The Dance of Lightness & Darkness (or Our Survival)
The Dance of Lightness & Darkness
(or Our Survival)
by Mali
(aka mollykatebrown.com)
The dance of lightness and darkness is a fluid interplay. Light transforms into dark and dark into light in an eternal exchange as the transformative spark carries itself through the fluid medium of the universe like phosphorescence in water. Lightness and Darkness: Seen, unseen. Life, death. Day, night. Expansion, contraction. Awake, asleep.
Lightness and darkness are both children of god. Neither can exist without the other. Within the neutral tapestry of eternity, there is no preference for light or dark. In the absolute sense, this is the nature of the manifest universe. There are burning stars and vast black holes filled with emptiness in the unfurling sacred dance of the infinite as light and dark transform, transfigure, and become one another. None of it is personal.
This dance, this sacred unfurling, also occurs within our flesh as the very spin of protons, neutrons, and electrons around the nuclei of every atom in our being, within the whirring of our energetic field, and as the profound stillness that underlies all of it. The fabric that birthed eternity occupies and gives rise to us also. It resides within as the unseen bedrock of pure potential of all that is. The bedrock of pure potential within transforms into lightness or darkness depending on the state of our awareness, our consciousness. We too are children of god. Our ability to create is every bit as magnificent.
Both lightness and darkness are essential for human life. It is within the warm humus of the darkness of the womb that all of life germinates. It is in the light of the sun that our food is grown through the absorption of light waves by chlorophyll. Our exquisitely delicate biosphere is maintained (as we hurl through space at unimaginable speed) by a delicate balance between light and dark. The intelligence of it all is unparalleled.
We walk a fine balance—a gentle sway—between light and dark both within and without. In the absolute realm of distant cosmos, birthing galaxies, and suns burning out after billions of years, there is no preference for light or dark, for anything over anything else. The unfolding on that scale occurs over eons as something gives rise to something else, in a profoundly neutral unfolding.
Our powerful awareness—one that arises from the bedrock of our presence and is in continuum with totality at all times, whether or not this is apparent—maintains the balance of light and dark in the psycho-spiritual-physical or human relative realm. The relative human realm loses neutrality as the denser structures of the mind give rise to good/bad, right/wrong (even as that which gives rise to the relative human realm is itself the stuff of the profoundly neutral, or absolute). The gift of human consciousness comes with the responsibility of exquisite stewardship, which means bringing awareness to the massively big picture that arises from within and is projected outwardly into the collective.
While arising from and occurring within the absolute cosmic realm of no-preference or neutrality—we are designed to care very deeply, to preserve life, to love one another. It is hard-wired into our instinct to survive because our survival depends on it. The potential within us is to feel—exquisitely so—the nameless, timeless, unbounded, powerful expanse of love within and without that unites us with each other, all of life, and the eternal (there is no separation at all save for in the shadows of the minds of many) while we walk and breathe as humans on earth. It is that which builds bridges instead of walls and transforms me into we. That which calls our attention to our air, water, and land. This love vibrates from within the light and the dark.
It loves unconditionally from its still, silent presence—one that is not perceived by awareness made dense from the sludge in our tissues from toxic chemicals in food or the environment, or a shortened attention span from over-externalization. It takes exquisitely subtle perception—one deliberately cultivated—to feel the immensity of it within the air we breathe, the ground upon which we walk, the leaves that shimmer and whisper overhead, the clouds dancing in the wind, the emptiness of the darkness of night. It can be heard in the haunting call of the owl from the nightscape, in the voice of the ancient that calls from the flute, and beckons in the beat of the tribal drum. The pure potential of all-that-ever-was-is-or-will-be vibrates within us already. It vibrates from within the light and the darkness. It is our birthright because we are it.
The essence that is hard-wired into every aspect of our being—one that begs our knowing—becomes obscured within the shadows when the balance of the light and dark are not maintained. It becomes obscured beneath the toxic load in our tissues, and beneath psycho-spiritual-mental distortions that give rise to fear, mistrust, misdeeds, and have been passed down generationally through our ancestral lineage for millennia. These obscurations are, breath by breath, threatening humanity’s shelf life.
What lies hidden within the shadows of the landscape of humanity (not in a bad or wrong way, simply in a it’s-how-it-is-way…what we arise from is as profoundly neutral as a parent is about which child wins the chess match) has the power to destroy human life and with it a lot of other life. We are on that trajectory. What is obscured within the shadows within is the highest form of invitation. Bringing our subtle awareness into the temple to discover what is there is no small task. It is however what is required. Not when there is not enough oxygen in the biosphere to support life as we know it any longer, but now.
We’re perpetuating a collective that is not, on any level, sustainable. It requires shining a light on what is happening both within and without. Looking at how our practices—choices we make daily that are often unconscious ones—are impacting one another and our beloved Earth (on whom we rely for survival) and all of her life. It requires choosing to wade into the deep discomfort within that many aren’t aware is present due to over externalization and a gross perception (as opposed to subtle) that prevents conscious contact with or awareness of it.
The process of staying with (which is maintaining awareness within the uncomfortable contractions, tensions, or other sensations that occur in the chest, belly, or wherever they show up and/or maintaining awareness on the sensations of the inhale and exhale, in a continual return from thought or rumination back to the sensations of body or breath from which arises deep wisdom with regard to mental habit patterns and energetic patterns buried in our tissues) is how the powerful muscle of awareness is cultivated into our ally. This process is the alchemization we seek. Our presence literally is our superpower. A very wise person once said that if you turn a light on in a dark room the darkness must go away. Within the womb of darkness germinates the miracle of new life, the ground of infinite possibility. When we uncover what lies hidden in the shadows we can no longer project blame, dissatisfaction, or responsibility for “the way things are” onto other. At the level of totality there is no such thing as self and other.
When mired in thick underbrush reality appears a certain way. When liberation occurs such that one is afforded the internal freedom to walk from the underbrush to the top of a distant peak, reality is drastically altered. So it is within as what lies in the shadows is illuminated, liberating us from ancient chains. Whether or not it is apparent from your perch, our shelf-life on earth is at stake. At the level of the absolute (from whence we’ve come)—the level of the cosmos, black holes, burning stars, and birthing galaxies—whether we survive here for any duration is of no consequence.
It is however hard-wired into our DNA to care very much. To care for the air, the land, the water, the animals, and each other. To build bridges, not walls. If your child, parent, friend, or animal was trapped in a burning house I am quite sure that it would get your attention. If you saw the firemen doing nothing as the house was actively burning around your loved one (or unknowingly fanning the flames), would you stand far away and do nothing, or might you move much closer to investigate your role to assist your loved one from the burning fire? We are there. Our loved one in the burning house is each of us, our brethren, and all the children yet to come. We are in this together.
We decide how our precious human story unfolds, consciously or unconsciously. We keep the balance of light and dark. Darkness is not an enemy, not something to be battled. It is the place where the germination of the miracle of life occurs, where life is brought to light. We decide what germinates there. No one else. It is time to open fully to the shadows present within in order to bring light to the shadows that are seemingly without. It is time to stop looking outside and damning others for what lies within their shadows, which is merely a reflection of our own. Though uncomfortable, this journey alone is what reveals to us the essence of what we are. It requires getting up close and personal—aye, inhabiting for as long as is required—the places that feel painful and contracted within. There is no quick fix here.
It is indeed a very exciting time to be alive. The potential is rife with infinite possibility. The miracle is already here now. We chose this. The responsibility that came with the gift of human consciousness ought to be taken very seriously.
The alchemizer is our presence. It is cultivated in silence, in stillness. Just like splashing the dark water to reveal the exquisite phosphorescence inside. When our still and quiet presence inhabits the painful parts and the shadows (our own and others) patiently, persistently, and without judgment, the phosphorescence within illuminates itself. Every time we bring our awareness, our potent consciousness from thought, from rumination, from judgement, projection, or transference back to what is occurring within, the splashing phosphorescence grows stronger, bigger, and shines brighter light and more love. Hairballs of mental and physical distortion untie themselves as new mental pathways are laid. The thinking mind doesn’t give us the flashlight for the journey within. This journey creates the healing that we so desperately need and want. Since the past, present, and future are all happening now, solutions to what we face are already here. A gift of being human is the ability to begin again, right now.
When humanity is gone, the earth—with her powerful life-force—will, over millennia, begin the slow process of repair. I suspect fungi, the mycelium, and the anaerobes will clean up the catastrophic mess we’ve created. New life will emerge from our darkness. With the time we have left here, however long it may be, it is time to step up and act like the human family that we are. To assume the responsibility of stewardship of the earth, all of life, and each other that we signed up for with the gift of human consciousness. We are children of god, the alchemists so delicately weaving the balance of light and dark into our human story breath by breath. It is such a beautiful story, tragically so. On whom are we relying for our human birthright to love one another beyond borders, to care, to protect our earth, to survive? Perhaps it is time to spend quiet time in nature, in front of a candle, going within the temple of being and receiving the powerful guidance that percolates from the ethers when things quiet down there.
Your human tribe is here with open arms, eyes wide open, and unconditional love. Believe in yourself because the power of creation is within you. When out of the light of understanding of our awareness, our power can distort and create mental patterns that wind into hairballs of self-doubt, mistrust in the all-that-is, deep fear, cynicism, and result in the unconscious destruction of our planet, life, and each other. When that power is brought into the light of our awareness, our presence alchemizes those hairballs and contractions into the love that we are, and the experience of peace and unity with all of existence which looks very different from one of our present trajectories. This is one of the infinite possibilities present within the ground of potent bedrock within us. We need each other as we unfurl our human story breath by breath. If you need guidance or resources, reach out.