Friday, June 06, 2014

Getting More Zen

More on the theme of my prior posts, living and dying.




I had a big crush on a certain guy in my younger years and this conversation written by his daughter when she questioned him about death and heaven and ever seeing her grandparents...his parents... again reflects his character and soul and is probably why I felt so inspired when watching his show:

"“You are alive right this second. That is an amazing thing,” they told me. When you consider the nearly infinite number of forks in the road that lead to any single person being born, they said, you must be grateful that you’re you at this very second. Think of the enormous number of potential alternate universes where, for example, your great-great-grandparents never meet and you never come to be. Moreover, you have the pleasure of living on a planet where you have evolved to breathe the air, drink the water, and love the warmth of the closest star. You’re connected to the generations through DNA — and, even farther back, to the universe, because every cell in your body was cooked in the hearts of stars. We are star stuff, my dad famously said, and he made me feel that way."

The man, of course, was Carl Sagan, a magical, happy, elf of a man who loved his universe.  The newer version of a Cosmos explorer, Neil deGrasse Tyson, is more of a teddy bear type who can scare you ever so slightly with his passion for knowledge.  Yet, I feel safe with him as a guide through this universe, as well.

Thus, when thinking about death, I think about Carl Sagan and I get more Zen about life. 

16 comments:

  1. I am happy to be here, just taking in the world. Knowing that I am part of perhaps the only sentient group in the whole, vast universe is enough for me.

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  2. Now see that is why you are so much smarter than I. My crush was on Leon McAuliffe who played the steel guitar for Bill Wills and the Texas Playboys who always said "Take it away Leon!" Who knew that this year I would learn one of my son's friends had married Leon's grandson and could tell me all about him. Wait, that's some of that universe stuff isn't it. lol

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  3. Apparently the universe is trying to tell me something. I have been coming across Carl Sagan quotes for the past week. I love, love this one.

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  4. I like to think of life as mystery. I don't have the answers but don't need them. I totally though go with the -- live it right this moment way of thinking.

    My crush was Clint Walker ;)

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  5. I like that a lot. We are surely star stuff. Makes me smile. Today I am book stuff, tomorrow the County Fair stuff, and Sunday I am me with nothing to do at all. Please take time for yourself this summer. Don't yearn for fall, make it now. :)

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  6. Wow! You and I are definitely on the same page today! And yes, I've learned that zen is living in the moment. This is such a fabulous quote from Sagan. I must try to remember this as I welcome this new day.

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  7. I love genealogy --and love to walk the paths of some of my ancestors... What a hard life some of them had!!!! Makes me appreciate mine much more. We all do need to live in the moment and enjoy our time (however long it may be) on this earth.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  8. The most extraordinary thing to me is to be in the moment and realize that it is the only time when I can act. Time is so strange.

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  9. We are indeed all connected. I'm enjoying the current Cosmos.. save for the animation.

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  10. I'm enjoying the new version of Cosmos, but I enjoyed the original version with Carl Sagan more.

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  11. "Star stuff" huh? I like that too. I've always felt *one with the universe* a small part of something wonderful, but each powerful in our own way. Nothing disappears. We were a part before we were born, are still a part now... and will remain a part after passing from this human existence.

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  12. I read this a second time and get the zen indeed.

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  13. This gave me a few goosebumps. If you search Carl Sagan on my blog you'll find this poem, which is about my kind of Sunday worship. http://www.looseleafnotes.com/2014/01/waiting-to-be-saved/

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  14. No better sage than Carl Sagan; how cool that his daughter wrote these words. Wonderful.

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  15. thanks for reminding me of that quote n philosophic thought.

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  16. Wonderful! Never lose that Wonder

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.