Stardust: Part 1

 

Stardust

Last evening I tuned into the weekly zoom meeting of our spiritual group based out of Minneapolis. The presenter is a regular member and contributor. His background is physics and he has authored books on the subject. He is originally from Slovakia and a descendant of the ex president of that country. From an early age he has been drawn to religion and spirituality along with his late wife who he mentions quite often during his talks. He tends to relate to spirituality through Nature and seeks to connect with the divine amidst trees and outdoors. 

Yesterday he was slated to speak and chose the topic of his talk to be “ We are One”. 

In the course of his talk he made references to the writings of the likes of Rabindranath Tagore, and shared anecdotes about Einstein and some other prominent scientists. The talk went into a discussion about the Big Bang Theory, its merits and demerits. He also went into some depths about how the Hindu tradition since the beginning has always included science as an integral part of its teachings. Religion and science , he attested, were not at odds with each other where Hinduism is concerned. He then discussed a bit about the Jewish and Christian Biblical texts regarding the origin of the universe.

The gist of his talk was that if we were to accept that primordial energy was the source of the universe, whatever stars were born out of the big bang, they dispersed their particles, which in turn expanded into space, into planets and living beings. The same original atoms, electrons, neutrons etc are recycled in the course of time. We are recipients of the same original material in varying combinations and amounts. These are our building blocks. This is our shared history and foundation.

It was a brilliant presentation and although I wasn’t able to completely digest some of the scientific information he shared, the talk certainly gave some fresh perspective towards our existence. 

Now I will share the one thing from that talk that made the most impression on my mind! The speaker gave a reference to an American author who had roots in Bulgaria. He read out some passages from her book in context of the topic of the day. He also read out to us her words at the beginning of the book where she dedicates the work to a deceased dear friend of hers.

“ To Emily: You returned your borrowed stardust to the universe much too soon !”

Hinduism teaches us we are divinity. Tat Tvam Asi or Aham Bramhasmi!

Science teaches us we are composed of stardust.

And this stardust is borrowed by each of us for a finite period of time only to be reclaimed by the universe. 

Imagine how much madness we exhibit during the borrowed period?

Food for thought isn’t it?