THE LIGHT OF CONSCIOUSNESS



You could say that light is a major Christmas theme. We see light everywhere at Christmas time – big glittering baubles lining the streets, fairy lights festooning trees and strung across houses, multitudes of candles twinkling like stars. Behind all this light is the story of a certain star. Magi from the east followed this star all the way to Bethlehem in Judea. And there they encountered baby Jesus the Christ child.

Light can mean many things. On a significant level for us today it’s a symbol of awakened consciousness – we ‘see the light’ when we understand something. Darkness is unconsciousness; it’s ignorance. And this kind of darkness breeds unthinking prejudice and resentment, surely a serious problem in our world. Light enables us to see beyond limited thinking, to be open and generous. This is the light we need. It’s relevant to us now in a world so full of ill-formed opinion, enmity and strife. Light offers us vision and hope.

Christmas glitter and glitz has grown apace with commercialisation’s increasingly materialistic values. Yet if we turn aside for a moment we’ll discover the secret of Christmas in the story of that guiding star.

For twelve years I was privileged to study with a wonderful spiritual teacher, Mario Schoenmaker. Until his death in 1997, he would teach us about deep mysteries of our existence and reveal the full potential of our human consciousness, which is a spiritual potential. And every Christmas Eve in the softness of candlelight he would share with us the living reality beneath the charming Gospel stories. What we celebrate in the birth of that baby is this: the very beginning of the coming of the Christ spirit into this world. This spirit is now the earth's spirit, and it is slowly working in us as our individual human spirit, to awaken our consciousness until at last it is filled with light. 

I would like to share some of Mario’s words with you: "Through the birth of Jesus, a great light was entering into the world forever. Thus, the gift of Christmas is the gift of light, and it is light that gives peace . . . [for] light gives you the clear thinking and reasoning ability that creates peace among the nations, among the different races, among people of all languages and religions . . . I wish you a Christmas filled with light. I pray this Christmas will unify many people. I pray that this Christmas may help you to realise how beautiful other souls are, no matter what their nationality, background or religion may be."

Have a peaceful, harmonious Christmas.

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