Who among us doesn’t enjoy a night under the stars, looking up at the tiny points of blue light that represent the vastness of the cosmos and our smaller place in it? Although we may forget this sentiment for the rest of the day, I would like to think that it remains there, in the back of our minds, percolating through all other thoughts imprinted in the subconscious mind. These beautiful stars, the beauty and the mystery behind them, inspire us to a bigger view of the universe and almost instantaneously spur us to questions about meaning, as if living in this world isn’t enough. We want to engage in this other one too. The sooner the better.
This other world of the cosmos exists here, mindfully, of course. I do not mean to say that our world, the Earth, is a part of the cosmos and this makes a part of the cosmos with us here and now. What I mean to say is that another mystery exists, as big as the cosmos, that can be looked at just like the tiny points of light you see in the night sky. And when you do see it, closing your eyes and imagining its existence, your mind will shutter, your being will tremble and, if properly prepared, you will explode with an inner joy of that mystery and beauty accessible to us all.
You can call it ‘God’ if you will. I have no need for a name as it is not a thing I can speak to. In fact, it is hard to call it a thing as a thing is separate from another thing and this is inseparable, unbounded and ineffable. Because to describe it is to describe ‘the other’ and this cannot be ‘the other’ because it is everything. When you sense it, it feels like a mental singularity that encompasses the entire existence. But again, you cannot call it ‘existence’ because that would imply it can be observed, categorized and studied again. It cannot. It cannot only be sensed. It can only engulf you if you’re courageous enough.
‘Existentialism’ is technically the term used for a French philosophy coined by Jacques Sartre after World War II. I use this term to connote the experience of Being, the simple notion that everything around you exists and when you think about it, the very thought is mind blowing. The very fact, which in reality cannot be said to be a fact, that it is there makes it holy. Everything is holy – alive or inanimate.
I like looking up at the stars. I know you do too. The little points of light could have been a form of escapism. But it could be that sense of mystery that most people come back to, because they need to, as if deep down they are hungry for it. I don’t forget that sense of mystery after I leave the night sky. I carry it with me everywhere I go. The mystery was there when I was young and it is still there when I am not as young. It promises nothing: No life after death, no God, no angels and no miracles to save me from myself and others that have done me wrong. No. It is that little point of blue light in my consciousness that brings me the light of mystery, joy and beauty to my existence. – Michael