Reacting to what appears and reacting to our reactions, we construct a world based on light as it is reflected off the surface of our constructs. This way of knowing reduces light to substance, inviting a transition to darkness. DTS 209
The intrinsic ‘lightfulness’ of every mental act is confiscated and converted into the dialogues of conventional thinking and their matrix of not-knowing. DTS 210
It seems that we don´t have choice to leave this mental darkness. But Tarthang Tulku shows a possibility; to investigate our situation lightly, bringing a “light awareness†that awakens a sense of delight.
A few days ago I could experience something like this “light awarenessâ€. I was very irritated with some recent events. I was aware of this heavy and tight space, but at that moment it seemed that there was another choice.
Little by little I began to watch my body, my breath and my mind, leaving behind the content of the thoughts. And I saw that this dark quality was not frozen and that I was able to bring some softness to my body, breath and mind. As I was experiencing this shift, I could feel the center of my chest more alive, I could feel a warm and gentle feeling that persisted while I was aware of it.
I wondered what I did to touch that light awareness. It was a soup of allowing, letting go, touching, softening, caring and embracing. A magic soup that made me experience the quality of light
To invite light we have to inhabit the situation in which we find ourselves and confront with darkness. It is our response that matters.
Through this emergent intimacy, our journey changes character. Starting from the ordinary light of day, we find that we have entered the light-filled womb of experience. Here we can abide, embracing the truly unknown, allowing the presence of a lucent awareness. DTS 213
It’s interesting how darkness can be the occassion for illumination. Walking outside for the paper this morning, I saw a new moon shrouded by some cloud cover, and stars here and there dotting the predawn sky. Somehow the light seemed all the brighter for being present in a dark sky. In a lunar eclipse, the obsuration of the usual full moon brings the face of the moon closer, like an old friend with her eyes lowered in contemplation. You mention emotionality as the darkenss that opens through a “soup” of allowing and of embracing what is present. It’s as if our emotional reactions are a gateway that–if we can look beyond them–lead into a light field that is always alive and present.