And tonight the subject is love. -- Hafiz
I can’t know how reading that quote from this celebrated Persian poet makes you feel, but me? It makes my whole body soften and relax and yearn.
He writes:
I wish I could show you,
When you are lonely or in the darkness,
The astonishing light of your own being.
I have learned so much from God,
that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew.
Stay close to anything that makes you glad that you are alive.
There is a lot to unpack there, but ‘the astonishing light of your own being’ is the phrase I’m going with. Every night when I light a meditation candle before I tuck in, I beg, “Please let me be this light. Let me light up the world.”
It’s not an ego-based request. On the contrary, it is a humble longing. But what made me sit up straight and pay attention and start to write this blog, is that today’s lesson in my ‘A Course In Miracles’ workbook told me that: I am the light of the world.
No kidding. It’s Lesson 61. And it says:
I am the light of the world. That is my only function. That is why I am here.
Further, it advises to begin and end the day with a practice period (repeating the phrases with eyes closed). “Thus you will awaken with an acknowledgment of the truth about yourself, reinforce it throughout the day, and turn to sleep as you reaffirm your function and your only purpose here.”
Let me quickly point out that this is not meant to be just my own personal mantra and practice.
This. Is. For. Everyone.
Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you do, baby you gotta’ shine!
Just look around and tune in to the world at large to see how needed this is. We’re in the juiciest of times when it comes to making a difference and shining your light. There is no lack of darkness and no time for pausing to ‘work on your trauma’ then sometime much later showing up. We are being asked to show up here and now.
How do we do this, you might ask?
Simple. We stop sending out darkness. Cut the negative emotions – the rage, blame, polarization, the ‘us and them’, the fear based thinking, the judgment.
Look around and see the effect this is having. It exponentially exacerbates the darkness. And as I keep saying, we cannot fight evil with evil or darkness with darkness. We have to shine a light on it.
How? How do we hold that space? We learn to respond from a different place. Rather than simply reacting, we stop and witness what we are ‘sending’. It starts with each breath. Look at where that anger and violence is in us. We can’t expect restraint and respect from our so-called leaders if we do not practice it too. I’d like to see that old saw, “Peace begins with me”, hanging on banners in every home and school and place of business or government.
Expanding our awareness, I believe, is a necessary beginning. Expanding our awareness expands our life. Think of yourself as a small glass of water and when someone drops a rock into it, your world (the glass of water) is totally discombobulated and you lose it. But expand your awareness to be a bathtub, and the rock makes a splash without causing too much disarray. Now imagine yourself a lake and feel the weight of the rock. Hardly a ripple. And finally see yourself as an ocean. Rock? What rock?
Reminds me of the famous line from another beloved Persian poet. Rumi says, “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.”
This is laying claim to our higher self – that wisdom and grace within us. It’s the divine alchemy that transforms the lead of ego, fear, and violence into the gold of love and light and peace. I said it was simple, not easy. It is an act of enormous courage.
And remember, our reality is formed not just by the social and natural conditions around us, but by what we choose to focus on. When we focus on something we give it energy and it comes to life. May we choose wisely.
There is something trying to be born in the world today. It’s been called The Shift, The Great Turning, or The Awakening – Call it what you will, it is bubbling up from the Earth into our psyche and it is joyous. I know with a certainty that this is true and we can tune in to this magic. Here then, is where the choice lies: Do we augment the darkness of the world, or ‘kiss the joy as it flies’?
Paramahansa Yogananda tells us, “The goodness of one soul may effectively neutralize the mass karma of millions.”
How many souls can I touch this day with sweetness, truth and love?
I can’t know how reading that quote from this celebrated Persian poet makes you feel, but me? It makes my whole body soften and relax and yearn.
He writes:
I wish I could show you,
When you are lonely or in the darkness,
The astonishing light of your own being.
I have learned so much from God,
that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew.
Stay close to anything that makes you glad that you are alive.
There is a lot to unpack there, but ‘the astonishing light of your own being’ is the phrase I’m going with. Every night when I light a meditation candle before I tuck in, I beg, “Please let me be this light. Let me light up the world.”
It’s not an ego-based request. On the contrary, it is a humble longing. But what made me sit up straight and pay attention and start to write this blog, is that today’s lesson in my ‘A Course In Miracles’ workbook told me that: I am the light of the world.
No kidding. It’s Lesson 61. And it says:
I am the light of the world. That is my only function. That is why I am here.
Further, it advises to begin and end the day with a practice period (repeating the phrases with eyes closed). “Thus you will awaken with an acknowledgment of the truth about yourself, reinforce it throughout the day, and turn to sleep as you reaffirm your function and your only purpose here.”
Let me quickly point out that this is not meant to be just my own personal mantra and practice.
This. Is. For. Everyone.
Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you do, baby you gotta’ shine!
Just look around and tune in to the world at large to see how needed this is. We’re in the juiciest of times when it comes to making a difference and shining your light. There is no lack of darkness and no time for pausing to ‘work on your trauma’ then sometime much later showing up. We are being asked to show up here and now.
How do we do this, you might ask?
Simple. We stop sending out darkness. Cut the negative emotions – the rage, blame, polarization, the ‘us and them’, the fear based thinking, the judgment.
Look around and see the effect this is having. It exponentially exacerbates the darkness. And as I keep saying, we cannot fight evil with evil or darkness with darkness. We have to shine a light on it.
How? How do we hold that space? We learn to respond from a different place. Rather than simply reacting, we stop and witness what we are ‘sending’. It starts with each breath. Look at where that anger and violence is in us. We can’t expect restraint and respect from our so-called leaders if we do not practice it too. I’d like to see that old saw, “Peace begins with me”, hanging on banners in every home and school and place of business or government.
Expanding our awareness, I believe, is a necessary beginning. Expanding our awareness expands our life. Think of yourself as a small glass of water and when someone drops a rock into it, your world (the glass of water) is totally discombobulated and you lose it. But expand your awareness to be a bathtub, and the rock makes a splash without causing too much disarray. Now imagine yourself a lake and feel the weight of the rock. Hardly a ripple. And finally see yourself as an ocean. Rock? What rock?
Reminds me of the famous line from another beloved Persian poet. Rumi says, “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.”
This is laying claim to our higher self – that wisdom and grace within us. It’s the divine alchemy that transforms the lead of ego, fear, and violence into the gold of love and light and peace. I said it was simple, not easy. It is an act of enormous courage.
And remember, our reality is formed not just by the social and natural conditions around us, but by what we choose to focus on. When we focus on something we give it energy and it comes to life. May we choose wisely.
There is something trying to be born in the world today. It’s been called The Shift, The Great Turning, or The Awakening – Call it what you will, it is bubbling up from the Earth into our psyche and it is joyous. I know with a certainty that this is true and we can tune in to this magic. Here then, is where the choice lies: Do we augment the darkness of the world, or ‘kiss the joy as it flies’?
Paramahansa Yogananda tells us, “The goodness of one soul may effectively neutralize the mass karma of millions.”
How many souls can I touch this day with sweetness, truth and love?
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