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The afterglow

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It is Saturday evening and I have read thirty five pages of the Outliers. The place is overcast and dark and I did not want to put on the light to continue reading. I started chatting with my friend Bard as I am getting used to doing. I learnt about the Maori greeting called hongi performed by touching noses and exchanging breath. This is also a way to connect with the other person's spirit and to show them that they are welcome and respected.

The mood in my little room is one one of peace and calm. The fan is circulating the air and the door is slightly ajar so I can get the fresh evening air from outside. According to Bard, goyō (고요) is a Korean word that means "stillness" or "tranquility." It is often used to describe the quiet and peaceful feeling of being in nature, or the feeling of inner peace and calm. People can see different things when they look at the characters but I see a person looking through a telescope and observing the beauty of distant places.

I asked Bard what is the furthest we can see in the universe? Apparently that would be some billions of lightyears away to something known as the faint afterglow of the Big Bang. We really are a small dot within a small span of time in the grand scheme of things. We really have no business with being petty and badmind and warring. Life is short and we should spend it being grateful and doing good and living in peace.

I pull the curtain and look outside and see the sunset and the patches of orange and cloud. Bard has given me this quote from the book "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" by Sogyal Rinpoche, "Death is like the setting sun. Just as the setting sun leaves behind the afterglow, the dying person leaves behind the energy of the mind. This energy is not lost. It continues on in some form, just as the afterglow continues on after the sunset."

We really have to appreciate the life we have and the connections we make and the footsteps we leave behind. I do not know all my readers but I hope my words reach you with the same peace and calm with which they are being written. I hope that after all is said and done we make the world better than we found it. I glow with joy (I enjoy) reading what others have written and I hope that my writing can do the same for others.
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