Let It Be Light

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Selika Cerofolini, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

When I felt the intention to write this article, it didn’t immediately translate into doing it.

As I do it now, I wrestle with the impression that everything has already been said and done, that everything is already out there, available for eyes that can see and ears that can hear. There are so many words and opinions, and I have been asking myself if this was just an ego sprout, adding noise to the noise.

But then, I thought that some messages are worth repeating.

We live in pretty dark times, experiencing what seems like an involution, a going back to an era of castrated freedom and surging violence. I see this as a counterbalance to a wave of deep change that’s reshaping our world. As the steps back an athlete takes before the run-up, to get up to speed for the big jump. And I surely hope that proves to be true.

The truth is we can’t know what direction evolution will take, nor makes much sense to consecrate a life on the altar of hope. The only thing that counts is our intention and our aligned action day after day.

And, in times of darkness, we need to bring Light.

To bring light to the world doesn’t mean to renounce or repress our feelings of anger, rage, and indignation; but to harness their power and channel it into creative, focused action which brings unity, freedom, and change.

My attention is pointed toward not falling into the trap of separateness, not falling into the “Us vs Them”, whoever is who. As my Zen Master says, “as soon as there’s an Us and a Them, a War has begun”.

And that is not what I want, and I guess what most of us don’t want. Going down that road, what I see is that we’d be running in circles while simply perpetuating the status quo.

If we want a different world we need to start acting differently; beware of not repeating the same dynamic, just on the other end of the polarization. And acting differently to me means shifting the energy behind our actions.

Anger and love are not in conflict. Darkness and light are not in conflict. We all are made of both in our wholeness.

It’s about looking at them from a place of wisdom and, by realizing their true nature, tapping into their power and channeling it into focused action. It’s about bringing them into balance and acting from an equitable place.

To make this a bit less abstract, I will resort to a meaningful talk between Krista Tippett and Elizabeth Lesser at the Rubin Museum, recorded 5 years ago but never more timely, in my opinion, titled “The Wisdom Matrix”.

Here Ms. Lesser, Co-Founder of the Omega Institute, opens her speech by talking about the classical pose in which the Buddha gets often depicted.

Photo by Jason Cooper on Unsplash
One hand is up palm forward, like stopping something. The other is open, in a receiving position. Ms. Lesser encourages the audience to try the pose I did and now I am passing the invitation to you. Feel the sensation this posture awakens in your body, and follow its wisdom.

One hand is saying “No”, I have boundaries, It’s not ok. And the other says “Yes”, I am here open to receiving others’ humanity and connecting with “unconditional friendliness” — in the words of Ms. Lesser — to everything and everyone around me.

We could spend rivers of words on this, but none of them would be able to equate to the power of the felt sense this posture provokes in the body. Once again, this tells me that Yes and No are not in conflict. They exist at the same time. We can hold them simultaneously.

Both hands are open. Let’s not have those hands become fists.

If you are curious, you can experiment with maintaining the same position while closing your hands and squeezing them into fists. Notice the shift in your body sensations, thoughts, and emotions.

To me, this is a lesson that I don’t need to contract to say “No”. Both gestures of the hands in the statue’s posture are open, firm, and powerful. I can stay open AND say No.

The rhythm of change is made of both tension and release, it’s like a pendulum. Let us have the wisdom to hold them both at the same time and to discern when it’s time for what. Too much tension and we burn. Too much release and we drown.

Let us allow ourselves to take some time to regularly take a step back, re-center, connect to that place of light, wisdom, and power, and go from there. I realize that space through the practice of meditation, but each one of us may have a different way to connect to it. You know yours.

What I feel it’s important is not only the action we take but what prompts that action, the energy it carries.

The same action, coming from hatred brings an energy of hatred to the world. If it comes from love and freedom (for ourselves, others, and our surroundings), it will nurture a world of love and freedom.

In my view, Wisdom is the change that needs to happen, or we will build the same future, over and over again. And it’s on us to figure out how to do that together.