Tag: inseparable

Boundary

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Friday, December 24, 2021, 4:31 a.m.

         The belief that has caused all of my so-called problems, over all these 80 years, is the idea that life is filled with boundaries. 

         For most of my life, I have believed that I, myself, am enclosed within tight boundary lines. There’s me, and then there are my outer, very solid edges, beyond which is the rest of the vast universe, composed of countless other separate, solid ‘objects’, all with their very distinct boundary lines. According to this outlook, there’s ‘the present’, but it’s enclosed within definite borders, outside of which is ‘the past’ and ‘the future’. There are qualities like love, gentleness, patience, etc., but they all are contained within outer margins. You can only love so much, and then you come to love’s periphery, beyond which it doesn’t – and cannot – exist.

         This morning, I’m realizing, again, with a sigh of relief and gratefulness, that this belief is the exact opposite of the truth. The truth is, there are no boundaries anywhere – except those created by my thoughts. There is never a separate ‘me’ – and never has been. What seems to be my separate, solitary, very vulnerable self is merely a wispy, evanescent thought – a thought which, itself, has no boundaries, but exists within the limitless universe of ‘thinking’. Similarly, all the so-called ‘separate objects’ I seem to see – people, things, places, the past, present, and future – are creations of thought. Their boundaries are as illusory as my beliefs, as misleading as my night-time dreams, and can disappear as soon as I awake from their fantasies. 

         The simple and superb truth is that there is no separate and enclosed I or me, no present, past, and future, no now and then, no here and there. There is always and only Now – boundless, endless reality – and what sometimes seems to be ‘my separate self’ is simply an inseparable and limitless part of this vast and stunning certainty called The Universe, in which love and gentleness, and I and you and them, and here and there, and now and then, have no boundaries whatsoever.  

         All I can say is ‘Thanks, dear Universe!’

ONE DAY A MAN WOKE UP 

One day
a man woke up and wondered
why he was in such a large place.
He looked in all directions
and didn't see a boundary
or border line, just a land
that looked like it went on forever.
He was accustomed to living
with limits and dividing lines,
but this was something
different,  a world where the only
borders would be brought about
by his own little beliefs.

He liked this borderless land,
so much so that his little self
soon disappeared into it,
and what was left
was this endless world,
sometimes called the universe,
and his limitless life
inside it.

Here’s our lovely sunroom, with our small Christmas tree and Delycia’s beautiful amarylis flower …

Alone

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Wednesday, December 22, 2021, 4:34 a.m.

            I sometimes worry about someday being alone, an old man who has lost his loving partner and is, both mentally and physically, far from friends and family. Right now, at 80, I have both my devoted wife and loving family very close by, but I am occasionally uneasy about the aloneness the future might bring. 

            This morning, however, as sometimes happens, I see once again, very clearly, that I can’t possibly ever be alone. In fact, nothing can ever be alone, because everything – every person, place, thing, event, situation – is not alone, but all-one. The universe – all of reality – is a single, intermingled, effortlessly flowing force, and I am as much a part of that force as a passing breeze is part of the unending wind of the heavens. When I imagine a slight waft of wind worrying about being alone someday,  I see how silly it is for me to think I can ever be anything but an inseparable part of the all-one reality of the universe. I am as inseparable from boundless reality as a ray of light is inseparable from the sun. Whether I’m sitting in our cozy home with Delycia and not far from my affectionate friends and family, as I am now, or lying in a bed in a nursing home sometime in the future, seemingly far from faithful friendship and love, I will never be alone, but will always be all-one, an indissoluble element in the vast and everlastingly peaceful mystery called the universe. I will probably smile a lot because the universe is always smiling, and I’ll probably feel as safe as a star among the measureless, ‘all-one’ family of stars in the sky.  

            How lucky can an 80-year-old boy get?!

Depend

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 4:42 a.m.

            When I recall that the word ‘depend’ comes from the Latin word meaning ‘to hang’, it makes me think of how often I ‘hang’ in suspense each day, waiting and hoping that I will be able to produce some successful results for myself.  Everything seems to ‘depend’ on ‘me’, the seemingly small, separate individual named ‘Hamilton’ who is in charge of producing good results moment by moment. It’s a wonderful relief, then, to remember the simple truth – that I am no more in charge of constructing a successful day than a drop of ocean water is in charge of constructing the surf that rolls up on our local beach in Watch Hill, RI. The drop of water smoothly and easily flows where the vast power of the ocean takes it, and, even if I often have no awareness of it, I always smoothly and easily flow with the boundless force of the ocean called the Universe.  (I like to call this force Love, or Spirit, or just Life.) 

            So, on this 8th day of December in 2021, what is called ‘Hamilton’ or ‘Hammy’ or ‘Ham’ or ‘I’ or ‘me’, will be a marvelous part of the marvelous ocean of ‘Love’. There truly will be no separate ‘me’ trying to accomplish things, but just the bottomless power of Spirit, including ‘me’, streaming and swirling long in its endless and serene synchronization. Things will happen and results will be achieved, but none of it will depend on a separate ‘me’. The ocean of Life, which contains ‘me’, will be doing its wondrous work all day long. 

            And so, I don’t need to depend on ‘Hammy’ to accomplish things today. I don’t need to hang in suspense, hoping good results will somehow come. I can relax and totally depend on the Force that makes me and the surf and the winds and the weather and the love and the light of  everything. 

            How lucky can an 80-year-old drop of water get?!   

SITTING IN A SNUG CHAIR 

Sitting in a snug chair, 
with the sounds 
of a clock 
clicking in its dependable way,
does exactly what he needs -- 
nestles him 
in a feeling of wholeness, 
as if he's not 
something separate, 
but, like all of us,
a necessary and exceptional section 
of an endless procession of marvels. 
The moon makes its amazing appearance 
above the house some nights, 
but 
his hands, his heartbeats, his simplest thoughts 
are just as amazing, 
as are everyone's, 
he knows, 
because nothing is brighter 
than anything else 
on this luminous, 
blended,  and powerful planet 
that always moves with all of us 
with effortless formality and fellowship.

WORDS LIKE LIGHT

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

INVENTIVE

            Every moment today will be thoroughly inventive. Each one will be a brand-new creation by our endlessly skillful universe. I’m sure I’ll occasionally, as usual, get bored with things and fail to see the cleverness, the astonishing novelty, of each moment, but it will be there nonetheless, always. This day, you might say, will be daring, always willing to try a new trick and open a different kind of door. The hours will be masterly as they lead me through one unorthodox moment after another, and the individual moments will unfold in quirky, never-before-seen ways. This will be an offbeat type of day. I might often tilt my head and squint my eyes and stare in astonishment at what this virtuoso day presents. There will surely be what will seem like both successes and setbacks,  but I should probably whisper praise for all the moments as they put on their unparalleled performances.

And tomorrow will be more of the same … and tomorrow, and tomorrow.

CONNECTED

            This is one of my all-time favorite words. It shines its irresistible light into the smallest corners of life. Everything is connected – every smile with all smiles, every sorrow with all sorrows. None of us – no humans, no squirrels, no winds over rivers – can escape being softly lashed together in this indissoluble household called the Universe. The oxygen atoms I take in each moment have made their home in people in Peru and rabbits in the Sierra mountains and waves on lakes in valleys. The sunlight that shines on me is shining, at that very instant, on ants and roads and elderly ladies for thousands of miles around. We are all fastened together in shatterproof ways – old with young, mountains with deserts, sorrows with sorrows, smiles with smiles. Today, when I feel a fear coming on, I will know that it is not only my fear, but the fear felt by the almost 8 billion people with whom I share our planet. We all participate in the same fears and pleasures and worries and ecstasies, simply because we are inseparably connected. My loves are everyone’s love, and my resentments, too. When I wake each morning, I’m fortunate to find myself, again, gathered together in a closely connected brother-and-sisterhood with sparrows and grass blades and breezes and people, all bringing our best gifts to this new day of  inescapable, trustworthy relationship.   

CONNECTING THE DOTS
(about Patricia F., 46, Blessings, CT)

She loves 
connecting the dots all day. 
She sees how the dot 
of someone's sorrow 
is linked with all the dots of sorrow
from St Louis to Sudan, 
and she discovers connections 
between the dots of the happiness
of birds and bright-eyed boys
and even elderly elephants. 
She smiles to see all the dots link up,
and she knows her smiles 
are members of the Association of Smiles 
for thousands of miles around.