My latest meditation image is of the Sun viewed from about the location of Jupiter. In my imagination-meditation, I see our home star as a bright speck, brighter than the other stars but clearly one of them, not owned or governed by us or anyone else. I imagine Earth & the other inner planets as mere dust motes circling the Sun, barely visible (really, not at all visible, but hey, this is my imagination!), & definitely not in charge. It’s only gravity that binds us to this star.
Gravity binds us to our planet, too. Debates about evolution & morality & climate change aside, is there anyone out there who doesn’t ‘believe’ in gravity? Please raise your hand…& please also notice the effort it takes to do that. Gravity is one of the fundamental forces in the universe. As with many of these forces of nature, we human primates take it for granted, but don’t have much of a grasp of why or how. Mostly, we understand it metaphorically.
As in, the gravity of our current situation. Random explosions in the east. Drought in the west. Sunless days in the north. Leaderless nights in the south. The embracing weight of our (still admittedly limited) understanding of Life on this little dust mote of a planet circling our relatively small star in this vast & unimaginably complex universe…ah yes, a few moments of meditation can be helpful for humans. & always, music…thank you John Mayer.
So here we are…near & distant starlight, familiar but mysterious gravity, known & imagined planets, fragile bits of life, love & suffering here on earth, unknown kin out there in the vastness…what’s a human primate to do but breathe?
“Just keep me where the light is…”
the everyday primate 
You’re going to think I’m nuts. But here’s what happened to me many years ago. I was going through an emotionally difficult divorce, my finances were in the negatives, I was barely employed, and I had kids to worry about. Worry. Worry. Worry.
One night while I was sleeping, I found myself floating out in the blackness of space. Everything was dark except for the whiteness of my nightgown, which was fanned out all around me. What was I doing there? Where was I? Then a voice came out of the emptiness and said, “It all fits into the universe.” I didn’t understand.
The voice said again, “It all fits into the universe.” And in that moment, I saw a speck of light in front of me… tiny, tiny. A pinprick, really. And I realized it was the Earth. The realization came over me that if the Earth was no bigger than this, then my problems must be nothing.
And as soon as I realized that, I was sucked into the little speck of light… and I awoke suddenly in my bed. For a while I was afraid to talk about it because it was so real. It didn’t feel at all like a dream. It felt tangible. I can’t tell you if my spirit really went out there, but it definitely felt like it.
you have a connected dreamworld…lucky you, donna!
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