After reading my post on Grace last week (along with the string of blog comments that followed), a friend dashed me a quick note. Her email read something like this: "Don't let 'em get you down. Keep standing up for the light!"
Now, I'm well aware that the HuffPo crowd is a bit more urban-edgy than, say, the readers of BeliefNet or Christian Science Monitor. I'm guessing the "Inner Life" columns aren't what bring you salivating to the keyboard each Monday morning. Even so, for most of us, there's usually room for a little more brightness and insight (especially on Monday morning), so this week I'd like to explore the sacred symbolism of Light.
Carl Jung did a great service for the intellectual world by making sacred concepts palatable. He appropriated God and religious mythology through the notion of "archetypes", collective imagery or symbolism shared across traditions. Jung also theorized that every culture would interpret God through its own cultural lens, what he called the "cultural inflection" of the archetype. In this way, each tradition preserves its own idiosyncrasy while still relating to a deeper shared pattern.
The sacred archetype of Light appears in nearly every tradition, with myriad cultural inflections. Here are just a few to ponder:
Light as Liberated Matter (Body)
Scientists have proven that our universe, while often appearing solid, is a vast vortex of energy. Einstein discovered the famous equation that governs the mechanics of atomic behavior, E=mc2. A few simple but profound conclusions flow of Einstein's work. Matter is in fact congealed energy. As Einstein said, "Matter is light stopped." Yet, light prefers a non-material expression and its natural physic is to seek release from the confines of matter.
Similarly, our natural evolutionary impulse as psycho-biological systems is to evolve beyond the confines of matter. Great mystics like Sri Aurobindo and Swami Ramalingam spent their entire lives working to purify the body-mind so that matter itself would gain more intelligence and evolve, perhaps ultimately being released entirely into light.
Light as Consciousness & Intelligence (Mind)
The light of consciousness governs the emergence and disappearance of thoughts within the mind, as well as the discriminating function that chooses among them. Our level of consciousness determines which thoughts we identify with, how we respond, and ultimately our entire experience of reality. For many millennia, humanity has been operating in relative darkness, exercising a limited consciousness that creates conflict, struggle, poverty and suffering. Given our current identifications and reactions - most notably fear, scarcity and exploitation - we seem to be in need of greater light.
In esoteric traditions like kundalini yoga, the yogis discovered that certain energy centers in the body directly correspond to dormant parts of the brain which hold vast amounts of unlocked potential. As those energy centers become enlivened and enlightened, new mental and intuitive capacities are stimulated, awakening seemingly "super-human" or "divine" intelligence. This supreme intelligence or radiant inner light, often depicted on religious icons as an aura around the head or body, has been described by the saints, prophets and enlightened masters of all faiths throughout the ages.
In the Tamil language of southern India, this light is called 'Arul'. 'Arul' is defined as "soul intelligence" as opposed to 'Marul' which means "mind intelligence". Science and technology would fall under 'Marul'. Humanity's current mind intelligence, while certainly useful, is not sufficient to wisely correct our problems. The nurturing of a new "soul intelligence", a new type of consciousness beyond logic, is required to evolve both the individual and the collective into a higher order of enlightened existence.
Light as God (Spirit)
In the New Testament, John 1:5 says, "This is the message we have heard from Jesus and proclaim to you, that God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all." Light is an expression of the Divine, not of one religion but of all religions. It is the burning bush for Moses, the light of Jesus that blinded Paul on the road to Damascus, the power of Allah as perceived by Mohammad, the inner light of the Buddha and the enlightened ones of all faiths. There is not a single religion that doesn't glorify the light.
"The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by," wrote American educator and author, Felix Adler. "The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light." As we awaken divine intelligence, realizing the inherently radiant nature of the soul, the human becomes the Divine.
Now for the cynics among you: you don't need to take my word for it. You can know the light through your own direct experience. Test it in your life. Become a scientist. Investigate with an open mind.
For the rest of you: do the same. Tap into the collective archetype. Let the light fill you - body, mind and spirit. Given our deep connection with this shared sacred symbol, it doesn't take much to stand up for the light.
For more on "Grace" and "Light", visit www.thegracelight.com
Visit Stacey Lawson's website at www.staceylawson.com
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Posted July 14, 2008 | 08:19 AM (EST)