Light

Much like the scent of pine and peppermint, Jesus is in the air.  Whether you choose to believe in Jesus as God or not we might all agree he was a real man who rocked the status quo.  I’m not inviting discussion of his followers and those who created church in his name or where individuals stand on the God/Man/Both decision.  There is plenty of that around elsewhere!  I simply maintain in any case that Jesus was a revolutionary person of deep love, conviction, and grace.  The dude totally took his world by storm in his teachings about inclusion and peace.  I love that he strolled around fishing wharfs, town wells and gathering places using words and stories to bring change.  He sought no particular positions of power.  I think Jesus was a teacher who knew a lot about light.   

     

The noun light is defined at dictionary.com (I list the first two entries).
1.  something that makes things visible or affords illumination.
2.  (physics)
     a. luminous energy, radiant energy, electromagnetic radiation to which the organs of sight react 
     b.  a similar form of radiant energy that does not affect the retina, as ultraviolet or infrared rays

Light has been a topic of life since forever (often contrasted against darkness - see last week’s blog).  But we humans seem to forget over and over, generation after generation, again and again that light is ours for the seeing, for the fostering, for the remembering, for the accepting.  That which affords illumination exists from all time and has never stopped existing.  We just have to open up our physical and metaphorical eyes to it. We have to know light is there even at night when the sun has set.  Your light cannot be taken away.  Not by poverty.  Not by cold winter.  Not by injury.  Not by laws.  Not by another person’s anger.  Not even by death be it peaceful or in torture and execution.

I think what does happen is that we stop seeing our light and the light in others.  The more I have the gift of practicing and teaching yoga, the more I see its effectiveness in moving us into our luminous radiant energy, the energy that shows us the way to what is unchanging and infinite.  From this place inside ourselves we are able to clearly see the light in all. 

In yogic philosophy, the things which cause us to see incorrectly or not at all are named the Five Afflictions.  Wrong sight is rooted in ignorance (avidya), pride (asmita), unfettered desire (raga), extreme aversion (dvesa), and fear of death (abhinivesa).  Which of these do we fall into throughout our lives, throughout a day?  Oh, to cure ourselves of ignorance and pride!  Imagine freedom from attachment to or senseless rejection of things!  Joy, to see ourselves as infinite creatures residing in finite bodies!  How is this done – I propose meditation on light.

Illumination

Come Oh, Come E Man

you well know five holds blind us

love makes visible

 

 

 

 

 

Darkness

One cannot ignore the pervading darkness this time of year.  Dusk arrives, a daily surprise, as the traditional work day ends.  Dinner feels formal in low light eaten under electric dimmer switch sponsored lights.  The envelope of night sky seals us completely in black by eight o’clock. 

 

Five entries define the noun darkness at dictionary.com.
1.  the state or quality of being dark:  the room was in total darkness
2.  absence or deficiency of light:  the darkness of night
3.  wickedness or evil:  Satan, the prince of darkness
4.  obscurity; concealment:  darkness of the metaphor destroyed its effectiveness.
5.  lack of knowledge or enlightenment:  heathen darkness

 

Both darkness and light offer their own gifts, but the longing toward light seems innate as does darkness’ connection to things evil or lacking enlightenment.  The absence of light renders sight difficult, often impossible, making opportunity for unseen thieves, unidentifiable predators, general vulnerability.     

Darkness is the topic of conversation for the season of Advent.  This dance between opposites is not new:  darkness and light have been in relationship since early people lived in knowledge and awe of the rhythms of Mother Earth.  Earth moves through winter darkness into light.  Ancient Celts prayed for the sun’s return with its life-giving light, warmth and assurance that Spring would come.  In contemporary Christian tradition songs of longing, waiting, patience, and hope still drift to the heavens. 

People discern that light comes to our world from a Source that offers itself freely.  In this awareness, people await the arrival of something important, necessary to our very existence, essential to dispelling darkness.  Whether we see the event to come as the arrival of a person, a season, or a powerful transformation that occurs inside each individual we have a sense of expectancy uniquely rooted in hope.  Hope much like the wait during pregnancy for what one cannot see growing in the darkness of the womb. 

Darkness during winter months and December’s longest night, the Winter Solstice, reminds us that not knowing has its own lesson.  Darkness says be patient and aware in the not-yet time.  Be attentive for light that comes.  The quest to light up darkness is tangible in our artificially illuminated lives.  The tougher quest may be to seek light in darkness in its representational evil or lack of knowledge.  In our not-having, wait a little longer times we have great opportunity to learn, to meditate, and to prepare for the Light our trust resides in.    

 

                         Darkness

                         dark deep in sightless soul un-light long, seek illumined hour

                         welcome warmth wrapping oneself with hides

                         skins borrowed for hunts and births

                         bring forth to learn comfort, songs beneath cold star shower

                         extended nighttime tells quiet awaiting Sun

                         still sky Solstice stretches December

                         day of Rome’s tenth month decreed as if they held power

                         divine yearning young eve knows so black

                         afore mortal man tried to scribe

                         sacred story named Source before language ere flower

                         gazed into the darkness and called forth

                         the Word was God. Light. You.