I Illumine All

Hey there everyone, how are y’all holding up? All’s fine here which gets me excited to write this blog today. Just last week I came across a very profound statement made by a monk about light, one that made me wonder and question my thinking for a long time. I feel that all this while in physics we were taught about the different characteristics of light - as it travels in a straight line, it cannot travel crooked, etc, but I guess it missed the most valuable point -- which is that light illuminates. 

Coming to think of it, you would realise that this is the most basic quality of light, and yet we tend to miss it more often than not. Now, what the monk referred to in his lecture was that consider light illuminating objects, and when it does so, it doesn’t distinguish between good and bad, wicked or evil, tall or short. It just stays there illuminating everything in front of it. He further added that inside a room there is ample light and that existed before one stepped inside and will continue to exist after there is no one. 

So, according to the monk, we must be able to act like the light in our lives where we must be able to illuminate all around us and not be the slightest depressed or sad when we don’t find any company around. I was startled hearing this and kept thinking to myself as to whether or not this is feasible. And, then during my evening meditation as I sat with my eyes closed it felt as if the knowledge was imparted to me. 

You know, a lot of times in life we mostly get upset or bogged down by how other people exhibit their behaviour towards us. One day they might hold us in high regard, and the other day they might not even bother to ring us up. And, every alteration in their behaviour makes us miserable. We get happy when there is pleasure and miserable when it’s the opposite. In simple words, we act like a slave to our senses and our emotions. 

Now, who is to be blamed for this, but ourselves? As Swami Vivekananda would often point out that there are things lying outside, dead. Absolutely dead. We are the ones that give life to them and get happy when it acts our way and remorseful when they don’t go our way. It’s high time that gotta stop doing this, and realise that we are much beyond any of this and that we must not stoop down to such levels. 

The monk ended his speech by stating that in this lifetime we must strive hard to be like the light when anything and anyone coming in contact with us gets illuminated, and when they leave we should not be affected in the least and continue to shine. Shine much more vibrantly. Why? Because that is our inherent nature and we are the ever illuminating. Sure, there are various doctrines and dogmas to be believed, but we gotta realise that everything starts from here, from within. 

Also, we must remember to empty the contents of everything that we have stocked ourselves with this far. Until that happens we are not allowing anything new to enter our system. We must be absolutely willing to let go of the old and embrace the fresh, the new. 

Remember, we are the light and we must never forget this inherent, innate quality we’ve been bestowed, which is illuminating everything that comes our way. 

Love and light to all. May you have a wonderful day and rest of the week ahead. Shine forth vibrantly.

Image courtesy: Andrew Bui on Unsplash