Eight Billion Stars

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Abstract

k as possible which meant that approximately eight billion stars could be seen. The nearest towns or cities were hundreds of miles away so there was zero light pollution. And the spot I was headed for was a mile off the highway so there was not even any light from the headlights of cars — not that there was much traffic on that desolate highway at that time of night.I turned off my car and got out. I spread a beach towel on the hood of my car; not so much to keep dirt off me but to put a thin layer between me and the heat radiating up from the car’s engine. I then got up on the hood of the car. I sat down then leaned back against the windshield.I spent the next hour or two or more looking up into the night sky. I watched the eight billion or so stars. I could see the Milky Way. I saw several shooting stars. This was an experience one cannot have in a big city — or even in a large town. It is a profound spiritual experience.Staring up into that infinite universe I saw it as a destination; as some place I would eventually return to. I also saw it as the home from which I came. It was the perfect metaphor for my current situation. Lubbock, Texas and El Paso, Texas were only two tiny little dots in an infinite universe. I did not want to be stuck in any one little dot. I wanted to travel the universe, not just the one up in the sky but also the one the tires of my car sat upon.When looking up into the universe in such a way all barriers seem to evaporate. Life is infinite, endless. I wanted to be unbound to place. I wanted my life to be as infinite and boundless as the universe I was staring at. I wanted no limitations. The infinity within me bonded with the infinity above. I never wa

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nted to stop. I wanted to touch and feel and experience it all. I wanted to be it all.When we live life in limitation we lose touch with the infinite, with the universe. Every limitation shields us from the universe; from the All That Is.Everyone talks about how we need more light in our lives, how we must embrace the light, etc. But it is equally important to seek out the darkness, the blackness, so that we can see the light that all the other light is cancelling out. This is the light that our soul connects to. This is the light that shows us just how big our home really is. It is the light that takes us beyond our limitations. It is the light that feeds that tiny spark of light deep within us and brings it out. It is the mirror of our own personal light just as we are a mirror of it.Those couple of hours in the blackness of the West Texas night was a life-changing spiritual experience; no religion required, no guru required, no book needing to be read, no seminar needing to be attended, no psycho-tropic drug required, no yoga position required (other than the Looking Up Asana). This spiritual experience is available to anyone who can get far enough out of their city to undertake. It is the artificial light of humankind that keeps us from the real divine light of the universe.Someday the planet will be blanketed by the artificial light of humankind and to experience the full light of the universe one will have to be out in the middle of the ocean. Don’t wait for that day. Experience it now.Copyright by <a href="https://readmedium.com/white-feather-archive-index-c95167f7dbaf">White Feather</a>. All Rights Reserved.</article></body>

Can you see them?

The trunk of my car was packed with all my stuff — almost everything I owned. It was the mid-1970s and I was driving from Lubbock, Texas where I had been attending college to El Paso, Texas where I had been living before I went to college. I was finished with the place I was coming from but I was also finished (in my mind) with the place where I was headed. What I needed was a new destination.

I had not officially done it yet but I knew I was dropping out of college. I had not officially done it yet but I knew that I desperately needed to leave forever my hometown. My destiny was somewhere else and I was not sure where that was.

I left Lubbock in the late afternoon and after crossing the southeastern corner of New Mexico I re-entered Texas after dark. While I was looking for an unknown future destination, that evening I was headed for a specific destination — just for an hour or so.

I had been there before. I was looking for a certain experience. There are several places across the country where one can have such an experience and I have found several of them. This was the first such place I discovered.

The highway between Carlsbad, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas is a long, long lonely drive through land without almost no evidence of humankind. There are no towns. If you ever want to get away for a while from civilization take a trip on this highway.

That night was a New Moon. With no moonlight in the sky, the sky was as black as possible which meant that approximately eight billion stars could be seen. The nearest towns or cities were hundreds of miles away so there was zero light pollution. And the spot I was headed for was a mile off the highway so there was not even any light from the headlights of cars — not that there was much traffic on that desolate highway at that time of night.

I turned off my car and got out. I spread a beach towel on the hood of my car; not so much to keep dirt off me but to put a thin layer between me and the heat radiating up from the car’s engine. I then got up on the hood of the car. I sat down then leaned back against the windshield.

I spent the next hour or two or more looking up into the night sky. I watched the eight billion or so stars. I could see the Milky Way. I saw several shooting stars. This was an experience one cannot have in a big city — or even in a large town. It is a profound spiritual experience.

Staring up into that infinite universe I saw it as a destination; as some place I would eventually return to. I also saw it as the home from which I came. It was the perfect metaphor for my current situation. Lubbock, Texas and El Paso, Texas were only two tiny little dots in an infinite universe. I did not want to be stuck in any one little dot. I wanted to travel the universe, not just the one up in the sky but also the one the tires of my car sat upon.

When looking up into the universe in such a way all barriers seem to evaporate. Life is infinite, endless. I wanted to be unbound to place. I wanted my life to be as infinite and boundless as the universe I was staring at. I wanted no limitations. The infinity within me bonded with the infinity above. I never wanted to stop. I wanted to touch and feel and experience it all. I wanted to be it all.

When we live life in limitation we lose touch with the infinite, with the universe. Every limitation shields us from the universe; from the All That Is.

Everyone talks about how we need more light in our lives, how we must embrace the light, etc. But it is equally important to seek out the darkness, the blackness, so that we can see the light that all the other light is cancelling out. This is the light that our soul connects to. This is the light that shows us just how big our home really is. It is the light that takes us beyond our limitations. It is the light that feeds that tiny spark of light deep within us and brings it out. It is the mirror of our own personal light just as we are a mirror of it.

Those couple of hours in the blackness of the West Texas night was a life-changing spiritual experience; no religion required, no guru required, no book needing to be read, no seminar needing to be attended, no psycho-tropic drug required, no yoga position required (other than the Looking Up Asana). This spiritual experience is available to anyone who can get far enough out of their city to undertake. It is the artificial light of humankind that keeps us from the real divine light of the universe.

Someday the planet will be blanketed by the artificial light of humankind and to experience the full light of the universe one will have to be out in the middle of the ocean. Don’t wait for that day. Experience it now.