Feast of Starlight: Finding Your True Self Through the Soundtracks from LOTR and "The Hobbit"

There is magic in music. Its frequency is affecting consciousness. How could it not? Our consciousness is also a frequency. Whenever I feel down or whenever I feel like it, I listen to the soundtracks of all Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. They are pure magic. Howard Shore, who wrote the music, is a musical genius who gave humanity a transcendental portal to the universe. There is no other way to describe the effect this music has on me. Gone is the heaviness that burdens my Heart as I listen to this music and my spirit is lifted high above this mundane world. It is like I am reminded of the infinite being inside me that yearns to burst out of the character I play in this lifetime. As I am listening to this music, my Heart is burning with bliss, and my eyes are tearing up from joy. My own frequency is amplified, and my mind is filled with awe. I am not myself. I become again the luminous being that I’ve always been and always will be. For a moment in eternity, while I listen to this music, I shed the mask of the character I am playing in this incarnation, and I am basking in the everlasting light of the universe. At the same time, I am immersed in the beauty and the emotions displayed in the movies and by extension of course in Tolkien's books. There is something mystical and transcendental happening inside me when I hear Arwen's theme "Evenstar". The same happens when I listen to “Feast of Starlight” and especially “Beyond the Forest”. The deep and bittersweet melody is moving me in ways that unlock my true Self. I am literally and in the truest sense alive.

Some people might criticize me for that. Some people might think ill of me. Some people might shake their heads, dismissing me as a dreamer. I don't mind. I will continue to listen to this music. It’s fine. They may not appreciate this type of music, but hopefully they can appreciate any music that uplifts them and has a similar effect on them as this music has on me.

In these moments, I am expressing the unspoken wish and the unyielding desire to be free, unbound by relentless conditioning like all of us. I know that the feelings that spring forth through this music will never fade and never yield until my last breath and beyond. They are a living reminder of who I truly am, and not the “me” that hurts from years of bitter disappointment and loveless life, not the “me” that yearns to be my true Self, not the “me” that’s tired from the self-imposed battle of integration that’s raging inside me for many lifetimes. That’s just my character articulating his pain. And then, out of the blue, Gandalf’s wisdom comes to the rescue of my weary character, as he said to Frodo: “All that we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” Indeed. What we do in our lives matter. It is not some worthless or trivial time that we spend on a forgotten planet at the edge of the Milky Way. It is where we train to become our true Self, our own personal embodiment of that infinite, luminous being that we are, presently immersed in oblivion, striving to remember who we truly are, thought by thought, emotion by emotion and ache by ache.

The number of moments of bliss that we experience in our lives represents the average readiness of being our true Self. The more we feel bliss, the more we are closer to being our true Self. I’m not referring to a mere sugar rush for example, or the satisfaction we feel after a great meal. There is nothing better than serving spirit to achieve the level of genuine bliss I’m referring to. Reaching a personal milestone in our inner work is not the same as getting a promotion at work, but it’s the kind of bliss I am referring to.

Can we feel bliss from being of assistance to each other for example?

Can we feel bliss from witnessing the perfect assortment of colours when the sun begins its journey across the sky or ends it in divine time?

Can we feel bliss from walking in nature that goes beyond feeling at ease, while marvelling at its perfection?

Can we look up to the stars on a beautiful summer night feasting on starlight, feeling the universe in our Heart, and cherish it at the same time?

Can we look upon a stranger and feel a level of unconditional love that goes beyond pity or compassion, like looking into a mirror?

Can we sit in silence and contemplate pure bliss for the sake of it, just by listening to music?

Can we glance at the horizon, tuning into the unknown, accepting it, embracing it, while knowing that the future will be fine in whatever way it unfolds?

Can we imagine our selves living on humanity’s colonies on other planets and feel our zest for life expand within us moment by moment, until we can’t contain it anymore?

Can we allow the universe to blossom in our Heart and empty our mind from thoughts about how to get along with each other?

Can we offer our fellow humans practical assistance that is not necessarily prepackaged with a service-based fee?

If we raise our arms and stretch them as far as we can, we can get a feeling of how far we allow each other to approach our body, our mind and our Heart in our day-to-day activities. My own, personal and you might say intimate approach to the universe, listening to etheric, yet visceral music is but one way to achieve this connection. If we can anchor this connection within our Heart, then and only then we are ready to come closer than an arm’s length. We can then convey our love to each other, without feeling that we might be misunderstood, because other humans will feel the same. It is the foundation of how we interact with each other, by reframing our relationship to the universe. In a strange way, that I am only beginning to explore, my own true Self IS the universe. All barriers between our selves and the universe break down in this state of being and this includes the walls of the fortresses that we have built around us.

I am that I am and I am enough. Once we get to feel this concept viscerally within us, then we have stripped our conditioning to a minimum and are ready to proceed reclaiming our power. We can then feel with our Heart and know with our mind, that we are at the precipice of “being”, leaving behind the “doing”. Yes, you heard right. I said “being”. You have purged what is burdening you and can adopt new habits that are helpful to you in your new state of being. It’s like emptying a glass of stale water and refilling it with pure, fresh water – or losing excess weight and replacing it with lean muscle mass. Use any metaphor that appeals to you, so that you can literally feel it.

This step is about feeling passively that you are your true Self and that you are enough, declaring that you are rejecting your conditioned past and are ready to move past it. The next step is to reach out. You summon your will power and declare that you are now moving past your conditioned past. You will be surprised how good it feels to be looking into the horizon and imagine only good things that will come your way.

At this point, let us remember, that the universe is just existing. It just is. The universe is all that is. So, by definition it contains everything. We just need to reframe ourselves in a way that we expect only positive things. Our vibration matters. Once we move from being conditioned to being devoid of conditioning, our Heart is literally filling us up with emptiness, the main property of the universe. You might think that I’ve lost it. On second thought however, you will see that emptiness contains infinity. Think about it. When you meditate about emptiness you can feel the universe. Not with your mind, but with your Heart. You can then become empty and trust your true Self, which is the embodiment of the universe within you, to lead you to wherever your Heart desires. It’s rather simple, but it took us thousands of years to get it.

But first you need to put yourself in a position to become empty, and that’s where the music plays a crucial part. You can now understand, that seemingly disconnected concepts are connected in a way that leads you to bliss or in other words to emptiness. Remember, I am that I am and that is enough. Your original state of being is emptiness and it is there where we go back to. Empty to experience life, empty to understand the universe, and finally, empty to become the universe. Superficial? I don’t think so. Circumstantial? Not really. But hey, don’t take my word for it. Follow the breadcrumbs that I just laid out before you and see for yourself. I dare you! Use your music, reclaim your power, break with our shared, conditioned past, redesign yourself. Only this way can you experience it yourself. My way may not be for you. Only your way matters. Find your own way to emptiness and experience a new way to live.