Weavers of Light

Our world is going through trying times… Climate change and environmental destruction, ongoing or new wars that awaken the possibility of another globalized conflict, the energy crisis, natural disasters whose destructive force is amplified by growing population density as tragically illustrated by the earthquake and Syria…So many shadows…

Our teachings tell us that such is the transition into Dwapara Yuga: the forces of Kali are tugging, pulling, pushing, making it difficult for the higher consciousness of Dwapara Yuga to emerge. This resistance is frightening, painful, tragic, but maybe this is what helps the consciousness of Dwapara Yuga to rise with more power. As duality dictates, the stronger the forces of darkness, the stronger the forces of light must be.

In my meditations and prayers, especially during our collective prayers for peace, I often see our planet encircled with a web of rays of light that connect points of light, dotted on all continents and even in the oceans. These rays of light become brighter as the meditation deepens and the prayer intensifies. I see in this web of light the healing love of Divine Mother that supports, comforts, nurtures, gives us strength, lightness and joy, even as parts of our world seem to fall apart.

Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda invited us, through their examples, to become light bearers. I feel this invitation is increasingly coupled with an invitation to be light weavers: By connecting the dots of light that shine in the world, we can amplify the web of light that is so necessary to support the world in this time of transition.

“How may we actively weave this web of light?” I wonder. The answer is whispered in my heart: “by nurturing connections…”

The first is, of course, our own inner communion with the light, with Spirit. The light that shines in the spiritual eye and warms our heart, in deep meditation.

The second is connecting with each other. We all know how precious our gurubhais’ support is for nurturing our own inner communion: going deeper in meditation is somehow easier when we meditate together. I feel this power strongly during the Tuesday morning Kriyaban meditations, in our weekly meditations with Ananda Francophone, and our Sunday evening prayers for peace.

I feel our collective meditations are also nourishing an energy field of light and love that we can activate in various circumstances. The other night, thanks to the Ananda Europe Whatsapp chat, a few of us spontaneously prayed at the same time in support of the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Within seconds of sitting down in prayer, I was drawn deep within and felt the power of our collective prayers in an uncanny way.

There are two other ways of weaving light I see as increasingly important:

Connecting with Spirit in Nature. In the Western culture I have grown up with, the notion of Nature spirits is associated with paganism. The teachings of our path invite us to not identify or attach ourselves too much with the material sphere, remembering we are Spirit. But this does not mean ignoring the other manifestations of Spirit all around us.

So many of Master’s poems and songs (e.g. “O God Beautiful”) invite us to celebrate Spirit in Nature. Our friend Bharat also offers us many tools to do so, through the beautiful movement he set in motion, Sharing Nature.

In Lightbearer, Asha recalls how Swamiji said in a community meeting that “the nature devas and other angelic beings in charge of this planet, finding themselves unable to influence mankind toward harmony with Nature, were abandoning the effort, leaving us to face on our own the consequences of our actions.”

My sense is that a growing number of humans are remembering our intrinsic bond with all of Nature’s expressions and are reconnecting with the Nature devas. I also increasingly sense that the angelic forces in Nature are calling us to reconnect with them, rather urgently.

The forces of regeneration – so obvious in the blossoming of flowers, the greening of a desert after a dash of rain, in the songs of young birds chirping in the spring – are also upholding the light, helping the world through the transitions and the adaptations required to survive climate change. They are supporting us and can do so even more if we support them[1].

Connecting with Spirit in Nature is one of the ways I seek to practice Ishwara pranidana (“Devotion to the Supreme Lord”). And it is opening new dimensions for me, including greater awareness of the power of place.

Some places on Earth hold great spiritual power, such as Assisi, Rishikesh, and the Holy Land. Findhorn, where the first eco-village was created, also comes to mind. I am sure each of you can think of many magical places.

I am lucky to live near Cluny (a former center of Christendom in the 12^th century) and the ecumenical community of Taizé, which draws thousands of youth from around the world. There are countless churches dedicated to the Divine Mother and many traces of ancient, pre-Christian, sacred sites. The land here holds such beauty and power, a power that has been nourished by the devotion of pilgrims over centuries…

I sense that by inviting the life-giving energy of the lands where we live in our meditations, by associating them to our prayers and by connecting them through our pilgrimages, we can further strengthen the web of light that spans the globe.

Finally, the other way I see we can weave the web of light that supports the world in these difficult times is through connecting with light bearers from other spiritual paths. What gives me hope in these dark times is to see so many individuals attracted to a renewed, more personal, and experiential form of spirituality, where inner communion with Source, through meditation, is central. This can be within the structure of existing religious institutions, or outside.

I love the image offered by Master of the existence of numerous wells that all connect to the same aquifer of Spirit. We may drink from several wells, to find the water that best suits our taste. At some point, though, we are to select one and go deep into the well our soul chooses, lest we stay at the surface. I am so grateful to have found the well of Self-realization, which watered the seeds sowed by my Christian education and faith, making them blossom into a much closer relationship to Spirit.

I am also grateful that my life has allowed me to make friends with individuals from around the world who are drinking from and going deep into other wells – be it Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, or also shamanism, mindfulness, heartfulness… We meet in our connection to the aquifer of Spirit. Together, we can help the waters of Spirit irrigate the world, which is so thirsty for peace and harmony.

There are growing movements of collective and inter-faith meditations for peace and for the well-being of planet Earth. I feel the light of Ananda can bring a powerful ray to these gatherings, which nourish the field of light that can shield our planet through the trials of our times.

This morning, during the Tuesday Kriyaban meditation, I was meditating on how to conclude this article, when Gioianna from Germany invited us to end our meditation with a beautiful affirmation. The perfect conclusion; a perfect way for each of us to nourish the web of light daily:

“Welcome light, enlighten my life.”

I would also add “Welcome light, enlighten the world.”

[1]How can we support them? Such a beautiful subject, deserving a bit more space, so this is probably the subject of an upcoming article!