The light that shines in the eye is really the light of the heart. The light that fills the heart is the light of God, which is pure and separate from the light of intellect and sense.
*Kabir Helminski. The Knowing Heart: A Sufi Path of Transformation. Quote from Rumi, Mathnawi: 1126-27. Trans. K. Helminski.
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The monk respected the abbot and spoke glowingly to other brothers of his fondness for him. As an aged man of humility, the abbot addressed this exaggerated admiration. He had a brother monk tell the novice to meet him in the chapel.
The monk entered the chapel, and the abbot said, "You adore me too highly." This saying confused the novice, who remained speechless. Seeing the perplexed look, the abbot pointed to the windows as the sunlight streamed into the place of prayers. He said, "Windows are means of light. We are means of the Light. That you adore in me is not this abbot, it is the Light; adore the Light."
A Buddhist image is of the finger pointing to the moon. The idea is not to get stuck on the finger - the relative - signifying the moon - the absolute. The abbot was a finger. The monk was stuck on the finger.
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Any being can be a medium of the Light. In seeing others, we can see the Light even if they do not recognize themselves as a means of the Light - they may not even believe in it, thinking themselves a mere body.
The early Jesus followers were taught they were the Body of Christ. Christ was where Jesus was when he was on Earth. The Gospel of John 12.45 (NRSV) has Jesus saying, "And whoever sees me sees him [lit., the one, or One] who sent me." One can read this verse in two ways. First, anyone who looked upon Jesus was looking upon the One who sent him. Second, not everyone saw Jesus. "See" signifies spiritual insight into who he was: an embodiment of the Light. Most people saw him as a body and missed the deeper reality. They could not see the Subtle within, for only those prepared to see in-depth could - can - do so.
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Elsewhere, in the Gospel of John 14.8-9 (NRSV), we read of Jesus as a means of seeing the Light, and a follower in his inner circle has failed to recognize this union between the human and the Spirit: Philip said to him, "Lord [Teacher, Sir, Master], show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"
The "Father" is not a male deity in the upper realms or a geographical paradise called Heaven. "Father" is a cultural signifier. "Father" connotes what many other words do: Mother, Great Spirit, the Light, Love, Allah, God, Brahma, Creator, Reality, Truth, and many more indicators of the All-Encompassing.
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II Corinthians 4.7 (NRSV) -
[W]e have this treasure in clay jars [bodies], so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.
How might your life change if you devoted yourself to seeing and reverencing the Light in each being, not only humans, you meet? How might you treat yourself better by honoring yourself as a being of the Light - a Light-bearer? You might wish to visualize someone whom you have struggled to be forgiving of and see that other filled with the Light.
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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2023. Permission given to use photographs and writings with credit given to copyright owner.
*Brian's book is An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love. The book is a collection of poems Brian wrote and based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
