Inner Light (Part 1)

When my daughter Sabina was a toddler, her favorite song was “This Little Light of Mine” and she sang it all the time, off key, and loud. Like lots of kids, she didn’t have to do anything to “let it shine” – it just poured out of her. A decade later, while she’s still a bright soul, the light isn’t quite as bursting forth as it used to be.

It’s part of the natural process of looking to the outside world to tell us who we are.

The world seems to tell us that our value comes from our body, our likes and dislikes, our accomplishments, our possessions – the stuff people can see and appraise and label. So the Light – the formless, yet free and unlimited, Divine Self – takes a backseat.

When you get the privilege of watching this socialization process in another person, it can seem sad and crazy. Why would you take that magnificent Light – that Light which used to captivate everyone in the room – and hide it behind this made-up personality?

Of course, when you’re the person doing it, you just don’t realize how misguided it is.

You just feel some kind of “not ok” feeling – lonely, needy, ashamed, less-than – and you figure the means to settling that feeling is to get approval, security, or love from the world. But in the process of trying to get the world to give you what you need, you disregard the inner Light that’s the true key to healing that “not ok” feeling.

Much of my emphasis in Love Rising is to reacquaint people with this Light. Many feel it’s difficult or even impossible to access it.

Hopefully this guidance will help.

I believe that as long as we’re alive, the Inner Light’s within us. It never goes away. In fact, it’s so much more consistent and ever-present than any outside support you could ask for. It’s always, always with you. You’ve just stopped noticing it.

So the next time you meditate, begin by stating something like: “Inner Light, please reveal yourself to me. Please help me recognize you. Help me to let you shine through me more freely.”

Then close your eyes and look inside. Of course, your eyelids will make things darker, but if you notice, you’re still able to see – a little differently – inside. And that inner sight (which you might perceive as more of a feeling or listening or knowing than seeing) is made possible by the Light.

If you ask, “Where are you?” your Inner Light – pure Awareness – will answer. Just listen / look / feel. Be open. Don’t try to force it.

Probably the response will be, “I am here.”

And possibly you’ll say to yourself, “I just made that up.”

It can be difficult to not get wrapped up in the question of “did I make that up?” It’s a desperate ego mechanism – it doesn’t want you circumventing it; it always wants to be in charge. If you find yourself getting wrapped up in this inner conversation, I offer you this question:

When you “make something up,” where do you get it from, smarty pants?

As you get acquainted with your Light, you might try asking more questions. For instance:

• “What’s the best way to access you?”
• “What gets in the way of my connection with you?”
• “How can I bring you into {a certain aspect of my life}?”
• “How can I facilitate healing in {a certain part of myself or an area of my life}?”
• “What would happen if I gave myself over to your guidance?”

I’m so curious to hear how this goes for you. What do you notice? What questions do you feel prompted to ask? What do you learn and how does it feel?

From my light to yours,
Briana