brightness

Brightness of the Light of God

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“Understand this well: the measureless splendor of God, which together with the incomprehensible brightness, is the cause of all gifts and of all virtues—that same Uncomprehended Light transfigures the fruitive tendency of our spirit and penetrates it in a way that is way-less; that is, through the Uncomprehended Light. And in this Light the spirit immerses itself in fruitive rest; for this rest is way-less and fathomless, and one can only know of it through itself—that is, through rest. For could we know and comprehend it, it would fall into mode and measure; then it could not satisfy us; but rest would become an eternal restlessness. For this reason, the simple, loving and immersed tendency of our spirit works within us a fruitive love; and this love calls to us; that is, it calls all of those who are united with the Spirit of God in fruitive love. This inward call is an inundation of the essential brightness, and this essential brightness, enfolding us in eternal love, causes us to be lost to ourselves, and to flow forth from ourselves into the Godhead. And thus united without means, and made one with the Spirit of God, we can meet God through God, and everlastingly possess with Him and in Him our eternal bliss.” ~John of Ruysbroeck

Splendor of God

What Ruysbroeck means when he writes of the measureless splendor of God, is that God is the source of all, the creator. He isn’t just some being who was promoted to the job of God. He/She has always been God, always will be God because there is no birth and death in the realm of God.

Incomprehensible Brightness

Another part of that splendor of God is that God is Light. Not ordinary light from a light bulb, or even light from the physical sun, but a different kind of Light, a spiritual Light. It is incomprehensible because it has no limits. It can’t fade out, it can’t be blocked, It can’t be stopped. To turn off this Light would be to stop God Himself, and that is not possible. This great brightness of God is shared in a lesser degree by all spirits, all souls. But when we are born into the fallen realm of matter, our spirits and souls are in a dormant state and have very little Light. They must be awakened and fed spiritual Light in order for them to grow strong and healthy. We do that by taking in the Light of the Spiritual Sun, Which shines down on us all just like the light of the physical sun, but few see it, few make any effort to absorb it. Just as you can hide from the light of the physical sun by sitting under an umbrella, or covering yourself with sunscreen, you can block out the Light of the Spiritual Sun. You do that by having the wrong attitude, the wrong thoughts. You take in more of that light when you intentionally turn to the Spiritual Sun following the practices that have been passed down in legitimate spiritual schools for ages. You do it by looking at that sun with humility, grace, and love in your heart. Continue reading “Brightness of the Light of God” →

Share
astral light

Astral Light and Spiritual Light

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“Eliphas Levi commits a great blunder in always identifying the Astral Light with what we call Akasa. On the lowest planes of what we call Ether, the noumenon of which is Akasa; and even that would be held incorrect by by orthodox Occultists. The ‘Astral Light’ is simply the older ‘sidereal Light’ of Paracelsus; and to say that ‘everything which exists has been evolved from it, and it preserves and reproduces all forms,’ as he writes, is to enunciate truth only in the second proposition. The first is erroneous; for if all that exists was evolved through (or via) it, it is not the astral light. The latter is not the container of all things but only the reflector, at best, of this all. Eliphas Levi writes:

‘The great Magic agent is the fourth emanation of the life principle … of which the Sun is the third form … for the day-star (the sun) is only the reflection and shadow of the Central Sun of Truth, which illuminates the intellectual (invisible) world of Spirit and which itself is but a gleam borrowed from the ABSOLUTE.’

“So far, he is right enough. But when the great authority of the Western Cabalists adds that nevertheless, ‘it is not the immortal Spirit as the Indian Hierophants have imagined’ – we answer that he slanders the said Hierophants, as they have said nothing of the kind. … No Hindu has ever mistaken Prakriti – the Astral Light being only above the lowest plane of Prakriti, the material Cosmos – for the ‘Immortal Spirit’. Prakrati is even called Maya, illusion, and is doomed to disappear.” ~H. P. Blavatsky

Astral Light

While different sources may think of astral light as different things, I think most of us would naturally relate that light to the Astral Plane, of which we hear much these days. The Astral Plane is, in reality, the fourth dimension, which is one level above the third where we humans dwell in physical form. Being only one level above us, it is not Heaven, it is not the home of angels, it is not the land of truth and knowledge. While in a sense, it may be said that it is the source of creation, it is only the creator of the lower dimensions. The fourth dimension is itself a generated dimension, and as such cannot be the source of all. Continue reading “Astral Light and Spiritual Light” →

Share
light of eternity

Light of Eternity and the Now-Moment

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“All these Zen mondo may sound nonsensical and the reader may come to the conclusion that when the subject is ‘living in the light of eternity’ they are altogether irrelevant. It is quite a natural criticism from the point of view of an ordinary man of the world. But let us listen to what Eckhart, one of the greatest mystics in the Christian world, states about the ‘now-moment’ which is no other than eternity itself:

‘The now-moment in which God mad the first man and the now-moment in which the last man will disappear, and the now-moment in which I am speaking are all one in God, in whom there is only one Now.’

“I have been reading all day, confined to my room, and feel tired. I raise the screen and face the broad daylight. I draw a long breath, fill my lungs with fresh air and feel entirely refreshed. … Who would say that I am not living in the light of eternity? I quote again from Eckhart:

‘In eternity, the Father begets the Son in His own likeness. “the Word was with God and the Word was God.” like God, it had his nature. Furthermore I say that God has begotten him in my soul. Not only is the soul like him, and he like it, but he is in it, For the Father begets His Son in the soul exactly as He does in eternity and not otherwise. … What is more, He begets me not only as His Son, but as Himself, and Himself as myself, begetting me in His own nature, His own being. At that inmost source, I spring from the Holy Spirit and there is one life, one being, one action. All God’s works are one and therefore He begets me as he does His Son and without distinction.’” ~D. T. Suzuki

Light of Eternity

There is only one Light of Eternity and that is the Light that emanates from God Himself. It is the Light of Eternity because it always existed and always will. Any physical light is temporary. Even the stars and the sun die, as do all things physical, but not the Light of Eternity because it isn’t physical, it is spiritual. Like all things that are part of the spiritual worlds, this Light exists outside of any of the limitations of time and space.

The Now-Moment

What Suzuki is calling the “now-moment” is a way of saying an eternal now. In other words, there is no before, no after, no yesterday, no tomorrow, there is only an eternal now. This is definitely true on a spiritual level, but it may not be true on the physical, material level. At the very least, we have to admit that for the sake of human sanity, it is best for us to look at time as linear rather than an eternal now-moment in which all things are happening simultaneously.

The now-moment does make it easier to understand some things, though. Many people say that if the material world is not the creation of God, but of the Demiurge, why doesn’t the true God fix it? The answer is that God did fix it in the Light of Eternity and the now-moment, but for those still living with linear time, that correction hasn’t happened yet. Others say why doesn’t God end disease, hunger, death, greed, etc. Again, the answer is that He did in the eternal now-moment and in the Light of Eternity, but to those of us dealing with linear time, it is in the future. So it isn’t God that is failing us in these matters, it is those of us trapped in and promoting linear time that keeps such things alive.

Old Souls

One of the expressions you hear a lot in New-Age Spirituality is “I am an old soul,” or “he/she is an old soul.” Yet quite often, those same people will promote the idea that time is an illusion. This is the spiritual equivalent of having your cake and eating it too. If there is no linear time in the spiritual realms—and there isn’t—then no soul is any older than any other soul, no soul is more experienced than any other soul. All souls are part of the one, all souls exist in the Light of Eternity and the now-moment.

In His Likeness

I have covered this in older posts, but I will mention it again. The statement found in the Bible that God created us “In his likeness” does not mean that we look like God. For starters, God didn’t create us as physical beings. He did not create our physical bodies so the appearance of those bodies is not at all like that of God. We might say that our souls look like God, but that is not really relevant. What the saying really means is that God created “us” in his mind, in his thoughts. He thought about us, and we came into existence. It doesn’t refer to appearance at all. And when we say God created “us”, it means our spirits and souls, not our bodies. He created us in the now-moment using Light of Eternity. And he wants us to, in a responsible way, use that Light of Eternity to be co-creators with Him.

Share
undifferentiated light

Undifferentiated Light of the Spirit

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“In Dante, the transcendent and impersonal aspect of illumination is seen in its most exalted form. It seems at first sight almost impossible to find room within the same system for this expansive vision of the Undifferentiated Light and such intimate apprehensions of Deity as Lady Julian’s conversations with her ‘Courteous and dearworthy Lord.’ or St. Catherine’s companionship with With Love Divine. Yet all these ae really reports of the same psychological state: describe the attainment by selves of different types, of the same stage in the soul’s progressive apprehension of reality.

“In a wonderful passage, unique in the literature of mysticism, Angela of Foligno has reported the held vision in which she perceived this truth: the twofold revelation of an Absolute at once humble and omnipotent, personal and transcendent—the unimaginable synthesis of ‘unspeakable power’ and ‘deep humility’.

“’The eyes of my soul were opened, and I beheld the plenitude of God, wherein I did comprehend the whole world, both her and beyond the sea, and the abyss and ocean and all things. … I now comprehended how small a thing is the whole world, … and that the power of God exceeds and fills all. He then said unto me: “I have shown thee something of my power, …behold now my humility.” Then was I given insight int the deep humility of God.’” ~Evelyn Underhill

Transcendent and Impersonal Illumination

In spiritual writing, Illumination most often means a spiritual awakening and spiritual awareness. Illumination can also be light of any kind. In this case, it means both. We are talking about a Spiritual Light that brings a spiritual awakening and illumination. This Spiritual Light comes from God and reaches us through the Spiritual Sun, which acts as a gateway between the physical world and the spiritual. It is impersonal because it doesn’t choose to shine on some individual and not others. It doesn’t even shine o some species and not others. It shines on all humans and all other beings. That makes it impersonal. It is transcendent because it transforms us over time from the lower levels of consciousness to higher, more spiritual levels. Continue reading “Undifferentiated Light of the Spirit” →

Share