2 hours and 21 minutes

“Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
“Roger, Tranquillity. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again.”
With that exchange on July 20 1969, almost a year before I was born, Man lands on the Moon and the millions who watched sighed in relief and wonder. I suppose even the most nationalistic of communist Russia would have said a silent prayer for that safe landing. For the first time since God (or chance chemical reactions or whatever) put us on this piece of floating mass of earth and water, man experienced ‘Earthrise’. For the first time, 40 years ago come this July 20th, we knew deep inside our hearts that the heavens are indeed part of us and us part of it.

I can’t really appreciate that momentous moment as by the time I read about it, it was just a text book stuff but my interest remained and until today, I make it point to look at pictures of Space (courtesy of Nasa) to remind me that…well…I am indeed small and in the end nothing matters here as there is a far more glorious and mysterious realm out there. I suppose my readings of ancient Indian scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Srimadbhagavatam and the Mahabharata to a certain extent takes away the mystery of the universe and space. For the Indian (especially Hindu) mind and culture, space travel is not an impossibility as we are told that thousands and even millions of years ago, munis and rishis have travelled across space and time as easily as we drive our cars to work today. Narada, one of the celestial beings, is often cited as an adviser to the kings and queens of this earth and also of those who rule the heavens. So for me, whether Man can travel further into space is only a question of when.

Regardless of which cultural tradition you happen to be born in, when you truly appreciate the mystery and vastness of Space, you will not brush off ideas and opinions so easily; no matter how crazy they may sound. The idea of us floating in this unimaginable space by it self is so ridiculous. The fact that a mere fraction of an inch difference in the distance between the earth and sun can spell catastrophic consequences is so mind boggling. What makes us think that it is ridiculous for the Pyramids to be build by an alien race or that mystics can levitate and be in two places at one time? Or that, crystals can have energy or that gem stones can protect you from the effects of the planets? We hardly know about ourselves and we have hardly scratched the mystery of our planetary system to be able to have pompous self-proclaimed truths.

I am not sure what and how Yuri Gagarin or Armstrong or since them, many more Americans, Russians, Chinese, Indians, Japanese, Europeans , a Malaysian and others felt when they ‘left earth’. But I think it would have been Beauty and Wonder that they would have seen and it would have been God (in whichever form or concept) that they would have felt. The learning and appreciation of Space as our larger ‘habitat’ should be made a subject in schools and colleges. One can’t go on feeling self-important when he or she looks at the vast Space and the billions of things that we hardly understand about it. When you look into the sky and point out a particularly beautiful cluster of stars to your children, those stars may have already been dead and broken into pieces and turned into stardust. The light that we see on earth today could have been sent billions of years ago. The ‘senders’ long dead since then. Isn’t that mind boggling?

The Divine is indeed all around us and I suppose you can’t miss it when you are in space. For that reason alone, I wouldn't mind going there even if my return can’t be guaranteed. Anything is worth for that fleeting moment of experiencing who I truly am – a stardust. Nothing more and nothing less.

Perhaps for the duration of 2 hours and 21 minutes than Armstrong and Aldrin were messing up the Moon surface with their eternal footprints and metal garbage, that was what they were feeling. A sense of oneness with the Universe/God/Spirit/Energy (whatever). A feeling that we on this time and space bound Earth can only ‘imagine’ to experience with our pompous meditation, religiosity and superiority.

But, let me remind you readers that we humans were not the first earthling to ‘experience’ space. It was a far more humble creature that had that honour. That by it self should be a humbling realization for us ‘superior’ humans. And one more thing….many of the news reports the day after the first moon landing said ‘ Man have landed on the Moon’. Interesting…it was the Americans who did it but for that one fleeting moment…something was able to unify us.

There is divine beauty in this world but that glory is not out there but all within us. We are just so divided to feel it and I suppose those of us blessed to leave this earth and free our selves from the competing demands on our loyalty, we may experience that inner beauty and oneness with everything that is, was and will be. Maybe, that is what it takes to experience our Spirit.

Next time…look up into Space and take your eyes away from terra firma for a second. Be aware by its vastness and grandeur . And, come this 20th July…remember that we are but a speck of blue dot…dust of the heavens.