The Return to Wonder

Greetings,

“The Return to Wonder” blog is a compendium of aphorisms not included in the three other works: The Stillness Before Time, The Ponderings of Yaj Ekim, and Breadcrumbs. It totals 3,000 pages formatted in 300 ten-page chapters written since 1990-ish. It has been uploaded beginning with Chapter 265 down to Chapter 1, followed by Chapter 266 up to 300. They can be accessed by clicking through older and newer posts at the bottom of each page, or by searching through the blog archives in the sidebar. A major edit is underway. Older copy is titled "The Stillness Before Time (Compendium)"; updated copy is titled "The Return to Wonder". In the PDF download, older copy will be black; updated copy will be blue.

“The Stillness Before Time” is the original 53-page work that was published in 1992, including mostly aphorisms, a few essays, and lists of movies and books. Though a self-published version can be purchased at major booksellers, a downloadable copy is available, no charge, at the website below. There are also a variety of links to several Facebook pages, Twitter, a number of blogs, and links to other very powerful writings of the same ilk.

The Stillness Before Time

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/

A 53-page PDF copy can be downloaded at:

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/thestillnessbeforetime.pdf

"The Ponderings of Yaj Ekim" is the second published book, and is both blogged and available as a PDF download.

The Ponderings of Yaj Ekim

http://theponderingsofyajekim.blogspot.com/

A 505-page PDF can be downloaded at:

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/theponderingsofyajekim.pdf

“Breadcrumbs” is a blog of a more personal nature than the others, including the most recent aphorisms, a life resume, a photo album, some duplicates of essays and lists previously published, and other this-and-that silliness that has come to mind over time. All just to show I was a living, breathing, relativity mundane, oftentimes foolish mortal, same as everyone else. No need to make me more than I was. No need for legends, no need for myths, no need for fables, no need for miracles, no need for any fictions to which history has so often given itself. This collection of thoughts is as full of the limited and arbitrary as anything else born of space and time, so please do not shape it into some dogmatic lunacy. Use it as a launchpad, not an orbit.

Breadcrumbs (Compendium)

http://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/

A 1898-page PDF can be downloaded at:

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/breadcrumbs.pdf

And the latest blogging unpublished elsewhere:

The Unfolding Next Round

michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_52.html

Writing has been an enjoyable process ever since I began toying with prose, keeping journals, and corresponding with friends during the college daze. The philosophical/mystical/whatever-you-want-to-call-them thoughts that started popping into mind since 1989 have always been very out-of-the-blue spontaneous. Nothing forced about them. They are being shared on the off chance that others may find them of interest, though, quite frankly, it really does not matter if no one else ever even reads them, for I am first and foremost my own audience. I got mine, so to speak, and it is, as it has ever been, up to each to discern their own on their own. There are really no followers in the ultimate quest, only earnest seekers who waylay their desires and fears enough to discern that which is the end to all doubt. “Yay” if it is your fate to figure it out. “Oh well” if it is not. And “so it goes” either way, really.

Please note that this sort of wordplay is very random; all but impossible to put into any rational order. Probably best read it in bits and pieces in the here and there. One of those open-to-any-page works. Especially well-suited for coffee shops, coffee tables, and porcelain thrones.

Also note that all writings are subject to annual updates and editing, so downloading current PDF copies every year or so might be a good idea if you want the most current version. This applies especially to the Breadcrumbs compendium, which is likely an ongoing work until the last wheezing breath.

If you find these many thoughts at all relevant, please feel free to share them with others who might also appreciate them, else they will more quickly slip back into the timeless oblivion from whence they came.

All the best,

P.S. Regarding the name Yaj Ekim ... It is just a reverse spelling on the first and middle names ... Michael Jay Holshouser ... Mike Jay ... Yaj Ekim. Coincidently, make of it what you will, Yaj is an Indian boy’s name meaning worshipper, sacrifice, another name for Shiva, a sage. And Ekim is a Turkish name for October meaning “sowing” (of seeds).

WEBSITE AND OTHER ONLINE CREATIONS

Website

The Stillness Before Time

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/

There is really only one Way.
It is without division or boundary.
It is without name or theology.
Awareness is its scripture,
Here now its venue,
You its witness,
Your life the journey.

A 53-page PDF copy can be downloaded at:

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/thestillnessbeforetime.pdf

Main Blogs

The Stillness Before Time

http://thestillnessbeforetime.blogspot.com/

The Ponderings of Yaj Ekim
http://theponderingsofyajekim.blogspot.com/

The Return to Wonder
http://thereturntowonder.blogspot.com/

Breadcrumbs

http://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/

PDF's

The Stillness Before Time (53 pages)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/thestillnessbeforetime.pdf

The Ponderings of Yaj Ekim (505 pages)
http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/theponderingsofyajekim.pdf

The Return to Wonder (3006 pages)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/thereturntowonder.pdf

Breadcrumbs (Compendium) (1898 pages)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/breadcrumbs.pdf

Breadcrumbs 2018 (578 pages)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/breadcrumbs2018.pdf

Breadcrumbs 2019 (317 pages)
http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/breadcrumbs2019.pdf

Breadcrumbs 2020 (222 pages)
http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/breadcrumbs2020.pdf

Conversations (309 pages)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/conversations.pdf

Definitions (104 pages)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/definitions.pdf

Titles, Titles & More Titles (220 pages)
http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/titlestitlesandmoretitles.pdf

Ditties for the Bluegrass Pyre (15 pages)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/dittiesforthebluegrasspyre.pdf

Once Upon a Christmas (1 page)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/onceuponachristmas.pdf

(Please note that all writings are subject to annual updates and editing, so downloading current PDF copies every year or so might be a good idea if you want the most current version. This applies especially to the Breadcrumbs compendium, which is likely an ongoing work until the last wheezing breath)

Recent Breadcrumbs

The Unfolding Next Round (Current ditties unpublished elsewhere)

http://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_52.html

Standouts from "The Return to Wonder" Edit

http://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_83.html

Breadcrumbs Blog Posts

Preface
https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_28.html

Breadcrumbs
https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_82.html

Leftovers
https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_11.html

Soundbites
https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_63.html

Corollaries
https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_31.html

Possible Last Words & Epitaphs

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_34.html

The Standard Ripostes
https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_39.html

List of Top Books for the Up and Coming

http://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_79.html

59 Moments to The Way It Is (And Is Not)

http://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_83.html

The Unfolding Next Round (Note: Current quarter unpublished elsewhere)

http://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_52.html

Of the Human Journey

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_6.html

Got God?

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_33.html

Ten Reflections

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_21.html

Standouts from the Return to Wonder Edit

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_8.html

Links

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_18.html

Life Resume

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_68.html

Photo Gallery

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_17.html

Books

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_50.html

Movies

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_73.html

Quotes Worth Pondering

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction_1.html

Spam Responses (a.k.a. WTF Is This Shit!?)

https://michaelsbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/under-construction.html

Facebook

Michael Holshouser
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1166861214&ref=name

Michael's Little Warehouse of All Things Amusing, Absurd & Profound
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=390323775911

Le Fichier Circulaire de Michaël (Michael’s Circular File)
https://www.facebook.com/LeFichierCirculaireDeMichael?ref=hl

Yaj Ekim
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1166861214&ref=name

Hughson Union High School Class of '72
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hughson-Union-High-School-Class-of-72/301790023189950?ref=hl

Blogger

Michael Holshouser

https://www.blogger.com/profile/12270094801824803661

Twitter

Michael Holshouser

https://twitter.com/#!/YajEkim

Odd and Ends

Final Exit
http://finalexitandrelatedlinks.blogspot.com/

The Blind Men and the Elephant
http://theelephantandheblindmen.blogspot.com/

The Joyful Curmudgeon
http://thejoyfulcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/

Of A Philosophical Nature
http://ofaphilosophicalnature.blogspot.com/

Quotes, Quotes & More Quotes

http://quotesaplenty.blogspot.com/

The Four Agreements

http://donmiguelsfiveagreements.blogspot.com/

Le Fichier Circulaire de Michaël
http://michaelscircularfile.blogspot.com/

50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School
http://50ruleskidswontlearninschool.blogspot.com/

12 Rules You Can Live By
http://12rulesyoucanliveby.blogspot.com/

How to Work in Any Environment

http://howtoworkinanyenvironment.blogspot.com/

Once Upon a Christmas

https://onceuponchristmas.blogspot.com/

Ditties for the Bluegrass Pyre

https://dittiesforthebluegrasspyre.blogspot.com/

Election 2016: The Rise (and Fall?) of Donald Trump

https://theriseandfallofdonaldtrump.blogspot.com/

Eight Translations of the Ashtavakra Gita

The Heart of Awareness (Byrom)

http://theheartofawareness.blogspot.com/

Ashtavakra Gita (Marshall)
http://theashtavakra.blogspot.com/

Bitten by the Black Snake (Schoch)
http://bittenbytheblacksnake.blogspot.com/

A Duet of One (Balsekar)
http://aduetofone.blogspot.com/

Ashtavakra Gita (Richards)
http://anotherashtavakragita.blogspot.com/

Astavakra Samhita (Wood)
http://astavakrasamhita.blogspot.com/

Ashtavakra Gita (Vedic Scriptures)
http://ashtravakrageeta.blogspot.com/

Ashtavakra Gita (Shastri)
http://ashtravakrageeeta.blogspot.com

PDF's of Ashtavakra Gita: I Am Shiva

Ashtavakra Gita: I Am Shiva
http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/ashtavakragitaiamshiva.pdf

I Am Shiva Comparison Chart

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/iamshivacomparisonchart.pdf

PDF's of Eight Translations

The Heart of Awareness (Byrom)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/theheartofawarenessbyrom.pdf

Ashtavakra Gita (Marshall)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/ashtavakrafitamarshall.pdf

Bitten by the Black Snake (Schoch)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/bittenbytheblacksnakeschoch.pdf

Ashtavakra Gita (Richards)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/ashtavakragitarichards.pdf

A Duet of One (Balsekar)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/aduetofonebalsekar.pdf

Astavakra Samhita (Wood)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/astavakrasamhitawood.pdf

Ashtavakra Gita (Shastri)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/ashtavakragitashastri.pdf

Ashtavakra Gita (Vedic Scriptures)

http://www.thestillnessbeforetime.com/ashtavakragitavedic.pdf

Translations of Other Ancient Writings

Ashtavakra Gita: I Am Shiva

http://ashtavakragitaiamshiva.blogspot.com/

Tao Te Ching: Verse One

http://taotechingverseone.blogspot.com/

Tao Te Ching (Marshall)

http://theperennialway-taoteching.blogspot.com/

Yoga Sutras (Marshall)

http://yogasutrasbypatanjali.blogspot.com/

Dhammapada (Marshall)
http://buddhasdhammapada.blogspot.com/

Avadhut Gita (Shastri)
http://avadhutgitabydattatreya.blogspot.com/

Song of the Avadhut (Abhayananda)

http://songoftheavadhut.blogspot.com/

Atma Bodha (Chinmayananda)
http://theatmabodha.blogspot.com/

The Essence of the Ribhu Gita (Ramamoorthy & Nome)
http://theribhugita.blogspot.com/

Yoga Vasishta Sara (Ramasramam)
http://yogavasishtasara.blogspot.com/

Crest-Jewel of Discrimination (Madhavananda)
http://crest-jewelofdiscrimination.blogspot.com/

Mandukya Upanishad & Mandukya Karika of Gaudapada (Panoli)

https://mandukyaupanishadpanoli.blogspot.com/

Gaudapada: Advaita Vedanta’s First Philosopher (Jones)

https://advaitavedantasfirstphilosopher.blogspot.com/2020/02/on-tradition.html

Translations of Ancient Writings by Bart Marshall

Ashtavakra Gita

http://theashtavakra.blogspot.com/

Tao Te Ching

http://theperennialway-taoteching.blogspot.com/

Bhagavad Gita

https://bhagavadgitamarshall.blogspot.com/

Yoga Sutras

http://yogasutrasbypatanjali.blogspot.com/

Dhammapada

http://buddhasdhammapada.blogspot.com/

Writings by Bart Marshall

Verses Regarding True Nature
https://versesregardingtruenaturemarshall.blogspot.com

One Hundred Two Haiku
https://onehundredtwohaikumarshall.blogspot.com

* * * * * * * * * * *

The Return to Wonder

Fieldnotes from the Unknown

(a.k.a. The Stillness Before Time Compendium)
 © Michael J. Holshouser 2009 

World Rights Reserved

CCC

So many mysteries by which you are so easily distracted.

* * * *

It is a change of heart in the most aware sense.

* * * *

Those who worry about how others see them

Dress up or down to the many judgments

* * * *

Our ancestors worked so hard for this?

* * * *

It is whatever you imagine.

It is not anything you imagine.

* * * *

Absurdity beyond wordity.

* * * *

To love thy Self, one must be completely true through and through.

* * * *

Vanity’s upsweep.

* * * *

Fashionably plain.

* * * *

Who has time for anything?

* * * *

In anonymity, absolute freedom.

* * * *

Others generally prefer your good intentions.

* * * *

Mirages keep you going long after their meaning is gone.

* * * *

Another drama for which you have little if any need or want.

* * * *

Whatever passion you choose to play out,

It must all be streaming seamlessly

In the right now of awareness.

* * * *

All value is arbitrary agreement.

* * * *

At some point, what in god’s name is there to even think about?

* * * *

Forget you even exist.

* * * *

Nothing to be,

Nothing to see,

Nothing to do.

Such bliss.

* * * *

How many stories can any one mind imbibe and retain?

* * * *

So much, so badly spent.

* * * *

It becomes clearer by the day.

* * * *

Somebody had to play your little part,

And like it or not, it turned out to be you.

* * * *

What’s not to love once you discern it is all you.

* * * *

Where time ends, how can you not be anything but everything?

* * * *

You surely know your little role well enough

To forget playing it at least once and awhile.

* * * *

The new and improved Black Friday.

Got up earlier than any worm,

And still you were late.

* * * *

When the drop returns to the sea, what part of infinity is it not?

* * * *

May as well be the first time,

Given that every single moment

Is for all practical purposes,

Brand-spanking new.

* * * *

More meme yap.

* * * *

The mind is samsara.

* * * *

Dogma does not equal truth.

* * * *

You are as young

As the day you were born.

No matter the body’s state of being,

Eternal life is forever now.

* * * *

Equanimity is a quality one must alone discern.

* * * *

Any argument over attributes is a sure road to dogma.

* * * *

Can any thing make you truly happy for long?

* * * *

The endless dreaming

Inspired by human imagination

Lays waste to this magical garden’s womb

From which all dreams are born.

* * * *

Still trying to convince your Self, eh?

* * * *

You dabbler, you.

* * * *

I am.

I am not.

Who’s saying?

* * * *

Imagination is the limit.

* * * *

Where in the grand ether can time and space really exist as more than a dream?

* * * *

A vain species whose nature

Is prone to havoc and destruction

For any given rationalization.

* * * *

It was written by Lao Tzu:

Nothing is done,

And nothing is left undone.

What did he really mean by that, anyway?

* * * *

The awareness to which imagination subscribes.

* * * *

No need to go to any great depth to see it is all nothing.

* * * *

Is there anything more inane than obligatory giving?

Let guilty conscience be someone else’s problem.

* * * *

Another pointless exercise in flag-waving vanity.

* * * *

We are all students, we are all teachers.

* * * *

You think these words mean anything at all?

I am talking to my Self, and you the same.

* * * *

It’s been real, whatever that is.

* * * *

Monkey see, monkey do.

* * * *

You are the rabbit hole.

* * * *

We can’t all be rock stars.

* * * *

High-functioning narcissism.

* * * *

Traveled a long way to get nowhere.

* * * *

Never cross between a shopper and seller,

Unless you have a tollbooth soundly secured.

* * * *

What is the mind that no longer seeks to consume?

* * * *

Truth is not necessarily practical in the day-to-day mundane.

* * * *

More than a few folks a-watching the unfolding show in immeasurable ways.

* * * *

Leading humankind out of its desert wander

Is about as fruitless a job description

As any I Am could imagine.

* * * *

Peace is peace, whatever the context.

* * * *

You are that which is godness,

Witnessing an individual dream of creation,

As are all the immeasurable eyes

That are, have ever been,

And will ever be.

* * * *

You are, indeed, marvelous.

* * * *

Yet another story.

Ho-hum.

* * * *

You suffer for your mind.

* * * *

A full breath clears the mind.

* * * *

Every single moment forever spent long before you even begin to know it.

* * * *

Just making it up as the given day unfolds.

* * * *

Charity begins at home, wherever that may be.

* * * *

Deep hunger is sated with a full belly and an empty mind.

* * * *

Seems that no space on this planet shall be unfilled by conscious design.

* * * *

Such a different world plying the horizon.

Ready or not, it is a-coming.

Pity the future.

* * * *

Yield to your true nature.

* * * *

What is?

What is not?

Both non-questions

In the vast realm of wonder.

* * * *

It has always been this, nothing more, nothing less, nothing but.

* * * *

Drift alone amid the myriad forms.

* * * *

A demon is usually chattering away in someone’s all too welcoming ear.

* * * *

How inexplicable you are in that which is not.

* * * *

Verily, the truth has always been the singularity within.

* * * *

Dive into the vast aloneness that seers and mystics call home.

* * * *

Goodnight Master Sol, until the dreamtime of your morrow yet again rises.

* * * *

Perhaps it happened to you because weren't paying attention.

* * * *

The difference between black and white

Is a mind ever-inclined to abide

In a world of attributes.

* * * *

Ponder the conclusion to the game

Which has never really been

More than played.

* * * *

A state without peer.

* * * *

A joyride in hell.

* * * *

Same lack of difference.

* * * *

Let go of everything.

Be formless in consciousness

As you truly are prior to consciousness.

* * * *

About that which you no longer give a hoot,

There is much to be said and less to be done.

* * * *

Let political correctness be someone else's problem.

* * * *

If there is an intermediary, a middleman involved,

Then it is more than likely some lying, cheating, and stealing,

And maybe even something much more nefarious,

Is going on in the somewhere, somehow.

* * * *

No man is greater than a bullet, unless it is coming from his gun.

* * * *

What tranquility can there be without contentment?

* * * *

Are we talking self-respect? Or Self-respect?

* * * *

Of the myriad distractions mortality offers, sexuality is perhaps the most intoxicating.

* * * *

Do not blame the object for your desire.

* * * *

Suffering is the choice of ignorance; pleasure-seeking is not the remedy.

* * * *

Catch your Self if you can.

* * * *

Benign indifference.

* * * *

You only thought it happened.

* * * *

At Soul reality, to what is there to attach?

* * * *

Pure, unadulterated, immaculate awareness.

That is all it is, has ever been, will ever be.

* * * *

How vain all thoughts inspired by dualistic notion.

* * * *

Forget that you were ever born and that you will ever die.

* * * *

The mind's vanity can be boon or bust to those questing truth.

* * * *

The difference between any two points is infinitely infinitesimal.

* * * *

Every awakening is the first and last

* * * *

I am to you as you are to me.

* * * *

Coo-coo for naught.

* * * *

Go formless.

* * * *

Discern the wonder.

* * * *

What will be will be.

No point in worrying.

* * * *

Die within.

Melt back into the ground.

* * * *

All cultures eventually die hard.

* * * *

And in the morning light,

The promise of yet another day

Of pleasure and pain, of mortal repast.

* * * *

To want nothing, what is that about?

* * * *

Time gives weight to the wisdom of sages.

* * * *

Whatever happens, attend fully the given moment.

* * * *

Why be satisfied with anything less than pure, eternal, immortal awareness?

* * * *

Skin color is no indicator of intelligence; every mind is a universe unto its Self.

* * * *

In the dreams of those immersed in totality,

It does not matter what any other thinks.

* * * *

What to say to those who have spent so much of their time not looking for themselves.

* * * *

Except in the dreams of imagination, there has never been an individual soul.

* * * *

What you fear most, what you desire most, is what you have in imagination created.

* * * *

Are you this pretending That, or That pretending this?

* * * *

The freedom of being is in the seamlessness of each and every moment.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Return to Wonder

Field Notes from the Unknown

Preface

The Return to Wonder - Chapter 300