5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1… 24 frames of celluloid march past the gate of the film projector each second. The light from a high intensity bulb shines through each frame, encountering varying degrees of film density and projecting infinite gradients of color; from the whitest whites to the darkest shadows. Sitting in the dark (the unknown), the viewer experiences a momentary suspension of disbelief.
Each frame is an impression. In sequence they dramatize an experience, creating characters with which we share some affinity. As the story unfolds, the character’s tests of conscience combine with our personal databank of impressions leading to a reaffirmation of our current life “view”, or to new perceptions (frames of reference).
If we momentarily snap ourselves out of the writer’s spell, we may begin to perceive her intention; to make us feel something or, perhaps to teach us, to expand our particular view.
Ever tried to watch a movie in a brightly lit room?
So it is with the life of the soul shining its infinite light through the gate of our minds onto the backdrop of creation.
En masse, we have become sophisticated movie goers. We may not fully understand the nuances of filmmaking, but we all share a talent for fault finding, whether it’s a lapse of continuity, a mediocre job of acting, or a storyline that is incongruent. For film critic, Roger Ebert, it’s a career. For the rest of us, it can put a wet blanket on our enjoyment of life.
As humans, we habitually frame things in opposition; good or bad, yummy or yucky, light or dark, etc. This is natural to our process of individuation as humans. The soul perspective is paradoxical to the human mind because, from that view, seeming opposites can co-exist.
To experience the objectivity of soul and the associated illumination of our minds, we must go beyond ideology, religion, morality and “ism’s” of any kind (fundamentalism, conservatism, nationalism, etc.). In other words, we must clean the lens of the projector (the mind) of any human artifact, specifically; the smudges and finger prints of a personality syndrome that habitually criticizes, complains, judges, accuses, condemns or punishes, ourselves and others.
Why do we perceive being “soul-driven” as only accepting light? Isn’t that just another form of subjectivity? Isn’t the “dark” simply that which is either unknown to us (about our own nature) or something we judge or are afraid of?
A “spiritual view” that does not accept the dark as well as the light (judgmental) leads to spiritual blindness. Have you ever been in partnership with someone who identified with being the light, seeing the light in all things and rejecting anything perceived as less than light?
Ironically, you’ll find that person to be closed to self reflection, closed to becoming illumined by the knowledge that comes from accepting all experience as a requisite to becoming wise. Every experience is reframed to their liking – their preference. And they must be “holier than thou” about everything because to accept their infallibility could expose the fact that they too are masters in the making (human).
What is the cost of such a view? Doesn’t reframing every impression to your subjective criteria of acceptableness require that you become a controlling manipulator? Doesn’t this imply an inherent distrust in the infallibility and intelligence of the Universe?
From the lightest light to the darkest dark, through the infinite shades of gray and the spectrum of colors that we are privy to, we have the capacity to perceive that which was programmed into our intelligent design by the Universal Intelligence that is The Light of the World.
In trust, it all has equal value, to assist us in our process of becoming wise. Even exclusion of certain colors (prejudice), a preference for light (new age-ism) and ignorance in all forms will lead us along the path to self mastery.
Trust that too and you are well on your path to illumination.
