We have come to the last week of this short course on the theme of light. I am grateful to all of you for your participation. I have found for myself great appreciation for the light and delightful dimension of experience. When knowledge is not something we have to painfully work for, accumulate, correct, and refine, life becomes much less of a burden. Of course, as Gaynor has reminded us, when the burden seems most real, it can be different to appreciate the delight. That is a challenge, and to accept the challenge will open experience, whatever the outcome of our efforts.
The reading for this week speaks in terms of appreciation. Suppose you have a negative judgment or emotion: “I don’t like this;” or “How disappointing; or “How could they do that?!” Is it possible to appreciate that judgment or reaction? I think the first step is not to turn away from it, but also not to accept it as true; to treat it ‘lightly’.
 It is deeply interesting to see how the final chapter of KTS brings in themes that are central in Buddhism: love, compassion, joy, wonder, devotion. It is natural to ask how these connect to to the focus on light. Here I want to bring together to sentences from page 498:
Attuned to the activity of knowledge, we slip easily ’outside’ conventional structures . . . As barriers fall, light can enter and openness emerge.
We have been looking at how activing the Light Body lets knowledge emerge, but these passages reverse the dynamic: knowledge lets light enter. Of course this dynamic point in both directions. Seen in the light of knowledge, what we experience is already lightful. Perhaps you can think back to moments that happened to over the last day or two, both positive or negative. Try to be as specific as possible in feeling your way back into these moments. Were they filled with light? If so, what does that light-experience feel like? Were they dark? What happens if you invite in more light. Isn’t it remarkable that we even have the ability to experiment in this way?
Jack