Introduction
In the menu point entitled ‘Heart of the Breath Meditation’, the idea of ‘living light’ was brought in. It plays an important role in that exercise. I’ve taken a little space here to explain what is meant by this phrase. When I guide people in this pray/med I do not treat it as ‘imagination’ but a living reality.
I never ask people to believe anything I say. I do suggest you take it as an interesting story that
- is new to you and you simply don’t know
- makes sense – you have a feeling that it rings true, but you still don’t know
- you know it’s true because you’ve seen it yourself
- you just can’t do anything with it.
‘Living light’
Hindus have a word for this ‘light’. They call it Prana. Prana is a ‘living light’ that penetrates all levels of quantum energy. Twice in my life I have ‘seen’ this light. Paramahansa Yogananda (in his book: Autobiography of a Yogi) names these little lights as ‘life-trons’. (I say – little lights -because when I was in the state of awareness where I could see them; they appeared as tiny twinkling lights.
There are Christian who would say this is the ‘Holy Spirit’. And there are biblical scholars who suggest that it is the ‘Breath of God’ mentioned in the Old Testament. In any case, this ‘living light’ is all around and throughout us.
When prophets or teachers say ‘the Divine is closer to you than your own skin (or breath or whatever) perhaps this is what is being alluded to.
This light carries the wisdom and compassion and truth of the Divine. As in all situations, however, there is the question of: How open are we to receiving this energy? We always receive some; otherwise we would die. The purpose of the meditation is to increase our ‘absorption’ of it. The key to doing that is opening the heart.
Being present to the breath, without controlling, tends to open us to more Prana. When we work with the breath and the heart together, more can happen. So, our state of attitude and heart have an effect on how much we receive this light.
It should be noted that the Teacher(s) have been empowered to work directly, stepping-down Divine Light. Prana could be seen as the conduit for that Light. ‘click here’ to go directly to ‘Heart of the Breath’ meditation.
R Dalton-Rieck.