Meditation: "On Thinking for Myself"

I have heard, and used, the above phrase countless times in my life, and yet only this morning did I realize that it deals with an utter impossibility. I can no more “think for myself” than a wave in the ocean can go where it wants to go, or than a breeze in the park can blow the way it wishes to. The wave and the breeze are parts of immense forces, and so am I. The force I am part of is sometimes called God, sometimes Allah, sometimes the Buddha, or countless other names, but whatever name it’s called by, it is the infinite, serene, and harmonious power that governs and maintains the universe. In fact, I have lately been calling it simply “The Universe”, because I like the prefix “uni-“ in that word. This power, this Universe, is one. There are not two, or a hundred, or a trillion forces in this life. There is only one – the Universe, God, Allah, etc – and it controls absolutely everything. Which brings me back to “thinking for myself”. The phrase actually suggests something ridiculous – that each human being is a separate “self”, somehow removed from the Universe and able to do its own thing. That’s as preposterous as imagining a wave in the ocean going off on its own, turning and twisting and splashing just the way it wants to. The wave does what the ocean does, and I think what the Universe thinks. The vast, illimitable, all-harmonious Mind which is the Universe goes about its thinking moment by moment, and what I call “me” is simply a glorious part of this glorious process. And what’s truly wonderful about this is that “I” don’t have to do any work! Since the Universe does all the thinking, all I have to do is relax and enjoy the show.