May 2018 – Light
PB wrote a lot about mystical glimpses. In earlier books, (A Search in Secret Egypt, A Hermit inthe Himalayas, The Quest of the Overself, and The Wisdom of the Overself,) we find many references to Light as a Glimpse. We read in the Quest, “Light is actually the first and finest manifestation of God, the Supreme Creator, in our material world.” (p. 225) “Light is the nearest element to Divinity which physically embodied man can contact. For this reason, almost every ancient people without exception, from the shrewd Egyptians in Africa to the simple (“natural…” on p.226) Incas in distant America, based their religion upon homage to Light and worshipped it in its supreme expression, the Sun. Mystics who behold God face to face have to behold Him first as a transcendental, universal light of terrific radiance.” (p.225) The Christian apostles understood this truth also. Thus there is the sentence in Ephesians, v,9, …’The fruit of the Light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.’” (p. 225, The Quest of the Overself)
In the Notebooks, Volume 14, Inspiration and the Overself, devotes five chapters to glimpses, beginning with ‘Introduction to Mystical Glimpses’ (Chapter 4), ‘Preparing for Glimpses’ (Chapter 5), ‘Experiencing A Glimpse’ (Chapter 6), ‘After the Glimpse’ (Chapter 7), and ending with ‘Glimpses and Permanent Illumination.’ (Chapter 8) The last part of Chapter 4 in Notebook #14 is called “Glimpses and Light.” It describes visions of, light and individuals who have written about their own experiences. A beautiful quote: “The very nature of sunshine – all light – and the very condition in which sunrises and sunsets occur – stillness – help us to understand why Light and the Overself are bracketed together. ‘Your own consciousness shining, void, inseparable from the great body of radiance, is subject neither to birth nor death, but is the same as the immutable light, Buddha Amitabha.’ (Buddhist Sutra) (para 172.)
Some other references: Fourth century Egyptian, Saint Makarius wrote, “The Light is a shining of the Holy Spirit in the soul. Through this light, God is truly known by the worthy and beloved soul.” (para 17) Psalm 27: “The Lord is my Light.” (para 177) What the Old Testament writers call the shekinah is a sacred and luminous appearance. (para 178) Meister Eckhart: “If God is to be seen, then it must happen in a Light, as God himself is Light.” (para 184) “Where the Greek Orthodox Church regards the Light experience as the highest point reachable by man, the Indian Philosophic Teaching regards it as the last stage before the highest. For anything which is ‘seen’ implies the existence of a ‘seer” as separate from it. This is not less so even in the case of the Holy Light. Not seeing but be-ing is the final experience according to this Teaching. ‘You have to go beyond seeing and find out who is the ‘I’ who experiences this light,’ said Ramana Maharshi to a disciple.” (para 206)
The online Rubik’s solver program can find easily the moves to sove a scrambled cube.