The following is a sermon I delivered at the Oneonta Institute of Spiritual Development:
Most of us in this room think of ourselves as
“lightworkers.” It is our purpose in life to bring divine light and healing to
the world. Each of us performs this service in our own way. We can feel the
energy of this light when we work with it, but very few of us can actually see
it. Some believe that divine light is a metaphor for truth and enlightened
wisdom. What do you think? Is divine light really just a metaphor? Is it an
energy? Or is it a physical light or flame that can actually be seen in the
higher dimensions of existence?
Of all the
symbols and metaphors attributed to the Divine, Light is the one found most
frequently throughout the religious scriptures and spiritual beliefs of
humanity. Followers of earth-based religions have worshiped sun gods and fire gods for
thousands of years. The Psalmist wrote: "The Lord is my light and my
salvation -- whom shall I fear?" The Quran proclaims: "God is the light
of the heavens and the earth."
Anyone who
is familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures knows that they are full of references
to Light and Fire, starting at the very beginning: And God said, “Let there be light, and there
was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the
darkness.” (Genesis 1:3-4)
Light is
the very first thing that God created from the “formless void” of the heavens
and the earth. The author of Genesis does not specify the sun as the source of
this light. The sun and the stars were not created until the fourth day! This
discrepancy may just be the understanding of the author’s primitive mind. Or is
it possible that light actually exists in the universe apart from the sun, the
moon, and the stars?
In the 19th
century, British physicist James Clerk Maxwell demonstrated that visible light
was merely one small portion of the vast electromagnetic spectrum. Heinrich
Hertz discovered the existence of radio waves, and since then scientists have
discovered X-rays, microwaves, infra-red, ultraviolet and gamma rays — all
invisible forms of electromagnetic radiation. In his book, The Akashic Light: Religion’s Common Thread, T. Lee Baumann, M.D.
says: “. . . even in the deepest, darkest vacuum of space, there are over 400 million
photons of non-visible light per cubic meter.” This non-visible light may or
may not be the original light that the author of Genesis was referring to. But
then, our Creator God is invisible to the human eye, just as are these various
forms of light.
Dr. Baumann
also tells us that “Quantum physics has successfully established that light is
omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and that it has characteristics that some
describe as consciousness.” Baumann believes that science and the world’s
sacred texts support the claim that descriptions of God in terms of light may
well be literal – not metaphorical.
We, in
metaphysical circles, will agree that much of the Bible is allegorical,
metaphorical, and symbolic. So, what do we think about the story in Exodus 3:2
where: “the
angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a
bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, and yet it was not consumed.”
Moses seems
to be an exception to the “rule” that human beings cannot see Divine Light.
Notice that it was not God, but an angel of the Lord who
appeared in the burning bush. But in Exodus 3:4 we read: “. . . the LORD
saw that he had gone over to look,” and “God called to him from within the
bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’”
Moses lived
in constant communion with God, obedient to God’s will. I am guessing that he
spent a lot of time in quiet contemplation in order to maintain this
relationship. After all, God says: “Be still and know that I am God.” Moses
must have known how to still the chatter in his own mind so that he could hear
God’s voice. Perhaps the years spent in meditation had nurtured his clairvoyant
abilities so that he could see the light of God that is invisible to most people.
These are
just two of the many references to Divine Light in the Hebrew Scriptures. The
Bhagavad Gita, holy book of Hinduism, also contains many references to Divine
Light. One of the most beautiful passages is as follows:
The
Blessed One said: . . .
I am
light in the moon and sun . . .
And
brilliance in fire am I . . . .
(Bhagavad Gita: VII:8-9)
And then:
Of a
thousand suns in the sky
if
suddenly should burst forth
The
light, it would be like
unto the
light of that exalted one . . .
A mass of
radiance, glowing on all sides,
I see
Thee, hard to look at, on every side
With the
glory of flaming fire and sun, immeasurable.
I see
Thee, whose face is flaming fire,
Burning
this whole universe with Thy radiance. (Bhagavad
Gita: XI:12-19)
Surely the
author of these scriptures had personally experienced the radiant light of God,
just as Moses had. In a meditative state, he could have seen the radiance of
the non-visible photons that fill the universe.
The
Buddhists of ancient times knew about the Divine Light that we meet when we
leave our physical bodies; the love-filled light that is encountered by
veterans of the Near-Death Experience. A Tibetan Buddhist lama reads from The
Buddhist Tibetan Book of the Dead to a dying or recently deceased
person. This is a section of that reading:
Now thou art experiencing the Radiance of the Clear Light of Pure
Reality. Recognize it. Thine own intellect, which is now voidness, yet not to
be regarded as of the voidness of nothingness, but as being the intellect
itself, unobstructed, shining, thrilling, and blissful, is the very
consciousness, the All-good Buddha.
Zoroastrianism
was founded in Persia sometime between 1500 and 600 B.C.E. Zoroastrians believe
in a single god: Ahura Mazda, the “Spirit of Light and Good.” The religious
rituals of Zoroastrianism are performed before sacred fires, which represent
God. The wise men who followed the light of a bright star to find the child
Jesus, are widely believed to have been Zoroastrian priests and astronomers.
The child
Jesus grew up to be Jesus the Christ, who said to his followers: “I am the
light of the world." Jesus was our way shower; his life was a pattern that
demonstrated how we can live as bridges of light between earth and heaven.
Jesus also said: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot
be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they
put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same
way, let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
(Matthew 5:14-17)
Traditionally
this verse has been interpreted as a metaphor -- with light symbolizing the
gifts and talents we use to perform good deeds. But now that scientists have
discovered that invisible light shines throughout the universe, we can ask, why
shouldn't some of this invisible light dwell within our very own selves?
Mystics and those who have returned from near-death experiences have had
first-hand encounters with the living, intelligent Divine Light. They describe
the Light as the embodiment of unconditional love. Whether we can see it or
not, we, too, can experience this Light in meditation and prayer, let it fill
the cells in our bodies, and radiate it back out to the world.
It wasn't until nine years
ago, when I worked with the CD: Solar
Radiance: Becoming a More Perfect Light, Orin Meditations channeled by Sanaya Roman,
that I experienced light as an energy that I could invite into my body, be
transformed by, and send out to be shared with others. Having reached the
understanding that every aspect of Creation is composed of the same Light,
Love, and Intelligence as its Creator, I understood that the sun truly is
Divine, just as many ancients believed. I enjoyed these meditations during a
sojourn to Ocean City, Maryland, where my husband attended a physician's
assistant conference. While he was listening to medical lectures, I soaked up
the rays of the physical sun on the beach, and encountered the radiance of the
sun's soul (solar soul light!).
Later, back home, I invited a
clairvoyant-gifted friend to visit and watch while I meditated with solar
light. I knew that this friend had the ability to see what was happening on the
higher planes of reality, so I wanted to find out if her observation would
verify the experience I thought I was having. She took notes while I meditated,
and later told me she couldn't write fast enough to document all of the changes
she saw! The first thing that happened was that my face and form grew blurry
and blended into my surroundings. Then my face began to glow with a white aura.
It became lighter as I meditated on filling myself with more light. When my
face and body grew distinct again, it was a younger, taller, and more beautiful
version of me. (Gee, I wish I could have seen that!)
When Sanaya's voice told me
to radiate my light out into the room, my friend saw the light in my living room
grow brighter, and she felt its peacefulness. During the section about joining
with latticework of light in the universal mind, she saw a pattern, like a
checkerboard of light, emanate from my head out into the room. Near the
end of the meditation, Sanaya says to imagine a more and more perfect light, at
which point my friend saw the white light from my face rise higher and higher.
This experience taught me
that the imagination is more powerful than most people realize. While I was
imagining the experiences that Sanaya described on the CD, they were actually
happening in the spiritual realm that my friend could see. Afterward, I knew
with certainty that Divine Light is a real force in our lives,
that we can experience it ourselves, and use it to transform the world into the
beautiful, peaceful place God meant it to be. It will take many people working
with the Light to expand its beauty from the confines of our homes, but the
more we work with the Light, the stronger it becomes.
Something else I
have learned about divine light in recent years is that, in the higher
vibratory levels of existence, there are many realms of Light, and there are
more colors and varieties of Light than we can imagine, and all of them embody
different facets of Divine Love. Some of these Light energies take the form of
colored rays that infiltrate the earth and all who live here, to aid us on our
path to reunion with God. There are seven major rays, one for each day of the
week.
All energies of the
seven rays flood the earth daily, but on each day of the week one of the rays
becomes predominant, and we can focus on that ray in our meditations. On
Sunday, the Yellow Ray of Wisdom, Illumination, and the Mind of God is
amplified. On Monday, it is the Royal Blue Ray of the Will of God. On Tuesday
we can focus on the Rose-Pink Ray of Divine Love. Wednesday is the day that the
Emerald Green Ray of the Divine Flame of Healing and Abundance is amplified. On
Thursday, focus on the Golden Ray of the Resurrection Flame. Friday is the Pure
White Ray of Purity of the Ascension Flame, and Saturday is the day for the
Violet Ray of Transmutation and Freedom.
There is a lot to
learn about these rays and how to use them in your spiritual work. If you’d
like to know more, I recommend getting a copy of the book, The Seven Sacred Flames by Aurelia Louise Jones. The seven rays are
also referred to as flames. The ascended masters tell us that these immortal
and eternal Flames of God will work for us as we work with them. Spiritual
progress is brought forth as the result of daily application of God’s laws,
God’s energies through the seven main rays, and the clearing of one’s karma and
emotional body.
I know that
most of you are already working with Light in your own ways. If you haven’t
tried it, though, I suggest imagining the golden rays of Divine Light, or the
color of the ray for that day, entering through your crown, and filling every
atom of your body. See the light growing brighter and brighter. Reality arises
from the realm of imagination. As you visualize yourself growing lighter, you
will feel light and peaceful within. When you feel that you are full of light,
visualize streams of light emanating from your body out to the people or places
that need healing.
Many
believe that the only way to true transformation will come when more people
understand that Light is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, and
that each of us can use Light to heal our lives and our world. When seen
with our spiritual eyes, this inner light will shine so brightly that our
bodies will be full of light. Let us radiate our Light out into the world, to
bring peace and goodwill to all of Creation.
You are the light of the world - so let your light shine!
