Just A StarLight

The Magi who followed the star to find the baby Jesus, had no other light in the desert they traversed, but they made it just fine in the darkness.  Today, we think we need all these streetlights so we can get around.  Most of the light from street lighting goes up into the clouds, but creates shadows for us that complete darkness would not do. Originally, meditation did not require one to close their eyes to keep out light or from seeing things around them to distract them from meditation.  When I went out into the night at the monastery, at 8,000 feet altitude, I could see on the horizon, the nearby city lights polluting the sky because all that light was going up into the sky.  Street light has allowed us to lengthen our days and get less sleep.  It allows for night shifts, 24 hour factories, and such.  Longer is not necessarily better.  I try to keep this in mind when looking at my day in the early morning darkness, such as it is.  And I prefer matinees.