Month: November 2021

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Saturday, November 27, 2021

STILLNESS

            When I lived for a few years beside a slow-moving river, I sometimes stirred up the water in the shallows just to see it slowly settle back to its usual clearness, and occasionally, when my life seems blurred and unsettled, I still think of how, given time, that river always returned to its accustomed stillness. I guess I need to give my so-called problems, too, time to smooth down and settle. I sometimes need to do nothing but sit on the ‘bank’ of seemingly bad situations and let them loosen and slowly resolve themselves. All too often I stir up the problems more than ever by making anxious attempts to fix things, when sitting in stillness might be a better way. Storms always, in due course, lessen and sail off in front of the sunshine, and my difficulties might do the same if not whipped up more by my fretfulness. Perhaps I should see a problem as simply a short-lived fuss and splash in the nonstop river of life, and look with confidence to see things settle and sparkle once again.  

ONE DAY OF STILLNESS
(November 27, 2021)

One day 
a man said to his desk 
that he would stay still 
as long as light was with him,
and he said to the light 
that he knew it would linger 
around him all day 
because even clouds can't keep light 
from looking for ways 
to work miracles for people
and lakes and squirrels, 
and he said to two squirrels 
searching in the grass 
that he would stay still 
as long as they through themselves 
into life so thoroughly
 and the squirrels smiled 
(he knows their smiles)
because they always live life utterly
and the man said to stillness
that it was absolutely stunning.

Here’s Delycia as we walked three (exhausting for me) miles on very windy and frigid Napatree beach this morning …

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Friday, November 26, 2021

CREATE

            Sometimes it becomes clear to me that I don’t create anything, and never have. For most of my life, I believed the opposite – that I am an excellent creator, a generator of countless thoughts, feelings, plans, and projects. I saw myself as a separate ‘machine’, you might say, an individual ‘force’ capable of producing products to be proud of. Now, though, on my 80th birthday, I realize, as I have for many years, how silly those beliefs were. To think that I create my own thoughts is as foolish as believing the sunlight on the house next door is created by the house. Somehow, in some mysterious, fanciful way, thoughts appear in my life as beautifully as breezes appear among the branches of a tree. Somehow, by a shadowy magic, goals have been accomplished in my life, results have happened, projects have been completed – but thinking that I was the maker of all of them is as silly as thinking waves in an ocean make themselves move. Waves move because the vast ocean moves, and goals in my life have been reached because a power far greater than little ‘I’ made it happen. 

            Today, as I turn 80, I am grateful to know that I am part of this immense power, sometimes called the Universe, or God, but I prefer to call it Love, or Peace, or Gentleness, or Patience. I plan to relax today and let this almighty power push me along in its immense and restful way. 

ROBBIE RECEIVER
11/23/18

When he turned 27,
Robbie Doer decided
that he was not a doer
but a receiver,
and therefore he found himself,
one gift-giving day, 
at the Social Security office 
asking for his name to be changed
to Robbie Receiver. 
He told the clerk 
that he now knew 
he didn’t create
thoughts to think and words to speak, 
but simply received them, 
and that he was the beneficiary,
every single moment, 
of amazing miracles,
like his mouth making 
the words he was saying to her,
and the specks of dust on her counter
staying exactly where they should be. 
He said he knew now 
that he was awarded a fresh breath 
every moment, 
and that he won wonderful prizes
called new moments 
all day long,
so, he said, since he was a receiver,
not a doer,
could he please 
have the name Robbie Receiver from now on, 

and the clerk 
called for help 
from her supervisor.
   

Here’s a candid shot of my very best friend, reading in our sunroom yesterday …

and here’s a very special message I saw in our dining room window early this morning …

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

OBVIOUS

            The word ‘obvious’ derives from the Latin word ‘obviam’, which means, literally, ‘in the way’, and it reminds me, at 5:42 this morning, that so many good things are ‘obvious’ – right in the way, or on the path, as I travel in the directions that life sends me. It’s obvious, for instance, that the only moment that ever exists is this moment right here and now, the eternal Present. I often get distracted by thoughts about the future or past, but it’s always plain to see, if I look, that all those thoughts take place only in the Present. It’s also crystal clear, moment by moment, that all of reality takes place in thoughts. I can never escape from the vast universe of thought, of Mind. Material ‘things’ may seem to be present and powerful, but it’s fascinating to me how self-evident it is that all of these supposedly separate ‘things’ actually reside only in my thoughts, or consciousness. It’s scientifically observable – obvious – that now is the only reality, and that it’s entirely mental – or spiritual – which means it’s beyond measurement, having no boundaries and therefore no separations. 

            Which means, to me, that it’s obvious that I live in paradise. Sure, my sometimes reckless thoughts can paint a picture of disarray and disaster, but I can usually find my ‘way’ back to the eternal Present, where troubles and worries are present, for sure, but easily turn into opportunities and wisdom, and indisputable limitless peace is plain to see all around me. 

JUST
(4/15/18)

Just do a little jump, 
and you’ll see things to rejoice over. 
Just realize how steady starlight has been
for billions of years, 
how clever and able your whole body is, 
and then the thorough loveliness 
of even fallen flower petals 
will be obvious.
Just voluntarily let rain 
roll down your affable face, 
and you’ll find the affluence 
of full satisfaction.

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Monday, November 22, 2021

SUSCEPTIBLE

            I love the fact that I am susceptible – that, even if I sometimes am not aware of it, I can’t help but be wide-open to a million different creative influences. I’m like a sponge that soaks up anything and everything – a friendly lake that welcomes whatever falls into it. I am happily defenseless against a zillion affirmative influences from the vast universe – am easily led by forces like love and kindness and patience. Of course, I also seem to be susceptible to negative forces, but that only ‘seems’ to be. When I open my eyes and my heart, I clearly see, again, that nothing but goodness is waiting, like a smoothly rolling river, to endlessly flow into me from every direction. I am easily ‘taken in’ by confidence and freedom and wisdom, and am so susceptible to peacefulness that I’ve long since given up the struggle against it. Against such powers I am defenseless, and gratefully so!

SUDDENLY COMING 

Something was suddenly coming, 
and she knew something is always 
suddenly coming, something special 
and pristine, something that wants 
to soothe. She was sitting outside 
with the floating leaves of fall, 
and slowly but suddenly something came 
into sight, but it wasn’t a thing she could 
carry and keep, just an awareness 
that stretched out like sunshine, and 
suddenly, peacefully, another something 
became visible to her, just simple 
wakefulness, and she herself, this separate, 
susceptible person, had disappeared, 
and only the gift of this sudden, 
stress-free, continuous light was left. 

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Sunday, November 21, 2021

TREASURE

            Today, there will be treasure everywhere – in every single moment, in every single place, in every single event. I won’t need to hope for some misty, far-off, future treasure, because infinite riches will be constantly available to me right here, right now, today. The most wonderful fact about this is the treasures won’t be limited, because they won’t be made of material ‘stuff’ that has limited forms and specific boundaries. The treasures of this Sunday, November 21, 2021, will be entirely mental, or spiritual, and therefore without material shapes and frameworks that can be damaged and destroyed. Each moment will be an infinite gift full of infinite wealth. This moment-by-moment wealth might come in the form of a peace that has no boundaries, and therefore can never be enclosed or limited in any way, or a boundless gentleness that nothing can restrict or place a limit on, or a bottomless patience that can easily accept and hold whatever happens to fall into it, even be it turmoil or tragedy. I won’t have to be a treasure-seeker today, because true treasure will be with me in every present moment. Every breath, every thought, every feeling will flow like limitless wealth. I just hope I can see and recognize and cherish the riches that will always encircle me on this endlessly prosperous day. 

ALWAYS WELL-OFF
about Andy H., 70, Blessings, CT, USA

He takes treasures with him
wherever he goes.
He gives big gifts of kindness 
to the clerks at the grocery store,
and endless patience to the gas pumps 
as he waits with prosperous wisdom 
for his car to be filled.  
He brings abundance 
to the roads he drives on, 
spreading affluence out the window
to drivers and valleys and homes. 
He's always ready
with reserves of acceptance,
so so-called problems are easily softened
and disappointments soon disappear 
inside the opulence of submission. 
He always feels well-off, 
as if he owns all the peace in the universe, 
which, in fact, he does. 

And here are scenes from our fabulous sunrise walk this morning along the Mystic River …

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Thursday, November 18, 2021

STORMS AND SUNSHINE

            Over the course of my 79 years, I have experienced many personal ‘storms’, some of them just yesterday, and early this morning, as I was lying in bed, I realized, again, that all of these storms in my personal life are caused solely by thoughts.  Every fear, every worry, every dread and trepidation, every personal uproar of any kind, exists only in thoughts. All of the furors in my life are not ‘out there’ in some tragic, factual, measurable situation, but always live and have power only in thoughts. And the amazing truth is that they are not my thoughts, any more than the winds that blow around houses are the houses’ own private winds. The thoughts that throw commotion through my life sweep easily through me from nowhere and everywhere, and the truth is that they would as easily disappear if I simply saw them for what they are – hollow and harmless thoughts. If I could spread open the curtains of my awareness, I would suddenly see, again, the endless ‘sunshine’ and serenity of all of life. There would still, certainly, be problems to solve and situations to cope with, but I would be able to manage them with the calmness that comes from peaceful awareness. The so-called storms would be seen as simply passing mental winds that come, for sure, but then quietly go. I might even be able to smile as these thought-filled storms shake and flourish and then pass by. 

A MIGHTY FORCE
(about Bill M., 87, Blessings, CT, USA)

He trusts it, 
the present moment,
a force he feels 
will always stand beside him. 
The whole sky 
could sit inside 
the present moment,
and mighty storms 
of softness are stirring
inside each one. 
He walks in confidence,
for a friend
is always with him. 

And here are some scenes from our wonderful sunrise walk this morning along the Mystic River …