20px;" class="center">we two<br>
<b>Stefan</b> and <b>Nancy</b><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 18px;"><i>click here</i></a></a></span></a><br><br>
<span class="center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"></span></a><br><br>
<a href="define05.html#om"><span style="color: #015e8c; font-weight: normal; font-size:32px;" class="center"><span style="color: #0000FF; text-shadow: 6px 2px 5px rgba(0,0,0,0.5);"><span style="margin-right: 6px;">O</span>M</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 18px;"><i>click here</i></a></a></span></a>
<br><br>
<span class="center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"></span></a><br><br>
<a href="consdr10.html" style="text-decoration: none">
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size: 30px;">Call</span> <span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:30px;"><b>No Man</b></span> <span style="color: #8B0000;; font-size:30px;">Father</span><br>
<span style="color: #800080; font-size: 20px;">a path to awakening</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 18px;"><i>click here</i></a></a></span><br>
<br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="../zoofence.com/define06.html#religion" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:23px; font-style: normal; color: #EE4B2B;"><b>RELIGIOUS & SPIRITUAL<br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal;"><i>click here</i></a></span><br><br>
<span style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"></span><br><br>
<div style="text-align: center; font-size: 20px;">A Brother Theophyle cartoon<br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; color: 895129;" class="left">Theo asks his friend, Rabbit “How come you’re so sure God exists?”<br>
Rabbit responds, “That’s easy, I created Him.”<br>
Theo wonders, “Don’t you mean, He created you?”<br>
Rabbit agrees, “That’s what I said, He created me to create Him.”</span><br>
For more Theophyle, click <a href="theohome.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: #EE4B2B;">here</a><br><br>
</div>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; color:#8B0000; text-align=center;">
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0; text-decoration: none; color: #000080; margin: 50px 35px 30px 50px;"><span style="font-weight: normal; color: #8B0000; font-size:19px">The function, the purpose, the reason of bodily life is to learn how to love ourselves, how to love one another, how to love creation, the fact of it, the content of it, the source of it, responsibly, generously, sensibly, healthfully, thoroughly, delightfully, spiritually. And so, yes, I am convinced we reincarnate repeatedly, as often as it takes, until we pay attention, until we take life seriously, until we take love seriously, until we learn how.<br>
In a word, we're in class.<br>
<a href="#credo" style="font-weight: normal; color: #3B0B0B; text-decoration: none;">Click <u>here</u> for the curriculum as I see it.</div>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 24px; color:#8B0000; text-align=center;"><b>Beware the man of one book.</b></a></span><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 17px; color: #A7463A; text-align=center;">Saint Thomas Aquinas</span><br><span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.bookbrowse.com/quotes/detail/index.cfm/quote_number/472/beware-the-man-of-one-book">click <i>here</i></a> and <a href="../zoofence.com/define01.html#aquinas"><i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:28px; color: #FF0000;"><a href="gazebo.html#consciousness" ><b>CONSCIOUSNESS</b></a></span><br>
what it is … and is not<br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i><a href="gazebo.html#consciousness" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:18px; color: #8A2BE2;">here</a></i></span> and <span><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/understanding-consciousness-goes-beyond-exploring-brain-chemistry/" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:18px; color: #8A2BE2;"><i>here</i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:24px;"><a href="prayer.html" style="color: #678dc6; text-decoration: none;">· <b>Prayers</b> in <span style="color: #800080;"><b>The Quiet Room</b> ·</span></span><br>
<span STYLE="color:#FF0000; font-weight: normal;">and</span><br>
<a name="pray"></a>
· <a href="define06.html#prayer" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 22px; color:#678dc6;"><b>What is Prayer</a> ·<br>
· <a href="consdr22.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 22px; color:#678dc6;">Let us Pray</a> ·<br>
· <a href="pray078.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 22px; color:#678dc6;">A Simple Meditation Practice</a> ·<br>
· <a id="colorbar" href="consdr23.html#plus" style="text-decoration: none" ><span style="font-size: 22px; color:#678dc6;">A Seeker’s Primer</a></b> ·</span> <br>
· <a href="letrs01.html#asking" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 22px; color:#678dc6;"><i><b>Asking</b></i> Prayer</a> ·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span class="center" style="font-size:20px; font-family:Times New Roman;"><a href="../zoofence.com/define03.html#god" style="font-weight: normal;"color: #800080;">There is only One Thing in the Universe<br>It Is God — God Is It<br>therefore, the love, the beauty, the peace<br>that can be found anywhere can be found everywhere<br></span>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 18px;"><i>click here</i></a></span><br>
<br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span class="center" style="font-size:20px; font-family:Times New Roman; font-weight: normal;"><a href="../zoofence.com/define03.html#god" style="color: #800080;">The Lord is my shepherd,<br>
I shall not whine.</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic;">
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2023&version=KJV"><em>here</em></a> <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 18px;">and</span>
<a href="godis.html"><i><em>here</em></i></a></span><br>
<br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span class="center" style="font-size:19px; font-weight: normal; color: #A04C12;">Every happening, great and small,<br>
is a parable whereby God speaks to us,<br>
and the art of life is to get the message.<br>
<a href="https://archives.wheaton.edu/agents/people/2578" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal;; font-size: 18px;"><i>Malcolm Muggeridge</i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span class="center self" style="color: #8B0000; font-size:19px;font-weight: normal;">So I will pray that my heart,<br>where You already have a foothold,<br>may receive more and more of You,<br>until one day the whole of me<br>
will be filled with the Whole of You!</span></a><br>
<span style="text-align:center; font-size:17px;">
<a href="define01.html#aquinas" style="color: #B45D51;">Saint Augustine</a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; font-size:26px; color: #FF0000;"><a href="pray088.html" style="color: inherit;">And such a word is this word God</a></span><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; font-size:20px; color: #A52A2A;"><a href="define01.html#cloud" >The Cloud of Unknowing</a></span><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; font-size:18px;"><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="consdr14.html" style="font-style: normal; font-size: 38px; color: #008000; font-family: Brush Script MT;"><b>M A R R I A G E</b></a></a><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 17px; color: #008000; font-weight: font-weight: 200;"><i><q>marriage is not about the two of us<br>
marriage is about the three of us<br>
you and me and God (believed in or not)</q></i></span><br>
<a href="consdr14.html" style="font-weight: normal; color: #000000; font-size: 17px;"><u>click here</u></a><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Dancing Script', cursive; font-size: 28px; color: #FF1493;">and</span> <br>
<a href="gazebo02.html#divorce" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="color: #9D00FF; font-size: 40px; font-family: cursive;">Divorce</span> <br>
<span style="color: #9D00FF; font-size:20px;">when unavoidable</span></a><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 17px; color: #008000; font-weight: font-weight: 200;">(ditto)<br></span>
<a href="gazebo02.html#divorce" style="color: #8B0000;font-size: 17px;"><span style="color: #000000; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: underline; font-weight: normal;">here</span></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; color: #0000FF; font-size:30px;">· <a href="https://www.zoofence.com/itbtoc.html" style="font-style: normal; font-size: 33px; color: #0000FF;"><b>In The Beginning</b></span> ·<br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px;">deciphering the <i>why</i> of life</span></a><br><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; color: #0000FF; font-size:30px;">· <a href="acf00.html" style="font-style: normal; font-size: 33px; color: #0000FF;;"><b>A Continuing Fiction</b></span> ·<br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px;">the stories of Peter K Wensleydale</a></span><br><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; color: #0000FF; font-size:30px;">· <a href="toystoc.html"><a href="toystoc.html" style="font-style: normal; font-size: 33px; color: #0000FF;"><b>Take Off Your Shoes</b></span> ·<br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px;">the quest for spiritual awareness</span></a><br><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; color: #0000FF; font-size:30px;">· <a href="tcttoc.html" style="font-style: normal; font-size: 33px; color: blue;"><b>The Cranberry Tales</b></span> ·<br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px;">
a children's story for adults too</span></a>
<br><br>
<span style="text-align: center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"><br><br></span>
· <a href="itb1.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 28px; color: #0000FF;">The <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Fall</span> ·<br>
<span style="font-size:18px;">catastrophe or conspiracy</span></span></a><br><br>
<span style="text-align: center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"><br><br></span>
· <a href="itb2.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 28px;"><span style="color:color: #0000FF;">The</span> <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Last Supper</span> ·<br>
<span style="color: #0000FF; font-size:18px;">this bread, this body</span></a> <br><br>
<span style="text-align: center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"><br><br></span>
· <a href="gazebo.html#calvary" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:28px;">The <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Crucifixion</span> ·<br>
<span style="font-size:18px; color: #0000FF;">why didn’t he run</span></a> <br><br>
<a name="xupper"></a>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span id="nancy" class="center" style="font-family: 'Brush Script MT', 'Brush Script Std', cursive; font-size:50px"><a href="#nancy"><span style="color: #000080;">Nancy at The Zoo Fence</a></span><br>
<span class="center"><a href="art.html"><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src="images/zarangel.jpg"
width="180" height="218"><br>
<span style="font-size:18px;">Sitting Angel</span></a></span><br><br>
<span class="center menu lineheight" style="color:green; font-size:34px">
<span class="center menu lineheight" style="color:green; font-size:34px"><a href="art.html" ><span style="color: #000080;">·</span> Nancy’s <span style="color:#FF00FF;">Art</span> <span style="color: #000080;">·</span></a></span><br>
<span class="center menu lineheight" style="color:green; font-size:34px""><a href="nancypage.html" > <span style="color: #000080;">·</span> Nancy’s <span style="color:#FF00FF;">Page</span> <span style="color: #000080;"> ·</span></a></span><br>
<span class="center menu lineheight" style="color:green; font-size:34px""><a href="https://www.nancynadzo.com/index.html" > <span style="color: #000080;">·</span> Nancy’s <span style="color:#FF00FF;">Gallery</span> <span style="color: #000080;"> ·</span></a></span><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;"><a href="nancy01x.html#celibacy" style="color:green;">The Case for and Against <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Celibacy</span></a> <br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;"><a href="nancy01x.html#teresa" style="color:green;">Mother Teresa's <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Prayer</span</span></a> <br>
<a href="nancy03x.html#sothis" style="color:green;">Coincidence or <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Grace</span></a><br>
<span font-size="22px;"><a href="nancypage.html" style="color:green;"><i>… and many <u>more</u></i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="gazebo02.html#youwho"><span style="color: #0070CC; font-size: 24px;">
What is <q>my life</q>?<br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: underline; font-weight: normal;">here</span></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 30px; color: #FF0000;">Go Directly To …<br>
<SPAN STYLE="font-size:22px; color:#8B0000;">
· <span class="center self" style="color: #8B0000;"><a href="thesimpleway.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:22px;">THE SIMPLE WAY</a></span> ·
<br>
<span STYLE="color:#FF0000;">and</span><br>
<span class="center self" style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;"><a href="../zoofence.com/credo.html#confession" style="text-decoration: none">My spiritual <u>practice</u> …</a></span><br>
<span STYLE="color:#FF0000;">and</span><br>
<span class="center self" style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;"><a href="acf01.html" style="text-decoration: none">Where I came <u>from</u> …</a></span><br>
<span STYLE="color:#FF0000;">and</span><br>
<span class="center self" style="color: #000080; font-size:20px;">As I see <span style="color: #008000;"><a href="iwonder.html#allelse" style="text-decoration:underline; color: #000080;"><u>THEN</u></a></span> and <span style="color: #008000;"><a href="iwonder.html#thatsaid" style="text-decoration:underline; color: #000080;"><u>NOW</u></a></span> now…</span><br>
<span STYLE="color:#FF0000;">and</span><br>
<span class="center self" style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;"><a href="iwonder.html#silence" style="text-decoration: none">What's <u>next</u> …</a><br>
<span STYLE="color:#FF0000;">and</span><br>
<span class="center self" style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;"><a href="san.html" style="text-decoration: none">we two…</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="stories.html" ><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:28px; color: #FF0000;">· Our Stories</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:18px;"><b>&</b></span> <span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:28px; color: #FF0000;">Books</span></b> <span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:18px;"><b>&</b></span> <span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:28px; color: #FF0000;">A Playlet ·</span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <a href="bookshelf.html" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-size:26px; color: #FF0000;">Books by Others</span> ·<br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="letters.html" ><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 26px; color: #FF0000;">· Letters ·</span><br>
<span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:18px;"><b>to</b></span> & <span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:18px;">from</span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="color: #FF0000;"></span> <a href="gazebomenu.html" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-size:26px; color: #FF0000;">Assorted & Miscellaneous</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"></span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="amper.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #FF0000; font-size: 30px;"><b>Ampers&nd</b></span><br>
<a href="amper.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #000000; font-size: 20px;">The Perspective of Others<br>
<span style="text-align:center; color: #000000; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:24px; font-style: normal;";"><a href="define06.html#religion" style="text-decoration:none;">All religions including atheism lead to God<br>
— there being <i>nowhere else</i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:#88187A; font-size:22px;"><a href="gazebo02.html#bounty"><b>BOUNTY HUNTING</b></a></span><br>
<a href="define07.html#seeker" style=" text-decoration: none; font-size:17px;"><i>why I am a spiritual seeker</i></a><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;"><a href="gazebo02.html#bounty">click here</a></b><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; font-size:24px;"><a href="define03.html#religion" style="text-decoration: none; color: #8B0000;"><b>God's Favorite Religion</b><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">click here</a></b><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000;"><a href="../zoofence.com/consdr02.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:23px; font-style: normal;">The Ten</span> <span style="color: #EE4B2B;"><b>Commandments</b></span>?</a><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color: #8B0000; font-size:20px; font-style: normal;"><a href="../zoofence.com/consdr02.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:23px; font-style: normal;">let God be God</span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">click here</a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="consdr30.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 27px;">· Letting Life Live ·<br><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 18px;">Being Human is <span class="red">Divine</span></span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="theohome.html" style="font-style: normal; font-size: 33px; color: #14a3c7; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"><b>C A R T O O N S</b></a><br>
<a href="theohome.html" style="color: #8B0000;font-size: 17px;">Click <u>Here</u></a><br>
<svg width="100" height="50">
<path d="M 0 25 C 20 0, 30 0, 50 25 S 80 50, 100 25" stroke="red" fill="transparent" />
</svg><br>
<span class="center" style="font-size:12px;"> <a href="theohome.html" ><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/theo/ztheo057jx!.png"></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-size: 22px;"><a href="amper29.html" style="font-size: 22px; color: #8B0000;"><q>Whoso Knoweth Himself …</q></a></span><br>
<span style="color: #FF0000; font-size: 18px;"><a href="amper29.html">by Ibn Arabi</span><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-style: cursive; color:#8B0000; text-align=center;"><a href="gazebo02.html#together" style="text-decoration: none; color: #8B0000; font-size: 22px;"><strong>God speaks in metaphors</strong><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:#800080; font-size:19px;"><i>This short piece explains<br>
what is as we see it.</i></span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; font-size:28px;"><a href="riddle.html"
class="title" style="font-size:28px; color: #b54e1d;"><b>A
S<span style="font-variant: small-caps">acred</span> R<span
style="font-variant: small-caps">iddle</b></span><br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:18px; color: #000000;">click <i>here</i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:#88187A; font-size:30px;"><a href="gazebo02.html#desire"
class="title" style="font-size:28px; color: #b54e1d;">The Heart's Desire</span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Brush Script MT', 'Lucida Handwriting', cursive;"><a href="iwonder.html#yoga" style="text-decoration: none; color: #88187A; font-size: 45px">Never Alone</span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:#88187A; font-size:30px;"><a href="gazebo03.html#glory"><span style="color: #88187A;">God Loves God<br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">click <i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img id="aspects" src="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="gazebo03.html#jesus"><span style="font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal;">Jesus on</span></a> <span style="font-family: Chancery"><a href="gazebo03.html#jesus" style="text-decoration: none; color: #88187A; font-size: 30px">The Zoo Fence</span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:black; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a id="dicta" href="gazebo.html#dicta"><span style="font-size: 25px; font-weight: normal; color: #C21DAC"><b>LOVE ONE ANOTHER</b><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color: #B22222; font-size:22px;">this i <b>command</b> you</span><br><span style="text-align:center; color: #000000; font-size:17px;">
click <i>here</i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="define06.html#patience" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="color: #006400; font-size: 40px;">PATIENCE</span><br>
<span style="color: #008000;; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: underline;">here</span></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"" width="13" height="12">
<br><br>
<a href="gazebo03.html#memory" style="text-decoration: none; color: #0000FF ; font-size: 30px">Thanks for the memories?</a></span><br>
<a href="gazebo03.html#memory" style="text-decoration: none; color: #008080; font-size: 17px">Click Here</a><br><br>
<span class="center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"><br><br></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; text-align:center; color:#88187A; font-size:20px;">To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.<br><a href="https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org" style=" text-decoration: none; font-size:12pt; "><i>Emily Dickinson</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; text-align:center; color:#88187A; font-size:20px;">You do not have to be talking about <a href="define03.html#god" style="text-decoration: none; color: inherit;">God</a><br>
to be talking about <a href="define03.html#god" style="text-decoration: none; color: inherit;">God</a>.<br>
<a href="define03.html#god" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:11pt;">SCN</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; text-align:center; color:#88187A; font-size:20px;">It is inconceivable that <a href="define03.html#god" style="text-decoration: none; color:inherit;">God</a> should exist,<br>and inconceivable that <a href="define03.html#god" style="text-decoration: none; color:inherit;">God</a> should not exist.<br>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pensees-Penguin-Classics-Blaise-Pascal/dp/0140446451" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:12pt;"><i>Blaise Pascal</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="define03.html#gender" style="font-weight: normal; text-align:center; color:#88187A; font-size:20px; text-decoration: none; color:inherit;">The formless Absolute is my Father,<br>
and God with form is my Mother.<br>
<a href="define04.html#kabir" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:12pt;"><i>Kabir</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:inherit; font-size:20px; <span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="pray088.html" style="text-decoration: none; color:inherit;">Take but a little word</a><br><a href="pray088.html" style="text-decoration: none; color:#88187A;">like <span style="color: #808080;"><i>God</i></span> <span style="text-decoration: none; color:#88187A;"> or <span style="color: #808080;"><i>Love<i></span></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; color:#8B0000; text-align=center;">I consider myself <i>a seeker</i>.<br>
I define that <a href="define07.html#seeker" style="color:inherit; text-decoration: underline;">here</a>.<br>In a word,<br>
<i><a href="define07.html#seeker" style="text-decoration: none; color:#88187A;"><b>Above all else, I want to know my True Nature.</b></a></i><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbredst.gif" width="13" height="12" style="color: #FF00FF;"><br><br>
<span style="font-size: 20px; color:#8B0000; text-align=center">‧ Fulltime-Awareness ‧<br>
keeping the spiritual awake<br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;">
<span style="text-align:center; color:#88187A; font-size:17px;">
<a href="credo.html#constant" style="text-decoration: none;"><i>click here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-size: 20px; color:#8B0000; text-align=center">‧ Life is A Classroom ‧<br>
one school term after another<br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; color:#88187A;"><b>it's called <i>reincarnation</b></i><br>
<a href="gazebo.html#mymind" style="text-decoration: none;">click <a href="define06.html#reincar" style="text-decoration: none; color: #FF0000;"><i>here</i></a> & <a href="gazebo.html#mymind" style="text-decoration: none; color: #FF0000;"><i>here</i></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 20px; color:#8B0000; text-align=center">For a man to conquer himself<br>
is the first and noblest of all virtues.<br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:#88187A; font-size:17px;">
<a href="https://iep.utm.edu/plato/" style="text-decoration: none;"><i>Plato</i></a><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; color:#88187A;"><b>Likewise, for a woman to conquer herself<br>
is the first and noblest of all virtues.</span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; color:#8B0000; text-align=center;">The <a href="../zoofence.com/define04.html#jihad" style="text-decoration: none; color: #8B0000;">Great Jihad</a> is fought within.<br>
The only holy war that makes any real difference<br>
is being waged right now,<br>
in my heart, in your heart.<br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:#88187A; font-size:17px;">
<a href="pray032.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: #00000;">click <i>here</i></a> <br><br>
<img id="aspects" src="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<!--
><span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; color:#8B0000; text-align=center;">Speaking of the United States of America,<br>
for whose birth he fought,<br>
George Washington reportedly quoted Micah 4:4,<br>
<b>Everyone will sit under their own vine<br>
and under their own fig tree,<br>
and no one will make them afraid.</b><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
-->
<span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 25px; color:#8B0000; text-align=center;">· <a href="consdr20.html" style="text-decoration: none">THE I THOUGHT</a> · <br>
· <a href="godis.html" style="text-decoration: none">GOD: A NAME, A NOUN, A VERB</a> · <br>
· <a href="landscape.html" style="text-decoration: none">PORTRAIT OF A LANDSCAPE</a> ·<br>
· <a href="gazebo.html#semblance" style="text-decoration: none">A SEMBLANCE OF <i>LIFE</i></a> ·<br>
<span STYLE="color:#FF0000;">and</span><br>
· <a href="../zoofence.com/itb04.html#lordgod" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="color: #8B0000;">GOD</span> and <span style="color: #8B0000;">THE LORD</span></a> ·<br>
· <a href="../zoofence.com/define03.html#god" style="text-decoration: none">Does <span style="color: #8B0000;">GOD</span> exist?</a> ·<br><br>
<span class="center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br></span>
· <span style="font-size:26px;"><a href="../zoofence.com/consdr28.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:26px;">A Course in <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Miracles</span></a> ·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <span style="font-size:26px;"><a href="../zoofence.com/gazebo03.html#krishna" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:26px;">Radha-Krishna</a> ·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a name="eraser"></a>
<span style="font-size: 22px;"><a href="tiaw.html" style="text-decoration: none;">There is a way.</a><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-weight: normal;">If you seek it with earnestness, enthusiasm,<br>devotion, love, and, yes, <span style="color: #000080;">humor</span>,<br>
it will find you.</span>·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbclbar.gif" width="120px" height="2"></a><br><br>
<span style="font-size:18pt;"</span><span style="color: #000080;">The Lord is my Shepherd,</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">I shall not whine.</span><span style="font-size:3mm; vertical-align:text-top;">©</span><br>
<span style="font-size:16px;">Psalm 23 & TZF</span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbclbar.gif" width="120px" height="2"></a><br><br>
<span style="font-size:18pt;"</span><span style="color: #000080;"><b>Seek</b></span><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">and you will be found.</span><br>
<span style="font-size:16px;">Matthew 7:7 & TZF</span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbclbar.gif" width="120px" height="2"></a><br><br>
<span style="font-size:18pt;"</span><span style="color: #000080;"><b><a href="credo.html#finally">A few moments of fun</b></span><br>
<span style="font-size:16px; color: #8B0000;">here</span></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbclbar.gif" width="120px" height="2"></a><br><br>
<span style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="color:#000080;"><a href="https:/www.zoofence.com/godis.html#eraser" style="color: inherit;">On the morning of the Eighth Day,</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">pondering humanity and<br>
anticipating the inevitable,<br>
God created the eraser</a>.</span><br><br></span>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size:24px;"; color: #357EC7;"><span class="center">The greatest deception men suffer<br>is from their own opinions.<br>
<a href="https://www.leonardodavinci.net/" ><span style="font-size:18px;">Leonardo da Vinci</span></a><br>
<span style="color: #800080; font-size:19px;">In Italian: <i>La piu grande illusione<br> che gli uomini subiscono è quella delle loro stesse opinioni. </i></span>
<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <a href="jname.html" style="text-decoration: none"><b><span style="font-size:1.3em; margin-bottom: 0;">The names</span> <span style="color: #04868a; font-size:1.3em;">Jesus</span> <span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:24px;">&</span> <span style="color: #04868a; font-size:24px;">Issa</span></b> ·</a><br>
<a href="jname.html" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-size:18px;">a rose by any other name</span></a> <br><br>
<a name="jjmm"></a>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="jandj.html" ><span style="font-size:1.3em;">· <b>Jesus, Judas, <span style="color: #FF0000">&</span> Mary Magdalene</b></span> ·<br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px;">the missing verses</span></a> <br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="color: #EE4B2B;">·</span> <span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:1.3em;"><a href="jandj.html#wrestle" ><b>Jesus <span style="color: #FF0000">&</span> Judas</b> <span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:24px;">·</span><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px;">
what's the real story here</span></a> <br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"></span><br><br>
<span style="color: #EE4B2B;">·</span><a href="amper10.html#mmk" ><span style=" font-size:1.3em;">· <b>Mary Magdalene</b></span> ·<br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px;">herself</span></a> <br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<!-- · <a href="itb1.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 1.4em;">The <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Fall</span> ·</a><br>
<a href="https://zoofence.com/stories.html#fall" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 18px;">catastrophe or conspiracy</a><br><br>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><img
src="images/zareast.jpg" alt="”Eastern Sky”" width="448" height="250"><br>
<a href="art.html" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-size:17px;">“Eastern Sky” by Nancy Russell Nadzo</span></a><br>
<br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"></span><br> <br>
· <span id="credo" style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:30px;"><a href="credo.html" style="text-decoration: none">Credo ·</span><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px;">about my spiritual practice</span></a><br>
<span style="color: #0B0000; font-size:17px;">read <a href="#below" style="text-decoration: underline">below</a>, see <a href="credo.html" style="text-decoration: underline">here</a>
<div id="below" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0; text-decoration: none; color: #000080; margin: 50px 35px 30px 50px;"><span style="font-weight: color: #8B0000; font-size:19px">The function, the purpose, the reason of bodily life is to learn how to love ourselves, how to love one another, how to love creation, the fact of it, the content of it, the source of it, responsibly, generously, sensibly, healthfully, thoroughly, delightfully, spiritually. And so, yes, I am convinced we reincarnate repeatedly, as often as it takes, until we pay attention, until we take living seriously, until we take love seriously, until we learn how.<br>
In a word, we're in class.
And here's the curriculum:</div><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:#720CDF; font-size:24px; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em;">
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center;"><a href="gazebo.html#dicta" style="text-decoration: none; color: #8B0000;">This I command you, love one another</a></span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;">John 13:34 and <a href="thesimpleway.html#another" style="text-decoration: underline; color: inherit;">here</a></span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:16px;">Notice it’s not suggest, recommend, urge, it’s <span style="color:#D70040;;"><b>command</b></span>.<br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">Love your neighbor as yourself</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;">Leviticus 19:18</span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">Spread peace, and love each other</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;">
Hadith on Faith</span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">Metta Karuna Mudita Upekkha</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;">divine abidings in Buddhism<br>kindness, compassion, joy, equanimity</span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">The Lord our God, the Lord is One</span><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px; text-decoration: none;"> <a href="https://www.jewfaq.org/prayers_shema"><b>Shema</b><br>Deuteronomy 6:4</a></span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">I will act according to Your Word</span><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px; text-decoration: none"><a href="define03.html#gita">The Bhagavad Gita</a></span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">The Way of Peace</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;">
As-Salaam-Alaikum<br>
<i>peace be upon you</i></span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;"> <i>the world is one family</i></span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;"> Sim Shalom</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;"><i>let there be peace</i></span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;"> Sarbhat da Bhala</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;"><i>bless all</i></span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">Do unto others<br>what you would have them do to you</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;">
Matthew 7:12</span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">Be kinder than necessary</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;">James Matthew Barrie<br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:16px;">(Peter Pan)</span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center;"><a href="gazebo.html#dicta" style="text-decoration: none; color: #8B0000;">God saith</b></span><br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; color: #8B0000;; font-size: 22px;">I was a hidden treasure<br>
I would fain be known<br>
So I created man</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0806511699">The Sayings of Muhammad</a></span><br><br>
<span id="vyoga" style="color: #8B0000; font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center;">Just as consciousness<br>
creates dreams in a dreamer<br>
it creates the world in the waking state<br>
the two are constituted of the same substance</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;"><a href="define08.html#vasistha" style="text-decoration: none;color: color: #000000;">
Vasistha's Yoga</span></a><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">Identify yourself not with the body<br>
which is finite<br>
Identify instead with the soul<br>
which is infinite & eternal<br>
and inhabits a body<br>
only for a while.</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;">suggested by a <a href="https://www.ramdass.org/teachings" style="text-decoration: none">Ram Dass</a> video</span><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">That which makes you think you are a human is not human<br>
It is but a dimensionless point of consciousness</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;"><a href="define05.html#nisarga" style="text-decoration: none">Nisargadatta</a></span></s><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align: center; color: #88187A;">The Teacher's role</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;"><span style="color: #0B0000; font-size:18px;"><a href="consdr12.html" >the Buddha within each of us</a></span><br><br>
<span style="font-size:22px; color: #800020;">You cannot realize the wider consciousness<br>unless you subordinate completely<br>reason and intellect, and the body, too</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;"><span style="color: #0B0000; font-size:18px;"><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mahatma-Gandhi" >Mahatma Gandhi</a></span><br><br>
<span style="font-size: 22px; color: #800020;">True wisdom comes to each of us<br>when we realize how little we understand<br>about life, ourselves, and the world around us</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;"><span style="color: #0B0000; font-size:18px;"><a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates/" >Socrates</a></span><br><br>
<span style="font-size: 22px; color: #800020;">What is it that stands higher than words? Action<br>
What is it that stands higher than action? Silence</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:18px;"><span style="color: #0B0000; font-size:18px;"><a href="https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=50" >Saint Francis</a></span><br><br>
</div>
<span class="center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12"></span><br><br>
<span style="color: #007fbf; font-weight: normal; font-size:20px;" class="center"><a href="pray032.html"
style="text-decoration: none">One day,<br>
a fellow comes upon another
enmeshed<br>
in a life-and-death struggle
with God.<br>
“Why in the
world,” the first asks, “would you<br>
take on such a formidable opponent?<br>
How can you possibly hope to win?”<br>
“You don’t
understand,”<br>
gasps the other, between strangleholds,<br>
“I hope to lose.”</a></span><br>
<span style="font-size:16px; color:#ff0000;"><a href="../zoofence.com/pray032.html" style="text-decoration: underline;">here</a> </span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="color: #007fbf; font-weight: normal; font-size:20px;" class="center">Our lives are a dream, a delusion, an illusion.<br>
<a href="define07.html#teacher" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Teachers</span></a> are an alarm clock.
<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"><br><br>
<span style="color: #007fbf; font-weight: normal; font-size:20px; text-align: center;">Love and compassion are like seeds.<br>When you plant them in your heart, they grow and spread,<br>
touching the lives of everyone around you.<br>
<a href="define05.html#baba" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-size:18px;">Neem Karoli Baba</span></a>
<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="color: #007fbf; font-weight: normal; font-size:20px; text-align: center;">You believe yourself born to die.<br>
Undeceive yourself and be free.<br>
You are not a person.<br>
<a href="define05.html#nisarga" style="text-decoration: none"><span style=" font-size:18px;">Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj</span></a>
<!-- I Am That page 147-->
<br><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center"><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:130%; color: #FF0000;"><a href="define01.html#communion" style="text-decoration: none; font-style:normal;"> · Sacraments</span> & <span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:130%; color: #FF0000;">Communion <span> ·</span></a><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:16px;"><a href="letrs02.html#communion" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none; font-style:normal;">childhood faith & adult vision</span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color:#720CDF; font-size:20px; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em;">
<!-- End tag a violates nesting rules.-->
<a href="define06.html#reality" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:30px;">· Truth & Reality ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"><br><br>
<a href="gazebo02.html#peel" ><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:140%; color: #FF0000;"> · Throw Away The Peel ·</span><br>
meeting a guru</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0; text-decoration: none; font-size:22px; color: #000080; margin: 50px 35px 30px 50px;">Meet your own Self. Be with your own Self. Listen to it, obey it, cherish it, keep it in mind ceaselessly. You need no other guide. As long as your urge for Truth affects your daily life, all is well with you.</span>
<br>
<span style="display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; font-size:22px; color: #000080;"><a href="define05.html#nisarga" ><span style="font-size: 22px; text-decoration: none"><b>Nisargadatta Maharaj</b></a></span>
</div>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12">
<br><br><span style="text-align:center; font-size: 22px;"><a href="gazebo.html#godislove" style="text-decoration: none; ">· God is Love ·</a></span>
<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 22px;"><a href="consdr02.html" >· <b>Let God be God</b> ·</a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="define03.html#god" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 26px;">· <b>Define GOD</b> ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13"><br><br>
<span style="font-size: 32px;"><a href="godis.html" >· <b>God Is …</b> ·</a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<br><a href="consdr39.html" ><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:140%; color: #FF0000;"> · Life is But A Dream</span> ·</span><br><span style="color:#000080;">Sh-Boom </span> </a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:140%; color: #FF0000;;"><a href="gazebo02.html#vegetarian">· Ahimsa</span><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:140%; color: #FF0000;"> & Vegetarianism ·</a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:140%; color: #FF0000;"><a href="gazebo02.html#rage" style="text-decoration: none">·The Source of <span style="color: #000000;">Rage</a></span><span style="color: #000000;">·</span><span><br>
<span style="color:#000080;font-size: 20px;"> <a href="gazebo02.html#plus" style="text-decoration: none">lower back pain … <span style="color: #9932CC;"><b>plus</b></a></span></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="../zoofence.com/define01.html#atheism" style="font-size: 1.2em;; text-decoration: none; color:#e74c3c;">· <b>ATHEISM</b> ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"><br><br>
<a href="../zoofence.com/define02.html#death" style="font-size: 1.2em;; text-decoration: none; color:#e74c3c;">· <b>DEATH</b> ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="define02.html#fear" style="text-decoration: none; color:#e74c3c; font-size: 1.2em;"> · <b>FEAR</b> ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="define03.html#hell" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 1.2em;color:#e74c3c;">· <b>HELL</b> ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="define04.html#life" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 1.2em;color:#e74c3c;">· <b>LIFE</b> ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
<a href="define04.html#love" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 1.2em; color:#e74c3c;">· <b>LOVE</b> ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="define05.html#meditation" style="font-size: 1.2em;; text-decoration: none; color:#e74c3c;">· <b>MEDITATION</b> ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
<a href="define06.html#prayer" style="text-decoration: none; color:#e74c3c; font-size: 1.2em;"> · <b>PRAYER</b> ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
<a href="../zoofence.com/consdr11.html" style="font-size:28px; color: #1aa260; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">· <b>S-E-X</b> ·<br><span style="color: #CD5C5C; font-size:17px;">and spirituality</span></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
<a href="define07.html#self" style="font-size: 1.4em;; text-decoration: none; color:#e74c3c;">· <b>SELF-REALIZATION</b> ·<br>
<span style="color: #990099; font-size: 30px; font-family: 'Brush Script MT', 'Apple Chancery', cursive;">are you and I a person?</span></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"
width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="gazebo.html" ><img id="img1" src="images/gazebo.png" alt="The Gazebo" width="220" height="65"></a><br>
<span style="color: #CD5C5C; font-size: 20px;">· <a href="gazebo.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: inherit;">page one</a> ·<br>
· <a href="gazebomenu.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: inherit;">full menu</a> ·</span>
<br><br>
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<a href="amper.html" style="font-size: 2.4em; text-decoration: none; color:#e74c3c;">· <b>Ampers</b><span style="color: #000080; font-size: 0.9em">&</span><span style="color:#e74c3c; font-size: 1.0em"><b>nd</b></span> ·</a><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000;"><a href="amper.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:18px; color:#e74c3c;">words of wondrous others</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12" alt="The Zoo Fence"><br><br>
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<span style="color: #FF0000;">· <a href="https://www.zoofence.com/consdr04.html" style="font-size:24px; color: #FF0000;"> <b>YES, YOU CAN!</b> ·</a><br>
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<span style="color: #8B0000;font-size:30px;"><a href="../zoofence.com/consdr02.html" style="text-decoration:none;">God is the <span style="color: #9F2B68;">Teacher</span></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life""><br><br>
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<a href="iwonder.html" style="font-size:24px; color: #FF0000;"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/iwonder.png" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" width="220" height="39"></a><br>
<span style="font-size:24px;; color: #800020;"><a href="iwonder.html" ><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size:20px; color: #FF0000;">when I began thinking about spirituality …</span></a><br>
<br>
<span style="text-align:center; font-size:18px;"><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
width="13" height="12" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
<a href="gazebo03.html#voice" style="text-decoration: none;"></a>
<span class= "red;"> ·</span> <a href="gazebo03.html#voice" style="text-decoration: none" onMouseOver="this.style.color=#ff0000;" onMouseOut="this.style.color=#0040ff;"><span style="font-size:24px; color: red;">A Voice in War ·</span></a>
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<a href="stories.html#cfs" style="text-decoration: none" onMouseOver="this.style.color=#ff0000;" onMouseOut="this.style.color=#0040ff;"><span style="font-size:24px; color:red;"> · Chicago Fools ·</span><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:22px;">‘This is <i>she</i>’</span></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
· <a href="gazebo02.html#similarity" style="font-size:24px; text-decoration: none; color:#e74c3c;">It’s Not <span style="color: #000000;">Your</span> Karma</a> ·
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<q>We're all aware of words like kindness, compassion, and love,</q><br>
says <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gaurab.talukdar.1/" style="text-decoration:none; color: inherit;">Talukdar</a>,
an independent filmmaker.<br>What matters, he says, is <q>how we apply these words to others<br>— not just human beings but all forms of life.</q><br>
<span style="text-align: center"><a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/" style="font-size:18px; text-decoration: none;">Christian Science Monitor</a></span><br><br>
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<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
<span style="font-size:22px; text-decoration: none; color:#800080;"> Asked in the final weeks of his life<br>if he had made peace with God,<br><a href="https://thoreausociety.org/life-legacy/" style="color:inherit; text-decoration: none;">Henry David Thoreau</a> replied,<br><q>I did not know that we had quarreled.</q><br>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1962/05/08/archives/critic-at-large-century-after-thoreaus-death-america-knows-how.html" style="font-size:18px; text-decoration: none;">New York Times</a><br><br>
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<a href="gazebo.html#onei" style="font-size: 32px; text-decoration: none; color:#e74c3c;">I <span style="color: #000000;">Am</span> I ·<br>
<span style="font-size: 18px">The One and only Constant</span></a><br><br>
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· <a href="hatarchive.html" style="font-size: 24px; text-decoration: none; color:#000000;">Here's A <span style="color: #e74c3c;">Thought</span></a> ·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/read-pope-francis-death-announcement" style="font-size:32px; text-decoration: none; color:#9370DB;"><b><q>Who am I to judge?</q></b><br>
<span style="font-weight:normal; color:#FF00FF; font-size: 24px;">Pope Francis</span></a><br><br>
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<p style="margin: 50px 40px 30px 75px;" class="left"><span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px">When a military paratrooper leaps out of an airplane, he or she knows that a parachute will automatically open, and they will land safely. But what if that is not known to them? How will they feel about jumping?
For too many of us, <a href="../zoofence.com/define02.html#death" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none;">physical death</a> is like knowing we will eventually jump out of an airplane unaware we are equipped with a parachute. So, we fear death.</div>
</div>
<span style="text-align:center; color:#720CDF; font-size:22px; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em;">
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<span class="center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="tzf"
width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:24px;"><a href="define07.html#sufi" style="text-decoration: none">Sufism: <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Love as Practice</span> ·</a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:24px;"><a href="gazebo02.html#carbon" style="text-decoration: none">Is <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">thought</span> carbon-based?</a> ·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <span style="font-size:1.4em;"><a href="riddle.html">The Sacred</span> <span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:1.4em;">Riddle</span> ·<br>
<span style="font-size: 18px;">If I Am Infinite, who are you?</span></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12">
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<div class="container zoo sohow left">
<p style="margin: 50px 40px 30px 75px;" class="left"><span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px">
<span class="container zoo sohow left""><span style="font-weight: bold; color: #8B0000; font-size:24px"> <a href="nancypage.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: inherit">Found by Nancy</a> in a long since forgotten folder:</span><br>
All I am is a file of concepts composed of memories stored, events remembered, anticipated, and emotions attached, originally probably arbitrarily, but now, when repeated, based in the file called memory<br>
Fear is generated by those concepts (not an individual, though those concepts do make up that individuality), when they are threatened by change of any kind, loss, deletion, or newness.<br>
This body is solely a gross material representation of the instrument that records all of this. The brain is its memory bank, literally a material representation of all the experiences of that instrument.<br>
So who am ‘I’? Of course, all I can be is the energy, the consciousness, the awareness, the generating source of all of this manifestation. Unlimited in source, but limited within the instrument.</div><br>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em">
One evening, an elderly Cherokee Brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.<br>
He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealously, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.<br>
The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, faith, and forgiveness.”<br>
The boy thought about what his grandfather had said, and then asked him, “Which wolf wins?”<br>
The old man replied, “The one you feed.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0; text-align: center;">
<span style="display: block;font-size: .9rem; color: #808080; width: 500px; margin: 0 auto;"><a href="https://www.nanticokeindians.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><i>The Nanticoke Indian Tribe</a></i></p>
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<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="The Zoo Fence"></span><br><br>
<span style="color:#2A2A82; font-size:20px;">
<span style="text-align:center;">
<b>This is not stuff we learn and then know.<br>This is stuff we ingest and become.</b><br><br>
<span style="text-align:left; color: #8B0000; font-weight: normal; font-size:20px;">
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<b>Lord teach us to pray.</b> <span style="font-weight:normal"><i>Luke 11.1</i></span><br>
<b>Call upon Me, and I will answer you.</b> <span style="font-weight:normal"><i>Qur’an 40:60</i></span><br>
<b>Show me your ways, teach me your paths.</b> <span style="font-weight:normal"><i>Psalm 25</i></span><br>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_mani_padme_hum" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px; color:#8B0000;"><b>Om Mani Padme Hum</b></a>—<span style="font-weight:normal"><i>the jewel in the lotus</i></span></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="The Zoo Fence"></span><br><br>
<a href="https://legacy.quran.com/1/6-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: #008000; font-size:24px;">Guide us to the Straight Path.</a><br>
<span style="font-size:17px; color:black;">Qur'an 1:6<br><br>
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The door to God is open,<br>but the lintel is very low.<br>
To enter one has to bend.</span><br>
<a href="define06.html#ramana" style="text-decoration: none; color:#A9A9A9;">Sri Ramana Maharshi</a>
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<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="The Zoo Fence"></span><br><br>
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<span style="font-size: 25px; font-weight: normal; color: #8B0000;" class="center; color: #8B0000;">
In Eden, Adam-and-Eve was one word.<br>
The so-called Fall removed those dashes,<br>
and liberated the word <i>and</i> — <br>
Adam <i>and</i> Eve, you <i>and</i> me, <br>
what each of us calls “my life.”<br>
Was that a fall, or was it a plan, <b>the</b> Plan?</span><br>
<span style="font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; color: #008000" class="center;">See <a href="itb02.html" style="text-decoration: underline; color:inherit;"= >here!</a>
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<a href="consdr30.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 25px;">· Thoughts on Letting Life Live ·<br><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 20px;">Being Human is <span class="red">Divine</span></a></span><br><br>
<span style="text-align: center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="tzf"
width="13" height="12"><br><br></span>
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<a href="consdr34.html" style="font-size: 25px;">· The Prism Effect·<br><span style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 20px;">The <span class="red">One</span> seen as <span class="red">Many</span></a>
<br><br>
<span style="text-align: center;"><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="consdr34.html#heisnot" style="text-decoration: none; color: #008000; font-size:20px;">By Himself He sees Himself,<br>and by Himself He knows Himself.<br>None sees Him other than He.</a><br>
<a href="amper21.html" style="text=decoration: none" >Ibn 'Arabi</a>
<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <a href="consdr08.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: #008000; font-size:30px;"><span style="color: #EE4B2B;">The</span> Righteous <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Teacher</span> ·<br>
<span style="text-decoration: none; color: #008000; font-size: 26px">Do we need a <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Guru</span><span style="text-decoration: none; color: #008000; font-size: 26px">?</span> <br>
</a>
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· <a href="consdr05.html" style="text-decoration:none; font-size:25px;">God creates Self-Consciousness</a> ·<br>
<a href="define03.html#god" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 21px;">… for <span style="font-size:24px; color: #EE4B2B;"><b>Himself</b></span></a></span><br>
<br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span class="center menu lineheight" style="color: #0000FF;; font-size:20px; font-size: 25px;"><a href="../zoofence.com/consdr07.html" style="text-decoration: none">
Making <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">peace</span> with our lives</a><br>
<a href="letrs07.html#mindset" style="text-decoration: none; font-size: 21px;"><i>see also here</i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="consdr29.html" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-size:25px; color: #EE4B2B;">· Fools & Such ·</span><br>
<span style="font-size:18px; color: #002D62;">Life in The Work Place</span></a><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="consdr14.html" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:25px;">· Life </span> as <span style="text-decoration: none"><span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:25px;">A Path ·<br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;">a seesaw has no parts</span></a>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align:center;">In the twilight of life,<br>
God will not judge us<br>on our earthly possessions
and human successes,<br>
but on how well we have loved.</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:19px; font-weight:normal;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1911605.Juan_de_la_CruzJuan" style="text-decoration: none; color: #88187A">Juan de la Cruz</a><br><br></span>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="color: #4A3096; font-size:22px;"><a href="define03.html#god" ><b>How is it that there is God,<br>
but there is not a God.</b></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:25px;"><a href="consdr19.html" >Remember ME! · <br>
<span style="font-size: 18px; color: #8B0000;">Nothing is what it seems</span></a><br><br>
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· <a href="../zoofence.com/gazebo02.html#inthegrass">The Buddha in <span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:22px;">The Grass</span></a> ·<br><br>
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· <a href="tiaw.html" ><span style="color: #EE4B2B; font-size:25px;">Beyond</span> ·<br>
<span style="font-size: 18px; color: #8B0000;">Will it fit into my mind?</span></a><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif"
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<b>In the beginning, we create<br>and then throughout
our lives<br>we sustain our sense of self</b></span><br>
<span style="font-weight:normal"><a href="consdr20.html" style="color: #8B0000; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px;"><i>The I Thought</i></a></span><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center"><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color: #AA336A; font-size:24px; font-weight:normal;">As I understand it, the mind is not a thing.<br>It is the ego which is an accumulation of stuff<br>that manifest or embody or appear<br>as Stefan and <i>your name</i> …</span><br>
<span style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal;"><a href="godis.html#never" style="color: #8B0000; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px;"><i>Never mind</i></a></span><br><br>
<span class="menu lineheight" style="margin-bottom:0; font-style: normal; text-align:center">
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"></span><br><br>
<span style="font-size:26px; color: green"><a href="gazebo.html#soitseems" style="text-decoration: none;">· I could be wrong ·<br>
but so it <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">seems</span></a></span><br><br>
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<b>The year was 1974, Peter K. Wensleydale and Ambassador Quenton Adkins were meeting alone in the Ambassador’s office on the third floor of the American Embassy in Gazinga. “What’s this supposed to be?” the Ambassador asked, as he read from the sheet of paper Peter had just handed him. “It’s a letter of resignation, sir,” Peter said, adding, as gingerly as if he were handling a stick of dynamite, “mine.”</span>
<span style="display: block; text-align: center; font-weight: normal; color: #8B0000; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;"><a href="stories.html#acf" style="color: #8B0000;"><i>A Continuing Fiction</i></span><br>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em">
<span style="display: block; text-align: left; color: #8B0000; font-size: 21px; font-style: normal; margin-left: 35px;">
<b>After which Peter and Anna Wensleydale swapped their life as diplomats for a homestead in Cranberry County Maine, where they built their own home themselves, bottom to top, and where their friends include, among other species, a dog, cats, a rooster, and a neighbor’s sheep, all of whom speak to them and one another, and where their continuing experiences include the death of Peter’s life-teacher who is a horse named Montauk, the ƒ of two chickens, Cantachiaro and Joy Pristine, and a happy surprise contrived by their dog Tancredi and Beatrice Marlowe the school teacher.</b></span>
</div>
<span style="display: block; text-align: center; color: blue;"><a href="tcttoc.html" style="font-size: 16px; color: #8B0000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><i>The Cranberry Tales</i></span><br><br>
<span class="center menu lineheight" style="color:red; font-style: normal;">
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a href="https://myislam.org/surah-taha/ayat-46/" style="text-decoration: none">
Have <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">no fear</span>! I am with you,<br>
hearing and seeing.<br><span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:16px;">Qur’an 20:46</span></a>
<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13"><br><br>
·<a href="consdr03.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Why Do <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">BAD</span> Things Happen?</a> ·<br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbtamper.gif" alt="Ampers&nd" width="35" height="28"><br>
· <a href="consdr35.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #000080;">Ditto</span> <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">HERE</span></a> ·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <a href="consdr16.html" style="text-decoration: none">Forgive <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">You</span> Forgive <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Me</span></a> ·<br>
<span class="left" style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;">be who we are</span>
<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <a href="miscella.html#oops" style="text-decoration: none">God Rethinks <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Creation</span></a> ·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12">
<br><br>
· <a href="gazebo02.html#stones" style="text-decoration: none">The Very Stones</a> ·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
<p style=" margin-bottom: 0; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em">
<span style="display: block; text-align: center; color: #8B0000; font-size:21px; margin-left: 35px; font-weight: normal;">
If the doors of perception were cleansed,<br>
everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.<br>
For man has closed himself up,<br>
till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.</span>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45315/45315-h/45315-h.htm" target="_top" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal;">William Black <i>The Marriage of Heaven and Hell</i></a></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
<span style="display: block; text-align: left; color: #8B0000; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 2px;">What we believe about the nature of reality (what we think to be real) depends very largely on the image we have about the existence and nature of a Creator. Even the apparent absence of such an image is reflected in our outlook on the world around us. We cannot separate our impressions of Creation from those we have of its Creator; indeed, if they are not the same thing, certainly they are two sides of the same thought. In a very real sense, we can say that our reality, or our sense of it, stems from or is directly related to the image we have of God … again, even the absense of such an image. </span>
<span style="font-weight:normal"><a href="stories.html#toys" style="color: #8B0000; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px;"><i>Take Off Your Shoes</i></a></span><br><br>
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<span style="color: #00538C; font-size:22px;"><b>Human life is very deep,<br> and our dominant modern lifestyle is not.</b></span><br>
<a href="https://www.humankindness.org/product-tag/bo-lozoff/" style="color: #002D62; font-size:16px;#8B0000; text-decoration: none;"><i>Bo Lozoff</i></a></span>
<br>
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<span style="font-size:20px; color: #00538C;"><b>The gentle shall inherit the earth.</b></span><br>
<span style="color: #002D62; font-size:16px;">Matthew 5:5</span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-size:20px;color: #00538C;"><b>Kindness is a mark of faith.</b></span><br>
<span style="color: #002D62; font-size:16px;">Muhammad</span><br><br>
<br><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
<span style="font-size:23px;"><a href="https://www.zoofence.com/consdr17.html" style="text-decoration: none">Creation & <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Evolution</span></a></span><br>
<span style="font-size:18px; color: #002D62;">The stories of life</span><br>
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<a href="gazebo02.html#memory" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-size:23px;">Memory</span> & <span style="font-size:23px; color: #EE4B2B;">Loss</span></a><br>
<br><img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"><br><br>
· <a href="consdr26.html" style="text-decoration: none; color:#EE4B2B; font-size:23px;">Healing Mistakes</a> ·<br> <br>
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· <a href="consdr33.html" starget="_self" tyle="text-decoration: none; font-size:23px;">Forgive The Day</a> ·<br><br>
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· <a href="consdr27.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-size:23px;">Off <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Balance</span></a> ·<br><br>
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· <a href="prayer.html" style="text-decoration: none">A Hundred <span style="color: #EE4B2B;">Prayers</span></a> ·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <a href="hatarchive.html" style="text-decoration: none">Here's A Thought</a> ·<br>
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· <a href="consdr18.html" style="text-decoration: none">Where Evil Dwells</a> ·<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
· <a href="consdr36.html" style="text-decoration: none">The Silence Rule</a> ·<br><br>
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<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px; font-weight: normal;"><b><a href="define05.html#baba" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal;">Maharajji</a></span> <span style="color: #8B0000; font-size:18px; font-weight: normal;">was in a car. They came to a bridge.<br>Coming the other way were sugar carts pulled by oxen,<br>
blocking the way. The driver slowed the car.<br>
Maharajji asked, “Why are you slowing?”<br>The driver replied, “We can’t get through.”<br> Maharajji told him, “Go!”<br>The driver protested. <br>
Maharajji said, “Close your eyes, and go!”<br>The driver closed his eyes, and pressed on the gas pedal.<br>
When he opened his eyes,<br>
they were on the other side of the bridge.<br>
<a href="define05.html#baba" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none; font-size: 13px;"><i>Miracle of Love<br>Stories about Neem Karoli Baba</i></a></span><br><br>
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<span style="text-align:center" font-weight: normal;"> <img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="The Zoo Fence A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"
width="13" height="12"></span> <br><br>
<span style="text-align:center; color: #8B0000; font-size:18px; font-weight: normal; margin: 35px;">
<a href="define02.html#devil" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none;">When the flush</a> of a newborn sun<br>fell first on Eden‘s green and gold,<br>
Our father Adam sat under the Tree<br>and scratched with a stick in the mud;<br>
And the first rude sketch that the world had seen<br>was joy to his mighty heart,<br>
Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves:<br>
“It‘s pretty, but is it Art?”<br>
<span style="font-weight:normal; font-size: 12px;"><a href="https://poets.org/poem/conundrum-workshops" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none;">Rudyard Kipling<br>
The Conundrum of the Workshops</a></span>
<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life"></span> <br><br>
<span style="display: block; text-align: left; font-size:20px; color:blue; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 45px; margin-right: 30px;">
There is a family of red foxes that lives in the woods near our home. Some while ago, our neighbor saw one of the kits calmly trotting into her barn. The next morning, she found the fox in an empty horse stall, curled up against one wall, as if asleep. But the fox was not asleep; the fox was dead. There was a wound on one leg that may have been the cause of death. The game warden said it is not unusual for foxes to select a barn as a place to die.<br>
<span style="padding-left: 35px;">But here's the thing. The evidence at the scene suggests this fox died calmly and easily, as if it considered death as natural a process of life as hunting field mice, feasting on wild blueberries, or prancing down a country road. There are no signs of frantic digging, scratching, wall climbing, or other desperate behavior. This fox was not trying to escape its fate, and it did not struggle against it. Instead, it seems that this fox realized somewhere within that it was about to die, and so it found an appropriate site, and, without any fanfare, it simply did so.<br>
<span style="padding-left: 35px;">
What is the difference between us and the fox? Is it that we perceive death as the opposite of life, and so we struggle against it; and the fox recognizes death is the opposite of birth, and so takes it in stride.<br>
<span style="padding-left: 35px;">
See also <a href="letrs09.html#fox" style="text-decoration: none; color: #EE4B2B;">here.</a></span><br>
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<a href="art.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size:17px;">“Schoodic Point II” by Nancy Russell Nadzo</span></a><br><br>
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<a href="art.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size:17px;">“Schoodic Point II” by Nancy Russell Nadzo</span></a><br><br>
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__>
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<span style="display: block; text-align: left; color: #8B0000; font-size: 20px; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 40px;">Imagine a production of William Shakespeare’s play <i>Romeo and Juliet.</i></a> On the stage, a great drama unfolds, shaped by prejudice, youthful beauty, romance, joy, delight, love, anger, despair, faith, death — the stuff of all our lives. But none of it is real. None of the characters is real, none of the emotions is real, none of the action actually occurs.There is no such person as “Romeo”, there is no such person as “Juliet”. They were never born, they never loved, they never died. It is all an illusion. The only reality in that context consists of Shakespeare as author, the actors as players, and ourselves as audience. All of those know the play is an illusion, and that all that is real is themselves. But still, the play is performed again and again, and again and again we laugh and we cry. As if it were real. Likewise, what you and I each call “my life” is thoroughly an illusion. Here, we do not truly know what is Real because each of us has taken on the identity of “me”, the principal character in “my life”. And just as neither “Romeo” nor “Juliet” can know Shakespeare, neither can the separate, separative (“I am me, and you aren't”) self of our lives know our Reality. For that, we must transcend the character, and recognize and resume our True Identity in and as and with (choose a preposition) the Author, the Source, the Supreme, the One, Brahman, Yahweh, God (choose a label). That is the spiritual process, transforming our current sense of identity bit by bit until finally it is transcended altogether, and we <a href="define07.html#self" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none;">“Remember I Am”</a>. Then, we <a href="define07.html#self" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none;">Realize</a> we never were the character, that we have never been born and cannot die, and that What Is always was and always will be. In a word, Reality destroys illusion.</span>
<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbredst.gif"
width="13" height="12" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" style="color: #FF00FF;"><br><br>
<span style="color: #800080; font-size:25px; font-style:normal; font-weight: normal">In the beginning there was nothing.<br>God said, “Let there be light!”<br>
And there was light.<br>
There was still nothing,<br>
but you could see it a whole lot better.</span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size:16px; font-style:normal; font-weight: normal"><a href="https://www.ellen-degeneres.com/home" style="text-decoration: none"><i>Ellen DeGeneres</i></a> & <i>Genesis 1:3</i></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<a name="colorbar"></a>
<span style="font-size: 22px; text-align: center; color: #0067a5;"><b>Can the existence of <a href="define03.html#god" style="color: inherit;"><b>God</b></a> be proved?</b>
<br> <span style="font-size: 22px; color: #0067a5; margin-left: 25px; margin-right: 25px; color: #0067a5; display: block; text-align: left;">
Suppose you are asleep in your bed, and a <a href="define07.html#teacher" style="color: inherit;"><b>Teacher</b></a> were to enter the room. Would you be aware of her presence? Obviously not. But would there be any doubt of her presence there? Again, obviously not. What proof of her presence could she offer you to make you aware of her presence? Obviously none, for no matter how brilliant her argument, however crystal clear its formulation, as long as you remained asleep, it would fall on deaf ears.<br>
But suppose you awaken, and perceive the <a href="define07.html#teacher" style="color: inherit;"><b>Teacher</b></a> standing there. Would you become aware of her presence? Obviously so. What proof would you need then? Obviously none, your experience itself, the experience of your own awareness, would be proof enough.<br>
Ditto <a href="define03.html#god" style="color: inherit;"><b>God</b></a>.<br>
<span style="color: #0067a5;">For more, see <a href="credo.html" style="text-decoration: underline; color: inherit;">Credo</a>.<br><br>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbreds.gif" width="13" height="12"><br><br>
<span style="font-size:19px; color: #9805a8;"><a href="https://www.zoofence.com/gazebo.html#mindthis" style="color: #eb05aa;">An uncertain thought …</a></span><br>
<span style="font-size:18px; font-weight: normal; color: #990F02">The Universe is a Portrait of God<br>
perceived by us as a landscape</a><br>
composed of you, me, places, events,<br>
planets, stars, galaxies, dreams,<br>
latitudes, longitudes,<br>
past present future,<br>
genders, races, groups, associations,<br>
religions, nationalities, philosophies,<br>
thoughts, beliefs, expectations,<br>
decisions, intentions, regrets, and<br>
other unimaginable unspeakable infinite stuff beyond,<br>
all of which to us,<br>
who confuse appearance for Reality,<br>
is many, and to God is One.<br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbredst.gif"
width="13" height="12" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" style="color: #FF00FF;"><br><br>
<a href="define03.html#gender" style="font-size:28px;; text-decoration: none">God’s Gender</a> <br><br>
<span style="display: block; text-align: center;">
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbredst.gif"
width="13" height="12" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" style="color: #FF00FF;"><br><br>
<!-- Dante spaking to Beatrice -->
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align:center; color: #8B0000">Piangendo dissi: <q>Le presenti cose<br>
col falso lor piacer volser miei passi,<br>
tosto che 'l vostro viso si nascose.</q></span><br>
<span style="color: #eb05aa; font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align:center;">In tears I said,<br>
Soon as you hid your face,<br>
things, with their false appeal,<br>
lured me astray.</span><br>
<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Divine-Comedy" ><span style="color:#988558; font-weight: normal; font-size:18px; text-align:center;">Dante<br><i>The Divine Comedy</i><br></span></a>
<br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbredst.gif"
width="13" height="12" alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" style="color: #FF00FF;"><br><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 30px; text-align:center; color: #8B0000; font-weight: 700;"><a href="amper20.html">The War Prayer</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 20px; text-align:center; color: #8B0000; font-weight: 700;">Mark Twain</span></a><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 17px; text-align:center; color: #000000; font-weight: 700;"><i>caution: it's heavy</i></span><br><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/zbbredst.gif"
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<span class="full-width-span" style="color: #FA5F55; font-size: 26px; font-weight: normal; text-align: center;">· <span style="font-family: cursive;;"><b>Books Whose Titles Say It</b></span> ·<br>
<span class="full-width-span" style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3900425-walk-on" style="color:inherit;"><b>Walk On!</b></a> by Christmas Humphreys.<br>
Tomes may be written, but none says it better than these two words.<br>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Insecurity-Message-Age-Anxiety/dp/0307741206/ref=sr_1_1" style="color:inherit;"><b>The Wisdom of Insecurity</b></a> by Alan Watts.<br> We can remove our finger from the breach, and let the waters flow. Relax, we're fish.<br>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Unknowing-Book-Contemplation/dp/B0FPB3ZSQY/ref=sr_1_2" style="color:inherit;"><b>The Cloud of Unknowing</b></a> author unknown.<br>
It really is just a cloud, which with intense prayer, devotion, and commitment, blows away.<br>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2927716-yeshua-buddha" style="color:inherit;"><b>Yeshua Buddha</b></a> by Jay G. Williams.<br>
He who is commonly called <a href="jname.html" style="color:inherit;">Jesus Christ</a> smells as sweet by this other name.<br>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/What-You-Think-None-Business/dp/0593333071/ref=sr_1_1" style="color:inherit;"><b>What You Think of Me Is None of My Business</b></a> by Terry Cole-Whittaker.<br>
This extraordinary title — when administered humbly, gently, and in love — liberates us.</span><br><br>
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<span class="full-width-span" style="color: #FA5F55; font-size: 26px; font-weight: normal; text-align: center;">· <span style="font-family: cursive;;"><b>Some Books We Read</b></span> ·<br>
<span class="full-width-span" style="color: #8B0000; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; text-align: center; line-height: 1.8;"><a href="bookshelf.html" style="color: #8B0000;">Click <u>Here</u></a><br><br>
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<span class="full-width-span" style="color: #FA5F55; font-weight: normal; text-align: center; font-size: 28px; font-family: cursive; font-weight: bold;">· Our Books ·</span><br>
<span class="full-width-span" style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><a href="../zoofence.com/stories.html#itb" style="color: #8B0000;"><b>In The Beginning</b></a></span><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size: 16px;"><i><b>The Eden Conspiracy Unveiled</b></i></span><br>
<span style="color: #808080; font-size: 17px;">ISBN 0-937226-06-8<br></span>
<span class="full-width-span" style="color: #8B0000; font-size:20px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><a href="tcttoc.html" style="color: #8B0000; text-decoration:none"><b>The Cranberry Tales</b></a></span><br><span style="color: #8B0000; font-size: 16px;"><i><b>A Children's Story for Adults Too</b></i></span><br> <span style="color: #808080; font-size: 17px;">ISBN 0-937226-05-X<br></span>
<span class="full-width-span" style="color:#8B0000; font-size:20px;"><a href="tiaw.html" style="text-decoration:none; color: #8B0000; letter-spacing: 1px;"><b>There Is A Way</b></a></span><br>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size: 16px;"><i><b>Meditations for A Seeker</b></i></span><br>
<span style="color: #808080; font-size: 17px;">ISBN 0-937226-00-9<br></span>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size: 20px;"><a href="toystoc.html" style="text-decoration:none; color: #8B0000; letter-spacing: 1px;"><b>Take Off Your Shoes</b></a><br><span style="color: #8B0000; font-size: 16px;"><i><b>A Seeker's Guide to The Nature of Reality</b></i></span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 16px;">ISBN-10 0937226017<br>
ISBN-13 978-0937226018<br></span>
<span style="color: ; font-size: 20px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><b>Hear The Wind, See The Wind</b></span><br> <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 16px;">ISBN 0-937226-03-3<br></span>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size: 20px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><b>Sun Days, Moon Days</b></span><br><span style="color: #8B0000; font-size: 16px;"><i><b>When The Miracles Begin</b></i></span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 16px;">ISBN 0-937226-04-1<br></span>
<span style="color: #8B0000; font-size: 20px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><b>Being Who You Are</b></span><br>
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 16px;">ISBN 0-937226-02-05</span><br><br>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-left: 45px; margin-right: 30px; color: #29465B; text-align:left; line-height: 1.2;">Oh, Lord, forgive three sins that are due to my human limitations.
Thou art Everywhere, but I worship thee here:
Thou art without form, but I worship thee in these forms;
Thou needest no praise, yet I offer thee these prayers and salutations.
Lord, forgive three sins that are due to my human limitations.</p>
<p style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0; font-size: 18px; color: #7393B3; text-align:center;">M. M. Kaye<br><q><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Far-Pavilions-M-Kaye/dp/031215125X">The Far Pavilions</a></q> </span></p>
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<span style="text-align: center; color: #8B0000;">
<b>DISCLAIMER</b>
<br><span style="display: block; text-align: left; color: #8B0000; font-size: 21px; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.3; margin-left: 45px; margin-right: 30px;"">Inevitably and rightly, there is a lot on The Zoo Fence about scriptures considered sacred
by various traditions. As you read those comments and observations, please understand that
nothing written here is, or is intended to be, an academic consideration. I am not a
theologian, biblical scholar, or historian. I am not an expert. In the context of this
website, my interest in sacred writings is solely as a spiritual seeker who has undertaken
a personal inner journey for the Truth of who and what and where I am. I know that many of my
statements, and perhaps even all of my conclusions, will not reflect, and perhaps may even
contradict, current orthodoxy, theology, and history. I mean no disrespect by that, but it
does not concern me, for again I am not an academic, and this is not an academic undertaking. For me, the scriptures of the world’s spiritual traditions are a guide and a tool and a
vehicle which can facilitate and accelerate my own personal passage along the spiritual path only
if I understand their message to me. Therefore, I take it to be my duty, even my sacred
responsibility, to discover and understand their meaning to me personally, to decipher
what the Universal Teacher (Whoever or Whatever or even If Ever that is) intends for me to see in them and to do by them. Here, on The Zoo Fence, I share that with you, and I ask that you read it in that spirit.</span><br>
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<span style="font-size: 30px; text-align:center; color: blue;"><b>T H I S</b> and <b> T H A T</span></b><br>
<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align:center"><a href="gazebo03.html#tonia" style="color: #008000; text-decoration: none;"><b>A friend's death …</b></a></span><br>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size:22px; text-align:center"><a href="que.html" style="text-decoration:none; color: black;">Selections, Sources, and References<br><br>
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<a href="aboutzf.html" style="text-decoration:none; color: purple;">FYI</a><br>
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<span id="date" style="color: #1F618D; font-size:18px; line-height: 1.3">This version of <i>The Zoo Fence</i> has been updated<br>
most recently on May 16, 2026.<br>
<i>The Zoo Fence</i> was first published in hard copy in January 1996.
<br>
It has been on the internet since February, 1997,<br>
first at America Online, then from 1/1998 at GeoCities, then
from 7/2000 at OLM,<br>
and now from 3/2011 at InMotion.</span><br>
<img alt="A Commentary on The Spiritual Life" src ="images/ztzfhard.png" width="100" height="131"><br><span style="font-size: 12px; text-align:center"><em>The Zoo Fence at birth</em><br>
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<span id="simpson" style=" line-height: 1.3; color: #1F618D; font-size:18px; font-style:normal; font-weight: normal">My thanks to <a
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for the <a href="#eraser" style="text-decoration: none; color: inherit;">colorbar</a>
used on this site,<br>
and for his book on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape_Navigator" style="text-decoration: none; color: inherit;" onMouseOver="this.style.color='##EE4B2B !important;">Netscape Navigator</a><br>
providing my first introduction to HTML.<br><br>
To return to the home page (this page) of this website<br>
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The Zoo Fence is Made in Maine</span><br>
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