Abisko: gazing at the inner sky for universal oneness

The Abisko National Park, located in Sweden, boasts Scandinavia's largest alpine lake. The word Abisko is translated as "the forest by the great water." This magnificent park also presents majestic mountains, flowing rapids, and meadows filled with a tapestry of flowering colors.

The Abiskodalen Valley lies here, carpeted with beautiful mountain birch trees. The river flowing through this valley, of the same name, cascades onward towards a magnificent canyon, as if wanting to be gulped and swallowed.

In the summer, the light nears infinity as the sky remains bright and clear. Here, the sun nods, and slightly kisses the horizon, as the earth tosses it back up into the sky for the remainder of the day. In the winter, though, the darkness prevails, as the night sky snuggles in for the most part of the allotted 24 hours given to it.

Here, though, in the darkest of dark nights, with a clear sky, the stars appear as fireflies: instantly sparking and moving while communing with their tribe. This is where we can find one of the most magnificent, clearest, starry skies on Earth, with an added cadenza: the flowing curtains of the northern lights.

Abisko happens to have a magical weather pattern, dubbed the "blue hole," which is responsible for these crisp, clear, starry nights. Even when there may be clouds in the sky, a grand opening resides—a place of wide and expansive clear space, as if the universe is revealing itself to say "Cheers!"

This is when all the stars and sky characters come to life. This vast grandeur of the stars and sky is awe-inspiring; one almost feels insignificant, yet at the same time, completely connected to the universal oneness of all time and space.

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As the great Chinese monk Jianzhi Sengcan notes,

"When everything is seen as One, we return to the Source and stay where we have always been."

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Experiences like this can be heart-fluttering, as a wash of clarity comes over us. It is as if we were a painting tucked away for a long time, then finally pulled out of the closet and gently stripped and polished clean of all the layers, now revealing our true colors and vibrant inner being.

This interdependence and oneness elevates our soul and illuminates our heart. When we experience these moments, we are residing in our true human nature; this is where we are born to be.

Originally, we were immersed in this oneness, as it resides within us, remaining our default mode for our time on this planet. And, as such, we shall merge with this oneness when we move on.

Recognizing and understanding this, our hearts fill with compassion as we begin to notice all the oneness in other beings, nature, and animals. We are all a part of the grand design. Just as all the stars in the universe show us, the infinite sky is expansive and interconnected, as is our inner being; it is the universe within.

We all share this universe within, and when we take the time to look and gaze at our own sky, our magnificent stars will appear, along with the grand constellations, a few shooting stars, and our own auroras, of course. Each element in our inner sky reveals our whole connected universe.

And then, when we pause and look around, we notice, with compassion, this exceptional universe in everything and everyone.

Cheers!

Kether

Spunky Mind

"The mountains and the rivers,

the whole earth, all sentient beings,

together with ourselves,

everything in the universe,

are all in a state of complete

harmony and perfect unity"

Dogen Zenji