Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
On Not Judging
MEDITATION: "Being Non-Judgmental"
One of the best habits I can develop in the future is being non-judgmental -- but it won’t be easy. I have been an incorrigible “judge” on a daily, hourly, and moment-by-moment basis for my entire life. I constantly assess every aspect of my life as to whether it’s good or bad, helpful or not helpful, harmless or dangerous. The way I continually pass judgment, I may as well go around in judge’s robes with a gavel in my hand. It’s truly odd that I would set myself up as a judge, given the fact that I have no particular wisdom with which to pass judgment on whether a present moment is good for me or not. How can one isolated individual in this endless universe possibly know enough to assess the value of a given situation? Since there are an incalculable number of possible ramifications for every occurrence in my life, how can I, a mere mortal, pretend to be able to decide which occurrences will be ultimately good for me, and which will be bad? It’s actually shocking to me to think I have spent so much time – most of my waking hours – sitting in judgment on everything, from people to events to situations. It’s shocking because it tells me I have missed an enormous amount of the wonder of life by being so focused on handing down verdicts. While I was habitually deciding if each single moment in my life was a good or bad one, these glorious moments were flashing right past me. What I need to do is develop another habit – the habit of being non-judgmental. I need to realize that each and every moment this universe creates is somehow appropriate, useful, and beautiful. Instead of judging, I need to accept. Instead of being opinionated about everything that happens to me, I need to practice being constantly amazed.
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One of the best habits I can develop in the future is being non-judgmental -- but it won’t be easy. I have been an incorrigible “judge” on a daily, hourly, and moment-by-moment basis for my entire life. I constantly assess every aspect of my life as to whether it’s good or bad, helpful or not helpful, harmless or dangerous. The way I continually pass judgment, I may as well go around in judge’s robes with a gavel in my hand. It’s truly odd that I would set myself up as a judge, given the fact that I have no particular wisdom with which to pass judgment on whether a present moment is good for me or not. How can one isolated individual in this endless universe possibly know enough to assess the value of a given situation? Since there are an incalculable number of possible ramifications for every occurrence in my life, how can I, a mere mortal, pretend to be able to decide which occurrences will be ultimately good for me, and which will be bad? It’s actually shocking to me to think I have spent so much time – most of my waking hours – sitting in judgment on everything, from people to events to situations. It’s shocking because it tells me I have missed an enormous amount of the wonder of life by being so focused on handing down verdicts. While I was habitually deciding if each single moment in my life was a good or bad one, these glorious moments were flashing right past me. What I need to do is develop another habit – the habit of being non-judgmental. I need to realize that each and every moment this universe creates is somehow appropriate, useful, and beautiful. Instead of judging, I need to accept. Instead of being opinionated about everything that happens to me, I need to practice being constantly amazed.
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009
THE WEB OF THE UNIVERSE
Written on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2008
I feel like I’m making progress in understanding that I am not a separate, isolated part of the universe, but am rather a part of an infinite whole. I’m realizing, more and more, that whatever affects someone else, affects me. It’s as if the entire universe is an endless web, where the slightest motion in one part of the web ripples out to even the most distant part. When someone is sad in one part of the world, I, in some way, am affected, or changed, by that sadness; when someone is filled with joy, no matter if they are on the opposite side of the world, I share in that joy. I think the word “share” is especially important here. In a very real sense, we all share our lives with every other life. Take a feeling like happiness, for instance. If I see a person walking down the street in obvious happiness, I actually possess as much of his happiness as he does. After all, happiness is not a physical, material thing that can be “owned” or “kept” by anyone. It’s a spiritual, unlimited quality. Once it is felt by a single person, it instantly flows out on the web to the farthest part of the universe. The sad reality is that most of us rarely feel this connection with the rest of the universe. We think of feelings like joy and sorrow as sensations that we privately own, not realizing that we can no more own them than we can own the wind. The wind blows across the entire earth, and so do our inner lives. If I am totally aware today, I will share the happiness or sorrow of the world as it ripples to me across the infinite never-ending web of creation.
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I feel like I’m making progress in understanding that I am not a separate, isolated part of the universe, but am rather a part of an infinite whole. I’m realizing, more and more, that whatever affects someone else, affects me. It’s as if the entire universe is an endless web, where the slightest motion in one part of the web ripples out to even the most distant part. When someone is sad in one part of the world, I, in some way, am affected, or changed, by that sadness; when someone is filled with joy, no matter if they are on the opposite side of the world, I share in that joy. I think the word “share” is especially important here. In a very real sense, we all share our lives with every other life. Take a feeling like happiness, for instance. If I see a person walking down the street in obvious happiness, I actually possess as much of his happiness as he does. After all, happiness is not a physical, material thing that can be “owned” or “kept” by anyone. It’s a spiritual, unlimited quality. Once it is felt by a single person, it instantly flows out on the web to the farthest part of the universe. The sad reality is that most of us rarely feel this connection with the rest of the universe. We think of feelings like joy and sorrow as sensations that we privately own, not realizing that we can no more own them than we can own the wind. The wind blows across the entire earth, and so do our inner lives. If I am totally aware today, I will share the happiness or sorrow of the world as it ripples to me across the infinite never-ending web of creation.
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BAPTISM EVERY MOMENT
Written on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2008
This morning I read the story of Naaman, the Syrian general who was cured of a skin disease by washing himself in the Jordan River seven times. It got me thinking how thrilled the general must have been to see that his skin was clean, that he was completely healed, that he could start over with a brand new life. He probably went around in a stupor of joy and wonder for many days. He might have asked himself many times, “Did this really happen? Am I really cured?” What’s wonderful, to me, about this story is that this kind of feeling could – and should – come to me constantly, for I am literally cleansed and made new every moment of every day. I have meditated countless times on the wonderful truth that the only moment that ever exists is the present moment, that this moment is always mental, and that therefore it is always new. (Only material things can age and get “old”.) I am always living in a completely new moment, and it follows that I must always be entirely new, fresh, sparkling, clean – and cured. I hope I can remember this truth throughout this chilly, rainy day. Wherever I am at any particular moment – at school, driving somewhere, at home reading the newspaper – I hope the truth of my total newness will be present to me. I hope I have, moment after moment, the same feeling Naaman had after he was cleansed of his disease. I should go around in a stupor of astonishment: Am I really brand new, fresh, sparkling, and clean – right now??
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This morning I read the story of Naaman, the Syrian general who was cured of a skin disease by washing himself in the Jordan River seven times. It got me thinking how thrilled the general must have been to see that his skin was clean, that he was completely healed, that he could start over with a brand new life. He probably went around in a stupor of joy and wonder for many days. He might have asked himself many times, “Did this really happen? Am I really cured?” What’s wonderful, to me, about this story is that this kind of feeling could – and should – come to me constantly, for I am literally cleansed and made new every moment of every day. I have meditated countless times on the wonderful truth that the only moment that ever exists is the present moment, that this moment is always mental, and that therefore it is always new. (Only material things can age and get “old”.) I am always living in a completely new moment, and it follows that I must always be entirely new, fresh, sparkling, clean – and cured. I hope I can remember this truth throughout this chilly, rainy day. Wherever I am at any particular moment – at school, driving somewhere, at home reading the newspaper – I hope the truth of my total newness will be present to me. I hope I have, moment after moment, the same feeling Naaman had after he was cleansed of his disease. I should go around in a stupor of astonishment: Am I really brand new, fresh, sparkling, and clean – right now??
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THE GIFT OF SUFFERING
Written on September 26, 2008
An important truth for me to remember today is that suffering can bring helpful blessings. In fact, suffering may be the quickest way for me to learn, or re-learn, the elementary truths of reality. I often get lost, for days and weeks, in the nightmare that life is a material phenomenon, and suffering can awaken me to the simple truth that all reality, including all power, is mental, or spiritual. Suffering is like an alarm clock that tells me it’s time to wake up – to turn away from materialism and toward an awareness of the spiritual nature of the universe. Jesus understood this. When he was preparing himself for the suffering he was going to experience during the crucifixion, one of the first things he did was give thanks to God. I can imagine him, in the midst of his fears, quietly remembering that, no matter what happens, spiritual power (which some people refer to as “God”), manifested in qualities like love, kindness, patience, and courage, has no limit and no opposition, and that it will ultimately be victorious. I can imagine a refreshing peacefulness filling his heart. No doubt it’s strange to think of being grateful for suffering. Most of us want to avoid suffering at all costs, and we flee from it at first notice. But perhaps I can be different today. Perhaps I can keep in mind that any kind of suffering is a generous gift from the universe – a gift to remind me that all is spiritual, and all is well.
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An important truth for me to remember today is that suffering can bring helpful blessings. In fact, suffering may be the quickest way for me to learn, or re-learn, the elementary truths of reality. I often get lost, for days and weeks, in the nightmare that life is a material phenomenon, and suffering can awaken me to the simple truth that all reality, including all power, is mental, or spiritual. Suffering is like an alarm clock that tells me it’s time to wake up – to turn away from materialism and toward an awareness of the spiritual nature of the universe. Jesus understood this. When he was preparing himself for the suffering he was going to experience during the crucifixion, one of the first things he did was give thanks to God. I can imagine him, in the midst of his fears, quietly remembering that, no matter what happens, spiritual power (which some people refer to as “God”), manifested in qualities like love, kindness, patience, and courage, has no limit and no opposition, and that it will ultimately be victorious. I can imagine a refreshing peacefulness filling his heart. No doubt it’s strange to think of being grateful for suffering. Most of us want to avoid suffering at all costs, and we flee from it at first notice. But perhaps I can be different today. Perhaps I can keep in mind that any kind of suffering is a generous gift from the universe – a gift to remind me that all is spiritual, and all is well.
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TAKING IN AIR, GETTING TO KNOW GOD
MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2006
"But I know him: for I am from him." --John 7: 29
This morning’s quote from my Bible lesson reminds me that I really don’t have to work hard, or struggle, or study, to get to know God. Lately, I have been doing just that. I made a decision a few months ago that I needed to find out just what this entity called “God” is, and so I’ve been “working” at it – pinching my brows over the Bible and my notebook as I “struggle” to understand this concept that has been a huge part of my life for many years. I’ve thought of the process as a “project” I can devote my efforts to – getting to know God the way you might get to know a difficult, abstruse book. However, this morning’s quote from Jesus settles me down a little, reassures me, reminds me that there is actually no work involved. After all, if I am part of something, I don’t really need to study it in order to understand it. That would be as silly as trying to “understand” my own breathing, or trying to “get to know” the beat of my own heart. I am as much a part of God as a wave is part of the ocean, or as a breeze in Wilcox Park is part of the winds blowing across the earth. I know God, not the way you would know a separate object, but the way a tree limb knows the tree, or the way a flower petal knows the flower. Today I want to remember this wonderful fact. Yes, in one sense it’s good to “work hard” at studying the spiritual truths of life, but it’s also important to realize that, in fact, those truths are as close to me as my fingers, or as the breath in my own lungs. Taking in air is pretty easy, and so is getting to know God.
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"But I know him: for I am from him." --John 7: 29
This morning’s quote from my Bible lesson reminds me that I really don’t have to work hard, or struggle, or study, to get to know God. Lately, I have been doing just that. I made a decision a few months ago that I needed to find out just what this entity called “God” is, and so I’ve been “working” at it – pinching my brows over the Bible and my notebook as I “struggle” to understand this concept that has been a huge part of my life for many years. I’ve thought of the process as a “project” I can devote my efforts to – getting to know God the way you might get to know a difficult, abstruse book. However, this morning’s quote from Jesus settles me down a little, reassures me, reminds me that there is actually no work involved. After all, if I am part of something, I don’t really need to study it in order to understand it. That would be as silly as trying to “understand” my own breathing, or trying to “get to know” the beat of my own heart. I am as much a part of God as a wave is part of the ocean, or as a breeze in Wilcox Park is part of the winds blowing across the earth. I know God, not the way you would know a separate object, but the way a tree limb knows the tree, or the way a flower petal knows the flower. Today I want to remember this wonderful fact. Yes, in one sense it’s good to “work hard” at studying the spiritual truths of life, but it’s also important to realize that, in fact, those truths are as close to me as my fingers, or as the breath in my own lungs. Taking in air is pretty easy, and so is getting to know God.
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NO BAD DAYS
Yesterday I had what people call “a bad day”, and I found myself growing discouraged about my teaching. I felt that I wasn’t doing a good job as a teacher – that I was getting disorganized, that I was falling behind in my syllabus, that perhaps the students were growing discontented and confused. I berated myself for most of the afternoon. I saw myself as a teacher who was maybe on the downhill run toward mediocrity and retirement. Luckily, though, on the drive home from school, an enlightening and comforting thought came to me. I don’t know why, but I started thinking of the ocean, with its swirling currents and tumbling waves and varying weathers and conditions, and it occurred to me that the ocean cannot have a bad day. No one would look out at the sea and say, “Gosh, the ocean is not doing well today. It’s not being a very good ocean.” No...the ocean is always just being the ocean, and whatever it happens to be doing is precisely what it should be doing. The ocean, in that sense, is always a perfect ocean. Whatever its condition -- whether there are storms, sunshine, calmness, choppiness, swells, or stillness -- the ocean is always a flawless ocean. This was a reassuring thought. It helped me see that, at every moment, what is happening in my life is just as perfect as the ocean. Whatever is being said or thought or done is exactly what should be said or thought or done. It isn’t good or bad, it's just the way things are. I also saw that my discouragement as a teacher yesterday stemmed from focusing on “me” instead of on the “ocean” of education of which I am merely a part. I saw that thinking that “I” was failing as a teacher was as silly as thinking that a particular wave in the ocean could “fail” as a wave. The wave has no choice but to be one special wave in the special and vast sea, and I have no choice, really, but to be a meaningful part of the infinite sea of teaching and learning. I don’t mean to suggest that I am some kind of super-teacher. Quite the opposite. Good teaching, in fact, has nothing to do with some “me” or “I”. It’s about an endless and unfathomable process, of which we individual teachers are just one small part. Taken as a whole, it’s a process that’s seamless and magnificent. Yesterday, I tried my best, and the universe tried its best. What more can I ask for? What was happening in the ocean and in my classroom yesterday was what should have been happening, and it will be again today. It’s the way it has to be. It’s the law.
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ROOM FOR ANYTHING
I hope to keep in mind today that there’s ample room in life for whatever happens. So often I get the feeling that my life is a fairly small and cramped enclosure, with little available space for unexpected events. I have lived most of my years as though existence was a one-room apartment, necessarily filled with defense mechanisms and surrounded by sentries. I’ve felt, I guess, that I could handle only so much (and not much, at that), and any additional occurrences must be kept at bay. I now know that this is an entirely inaccurate view of life, and today I want to keep the truth front and center in my mind. Life is, in fact, infinite. There are no starting points, walls, boundaries, limits, or finish lines. Existence is like a sky that doesn’t start anywhere and doesn’t end anywhere – a “place” that has room for every possible person, object, situation, or event. What I call “me” is simply an ever-changing feature of this endless sky of life – a feature that swirls and transforms together with countless others. None of these are “good” or “bad”, “constructive” or “destructive”; they are just parts of the always shifting phenomenon we call life. No matter what happens today – triumph or disaster, celebration or sorrow – there’s more than abundant room for it. In the sky above us, all clouds float freely, coming and going, and so will all that happens today.
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Sunday, October 5, 2008
The Paradise of the Present
The Paradise of the Present Moment
(written in December, 2005)
I woke up this morning with a wonderful thought: Today I will be living in a paradise – the paradise of the present moment. As I continued to think about it, I became more and more amazed to realize that today I will live always in the present moment – will be, in effect, a prisoner of the present. For the entire day, I will not be able to escape from the moment that is happening right now. The great and spectacular present will always be bursting up and shining all around me. And of course, why would I want to escape from the present? After all, since it’s the only moment that could possibly be occurring right now, that means it’s the perfect moment for right now – and perfection is something we find only in paradise. So, if I am going to be living in paradise all day today, why would I want to escape from it?? I guess I should congratulate myself this morning, or pat myself on the back, or throw a quiet party for myself. Why? Because I am one of the really lucky people on earth. Today, this frigid December 6th, I will be living in a paradise as beautiful as any place on earth. I’ll just be in my modest classroom, Room 2 at Pine Point School, but I’ll be relaxing in the present moment like I’m on a spectacular beach.
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(written in December, 2005)
I woke up this morning with a wonderful thought: Today I will be living in a paradise – the paradise of the present moment. As I continued to think about it, I became more and more amazed to realize that today I will live always in the present moment – will be, in effect, a prisoner of the present. For the entire day, I will not be able to escape from the moment that is happening right now. The great and spectacular present will always be bursting up and shining all around me. And of course, why would I want to escape from the present? After all, since it’s the only moment that could possibly be occurring right now, that means it’s the perfect moment for right now – and perfection is something we find only in paradise. So, if I am going to be living in paradise all day today, why would I want to escape from it?? I guess I should congratulate myself this morning, or pat myself on the back, or throw a quiet party for myself. Why? Because I am one of the really lucky people on earth. Today, this frigid December 6th, I will be living in a paradise as beautiful as any place on earth. I’ll just be in my modest classroom, Room 2 at Pine Point School, but I’ll be relaxing in the present moment like I’m on a spectacular beach.
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Sunday, September 14, 2008
ON GIVING UP THE STRUGGLE
On this mild, rainy Sunday morning, I’ve been thinking again about how life-changing it would be if I simply gave up struggling. As I was getting ready for the new day, it came to me that almost all of my days (since 1941!) have been taken up with a struggle of some kind or other. Right from the start, it seems, I have pictured life as a constant skirmish between a separate “me” and the countless other separate “me”s, and I have engaged in the struggle with earnestness. From morning to night, it’s been me against the universe. What if I simply – here and now, today – gave up the struggle? What if, once and for all, I fully accepted the simple fact that there is no separate “me” to do the struggling, and no separate universe to struggle against? What if I fully understood, finally, that the universe, including me, is a single, unified, harmonious, and peaceful dance? It’s something worth thinking about, worth working toward. It’s a revolutionary idea, one that would transform my life from top to bottom, inside to out. It might conceivably make life a remarkable celebration instead of a backbreaking competition.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
“And God Said...”
I have read or heard the phrase “And God said...” probably thousands of times in my life, but only this morning, for the first time, did I actually think about what it means. Who is this God that talks to people, and how does he talk? All through the Bible, stories are told of people who heard God’s voice and responded to it, and only just this morning did I get a glimpse of what it might mean. I realized, first of all, (or recalled) that this God is not a person, but a force – not some powerful but ultimately limited superman or woman, but the infinite power of the Universe. His voice is not the voice of an individual person but rather the voice of the grand intelligence that created, and keeps creating, the universe. And I also understood, if only dimly, that the voice of God comes in the form of thoughts. They are the thoughts that occur to me clearly and forcefully 57,000 times each day – not “my” thoughts (as I usually think of them) but truly God’s, or the Universe’s, thoughts. There is no separate “I” that makes “my” thoughts, as I have blindly believed for 66 years. (That is an utter impossibility, for where is this separate “I”?) The thoughts that occur, or arise, or unfold, are the voice of God that speaks continually and powerfully. The people in the Bible listened carefully, and so should I.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
I occasionally become concerned about whether I’m getting enough rest, but it occurred to me this morning, as I was rising at my usual early hour, that the universe, of which I am a part, always gets enough rest. Can we imagine the universe being tired? Can we picture a sunrise being exhausted, a sunset feeling listless, a breeze blowing by in a sluggish manner? Can we imagine a river, even the slowest and narrowest, even one that has been depleted by drought, not doing its proper rivery work in the steadiest way possible? My problem here is one I have to constantly deal with – a tendency to judge and label. When my body feels a certain way, I pass judgment that it’s “tired” and label myself accordingly: I am tired. Instead of simply saying that my body feels like sitting or lying down, I stick the label of exhaustion on it, which makes the situation a “problem” instead of simply another interesting situation in the infinite, vigorous procession of them which is my life.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
THE DELICIOUS WORD
In reading Whitman’s “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” today (actually I listened to it on a bike ride), I realized something new about the oldest nemesis, death. At the end of the poem, the poet listens to the sea, hoping to hear the “word final, superior to all”, and he finally does. It’s the “delicious word death”, which the poet repeats nine times for emphasis. As the finale of this long poem about love and loss, the concluding truth, the ultimate power, the last word, is “death”. Years ago, I might have thought Whitman was being pessimistic here, but today I have another view. It seems to me that the poet is saying that death is the most important reality, the strongest “word”, not because it destroys life, but because, on the contrary, without it there would be no life. Death, in a real sense, prepares the way for life. It’s the doorman who opens the door for life to walk through and continue on with its endless procession. After listening to those nine repetitions of the word “death” today, I began wondering where we would all be if there were no death. To start with, there would be absolutely no vegetation on earth, because all plant growth depends on the food provided so dependably by the dead “bodies” of other vegetation. The daily death of billions of plants actually makes it possible for new plants to unfold into life. In addition, consider the population problem on earth were death to disappear. If no one died for a single 24 hour period, the earth would be a heaving and thoroughly destructive mass of humanity. The death of millions of people each day literally opens the door to life for millions of newborns. Finally, don’t we all experience death each moment, and shouldn’t we be grateful for that? Every second of our lives, old cells die and new ones are born, new oxygen sweeps into our lungs and “dead” carbon dioxide leaves, thank goodness. Not only that, each moment is born anew and fresh only because the last moment dies and disappears. “One second ago” is always totally dead and gone – and let us be thankful for that, for only with the death of the past split-second can newness arrive in our lives moment after moment.
So, yes, Whitman understood something wonderful, and this morning, as I pedaled my bike along the dappled roads of the Connecticut countryside, I came to understand it too. Death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death … As sad as it renders us personally, let us try to be thankful for the gift of new life that it offers us. With each death, death says, “Let us begin again.”
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So, yes, Whitman understood something wonderful, and this morning, as I pedaled my bike along the dappled roads of the Connecticut countryside, I came to understand it too. Death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death … As sad as it renders us personally, let us try to be thankful for the gift of new life that it offers us. With each death, death says, “Let us begin again.”
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Three Meditations
“Selfishness keeps God hidden, as thick clouds blot out the sun.” -- Psalm 36
Whatever the weather’s like today, I can be assured that a very bright sun will be always shining. It’s the sun of Truth, the sun of ever-present spiritual power, the sun of always new Creation. No matter what is happening outside, this great sun of reality will be blazing away inside us, and all around us, and everywhere. It’s the way things are, and it can never be changed. What’s sad and mystifying, though, is that my selfishness persistently blinds me to this shining light. I am often so utterly wrapped up in thinking of my supposedly separate, vulnerable self that I am virtually blind to the astonishing spiritual reality that I’m a part of. My separate “self” seems so huge that it does seem to blot out reality, just as clouds can seem to cover the sun. But of course, I must keep in mind the important truth that clouds only seem to cover the sun. The sun still shines, always, behind the clouds, and the truth of spiritual reality still shines, always, behind my seemingly enormous self. All I have to do is open my inner eyes, and I will then see what’s always been all around me – the forever-present and omnipotent power of Spirit. The light might be so bright that I would ask, “What clouds?”
POSTED BY HAMILTON SALSICH AT 5:28 PM 0 COMMENTS
“He’s not far; he’s near.” -- Acts 17:24
Today I would like to focus my attention on nearness instead of far-ness. This will be a big change, because far-ness is usually a significant reality for me. Because I often think of myself as a separate, isolated, physical individual, everything else in my life seems removed from me – unconnected, different, far away. That’s especially true when it comes to the really important things in my life. Money, friendship, power, security – all the essentials of life usually, for me, seem far rather than near. This morning, though, I’m thinking more about nearness. I’m trying to hold in thought a new way of looking at my self – not as an isolated material entity, but as a spiritual idea in a universe of ideas. When I do this, I see that a wondrous thing happens. Suddenly, far-ness absolutely disappears, and the only reality becomes nearness. For if I am a thought in a universe of thoughts, then there are no material boundaries to separate anyone or anything. In this mental universe, nothing can be “far” from anything else because nothing is separated from anything else! Everything is literally as near as a thought. Whatever I need today is as in close proximity to the next moment. Wealth, friendship, power, security – they are all as near, as close at hand, as my own hand.
POSTED BY HAMILTON SALSICH AT 7:24 AM 0 COMMENTS
OUR HOME FOREVER
“God, it seems you’ve been our home forever; long before the mountains were born, from “once upon a time” to “kingdom come”, you are God.” – Psalm 90, 1-2
On this mild, rainy morning, I’m thinking about the wonderful fact that I am always home, and that my home is the safest and most comfortable home there can possibly be. I’m fortunate in this way, because all of us yearn, above all, for a place we can call home. We want to be in a place where we can feel utterly safe and unconditionally loved – a place where all our needs are lovingly met. It’s probably our greatest wish – that we always have a reliable, protecting home to turn to when we need it. The astonishing fact that I’m meditating on this morning is that I do have this type of home, and I have it present with me at all times. The most amazing fact is that this home is not made of anything material, and therefore can never be damaged, taken away from me, or destroyed. And because it’s not material but mental (spiritual), its supply of happiness and comfort will never exhaust itself. Like a rich man, I live in a vast and beautiful home, but unlike the rich man, whose material wealth and home will perish eventually, my home will last forever. What is this home that I will have with me all day on this rainy school day? It’s simply the infinite and spiritual Present. I always live in the Present (it can’t possibly be otherwise), and this Present, like a good home, provides me with everything I need – qualities like peace, joy, patience, and courage. Some people call this all-powerful Present by the name of God, or Allah, but whatever it might be called, it is where I live each and every moment. Today, like every day, it is my wonderful home.
MP3 File
Whatever the weather’s like today, I can be assured that a very bright sun will be always shining. It’s the sun of Truth, the sun of ever-present spiritual power, the sun of always new Creation. No matter what is happening outside, this great sun of reality will be blazing away inside us, and all around us, and everywhere. It’s the way things are, and it can never be changed. What’s sad and mystifying, though, is that my selfishness persistently blinds me to this shining light. I am often so utterly wrapped up in thinking of my supposedly separate, vulnerable self that I am virtually blind to the astonishing spiritual reality that I’m a part of. My separate “self” seems so huge that it does seem to blot out reality, just as clouds can seem to cover the sun. But of course, I must keep in mind the important truth that clouds only seem to cover the sun. The sun still shines, always, behind the clouds, and the truth of spiritual reality still shines, always, behind my seemingly enormous self. All I have to do is open my inner eyes, and I will then see what’s always been all around me – the forever-present and omnipotent power of Spirit. The light might be so bright that I would ask, “What clouds?”
POSTED BY HAMILTON SALSICH AT 5:28 PM 0 COMMENTS
“He’s not far; he’s near.” -- Acts 17:24
Today I would like to focus my attention on nearness instead of far-ness. This will be a big change, because far-ness is usually a significant reality for me. Because I often think of myself as a separate, isolated, physical individual, everything else in my life seems removed from me – unconnected, different, far away. That’s especially true when it comes to the really important things in my life. Money, friendship, power, security – all the essentials of life usually, for me, seem far rather than near. This morning, though, I’m thinking more about nearness. I’m trying to hold in thought a new way of looking at my self – not as an isolated material entity, but as a spiritual idea in a universe of ideas. When I do this, I see that a wondrous thing happens. Suddenly, far-ness absolutely disappears, and the only reality becomes nearness. For if I am a thought in a universe of thoughts, then there are no material boundaries to separate anyone or anything. In this mental universe, nothing can be “far” from anything else because nothing is separated from anything else! Everything is literally as near as a thought. Whatever I need today is as in close proximity to the next moment. Wealth, friendship, power, security – they are all as near, as close at hand, as my own hand.
POSTED BY HAMILTON SALSICH AT 7:24 AM 0 COMMENTS
OUR HOME FOREVER
“God, it seems you’ve been our home forever; long before the mountains were born, from “once upon a time” to “kingdom come”, you are God.” – Psalm 90, 1-2
On this mild, rainy morning, I’m thinking about the wonderful fact that I am always home, and that my home is the safest and most comfortable home there can possibly be. I’m fortunate in this way, because all of us yearn, above all, for a place we can call home. We want to be in a place where we can feel utterly safe and unconditionally loved – a place where all our needs are lovingly met. It’s probably our greatest wish – that we always have a reliable, protecting home to turn to when we need it. The astonishing fact that I’m meditating on this morning is that I do have this type of home, and I have it present with me at all times. The most amazing fact is that this home is not made of anything material, and therefore can never be damaged, taken away from me, or destroyed. And because it’s not material but mental (spiritual), its supply of happiness and comfort will never exhaust itself. Like a rich man, I live in a vast and beautiful home, but unlike the rich man, whose material wealth and home will perish eventually, my home will last forever. What is this home that I will have with me all day on this rainy school day? It’s simply the infinite and spiritual Present. I always live in the Present (it can’t possibly be otherwise), and this Present, like a good home, provides me with everything I need – qualities like peace, joy, patience, and courage. Some people call this all-powerful Present by the name of God, or Allah, but whatever it might be called, it is where I live each and every moment. Today, like every day, it is my wonderful home.
MP3 File
Saturday, August 9, 2008
ON NOT KNOWING WHO I AM
In the news we’ve been hearing a story about a man who claims to not know who he is, and, as sad as his situation is, it started me thinking about the advantages of admitting that you don’t actually know who you are. I, for one, have no idea who I really am. For most of my 66 years I thought I knew who I was, but in the last few years it’s become clear to me that my supposed self-knowledge was entirely superficial. I now realize that I no more know who I am than I know what the sky above this earth is. When I used to think I knew who I was, all I actually knew were the labels that had been attached to me. I knew “Hamilton”, “man”, “father”, “teacher”, and so on, but these are merely labels. They don’t reveal my true nature any more than the word “sky” discloses the infinite mysteries of what surrounds us on this planet. So, if someone were to ask me who I am, I might have to honestly say I don't know – and I would feel good about doing so. In fact, I might have to say I am utterly dumbfounded about my identity, and I think I would feel relieved that I can finally admit my own profound ignorance. Like the sky – and like all of us – I’m vast, complex, ever changing, and ultimately inscrutable. I call myself “Hamilton”, but who I am is farther from that name than the stars are from where I’m typing these words.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
A FOUNDATION FOR A DAY
I realized this morning, as I was sitting at my desk under the light of my small silver lamp, that I have built most of my days on the flimsiest of foundations. A day, when I think about it, is a very important “structure” (I build one every 24 hours), and should therefore be constructed on substantial materials – materials that will support a day in even the worst circumstances. It’s strange, then, that I have built most of my days on rather undefined and random foundations. Actually, you might say I haven’t even consciously built my days, but rather just “thrown them together”, in the same way that my friends and I used to throw flimsy “club houses” together when we were twelve. I’m fortunate that most of my days haven’t collapsed in ruin by noon. (Actually, quite a few of them did.) The good news is that today, and every day from here on, I have the lucky opportunity to carefully construct a day on a foundation that will be secure and reliable. In the early morning, as I do my reading and writing, I can lay out a solid, unshakeable underpinning upon which to rest each hour, each moment, of the day. I can take my time and make certain that each element of the groundwork is securely in place to insure a “weatherproof”, enduring structure. And what is this foundation? It’s simply the Truth. All I have to do is rest today on the great facts of reality – that all power resides in the present moment, that this power is totally mental, not material, and that this power is infinite and therefore unopposed. If I set each hour on that rock-hard truth, I can’t help but experience a day that’s impressive in its grandeur and beauty.
Monday, August 4, 2008
"HAVEN'T YOU BEEN LISTENING?"
“Have you not been paying attention? Have you not been listening? Haven’t you heard these stories all your life? Don’t you understand the foundation of all things?”
-- Isaiah 40:21-22
When I asked myself the above questions this morning, my answer to each of them, I’m sorry to say, was “No”. I haven’t been paying attention to the simple, astonishing truth. I haven’t been listening to what this truth has been telling me, over and over. And no, I have not heard the stories of spiritual reality all my life. God has been telling them to me, but I haven’t really heard them, and therefore, no, I do not understand the foundation of all things. And that’s sad, because what is more important to understand than the foundation of all things? The simple, powerful truth has been trying to tell me amazing facts, like where all of life comes from, where all power resides, and the very nature of all things, and I have been largely deaf to it. I have turned away, day after day, from the most wonderful news there can possibly be. Yes, it’s true that I have a lot of time studying spiritual truths, but I have to admit this morning that very little of it has “sunk in”. I read about the harmonious nature of spiritual reality, and then I go blithely through the day in total ignorance of the truths I studied in the morning. Why would anyone do that? Why would anyone turn his back, day after day, on a treasure beyond imagining? Why would anyone turn away from the wide-open gates of paradise?
BEING READY
“I’m ready, God, so ready, ready from head to toe.” -- Psalm 108:1
If I want to enjoy the benefits of living in a spiritual universe, I have to be ready – really ready. As one dictionary puts it, I have to be “prepared and available for service or action.” At each moment of my life, today and every day, the spiritual universe offers me miraculous manifestations of goodness, but I won’t even notice them if I’m not ready. The joys of life will pass me by like beautiful scenes pass by a blind person. The word “ready” also has another meaning – “prompt in apprehending or reacting.” This is the meaning we intend when we say someone has a “ready intelligence”, or that a person has made a “ready response”. There must be no hesitation between my experience of something and my understanding that this experience is a gift from the Universe expressly for me. I must be so alert, so ready, that each moment appears to me as an absolute miracle. Of course, this kind of readiness is not easy to accomplish. Like the EMTs who spend years honing their readiness to respond to an emergency, I must constantly train myself to respond to God’s steady infusion of gifts. When I wake in the morning, I should say, “OK, Ham, this is another day of unexpected and amazing gifts. Are you ready?” My response, I hope, will be an enthusiastic “Yes”.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
THE KINGDOM OF NO-FEAR
It came to me yesterday, as it occasionally does, that the single enemy I must defeat is fear. Nothing else has threatened me in my entire life – just fear. It has caused every problem I have ever had. From as far back as I can remember, mixed in with the many joys of my life has been fear, and it is this fear that has stalked me and created every discord and difficulty I have experienced. What’s wonderful, though, is that I have the opportunity, each moment, to completely overthrow this fear. I can be totally free of it, starting now. For the rest of my life I can live in complete freedom. I can do this by making a simple analysis of the nature of fear and the nature of reality. All fear is based upon a belief – a firmly held belief that all of life is material, including me, and that I am continually at the mercy of a zillion other material forces. To remove the fear, I must simply change the belief. I have to believe – no, I have to understand and know – that life is not material in nature, but totally spiritual. I am not a thing, but a thought. I can’t be pushed around or defeated, because there is literally no “thing” – no materiality – in me to be pushed around or defeated. I am a pure thought in a purely mental universe – the
THROWN FROM A HORSE
Today I want to be “changed”. Like Saul of Tarsus, I want to see a new and truthful way of living so clearly that I feel like I’ve been hit with a blinding light. I want to be thrown off my “horse” of material living, a horse I have blithely and ignorantly ridden for 66 years. I want to discover a new way. And really, the new way of living is a simple way. There’s nothing complex or tricky about it. It’s just totally different from the way I’ve previously been traveling. The old way was the way of belief that matter has the only and ultimate power in the universe. The new way says very simply: Spirit, thought, has all the power. It’s as uncomplicated as that – as straightforward as a flash of lightning, or falling off a horse. I want to look at the lightning, be blinded, and then see again – really see. I want to get on a totally different horse. I want it to happen today. (Maybe it already has.)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
GETTING HELP
This morning I had an old familiar feeling of helplessness. I got to thinking, “Where am I going to get the ideas I need to be a great teacher today?” It was a worried, panicky thought, one I have often had – a thought based on the belief that I am an isolated, separate, limited human being who has to toil to invent ideas to use in the classroom. I struggled with it for a while this morning, fretting about perhaps having a bad day of teaching due to a lack of ideas. Luckily, though, just as I was stepping into the shower, a wonderfully reassuring thought came to me. I remembered a simple truth I have often taken comfort in: I am not separate, not isolated, not limited, and not even material. I am part of an infinite spiritual (mental) universe that moves in unlimited and incomprehensible ways. I don’t have to “get” ideas, for I am always a totally new and fresh idea in this vast mental universe. Then I remembered an analogy I often use. A wave in the ocean doesn’t have to work hard to be a perfect wave. It already is, because it is part of an almost limitless and perfect ocean. The wave simply has to relax and be what it must be – a perfect wave at all times. The same is true for me and my teaching. It’s silly for me to fret about getting new ideas for my classroom, for that’s exactly what I am – a fresh, brand new idea every moment. All I have to do to be a good teacher is simply be whatever idea I am at any moment. It’s so easy. In fact, it’s unavoidable. I must, by law, be a wonderful idea each moment in my classroom. There’s no “getting” involved. And no worrying.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
PERFECTLY LOUSY TEACHING
I was beating myself up this morning because I thought my teaching yesterday was lousy, but that’s a little like saying the Universe did a lousy job with the weather yesterday. The Universe doesn’t make a mistake, and I am part of that Universe. Whatever weather the Universe produces on a given day is precisely the weather it needs to keep itself going. Even if we can’t see or understand the correctness and aptness of the weather, the Universe sees it, and that’s what matters. The same is true in my teaching. I taught the way I did yesterday because that’s what the Universe (sometimes called God) wanted me to do. In the very biggest picture of all, what happened in my room yesterday was perfect. If I see it as less than perfect, it’s because I’m looking at it from the tiniest of perspectives. I’m seeing the small picture of my individual, material life, instead of the vast, harmonious, and perfect picture the Universe (God) sees.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
ROOMY HEARTS
Recently, as I was thinking about an old hymn that says a grateful heart is one that has ample “room”, it suddenly occurred to me that a heart has more than ample room in it. In its true state, my “heart” -- meaning my inner spirit – has no walls, no boundaries, no limits of any kind. My heart can hold as much as life can produce – all the heartbreaks, sorrows, and disappointments, as well as all the joys and delights. If I could imagine a house whose walls and ceiling extend out for an infinite distance, that’s the kind of room my inner spirit actually has. What produces this endless roominess is the simple fact that my inner life – my “heart” – is not made of a material substance, and thus doesn’t have borders and fences or beginnings and endings. My true heart, like all of ours, is made of spirit, not matter, and therefore has a spaciousness that defies measurement or description. It can easily expand to make room for anything that comes my way – anything. Trouble is, I seem to have long since forgotten this wonderful truth. I often see my inner life as the opposite of spacious – as confined, cramped, and filled to capacity, with only a minimal amount of extra room -- and none for any more tribulations! It’s as if my “heart” is a physical room with walls, floors, and ceilings, and there are simply times when nothing more can be crammed into it. The joyful fact that I glimpsed recently, and am trying to grasp more fully, is that no cramming is ever necessary, because all of our hearts are as roomy and wide-open as the endless universe. There’s ample room for any and all failures and misfortunes. In fact, there’s so much room that I could actually welcome disasters when they arrive. I don’t have to "like" them or fawn over them, but I can definitely say, “Welcome. Please come in and make yourself at home.” As surprising as that sounds, the astonishing fact is that welcoming adversity always makes it less scary and more able to be managed. Like a good host, I can turn those frightening visitors – the calamites that visit all of us – into relatively harmless, and even helpful, guests. I can say to a misfortune, “Now that you’re here in my roomy heart, tell me what you can teach me” – and then thank him when he finally departs.
RELIANCE
(written on October 26, 2005)
I realized this morning, as I was meditating under the soft light of my small computer lamp, that all of us rely on something. Consciously or unconsciously, we all place our trust in some force or power. We say, “You are stronger than me. In fact, you are the strongest force in the universe, and therefore I’m going to rely on you for my security and happiness.” We may not be aware that we say this, but we definitely do; we definitely give ourselves over to the power of some force that we respect and rely on. The problem – and it’s a huge one – is that most of us have unconsciously, since early childhood, placed our reliance in the power of matter and material things – a fake power that actually has no power at all. This reliance starts without our even being aware of it, but within a few years it becomes overwhelming, to the point where every minute of our lives is governed by it. It’s based on a belief that matter is the ultimate force in the universe, a belief, that by the time we are adults, “has grown terrible in strength and influence”, as Mary Baker Eddy puts it. Today, I want to allow the only true power in the universe to gently correct this false belief. After all, it’s not a powerful belief at all -- no more powerful than a wisp of a breeze. If I stay alert to the infinite power of Mind (Spirit, God, Allah, the I Am,) I’ll see that that is the only power of the universe, and it is where I should place all my reliance.
Reading the story in Mark’s gospel this morning about the mute boy who was possessed by a “demon”, I was reminded of my own situation as a teacher. The boy’s evil spirit often tossed him around and made him go “stiff as a board”, and the same sort of thing sometimes happens to me. I get all frustrated, worked up, anxious, worried, and discouraged about my teaching, just as if I’m “possessed” by a devil or a demon – and, in a very true sense, I am. I am controlled, in those instances, by a belief – damaging beliefs are the only true devils – that the world is a material place and I am a separate material creature who has to battle to become a good teacher. This belief shakes me up and causes me to act like an insecure, frustrated child. What I must to in those instances is recover what Mark calls a “sense of God” – an understanding of the spiritual nature of the entire universe. If I can regain that sense, then I will instantly become calm (because the devil-belief has disappeared). I will see that it is actually impossible to be frustrated, because there are no “things” or material forces “out there” to frustrate me. I will have the serene understanding that I am always a part of the one infinite and unopposed Mind, or God, that governs the universe. This mind works in constant harmony because there is no other mind to work against it, or cause disharmony. Realizing this, I will feel totally free as a teacher, just like the boy who was released from his demon-beliefs by Jesus. I will see that nothing can go wrong in my classroom, because the one Power (sometimes called God) governs everything that happens in it.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
DREAMS AND PROBLEMS
(written in October, 2005)
It’s astonishing to realize the simple truth that all my supposed “problems” are entirely mental. What got me thinking about this was a series of scary dreams last night. All night, it seems, I tossed around in the midst of perfectly frightening nightmares. Life seemed, in these dreams, to be a place of impending disaster, with one ghastly adversary after another threatening me. However, when I awoke, it didn’t take me long to realize that it was all just a dream – that nothing bad had happened and my life was still safe and secure. This realization is what led me to think about all the situations that I call “my problems” (not that I have that many – just the average bundle that most of us have). The fact is that, when I search hard for the source of any of these alleged crises, I always end up at my own thoughts. Any problem I’ve ever had is a problem because I’m thinking of it as a problem. Every anxiety, fear, or worry doesn’t exist “out there” in some object or person or situation, but always and only in my thinking. There’s no doubt that my dreams last night seemed absolutely real. In the midst of them, I thought surely I was going to get sick, be hurt, get lost, be late for an important appointment, or even die. But I awoke, and lo, the problems vanished as swiftly as a thought does. This is precisely what can happen with every so-called problem that appears to threaten me. In the future, there’s no doubt that I will be faced with many distasteful situations -- possibly including illness, financial disasters, or personal tragedies -- and I certainly need to deal with them directly, but simply as events that are occurring, not as problems. All I need to do is wake up to the real world. I need to face reality and see that “problems”, no matter how severe, last only as long as the thought of them does.
Friday, July 25, 2008
On Watching a Game You Don’t Care About
Now that the Red Sox are out of the baseball playoffs, I’m rather relieved. Because I have no stake in the outcome, I can finally relax and truly enjoy watching a game. I don’t care what happens in the upcoming games – who wins or loses, who makes an error or doesn’t, who strikes out or hits a home run. All I want to do is simply observe the way the games progress and enjoy the process. It promises to be a stress-free few weeks for me. As I thought about this last night on my way home from the college, I began to realize that this is exactly the way I should approach the “game” of life. I should think of each day as just another game – one which is especially fascinating because my favorite team is not involved. I should look forward to “watching” the way each hour and moment unfolds, just the way I will be watching the many interesting plays in the upcoming playoff games. If something “awful” happens to me today, well, that’s no more terrible than if the Angels commit an error in their first game. I don’t care if the Angels win or lose, and I literally shouldn’t care if I “win or lose”. All I’m interested in is watching the intriguing ways in which the baseball games, and my life, unfold. As far as my life goes, it should mean many relaxing days ahead for me as I sit in the “bleachers” and enjoy the many interesting twists and turns as the “game” progresses.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
DIFFERENT, BUT NOT BETTER
According to one dictionary, something is perfect if it “lacks nothing essential to the whole” and is “complete of its nature or kind”. By this definition, every present moment is perfect. Each one is a whole moment that contains everything necessary to make it what it is. For that particular kind of present moment, it’s flawless and ideal. I may wish a particular moment was different than it is, but it’s foolish to wish a moment was better than it is. For that specific point in time, each moment is just right, just the thing, just what the doctor ordered, just what it is. What’s wonderful is that all I have stretching ahead of me into infinity is one perfect present moment after another.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
THE 10,000 THINGS
BEYOND MY CONTROL
This morning, as I was looking out the window during breakfast, I realized that everything out there was happening without my consent or cooperation. I had nothing to do with which way the cars went, or how fast they were going. A breeze was stirring in the trees across the street, something I had no part in planning or executing. Completely beyond my control, sunlight was landing on the grass in its own distinctive patterns. Then I began to think about myself, sitting at my table with my coffee and slices of whole wheat toast. Did I have any control over the making of the bread? Did I build the coffee-maker that made the coffee? Going even further, I asked myself if I truly controlled my thoughts and actions. When the thought came that I should pick up the toast, where did the thought come from? Did I make, and therefore control, that thought? If so, then who made the thought that I made the thought? Didn’t it actually just arise, willy-nilly, beyond any real control by me, and don’t all thoughts arise in that way? I can pretend that some separate person called “I” controls the thoughts that come up in life, but the truth is that they simply wander into my life, utterly beyond my control. (Even the thought in that last sentence blew by like a passing breeze. I just happened to catch it.) I guess the reasonable conclusion from all this is that nothing is really under my control. Thoughts and feelings are just as free from my jurisdiction as are cars, breezes, and sunshine. I can play the pretend game of controlling things, but it’s only a game. What I should probably do more often is quit trying to manage it all, and just sit back and take pleasure in it.
--written in August, 2007
A TOTALLY NEW LIFE
Walking through the park this morning, I was struck by the fact that everything that was happening was totally new. Each scene and each event was unlike any scene or event in the past. Nothing like this had ever happened before. For instance, never in the history of the universe had Hamilton Salsich been walking in a purple shirt at a particular point in the park when the shadows were exactly like they were and a specific monarch butterfly had just landed on one individual purple blossom and thunder of a unique tone and volume was rumbling in the west. This was all totally new. Also, never had my shoes, when they were in the exact condition they were in this morning, touched the sidewalk when it was in the exact condition it was in this morning. This was all totally new. Not only that, never had the precise oxygen atoms that were working inside me this morning passed the large beech tree at the northern end of the park when it was in the exact circumstances it was in this morning. This was all totally new. All of us love to get something brand new – a newborn baby, a new house, a new car, even a new shirt or a new five-dollar bill. This morning I realized that we get an absolutely perfect, brand-new gift each and every moment. Not a bad life, I’d say.
August 16, 2007
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