You Are the Universe, Literally

This isn’t a metaphor.

You are literally made of stardust.

The calcium in your bones?

Born in ancient stars.

The iron in your blood?

Forged in cosmic fire before this planet even formed.

The oxygen you breathe?

Circulating through trees, oceans, and galaxies since the beginning of time.

You are not separate from the universe.

You are the universe, experiencing itself in human form.

And Zen doesn’t just know this, it feels it.

Applied Zen isn’t about sitting in a cave and escaping the world.

It’s about remembering that you are the world.

You’re not outside of it, looking in.

You’re the whole damn thing in motion.

When you sit, you don’t become peaceful because you disconnect.

You become peaceful because you reconnect, to your breath, to your body, to the strange miracle of being made of atoms that used to be stars.

This isn’t spiritual fluff.

It’s science.

And it’s sacred.

Zen says, “Show up for what’s here.”

And what’s here is a body that holds cosmic memory.

A nervous system shaped by thunder and instinct and awe.

A mind that worries about rent and wonders about infinity.

You are not small.

You are not broken.

You are not behind.

You are carbon and consciousness and centuries of survival.

You are a moment of the cosmos, awake for just long enough to say,

“I’m here.”

Applied Zen lets you feel that, not just know it.

It invites you to sit still not to empty out,

but to remember.

Remember that your hands are the hands of the earth.

Your lungs are part of the wind.

Your thoughts ride electrical currents that echo stars.

You are not separate.

You never were.

So the next time you feel disconnected,

put your hand on your chest.

Breathe.

And remember:

You’re not trying to become spiritual.

You already are.