Skip All The Dogma

Make me one with everything,” said the Buddhist to the hot dog vendor. (Buddhist humor, I understand. I like my Buddhism with as few of the fixin’s as possible. And that would be a breath of fresh air – in and out.)

Michael Kroth's avatarThe Profound Bartender

Over the last few years I have been exploring contemplation and ever-so-slowly developing an ever more contemplative life, one working toward having a more direct connection with the divine.  Seeking the absolute in that way is what I believe is called “mysticism”. Dogma and belief systems in general have been sticking points for me in the past, and contemplation – daily kenosis, emptying, receptivity, being totally in the present moment – has been a way that has taken me a few steps down the path. So at one point I wrote these lyrics.

Seeking or believing in a direct relationship with the divine, the absolute – God – has gotten a lot of humble, devout people into trouble over the years, and usually with a church or church leaders who thought folks needed to go through them.  But it is true that dogma, certainly ritual, belief systems, professional and called…

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Up At Five

  (This was written circa 2014, while living in our house on Caper here in Boise.) Morning It’s just a few minutes after 5:00 a.m.  Outside on my tiny, barely-holds-two-chairs-and-a-mini-table front porch I breathe in the smell of last night’s rain.  It was just a short spate, just Mother Nature spitting last night, but enough … Continue reading Up At Five →