harmony

SIMULTANEOUSLY

WORDS LIKE LIGHT

Monday, September 12, 2022

Today, like all days, the universe will live simultaneously. I and all people and sliding snakes and well-prepared breakfasts and little yellow flowers will be existing in the present moment, at one and the same time. At the exact identical instant, several billion people, including me, will take in a new breath. Thoughts will flow in unison – kind ones and confused ones – in every nation, and feelings will roll along shoulder-to-shoulder everywhere, at the very same time. Whether we want to or not, we earth-dwellers live as a synchronized family. The universe is a vast and harmonious chorus, and today, as always, whether we know it or not, its song will be sung simultaneously, by one and all.


HARMONY

Harmony helps us breathe,
brings the sky its newness,
and knows how sorrows sing
with well-balanced wisdom.
Old trees harmonize 
with the freshest sunshine,
and the youngest houses
help winter’s days
seem beautifully arranged. 
There are magnificent designs 
In breezes and noisy storms, 
and also in the clumsiness 
of our mistakes
and the occasional zigzagginess
of our days. 

Harmony will always
 quietly come to us
if we quietly ask.

**“Harmony”, oil on panel by Ans Debije**

SYMMETRY

WORDS LIKE LIGHT

Monday, July 18, 2022

As the years have passed, I have slowly been able to see more of the marvelous symmetry that seems to be everywhere. Even in the midst of worries and fears, it sometimes comes to me that a lovely equilibrium exists among those worries and fears and nearby joys and delights, like they’re all nicely balanced as they prance in partnership along life’s roads. There’s a wonderful regularity in sunrises and sunsets, and I see more and more of that kind of orderliness in all the moments of my days – the way anxieties seem to be friendly with calmness, the way confusion seems to hold hands with wisdom, the way boredom can quietly open the door to curiosity. I guess I just have to watch life more attentively to see the harmonious evenness of everything. The universe, of which I am a part, is a dancer that always exhibits the power of concord and coordination. Today, perhaps, I will see – and feel – that continuous, well-balanced dancing, the symmetry that’s secretly shining everywhere.

THERE WAS NO STRUGGLE ONE DAY

One day, in one small town, there 
was no struggle. Stillness showed 
its power hour after hour, and all 
behavior was like holiday play. Even 
sorrow was a stream you could float on, 
and disappointment was somehow sweet, 
like lemonade. All actions showed symmetry – 
bumps and stumbles waltzing smoothly 
with successes, and illness lying in 
the arms of health like familiar friends. 
People walked barefoot over difficulties, 
breakfast was served at the dawn of 
any dejection, and fear was serenaded 
like a safe and playful friend. Outsiders
stared and stood in line to visit.

__________

Below, some lovely day-lilies from Delycia’s garden …

… and scenes from our beach walk this morning …

… and a brand-new bouquet from her garden for our dining room …

WORDS LIKE LIGHT

Thursday, September 30, 2021

CAUSE

I find it strangely comforting. even uplifting, to realize that I will never fully understand the cause of anything. With each passing year, it has become more clear to me that the universe is a place of unlimited and unfathomable mystery, a puzzle far too complicated for me – or anyone – to solve. The origin of each thought, each action, each event is lost in infinite obscurity. I often ask myself: Where did this thought come from? Why is this occurrence happening right here and now? Where did this feeling come from? None of these questions will ever have answers, and that realization – surprisingly – brings me comfort and inspiration. I breathe a sigh of relief to know that all searching is done. I no longer have to constantly root around in life looking for reasons and causes, because I understand now that reality – life – is a shoreless, bottomless sea, where there are no beginnings or endings, where everything is a cause of everything else, and where, therefore, everything flows together in harmony. Of course, I often don’t see much harmony in this terribly troubled world of ours, but today I rest in the assurance that it is always there – underneath and within whatever is happening. I take comfort in that understanding, the way I would take comfort in swimming in an endless, compassionate ocean. Of course, I must always work hard to unveil the hidden harmony in life, and to help others see it, but it is definitely there. I will never know the cause of anything, but in this vast and marvelous ocean called life, I don’t need to. I just need to keep swimming and watching for the harmony that’s always arising.

CAUSES AND EFFECTS
 (In Spark SD,USA)

In Spark, South Dakota, 
dawn seems to always call forth friendliness, 
and mid-morning makes it easy
to be sincere. 
Even coffee is an occasion for kindness, 
and the simplest words can spark off 
the flames of affection. 
HIgh winds work the magic 
of amazement among the citizens,
but also engender the gentleness 
that’s needed in times of storms. 
Big sorrow always brings on 
big neighborliness, 
the kind the citizens see 
all around them - 
among breezes, and butterflies, 
and snowflakes in December, 
everything in Spark 
somehow producing 
more peacefulness, 
more harmony, 
even inside sickness, 
where harmony sways and whirls 
and helps the sickness feel fulfilled 
and ready to fade away.

WORDS THAT AWAKEN

June 7, 2021, 4:27 a.m.

Today, instead of trying to make harmony happen, and instead of trying to constantly search for harmony, I want to simply appreciate the harmony that is already everywhere and everything. Reality is harmony and harmony is reality. Trying to make harmony happen is as silly as trying to make the present moment be here right now. It already is, always, and so is harmony. At 4:33 a.m. as I type this at my desk , there is perfect symmetry right here and now. In some utterly mysterious way, as these words are appearing on the screen, everything in life is moving in flawless coordination — even the words themselves, placed across the screen in impeccable compatibility. True, this world I live in often appears to be the opposite of harmonious, with its wars and sorrows and seemingly steady confusion, but I’ve slowly come to see that the disharmony is in my thoughts about life, not in life itself. Life, when I can see it clearly beyond the fog of my own thoughts, is a miracle of equilibrium – always. Today there will be coolness and calmness in each fresh moment, and total fairness as the hours flow along. My life may sometimes seem unsettled today, but inside any confusion will be the radiance of harmony. I look forward to looking carefully – and seeing it.

HEAVEN

Heaven is harmony.
Heaven is what you get 
when you hold a pencil,
or a breath of air, 
or a person.
It is what you see when the sun 
settles on the grass beside you.
It is just a streetlight flashing,
or a strong hand holding yours. 
Heaven comes to you
when you call it,
and then you can carry it 
in your heart to others.