A realization of one's Being and actions in the cosmos
Waheguru ji ka khalsa, Waheguru ji ki fateh!
On 11th of February, two mesmerising videos of the sun were released by NASA, marking 5 years of NASA's Solar Dynamics Laboratory in the space. One of them was a time-lapse video of the sun. It constituted of images compiled by capturing a frame of the sun every 8 hours and thus forming a video that sends the viewer into a trance as one watches the beautiful and serene phenomenon that continuously unfolds in the corona layer of the brightest star we see in our skies.
While seeing the video I felt intimidated by the sheer power existing in the sun. Intimidated to an extent that my self shrunk to a tiny speck in the vast universe; well which in fact is actually true. I could not take my eyes off the blasts after blasts, resultant of the age old running nuclear reaction booming the surface of the sun. So powerful that just one of them would be enough to annihilate the earth and put an end to all that exists here today; so magnificent that humans have always awed it; so benign that one wonders how on a sunny winter day, we sit outside and thank for the warmth that reaches us. I felt my self shrinking further with the knowledge that the sun, though being a massive giant, is not alone. It is merely one of the hundreds of billions of stars.
'Kaytay ind chand soor kaytay katay mandal days'
(Jap jee)
Many of them much massive and larger than our dear sun. My being reduced to less than a grain of sand in front of the immense size of the creation of God. I was left wondering as to how I tend to take some very small and petty things so seriously and succumb to the five thiefs (kaam, krodh, lobh, moh, ahankar). And on a larger scale, how today humanity is fighting over land, religion and power. How the middle-east is crumbling down, bringing suffering and misery to scores of innocent people. Imagining one's self standing in front of something as massive as the sun and the sun compared to the entire universe, all this suddenly seems petty, unnecessary acts, which don't even matter on such a large scale. On that kind of metrics, self does gets crushed. Tranced in all these thoughts, my ignorant mind started questioning further to the sheer existence of my being. Many questions rose up, does my existence even matter? Whatever I do from morning to evening, does it even count? With such a huge metric in front, does it even make sense if one does a thing or the other? It won't even matter!! What we receive is just a small amount of the warmth of the sun and that alone has a major affect on whatever is going on and will happen here on earth. Then compared to all that how does an individual's action count?
The moment of wandering in the dark, with so many questions raised. The feeling of being in a dark cave, fumbling along the walls.... lost. A prayer to God for help. Only Guru can show the light. And show it, He does. Guru ji's words in the Salok of the Jap Jee pass a clear light through the darkness. The moment of light:
'Pavan guroo paanee pitaa maataa Dharat mahat
Divas raat du-ay daa-ee daa-i-aa khaylai sagal jagat'
The play! 1Ongkaar- Waheguru is making us play! And He is watching us play through joy and sorrow, being happy and sad, kind and angry, loving and fighting, in the cradle of the beautiful creation, with day and night taking care of the entire 'jagat', all inclusive- every single being. May be the existence of one as a being does matter. May be the actions that we do, do count. So Guru ji goes on further. All doubts are removed by Guru ji in the next tuks:
'Chang-aa-ee-aa buri-aa-ee-aa vaachai Dharam hadoor
karmee aapo aapnee kay nayrhai kay door'
Nothing more is left to be said to shatter the ignorance of the mind. All gets crystal clear. However small, as being a speck in the vast universe, Waheguru cares and nurtures us all and what we do, does matter, does count. Loving and kind deeds and the opposite ones too (Chang-aa-ee-aa buri-aa-ee-aa), do make a difference to us and to the world we live in. And based upon each one's karam, one is near or far from being One with the 1Ongkar. It does matter on howsoever small scale it is done at. It does matter. A small deed done in true faith and service to God and His creation does bring about a change. It never goes in vain. It counts. 'karmee aapo aapnee kay nayrhai kay door'.
'jinee naam Dhi-aa-i-aa gay-ay maskat ghaal
Naanak tay mukh ujlay kaytee chhutee naal'
All is explained and clarified by Guru ji- It counts. And he does tells how. With that, Guru ji brings the turbulent mind to rest and peace.
May there be peace in the world. Please forgive any ignorant mistakes I would have made while sharing the above views. Sadh sangat is generous and forgiving.
Waheguru ji ka khalsa, Waheguru ji ki fateh!
See NASA videos below:
| NASA | SDO: Year 5 |
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Published on Feb 11, 2015 In honor of SDO's fifth anniversary, NASA has released a video showcasing highlights from the last five years of sun watching. Watch the movie to see giant clouds of solar material hurled out into space, the dance of giant loops hovering in the corona, and huge sunspots growing and shrinking on the sun's surface. The imagery is an example of the kind of data that SDO provides to scientists. By watching the sun in different wavelengths – and therefore different temperatures – scientists can watch how material courses through the corona, which holds clues to what causes eruptions on the sun, what heats the sun's atmosphere up to 1,000 times hotter than its surface, and why the sun's magnetic fields are constantly on the move. Five years into its mission, SDO continues to send back tantalizing imagery to incite scientists' curiosity. For example, in late 2014, SDO captured imagery of the largest sun spots seen since 1995 as well as a torrent of intense solar flares. Solar flares are bursts of light, energy and X-rays. They can occur by themselves or can be accompanied by what's called a coronal mass ejection, or CME, in which a giant cloud of solar material erupts off the sun, achieves escape velocity and heads off into space. In this case, the sun produced only flares and no CMEs, which, while not unheard of, is somewhat unusual for flares of that size. Scientists are looking at that data now to see if they can determine what circumstances might have led to flares eruptions alone. Goddard built, operates and manages the SDO spacecraft for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C. SDO is the first mission of NASA's Living with a Star Program. The program's goal is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to address those aspects of the sun-Earth system that directly affect our lives and society. This video is public domain and can be downloaded at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?11742 |
| NASA | 5 Year Time-lapse of the Sun |
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Published on Feb 11, 2015 |