In this on-line class, we will be exploring ways to deepen our experience with light in all of its aspects. We will focus on descending light, returning light, and light that is newly created from the interaction between the human and divine aspects of our being. I will be sharing some practices and insights that have arisen from my own spiritual explorations in the realms of the soul over the past eleven years. I am in the process of completing a book which will include the material presented in this class and a great deal more. I welcome your comments, questions, and feedback.

Just as there are many levels of our being and realms in which we exist far beyond the boundaries of our usual sensory and conceptual experience, light has a tremendous richness far beyond ways in which we may have experienced and thought of light. As we will see, there are many aspects of spiritual light in addition to the light of the heavenly spheres which is often called the uncreated light.

Here's the first lesson in this sequence on light:

In mysticism, light is described as being all pervading (as in the light of the heavenly spheres) or as emanating from a point source (as in the light of the sun in manifestation). Consider the idea of light as being the communication system of the divine.

Everything emanates from the light of creation, and Murshid describes each soul as being a ray from the divine central sun. Another way of describing the soul's journey to and from manifestation is to consider this as an evolving process of the ability of each soul to communicate by means of light. Depending on the degree of awakening and realization of an individual, the capacity of communicating with light is greater or lesser. For an individual who is identified with the temporal and physical aspect of his.her being, the perception of light may be very limited, and the light of the divine seems a distant concept. Awakening may be thought of as enabling the light that composes ones being to communicate (by means of light) both with the eternal aspect of ones self as well as with other expressions of the divine being in and beyond manifestation.

Resurrection may be considered as the state of having fully enabled communication of oneself as a being of light with the totality. Rather than thinking that ones being has been transformed into something else in resurrection, instead one has enabled the potential to be a fully communicating being of light to be realized.

In Genesis, "let there be light" could instead be translated as the divine being having discovered the capacity to communicate desire.thought by means of light; i.e., light is the medium that enables the fulfillment of the divine desire.thinking.

Light is communicated from the eternal into manifestation by means of the descending light of creation. Light is communicated back into the eternal by means of what the Kabbalah terms the "returning light". I have been working with a variation of the zikr of light:

As the head goes in a circle, the concentration is ones being communicating light with everything in the cosmic dimension; as the head goes down, light from the eternal is communicated into manifestation; as the head goes up, the returning light from ones being is communicated back into the eternal.

In Jewish mystical writings, there is the concept of the light which returns to the heavens from that which is perfected in human beings, and this light is said to form the bodies of the beings of the higher spheres. In the Sufi teachings, there is the concept of the resurrection body which emerges from the awakening and transformation of the human being through the divine action.

In the journey of the soul, there is an interplay between a movement towards manifestation and differentiation, and a pull towards unity and that which is beyond manifestation. Light also seems to have a two-fold aspect, with the poles being the uncreated light (nur) and the light which manifests from a point source in manifestation (zahir). These two types of light can be thought of as carrying different types of information, corresponding to the different types of thinking on each of the levels on which we exist. On the most physical level, the information is analogous to that which is conveyed via digital impulses over phone lines or via television or radio broadcast signals. On the level of uncreated light, the information may be considered as the intelligence underlying the divine programming.

Through the interplay between the human and divine aspects of our being, light continually moves in both directions. The emerging light is transformed as the shift is made in a person from initially perceiving him.herself as a totally separate, personal consciousness to being the eyes through which God sees, to becoming the divine glance. The returning light from the human to the divine aspects of our being undergoes a similar transformation, from initially being a projection of personal consciousness attempting to understand something which at first seems separate; to reflecting back into the higher spheres the emergent light of divinity of our being; to ultimately bringing the light of the body (and mind and heart) of resurrection into the higher realms of existence.

Considering the universe as a hologram, each fragment of the hologram enables an experience of the totality. Initially, accessing awareness of the totality from the fragment may seem to result in a static experience. If the hologram is viewed as dynamic, then the awareness of the totality is a constantly changing experience, and in fact, the insights and creativity of the individual connecting back to the whole results in a change in the whole being. In the process of the individual entering into a state of communion.unity with the totality, the returning light represents all that is added to the totality from the awakening and transformation of the individual, as an emergence of a unique expression of the divine being.

I have been experimenting with some practices working with the returning light. One practice is Nur, Alim, Wehedo done as a fikr, holding on Nur, exhaling Alim, and inhaling on Wehedo. The image is that of the light of the heavenly sphere descending into manifestation, with the intelligence that is gained from the awakened experience of the human being returned back to the source, and consequently changing the hologram of the totality. Similar to the image of the flowing river of Wahhabo with the wind carrying a current back upstream, this image is that of a light descending, with a subtle light carrying the information gleaned from life back to the source of all light.

A second practice is working with the zikr of light in the usual manner, surveying the aura on Munnawir and bringing the head down on Nur, with a "light upon a light". When the head rises, there is the action of the returning light upon the light of the heavenly spheres. By this circulation of changing light downwards and upwards, each time the aura changes, the light that descends on Nur changes, and the returning light changes. The hologram continually becomes more and more beautiful, as does the human and divine aspects of the one doing the practice.

In the Kabbalah, the process of creation begins by a constriction of the uncreated and undifferentiated light of Ain Soph. The lamp of darkness carves out a vacuum from which light emanates from a point into the realms of manifestation. One might describe the interface between the uncreated light and the point of emanation as being a wound in the divine being, in that unity is seemingly broken into the apparent duality of creator and creation. The Kabbalah describes the task of the human being as restoring the fallen sparks of creation to their original unity and sacredness. Re-establishing the original unity would seem to be a way of healing the original divine wound. Using the same metaphor, the creation of each individual soul as a ray of light from the original uncreated light would seem to produce a wound in the divine being until the apparent sense of duality is resolved through the soul's awakening. In some mystical traditions, ! the purpose is seen as returning to the original condition of unity. To me, however, this would be analogous to trying to heal the pain of childbirth by attempting to return to the womb. The pain of childbirth is associated with the joy of anticipation of the child's being and future development. In the same way, the purpose of the divine experiencing the original wound associated with the creation of each soul is fulfilled by the joy of the divine being in the unfoldment and awakening of each soul, and ultimately, of each soul serving to further the evolution of the divine being.

The process of unfoldment of each soul might be thought of as the seasons of the divine being. Spring represents both the original creation of life in each soul, and on a higher level, spring represents the new life that emerges from the human being awakening and being able to enable the meeting place of the divine and human aspects of ones being. From this point of meeting emerges new life of the divine being.

Summer represents the condition of growth of that which has already been established. For the human being, summer is the process of awakening, and for the divine being, summer is the process of unfoldment of what has already been created.

Fall represents the period of harvest or return. In the Kabbalah, fall represents the returning light and all that is gained by the divine being through the realizations of all of manifestation. In the tree of life, fall is the light returning to Ain Soph.

Winter represents the deep sleep of God, the processing of the light that has returned to the undifferentiated light. Following this absorption and processing, spring begins with new creation and new life.

In the Kabbalah, Ain Sof represents the ineffable aspect of God, beyond beingness and qualities. Creation occurs through a constriction of a portion of the uncreated light to form a vacuum, from which the light of creation emerges to form all of the realms of existence. Ain Sof might be described as the deep sleep of God; while creation could be described as a dream existing in the mind of God. In the mysticism of Hinduism, there are cycles of creation, preservation, and destruction, but I am not aware of a description of anything that "carries over" from one cycle to another. If nothing carries over, then there would be no evolution of the divine being.

Other traditions of mysticism speak of creation eternally recurring at each instant. We perceive continuity because we are unable to perceive the instantaneous "frames" of existence and returning to the One.

I have been exploring ideas for a model to resolve the seemingly great discrepancies between the preceding depictions of existence. Cosmologists state that if it were possible for a person to be just inside the event horizon of a black hole (the place surrounding a black hole from which light cannot escape), time would seem to stand still, and looking outwards, one would see all light from the past, present, and future simultaneously present. This perspective would seem analogous to the omniscient aspect of the divine, but from this event horizon, no light or information could be sent back into ordinary existence. It is thought, however, that the light which enters a black hole may emerge in another universe as a white hole, and thus, no information would be lost. If creation eternally recurs at every instant, then the light which returns to Ain Sof would return to the deep sleep of God and then new light would re-emerge at every instant back into! existence. In this way, the dream of God (which corresponds to the thinking of God or the divine programming) is constantly changing, based on the input, experience, and feedback of all aspects of creation. Not only does the divine hologram constantly change from the realization of created beings (and in this way the seeds of the divine inheritance are mutated so evolution can take place), but the primordial seed of creation also is constantly mutated in the recurrent creation of each instant.

When a person awakens to a degree of realization to enable a meeting place between the human and divine aspects of his.her being, so that new life and light can emerge from this point of singularity, one might say that the awakened human being has enabled the divine being (the dreamer) to have a lucid dream. When a person awakens in a dream and realizes he.she is dreaming (the definition of a lucid dream), then the dream can be changed in any manner the dreamer chooses. Similarly, when the human enables the divine to awaken in creation, then the divine dream can be consciously changed so that new evolution of the divine being can occur.

Even if, as is stated in Hinduism, eventually all of the universe is destroyed and re-absorbed in the mind of the divine, from this deep sleep of God, all that has been gained from awakening in manifestation now has become a new seed to re-emerge as light in a new creation (light emerging from Ain Soph).

Realized beings embody the highest form of communicating light on each realm of existence. The crucible in which the alchemical process takes place, and the catalyst which enables this process are created at the instant of meeting of the human and divine aspects of ones being. From this interface, new creation emerges. The "substance" from which the crucible and catalyst arise exists in virtuality until the point of meeting of human and divine, and this virtuality could be thought of as "the inner side of light". Holiness emerges from the point of meeting of human and divine. The body of the divine temple is created by the points of meeting of human and divine, and worship in the deepest sense is the outcome of new life and new creation pouring forth from the temple of meeting. Life in manifestation becomes everlasting life when the life of the human meets the divine aspect of being. Through this ongoing process of meeting of human and divine, God becomes a living God. The tree of life becomes the tree of everlasting life.

Just as the quantum wave function of light collapses into either a particle or wave aspect of manifestation through the splitting of unity by an observer, the "quantum wave function" of ones true life (existent in all levels of reality, both within and beyond time and space) collapses into a linear, temporal, and finite perception of ones life in dualistic, unawakened consciousness. When one is able to awaken beyond the conditioned vantage point, then the quantum wave function of ones life uncollapses. From the personal vantage point, this uncollapse is experienced as death (actual death, or dying before death and resurrecting now). From the vantage point of ones true nature, "Death dies before thee." While archangels are actual beings, they also symbolize catalysts for various aspects of functions of the divine in the tree of life of ones being.

Raphael, for example, may be described as the catalyst for healing which occurs whenever the human and divine aspects of ones being meet. To the degree one has a greater capacity from ones realization when this meeting occurs, greater healing is made possible.

(These are kernels of thoughts for your further reflection in meditation)

Ibn Arabi states that creation perpetually recurs at every instant, and that the Divine never repeats the previous creation. In our ordinary consciousness, we perceive continuity, as if our life occurs in an unbroken unfoldment through time. We tend to extrapolate into the present and future a projection of the way things have been in the past. This modality of awareness prevents us from experiencing the true nature of reality, and when we break through from conditioned consciousness, we tend to describe our experience as an altered state of consciousness.

What would it be like to be in the awareness of new creation at every instant? Imagine that you can shift your focal point of consciousness from the after-image of previous creation being dragged ahead in time to that of experiencing the crest of the unfurling wave of your being. Much greater richness becomes present, similar to the difference between seeing a beautiful sunrise outdoors as compared to watching a videotape of the same sunrise on television. In each instant of new creation there are fresh possibilities for blossoming in new directions, no longer so constrained by the burdens of ongoing assumptions about the way we have been in the past. In the awareness of new creation always taking place, we become able to participate in the creative evolution of our human.divine being.

First experience being the receptive, attracting, eliciting, and creative energy drawing forth new potentialities from your being. Instead of the blossoming occurring in the seed of your soul contained in the seedbed of the eternal being, the blossoming is occurring from your being newly created in every instant. The result is an evolution of the light of your being into what I experience as a light which seems to enfold everything in existence. This light seems to supersaturate all of existence and makes available new possibilities of unfoldment.

Another way of discovering this enfolding light is as follows:

From the awareness of the new creation at every instant, experience the following dhikr: As the head goes in a circle, a new space of possibilities is created. As the head goes down, seed this newly created space of possibilities with the desire to experience a great master, saint, or prophet. As the head rises, experience communing with this being, and as the light from the unique face of the Divine of that being interpenetrates with the light of the unique face of the Divine of your own being, the enfolding light described above is created.

The enfolding light of each being is unique. When we access the enfolding light of another being, it is experienced as an embracing light. It is also possible to experience the enfolding light of the divine aspect of our being (what Ibn Arabi calls our personal Lord), and the experience is being enveloped within and without in an embracing light. Similarly, we can experience the divine aspect of our being receiving the enfolding light from our humanness, and the divine receives embracing light.

The enfolding light seems to be the fruit of light. This light results from the evolution of the human.divine relationship of our being. The unique enfolding light that emerges from our being makes available new possibilities of unfoldment not only for our self but also to all other beings.

I believe that in the transmission that occurs in spiritual lineages, such as in the Silsila of a Sufi Order, each of the teachers, in addition to preserving the current of wisdom from the past, adds his/her own enfolding light to the transmission. Ultimately, since each of us is a unique aspect of the Divine being, then each of us has the potentiality to add our own enfolding light to the light contributed by all other beings. In this way, the Divine being continually evolves.