Home
Preface
5 Planes of Existence
Introduction
Five Planes of Manifestation
A to Z
Related Information
BIBLE VERSES
|
LIGHT, PRIMORDIAL
A symbol of Truth as consciousness in the union
of Spirit and Matter at the commencement of manifestation.
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” — GENESIS i.
3.
The Supreme wills “light,” the union of Spirit and Matter, to be
effected; and so consciousness, self‑illumination, thereupon occurs.
“That which hath been made was (beforehand) life in him; and that
life became light in men” (JOHN i. 4). In other words, the life
which was eternally in Christ is that which has been drawn upon to
be individualized in creation, as a gardener might cut shoots off an
apple tree to plant in other soils; and this life it is and no other
which has become light — that is, self‑consciousness in mankind. —
R. J. CAMPBELL, Serm., *Christ Transcendent*.
“First, then, a simple, pure spiritual Light was created, the
material of Souls which are simple spiritual substances, of the
nature of Light. That Light‑material or Upper World, from which the
souls descended, is also called Reason, or Light of the Light of
God. The Light is followed by the Shadow, from which the Animal Soul
is created, for the service of the Rational Soul” (Razi). — DE BOER,
*Hist. of Philos. in Islam*, p. 79.
The obverse of Truth — the higher nature — is Illusion, the lower
nature, from which comes the desire and sensation nature for the use
of the Ego.
“The nearest approach which metaphysical language can make to
Brahman, is to call it light, which is another name for knowledge.
And so we read in the Mundaka Upanishad (V. 2): ‘This is the light
of lights; when it shines, the sun does not shine. When Brahman
shines, everything shines after him, by his light all the world is
lighted.’ Conscious light would best represent the knowledge
ascribed to Brahman, and it is well known Thomas Aquinas also called
God the intelligent Sun.” — MAX MÜLLER, *Vedanta Philosophy*, p.
137.
“Augustine constantly urges our recognition of the truth that God is
the ‘Father of lights.’ From Him as our central Sun, all light
whether of wisdom or knowledge, proceedeth.” — Translator,
*Confessions*, p. 76.
“Gerrard Winstanley’s central religious idea is the Divine Light
within man’s soul. ‘Man,’ he says, ‘looks abroad for a God and doth
imagine or fancy a God in some particular place of glory beyond the
skies. But the Kingdom of Heaven is within you, dwelling and ruling
in your flesh.’ The Spirit within (which he also calls that mighty
man Christ Jesus) is to arise, not at a distance from man, but He
will rise up in men and manifest Himself to be the Light and Life of
every man and woman that is saved by Him. The Spirit of reason is
not without a man, but within every man: hence he need not run after
others to tell him or to teach him, for this Spirit is his Maker, He
dwells in him, and if the flesh were subject thereto, he would daily
find teaching therefrom. ‘You see Him ruling within you; you rise
higher and higher into life and peace as this manifestation of the
Father increases and spreads within you.’” — R. M. JONES, *Mystical
Religion*, p. 495.
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the
world: he that followeth me shall not walk in Darkness, but shall
have the Light of Life.” — JOHN viii. 12.
“Human courage, human patience, human trustiness, human humility —
these filled with the Fire of God make the graces of the Christian
life. We are still haunted by the false old distinction of the
natural virtues and the Christian graces. The Christian graces are
nothing but the natural virtues held up into the Light of Christ.
They are made of the same stuff; they are lifted along the same
lines; but they have found their pinnacle. They have caught the
illumination which their souls desire. Manliness has not been
changed into Godliness; it has fulfilled itself in Godliness. The
great truth of Redemption, the great idea of Salvation, is that the
realm (of human life) belongs to Truth, that the Lie is everywhere
and always an intruder and a foe. He came in, therefore he may be
driven out. When he is driven out and man is purely man, then man is
saved.” — PHILLIPS BROOKS, *Light of the World*, pp. 8, 10.
|
See Also
|