The Light IS Everywhere

Where do you see the light?  This time of year, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, etc is all about the light.  We humans are compelled in the dark to seek the light, it is inbuilt.  How grateful I am to have a practice that provides the means to do so naturally, ease fully, every single day. 

It takes courage to open the eyes, to find the light, to rest in the light, to spread the light, to BE the light.

This is at the heart of the householder tradition.  Indeed it is a command. One that takes courage. 

The teaching of open-eyed samadhi, the invitation to see with eyes opened, the light that is inherent everywhere in everything is such beautiful encouragement.  It is a noble, sweet desire and the road to this high vision is strewn with sorrow and pain.  So much so, that I often wish to close my eyes. To will blindness.  In this, blindness sought, desired, is a form of renunciation.  

If I keep my eyes closed, in other words if I were blind, then it would not matter the horror that was in front of me or where I actually stood because the light of consciousness within, MY own true light, would always be shining.  But more is asked of me.

The fuller promise of what has been tasted, intuited, known, summons. Commands me to “open my eyes.”  Command, ajñā- the command to open the doorway of celestial light inward first, yes, but then the command as a householder to be a vīrapuruṣa, heroic one.  

Vīra, courageous with eyes open, to seek the light even now in this state. 
It is why study and articulation is so important as practice deepens.

Sequence, first go in. Learn the simple, effective practice that moves awareness deep within to its very own light. To see, know this light more and more dearly, and then the command to open the eyes and see more clearly.   

Where do I see the light right now?  Yes, the teachings speak of the highest, to stabilize and have the undisputed knowledge of the light of consciousness within, and then, to authentically know that very same light as shining brilliantly everywhere in all things with eyes wide open.  It is an exalted, heroic path that demands dedication, devotion and compassion.

And always we are quick to add, the teaching of recognition; to recognize what is pulsing more vibrantly now as a result of practice, even as that very light shines on what may be painful and in need of refinement.  

This is the injunction of the sambandah nyāya: connection.  Connecting teachings/study with what we experience in deep mediation so that we may more fully recognize how the light is showing up in life now.

This time of year is all about the light.  We are compelled in the dark to seek the light, it is inbuilt.  How grateful I am to have a practice that provides the means to do so naturally, ease fully, everyday.

Śiva Sūtra 1.12 vismayo yoga-bhūmikāḥ                                                                                              the stations and stages of yoga are marked by the experience of surprise, wonder, and blissful astonishment
May you rest in your light.