blazing

Some weeks ago I woke up in what seemed like the middle of the night and made one of my usual visits into the bathroom. I happened to glance out the window, and saw a planet, high in the sky, blazing with light. It was a stirring experience, jarring actually, to be half asleep, and to be in the middle of a something very ordinary, and suddenly be in the midst of something extraordinary. I thought it must be Jupiter for two reasons; it was very dark, and it was high in the sky. It was extremely bright which would point to Venus, but Venus, because of its proximity to the Sun, is usually seen at dawn or dusk.

see it?

I checked an astronomical web site the next day, and it was not Jupiter that I had seen, but Venus. The site said that Venus was, indeed, unusually bright at this time. It was said to be at its 'greatest illuminated extent" and was "dazzling" to behold. It sure was. This was due to a combination of its relative "fullness" and its distance from the sun. It is said that the Buddha came to enlightenment when, after a period of intense meditation, he glanced up into the morning sky and saw the planet Venus. It is not difficult to imagine that something like that could happen.

The full moon, the "flower" moon is tonight.