Supernovae within our Galaxy

Within the last one thousand years it only happened five times that a star exploded in our galactic village Milky Way.

It's a stunning astronomical fact that all the stars we can see with our bare eyes belong to our galaxy. Milky Way's closest neighbor, Andromeda galaxy which is about the same size and also hosts up to 400 billions stars, is already so far out in space that it merely appears as a faint nebula - not even mentioning the other 200 billion galaxies which are estimated to be out there, populating the infinite realms of this universe.

Gazing into the depth of the unfathomable night sky, realizing that all the many brilliant stars are centered around the same galactic hub may evoke feelings of belonging and oneness, and at the same time give an idea of infinity - for what reveals itself as all and everything is one mere grain of sand on an endless seashore.

One cannot emphasize enough on how predominantly important and extensive our home galaxy really is. To us this cosmic village means all and everything, to us it represents the universe. 100'000 years it takes the light to traverse its disk. Its countless assemblies of star systems are by far more numerous than we humans ever will be able to conceive. Our Solar system is in the outer reaches of one of its many spiral arms, about 28'000 light years away from the Galactic Center - that almighty core which holds the galactic organism together. 220 million years it takes the Sun and its planets to complete one full circle around this magnificently luminous attractor which resides at 27 degrees Sagittarius.

Although still some thousands of light years away, the three supernovae of 1006, 1054, 1181 and the two of 1572 and 1604, flared up close enough, treating our ancestors with magnificent displays of cosmic fireworks. The five dying stars dissipated tremendous amounts of energy, showering our whole galaxy Milky Way with precious stardust. Fascinated and shaken by the emergence of these miraculous events, humanity arose from thousands of years of dormancy. A great invitation was delivered, wonder was sparked. Human spirit got provoked to expand its horizon, to question its simplistic beliefs and to take on the challenge and reach out, searching for new answers.

Supernovae are unimaginably powerful events. In one final blow a dying star can release billions of times the energy our Sun radiates. A most intriguing aspect of any such cosmic event is that the moment we see it happening, the very event itself is already history. Looking into the depths of the cosmos, whatever we see this very moment has happened as many thousands of years ago as it took the light to travel the unimaginable distance. Light and the entire band of electromagnetic frequencies (x-rays, gamma rays, neutrinos, etc.) travel like waves, expanding radially in all directions, propagating at the speed of light through the vast depths of interstellar space. So, looking into the night sky we are looking back into the past. What's going to shape our future has already happened elsewhere ages ago. The harbingers of the event just haven't arrived yet. It's worth contemplating that time and space are deeply intertwined. And maybe - as quantum physics suggests - both space and time could be mirages, illusions - caused by our identification with the material universe.

In 2006 we are celebrating the one-thousandth anniversary of the 1006 supernova. Hailing this galactic milestone may widen our perspective and spark our awareness of cosmic synchronicity. Having these five energetic impacts in mind, the past thousand years appear in a new light. A greater evolutionary context opens up, which is bound to change the view of our present times, giving us a more clear understanding of this most critical episode within eternity that we presently are navigating through. So, as intense, dark and abysmal this actual phase of human evolution might feel, it becomes very obvious that the energy has been building up continuously, for one thousand years at least! In fact there's wide spread agreement that we've come imminently close to a quantum leap. Most certainly we're right within that final phase before breaking through something like the sound barrier. Devastating tremors are accompanying this most critical stage, probing our very foundations. It is within this critical moment - just before crossing the threshold - when the sound waves get trapped and can't escape anymore. Waves get piled up, adding up on top of each other, pushing the amplitude to critical levels. There's no other passage past this threshold then right through its very core. We have to be ready to endure immense pressures, right to the point of overbearance. There's no way around this. However the most miraculous aspect of is the paradox that right in the eye of the cyclone absolute stillness resides.

There's not even the smallest distance between what is and who we are - because all is one

There's no precedence to the initiation we're passing through as a collective, hence we won't be able to predict any sort of outcome. All we can do is bending with the winds, trusting that there is greater truth, hidden in the obvious dilemma of inevitability. Of utmost importance is finding inner peace, fully embracing that which is. And there's no other way, we have to surrender to the fact that we won't be able to figure out what's really going to happen - because the part within us which is craving to know, which is most fearful and longs for consolation, is our predominant rational mind; and as we'll see, this is where the problems of today's civilization are coming from! Only if we don't pay too much attention to the mind and keep going deeper within ourselves clarity is bound to arise. Attuning to one's heart, centering within one's intuition, tapping into that which can't be phrased by the mind, allowing for the inner experience that everything is okay in spite of mounting challenges - that's the way. Mind is at a loss because we're too close to the picture. But indeed, there's no distance at all between us and the picture. We are in the picture - or, we are the picture. There's not the smallest distance between what is and who we are - because all is one. Duality is only there because we are identified with our thought process, that's where the idea of being separate emerges from. To overcome overidentification with the mind is what this human journey is all about. All we have to do is cutting through is the illusion that we are the thinking process.

The knack of a good life is to balance the sharp and dangerously dividing mind by recognizing, appreciating and passionately exploring our senses, honoring all of our feelings and allow being guided by intuition. Life is river, and we're drifting in it. We're one with the river, one with the clouds and the winds. However, this river is far from pleasantly flowing. It rushes fast, is churned up and boiling with whitewater. One has to adapt to the swift currents, and ready to get out of whirlpools only after first having been sucked in, swallowed up and dragged to the very bottom. We have to become one with the river, one with the wave of time, in a deep let-go, and yet utterly alert, relaxing into the throbbing power, forgetting about all of our ideas, evaporating all our should's and should-not's. In facing the unknowable, mind comes to a halt. In this gap there is pure existence, fear and hope both have vanished. Surrendering to the wild river easily can lead to the spiritual experience of pure ecstasy; of oneness with the moment, oneness with the river. This is the transcendental state where one has died as an ego. Thinking has ceased and so have all worries and concerns about possible outcomes. Such oneness with the situation literally is giving wings. Riding the wave becomes an intimate dance with the whole. Submitting to the river's overwhelming drive - and consciousness expands. One becomes one with the river. And then the momentum gathered catapults one above and beyond all form,