What Does it Mean to Live in the Light?

What Does It Mean to Live in the Light?

by Linda Heron Wind, Ph.D.

Since the beginning of my spiritual journey, I have heard that we need to live in the Light. I have been guided recently to consider what that really means. We stand at the point of unity, the place where opposites collapse into sameness and everything dances around a single point. Yet, at the same time, there seems to be a large opposition going on within us and outside us between the light and the dark. Many spiritual people take the point of view that the dark doesn't exist - it is all light. And yet that is a little like saying night doesn't exist because we never go out at night. Others see the dark as something to be conquered or feared, chasing it away with incantations and charms. Yet, that too, leaves us seeking only the light.

It occurred to me that the Light, as in "living in the Light" really means awareness. When you are not aware, dark seems to grab you when you least expect it, pulling you down into scary places and turning your world upside down. It makes you forget who you are and your purpose here. It is like a deep depression, where everything, including life itself, loses meaning.

When you are aware, dark has a more difficult time sneaking up on you and when you see it coming it looks much different. It becomes an invitation to see what has not yet been seen and to know what has not yet been known. After all, in every battle, does not each see the other as enemy only because the other is not fully known?

I love the symbol for yin/yang where there is a dot of light in the darkness and a dot of darkness in the light. Swirled together they make the whole. Awareness is seeing that whole. It is not the darkness that we need to eliminate, it is only our fear of the darkness. Many cultures honor the dark and light together, such as in the yin/yang symbol. Kali, the great destroyer, is honored along with the energies that create. Our culture has a fear of the dark, the unknown, death, and loss. That fear is what allows the darkness to catch us in its trap.

So perhaps living in the Light is also living without fear. What is there, really, that we are afraid of? The unknown will always be there whether we think we know or not. Loss will always touch our lives even when we have tried to create safety and protection. Death will always come to us no matter how well we have lived. The human experience is not to be feared but to be savored. Just as in the yin/yang symbol, within every unknown there is something to be known. Within every loss there is something to be found. Within every death there is a birth. AND…. within every known there is an unknown. Within every thing found, there is something lost. Within every birth there is a death.

Awareness takes the fear out of living. It creates the point of unity around which everything dances, including the light and the dark. It proclaims the victory in the battle of Armageddon, where both sides join hands in the dance. In this time of great light, pray for awareness that allows you to fully live in the Light.

Living in the Light
Being and loving each moment
There is no other

If you have comments on these articles or ideas for future topics, call Linda Heron Wind at (585) 924-5620 or send e-mail to LHWind@aol.com.

Page last modified Jan 4, 2004 by RMC