WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Friday, September 3, 2021

EQUANIMITY

            I often think I should try to have more equanimity in my life – more calmness and even-temperedness – but sometimes it becomes clear to me that equanimity is always present with me, because it’s always present throughout the entire universe. All of creation is always unruffled and mellow, rolling along in the smoothness that’s part of its nature, even though I am sometimes unable to discern that smoothness. This vast universe is like an endless ocean, and similar to the oceans of earth, it can sometimes appear to be wild and out-of-control, but its seeming wildness is simply its eternal calmness working in what seems to us to be a wild way. The universe – including what I call ‘my life’ – is actually a limitless wilderness of peacefulness, in which everything flows together with poise and aplomb. If there seems to be disruption, I need to remember that beneath the wild waves there is ever-present stillness . Behind and under and within every seeming disturbance is the everlasting restfulness of the universe, including ‘my life’. What is called ‘Hamilton Salsich’ is an easygoing stream within the shoreless ocean of the universe, and today that stream will flow as peacefully as ever, even if sorrow and disappointment are present. I don’t need to try to have more equanimity in my life. It’s always there, flowing along in its unfathomable and universal smoothness. I just hope I can notice – and understand – it more often. 

SMOOTH SWIMMING
(at the Mystic Aquarium)

Big and small fish
flow along together,
taking no concern for the cold
outside or the shrieking
of politicians and voters.
There's a smoothness here,
a helpful kind of quiet,
a calm among many kinds
of creatures that keep quietly
floating even while fear
fights its way through
cities and countrysides,
where people live
who could learn
from these restful, confident fish.