WATCHING THE TRAIN
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Today I would like to watch the “train of thoughts” pass by. It’s true that thoughts will be passing through all day, much like an endless freight train, and what I want to do is stand by the tracks, or perhaps on a hill above the tracks, and simply observe the cars as they pass. Like watching a train back in
SHOWING ITS STUFF
May 28, 2008
“Do you have an arm like me? Can you shout in thunder the way I can? Go ahead, show your stuff.”
--Job 40:9 (in The Message)
This is an important quote for me, because I am always trying to “show my stuff”. I’m always trying to prove something about my “self” – that I can do whatever it takes to bring happiness to life. Just this morning, I’ve already been trying to demonstrate how organized and earnest I am: making my plans for the day, getting my lunch ready, laying out my clothes. (Notice all the “my’s”.) In the above passage, God, the infinite Universe, is poking a little fun at this kind of “me first and last” attitude – the attitude that says “I” am front and center in the entire Universe, that nothing will get done unless I do it. I can imagine the Universe continuing with the questions: “Can you organize the way I can? Can you teach the way I can? Can you keep your heart beating the way I can? Can you create happiness and beauty the way I can? The answers are so obvious as to make the questions seem silly. The Universe (God, Allah, the Tao, etc.)
IS THE UNIVERSE TIRED?
Sunday, May 25, 2008
I woke up this morning feeling groggy and tired, but then it occurred to me that the Universe surely never feels that way – and I am part of the universe. If I looked out at the ocean waves on a choppy day and saw what appeared to be a separate wave that, for a split second, was smaller than the others, would I say that wave was “groggy”? If I saw that the wind was blowing very strongly at one end of the park but only a soft breeze was blowing where I was standing, would that mean the soft breeze was “tired”? If I was standing beside a river and noticed that the current moved more slowly near some debris, would I say that the water in that part of the river was “groggy and tired”? The Universe is an immense creation, and every part of it has a job to do at any particular moment – a job that blends in beautifully with the infinite number of other jobs. No action of the universe is “good” or “bad”, “energized” or “tired”. It just is. When I awoke this morning, I put a label on the situation, an old habit of mine. I called it “tired” when I should have just called it “not wanting to get out of bed”. Some breezes blow softly, and some people don’t jump out of bed in the morning. It’s not bad or good. It’s just the way the Universe works.
LOOKING FOR WONDROUS THINGS
Thursday, May 22, 2008
“For thou art great, and doest wondrous things.”
--Psalm 86:10
In a way, the passage above is not all that surprising. We know that amazing events do happen now and then – events that are so remarkable as to elicit disbelief. Fabulous things occasionally occur – a winning lottery ticket, an unbelievable sunset, a marvelous phone call from an old friend. Every so often the unbelievable enters our lives like an explosion of goodness. However, what I want to think about today is the truth that the above passage implies – that wondrous things are happening all the time. The psalmist is suggesting that the miraculous and the astonishing are woven into the very cloth of life. The Universe (the power the psalmist calls “thou”) is magnificent and does stupendous things every second All things are astounding. Each moment is a new birth that should bring amazement and bewilderment to my heart. I should walk around in a daze of incredulity.
WHAT GOVERNS?
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Today I want to keep in mind the truth about “government”. The policies that I will put into practice today are not made by a separate ego called “Ham”, but rather by the infinite Universe (a term I use interchangeably with “God”). The Universe is the ruler, monarch, sovereign, and head of state. Like the governor on a car, God will control the speed and magnitude of my life today; it will regulate everything so all runs smoothly and efficiently. The Universe will control my behavior, and will restrain me when I need restraining. In each moment, it will exercise a deciding and determining influence on me.
So what is there for “me” to worry about? I live under the government of a perfectly benevolent monarch. The measureless Universe is in its heaven (harmony), and all’s right with the world.
WHAT DID JACOB SEE?
“I have seen God face to face.”
-- Genesis 32:30
After wrestling with an “angel” (new ideas about reality) for an entire night, something amazing happened to the Biblical patriarch Jacob. One translation says he saw God “face to face”, which I take to mean he saw an entirely new way of understanding life. Principally, he saw that life is boundless, not limited. He saw that life is thought, not things; that life is impersonal, not personal; that life depends on the infinite, unplumbed universe, not on any microscopic “me”; and that therefore life is a harmonious dance, not a discordant struggle. This startling new vision caused Jacob to feel like a totally new-born person, so much so that he felt compelled to take a new name.
Hopefully I can keep this vision before me all day today. I don’t need a new name, but this new way of seeing reality would make for a day filled with miracles. I could see God -- the astounding truth of life -- face to face each and every moment.
TRUSTING NOW
Monday, May 19, 2008
Today I want to place all of my trust in God – in the everlasting and supreme Present Moment. I want to have complete confidence that each moment has exactly what is needed and is doing precisely the correct thing. I want to depend on the Present Moment to supply all my needs. It’s important that I expect with absolute assurance that each moment of the day will be utterly full of the most complete kind of power. I need to say to each moment, “I have total trust in you. I give myself to your care.”
ENDLESS SUPPLY
Sunday, May 18, 2008
I spend a great amount of time worrying about how my needs are going to be supplied, but the truth is that there’s an endless supply of all true necessities. In any situation I can imagine, what I really need is helpful ideas. My thoughts control my reality. What I think is what life becomes for me, and therefore commanding, constructive, and healing thoughts are the essential requirement in any circumstance. What’s wonderful about this is that there is no end to curative thoughts. Good ideas flow from a hidden and unending source; they are always as available as a spring of continuously flowing water. It’s utterly impossible to exhaust the stockpile of supportive ideas. Wherever I turn, there they are, just waiting to help. It’s never-ending money in a spiritual bank, and it makes me (and all of us) richer than the wealthiest person in the world.
NO DEFEAT EVER
Saturday, May 17, 2008
“Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory.”
-- 1 Corinthians 15:57
I’ve often seen the world as a place of endless competition inevitably ending in either victories or defeats, but when I’m thinking clearly, I know that only victory is possible. In order to have winners and losers, there must be division and separation – individual “teams” fighting it out – but in this universe, as I’m understanding better and better, there is only oneness. It’s a universe, not a mulitverse, and the entire universe itself always wins. It’s literally true that all things work together for good, for victory. Each moment of existence – mine or anything else’s – is a complete triumph for everything. The universe, of which I am a part, deserves a trophy every single second.
INTO THE OPEN
Friday, May 16, 2008
“God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.”
-- Romans 8:6, The Message
It became clear to me this morning that there are really only two ways of viewing life – as spacious or cramped. Reality is either a wide-open, boundless festival or a narrow, restricted prison. I’m either part of a limitless miracle or a tight and chaotic struggle. Unfortunately, I have spent a good part of my life believing in the latter. Life, for me, has been fairly “small”. I’ve often seen myself as a hugely insignificant and vulnerable mortal who’s forced to make a constant effort simply to survive from day to day. I’ve played out my days imagining myself on a very small stage surrounded by rigid boundaries. This morning, though, I’ve been able to see more clearly the other, entirely different, viewpoint. This view sees life as a being absolutely unlimited – without boundaries of any sort. In this view, the stage of life is unimaginably vaster than even the realms of the stars. There are no beginnings anywhere, and no endings. Nothing is separated from anything else, because there are no boundary lines. Every so-called “thing” and every experience blends into every other one to make a seamless, measureless whole. From this expansive viewpoint, nothing is more important than anything else, and no supposedly “individual” experience is more important than the overall, boundless whole. Each seemingly separate and crucial event is merely a wave in an infinite ocean. Perhaps I can look at life today from this thoroughly freeing perspective. Perhaps I can remind myself that the stage on which the universe (and I) play out the cosmic drama is larger than the distance between the farthest stars. It might help me to relax and enjoy the show.
WAITING PASSIONATELY
May 15, 2008
“Wait passionately for God.”
--Psalm 37:34, The Message
I would like to become an expert at “waiting”. I don’t mean the kind of waiting that involves being dissatisfied with the present and yearning for something better in the future. Quite the opposite. I want to be the kind of “waiter” who is perfectly content to stay exactly in the present -- to hang around to see what happens, to peacefully pass the time as life unfolds. I want to wait in the sense of being constantly in readiness for whatever the Universe has prepared. Like a good waiter, I want to “wait upon” the Universe (instead of little “me”) -- to serve its “needs”, to be in attendance on it. I want to “wait on” the present moment the way I might pay a visit to a very special person. And I want to do all this passionately. I want to wait with fervor for the next great miracle, which will unfold in the very next moment. Waiting should be my passion. Instead of always doing, dashing, starting out, sallying forth, proceeding, and advancing, I need to wait. If someone asks me what I do, I can say, “I wait.”
AN UNIMAGINABLE POWER
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
“Have we not all one Father?”
--Malachi 2:10
This morning I was struck, again, by this forceful thought: the power of each present moment is infinite. I’m not sure why that thought, which I have often pondered, felt so overpowering this morning, but it definitely did. As I stood in the bathroom shaving, I felt like I was part of an immeasurable force, one that has been exerting its steady and irresistible power for untold eons. It’s a power that seems to exist in time, over zillions of year, but actually it exists only in the present moment – right now. Absolutely all of this inestimable power – the “Father” that Malachi speaks of -- is present in each split second of life. It’s an astonishing truth to consider, one that makes shaving at 6:04 a.m. an especially notable experience.
THE PRESENT MOMENT DOESN’T WORRY
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
This morning I awoke with the customary thought that I needed to get busy making plans for an excellent day. The thought came to me, as it habitually does, that if I wanted to be a first-rate person and teacher, I must immediately begin designing ways for that to happen. It was all up to me. I was the boss; if I didn’t arrange excellence for my life, who would? Luckily, a thought came to me that quickly dispelled that nonsense. I remembered, as I made the bed and sorted through the clothes for the day, that this day and everything that happens in it is designed by a far greater power than the feeble creature I call “me”. Some people call this power God or Allah or the Tao, but I often just called it The Present Moment, because the present moment literally contains all the power of the universe. There’s no power that doesn’t arise in the present moment and no event that doesn’t occur in the present. It’s where everything today will begin and end, where all authority will start and finish. The Present Moment, not I, will control, manage, and be in charge of everything today. What’s even more important, The Present Moment will always be perfect. Each moment will be exactly what it is and what it must be. Each moment can’t be any different, no worse and no better, which means each moment is absolutely ideal – just what the doctor ordered. With this in mind, how foolish is it for me to fuss about designing the ultimate day for myself. The fact is that each moment will be thoroughly unsurpassed, no matter what “I” decide to do.
FOLLOWING INSTEAD OF LEADING
Monday, May 12, 2008
Today I would like to do more following than leading. It’s actually strange that I would think leading is even a possibility, since what is called “I” is not a separate physical entity, and is therefore, in fact, incapable of any kind of leading. The truth is that “I” am an inseparable part of an infinite Universe, and therefore the only option truly available is to follow this Universe as it works out its plan. The Universe knows what’s best for everything (it’s been taking care of its creation for immeasurable eons), and consequently “I” am in the best of hands. Like a drop of water in a measureless ocean, there’s no leading involved for me. All I have to do is ‘go with the flow’ -- and today, like any day, the flow will be harmonious and wholly advantageous for one and all.
RESTRICTED OR INFINITE
May 11, 2008
The only question worth considering today is whether life is restricted or infinite. In one sense, that seems like a silly question to me, because I have built my entire life on the belief in its narrowness and limitations. Almost every moment of every day, I have thought of myself as a small, vulnerable person in a universe filled with constraints, restraints, curbs, and checks. Life, for me, has been like being in a small closet with countless threatening entities waiting just outside the door. There is another viewpoint, however – and it seems clear to me that it’s the correct one (even though it’s almost impossible for me to keep it in mind). This view sees life as utterly unlimited, like being part of a sky that has no beginning and no end. According to this view, there are no restrictions whatsoever because there are no material “things” to be restricted or do the restricting. There is only unlimited thought in an unlimited universe of Mind. This view says life should be like a constant and completely worry-free celebration.
Today would be a great day to begin actually believing this – and living accordingly.