One of the most awe-inspiring views of the heavens I ever had was from the Sahara desert in Algeria where Jane and I used to live. We were located not far from the desert in the Atlas Mountains near Constantine (Ain Smara) and it was only a half-day's trip by car to the gateway to the desert in Tamanrasset. From that place, the expanse of golden shifting sand extended forever south and you could easily follow a 2 lane road into the desert with relative safety.
One night we took a trip out into the cold vastness surrounding the little village we were staying in and parked the car. Because of the absence of light pollution and the lack of air pollution and moisture, the heavens were lit up like I have never seen them. There seemed to be no place where there was not a dense field of minute points of light; distant stars and galaxies were endlessly arrayed throughout the great arching dome overhead. Standing there quietly, one could not help feeling awed, and especially humbled. Yet I did not feel alone strangely, floating somewhere pointlessly in the great universal tumble of light and infinite space, a mere product of chance chemical and molecular interactions. Instead, I felt quite especially blessed to be able to witness such majesty and to contemplate what my own particular role might be in that possibility. I wondered about the question of whether form follows consciousness, as Meher Baba says, or if the opposite is true as Darwin would maintain.
Baba maintains that the whole purpose of bringing the universe into existence (the original whim which set the evolution of consciousness into play) was so that God would experience love through creation. Baba uses the ocean as a metaphor. The ultimate goal is for each individual drop of water to cease to experience itself as an individual drop, and to experience itself as the entire ocean; the ocean of Love, as Baba often said.
The impetus of the conscious (or unconscious) urge to know the answer to the question "Who am I?" is the energetic thread that propels the evolution of matter from mineral to animal to human, the ultimate stage before the process of involution, or eventual conscious realization that the answer to the question "Who am I?" is "I am God!"
Tired of inhabiting your small corner of the universe. Take a trip through space and get inspired with the wonders that abound. Follow the link below:
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/entire
One night we took a trip out into the cold vastness surrounding the little village we were staying in and parked the car. Because of the absence of light pollution and the lack of air pollution and moisture, the heavens were lit up like I have never seen them. There seemed to be no place where there was not a dense field of minute points of light; distant stars and galaxies were endlessly arrayed throughout the great arching dome overhead. Standing there quietly, one could not help feeling awed, and especially humbled. Yet I did not feel alone strangely, floating somewhere pointlessly in the great universal tumble of light and infinite space, a mere product of chance chemical and molecular interactions. Instead, I felt quite especially blessed to be able to witness such majesty and to contemplate what my own particular role might be in that possibility. I wondered about the question of whether form follows consciousness, as Meher Baba says, or if the opposite is true as Darwin would maintain.
Baba maintains that the whole purpose of bringing the universe into existence (the original whim which set the evolution of consciousness into play) was so that God would experience love through creation. Baba uses the ocean as a metaphor. The ultimate goal is for each individual drop of water to cease to experience itself as an individual drop, and to experience itself as the entire ocean; the ocean of Love, as Baba often said.
The impetus of the conscious (or unconscious) urge to know the answer to the question "Who am I?" is the energetic thread that propels the evolution of matter from mineral to animal to human, the ultimate stage before the process of involution, or eventual conscious realization that the answer to the question "Who am I?" is "I am God!"
Tired of inhabiting your small corner of the universe. Take a trip through space and get inspired with the wonders that abound. Follow the link below:
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/entire
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