bluegreen17 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bluegreen17) wrote2002-05-27 11:36 am
bluegreen17) wrote2002-05-27 11:36 am
is the darkness necessary?
i read a lot of stuff about expanding consciousness,etc. and you hear about 'lightworkers' and 'enlightenment'. i myself am fond of light,as i'm fond of the sun (after all,we can't survive without it,and sunbeams feel so good when they shine on you)
not to mention auroras,another phenomenon of light...
anyway,one night a few months ago i got out of work around midnight,and the sky WASN'T dark. it was the strangest thing...it was creepy.i'm not sure what was in the atmosphere that night,but at midnight it looked more like the very beginnings of dawn. not only was i creeped out as i drove home,but i missed the beautiful darkness that surrounds and cushions me as i drive home at night. it is often very peaceful. that's one thing i like about being a night owl...the toning down and simplifying of life at night.
now,actually,darkness isn't a property,but a lack of light. in one of my favorite books (-the alchemy of opposites- by rodolfo scarfalloto...a wonderful book,especially for those interested in exploring nonduality) it describes darkness as a 'stillness'. it's the nothing from which all things spring,as it says in the tao te ching.
think of a flower. it needs to grow in the dark soil before it is ready to receive the light that will make it grow further. it is nourished by that dark soil. maybe that's a good analogy for life on earth. i dont' know,i'm just tossing ideas out there. i have good ideas and not so good ideas,so take what you want from my thoughts. i sometimes have clear idea in my own mind but i don't always convey it well. alas.
i think we need to acknowledge the darkness,or the shadow sides of ourselves,as jung talked so much about. darkness is not necessarily evil.
i remember an episode of the original star trek. somehow,kirk got split into his 'dark' and 'light' sides in a transporter accident. the 'bad' kirk wasn't a very nice guy. but the 'good' kirk was totally ineffectual without the energy he got from his 'bad' side. the moral,of course,is that both sides are necessary.
not to mention auroras,another phenomenon of light...
anyway,one night a few months ago i got out of work around midnight,and the sky WASN'T dark. it was the strangest thing...it was creepy.i'm not sure what was in the atmosphere that night,but at midnight it looked more like the very beginnings of dawn. not only was i creeped out as i drove home,but i missed the beautiful darkness that surrounds and cushions me as i drive home at night. it is often very peaceful. that's one thing i like about being a night owl...the toning down and simplifying of life at night.
now,actually,darkness isn't a property,but a lack of light. in one of my favorite books (-the alchemy of opposites- by rodolfo scarfalloto...a wonderful book,especially for those interested in exploring nonduality) it describes darkness as a 'stillness'. it's the nothing from which all things spring,as it says in the tao te ching.
think of a flower. it needs to grow in the dark soil before it is ready to receive the light that will make it grow further. it is nourished by that dark soil. maybe that's a good analogy for life on earth. i dont' know,i'm just tossing ideas out there. i have good ideas and not so good ideas,so take what you want from my thoughts. i sometimes have clear idea in my own mind but i don't always convey it well. alas.
i think we need to acknowledge the darkness,or the shadow sides of ourselves,as jung talked so much about. darkness is not necessarily evil.
i remember an episode of the original star trek. somehow,kirk got split into his 'dark' and 'light' sides in a transporter accident. the 'bad' kirk wasn't a very nice guy. but the 'good' kirk was totally ineffectual without the energy he got from his 'bad' side. the moral,of course,is that both sides are necessary.
no subject
as for lightworking and enlightenment, it's not literally a favoring of light over dark as most seem to interpret it. the light attained through meditation is consciousness. the stillness quiets the distracting noise of the body and motion so that the meditator can more perfectly observe its situation and the nature of reality. according to one story, this is why zen masters strike their students with canes during meditation. someone in proper zen will have enough consciousness to observe the blow coming and get out of the way, even when not looking with the eyes.