humanity’s first sunrise, seers have wondered about the nature of light and suspected that this mysterious and all-pervasive phenomenon must be fundamentally related to our deepest questions about God, life, and the meaning of existence. The Bible tells us that life began with the dawning of light, and virtually every spiritual tradition identifies light with the Creator, speaking of the “divine light,” the “light of God,” and describing spiritual evolution as the process of “enlightenment.”
Health and well-being are commonly thought of as an emanation of light — or “glow” — a radiance that cannot be described. Glowing physical health is primarily a function of the power of our “inner sun,” and our glow seems to increase as our awareness expands. At full illumination, this radiance becomes visible to the naked eye, which is why great actors are often likened to “stars,” and saints are traditionally depicted as being surrounded by brilliant halos and described as “illumined.”
Many of our verbal expressions also illustrate the countless ways in which light manifests in our everyday lives. We say that pregnant women are “glowing,” and when we feel inspired we say we have had a “flash” of insight. When someone is very smart, we say they are “brilliant”; and when they have changed their beliefs or thinking, we say they have “seen the light.” When we speak of a new idea, we might say “a light bulb went off.” When we want someone to calm down, we might suggest they “lighten up.”
Scientists have also puzzled over the nature of light. In 1640 the Italian astronomer Galileo wrote a letter to philosopher Fortunio Liceti stating, “I have always considered myself unable to understand what light was, so much so that I would readily have agreed to spend the rest of my life in prison with only bread and water if only I could have been sure of reaching the understanding that seems so hopeless to me.” Around 1917 the physicist Albert Einstein wrote to a friend, “For the rest of my life I will reflect on what light is!” By 1951 he confessed that he had spent fifty years of “conscious brooding,” trying to understand the nature of light yet was no closer to the answer than when he began.
In the process of chasing the mystery of light, however, Einstein developed the theory of relativity, establishing that at the speed of light, time ceases to exist. In addition, a photon, which has no mass, can cross the cosmos without using any energy. So for light beams, time and space do not exist.
More recently, however, quantum physicists have described light as the foundation of reality. This is profoundly significant when we realize that quantum theory is considered the most successful scientific formulation in history and that 50 percent of our current technology is based on it. According to theoretical physicist David Bohm, “Light is energy and it’s also information, content, form, and structure. It’s the potential of everything.”
We live in a universe that appears to be created and nourished by light. According to German writer and politician Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “All life originates and develops under the influence of. . .light.” This becomes obvious when we experimentally place plants, animals, or humans in darkened environments and notice that their vitality and well-being gradually diminish, bringing their lives to a halt. Without light, there is no will to live. We are literally robbed of the spark that propels our spirit.
With such recognitions, the artificial distinctions we have between science, health care, and spirituality are dissolving, and each is being traced back to light. Mystics, scientists, and healers now agree, in their respective terms, that light holds the secret to human awakening, healing, and transformation. Yet we still do not understand what light is.
Light is made up of photons, and it is believed that subatomic particles are composed of photons, which are the fundamental building blocks of what we call matter or reality. Photons are formless, invisible, and without attributes. They have no mass, weight, or electrical charge, and thus cannot be directly perceived or measured.
That is why we never truly see light. And yet everything we see, hear, smell, and touch is made of photons. According to American polymath and author Walter Russell, not only is seeing “a sensation of feeling light waves through our eyes,” but “hearing is a sensation of feeling light waves through our ears. Tasting and smelling are sensations of feeling light waves reacting upon mouth and nostrils.”
David Bohm took things a step further when he stated, “All matter is frozen light.” The quantum reality Bohm describes is founded on a simple principle: light and life are the same energy in two different states of existence, form (matter) and formlessness (light). In its formed or frozen state, light energy composes all the matter in the universe — everything we see, touch, and measure. Bohm’s statement refers to the transformation of light into matter — how light becomes life, its potential energy, described by Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2. What is just as important, however, is how life or matter can, once again, become light.
You might be able to more easily picture the seamless interplay between the form and the formless if you think of plants and how they are guided and transformed by light throughout their life cycle.
First, a plant “sees” where light is emanating and naturally positions itself to be in optimal alignment with it. This ability to sense different qualities and quantities of light is crucial to a plant’s survival, as it ensures the leaves are in prime position to collect sunlight with the least effort while guiding the roots toward soil with its ideal moisture.
This miraculous process of a plant being in the right place at the right time facilitates the process of photosynthesis, whereby sunlight bonds carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) to create sugar, the essential fuel that powers organic systems. When humans and animals consume plants, that bond is dissolved once again, dividing sugar into carbon dioxide and water. The carbon dioxide is then eliminated via the lungs, and the water via perspiration and urination, leaving only light within the organism.
In essence, we live on sunlight. Plants absorb the formless energy of light from the sun and store it in their leaves. When we eat those plants, we literally ingest frozen light, use it, and what remains is its formless essence. . .light.
In the second edition of his book Opticks, published in 1717, Sir Isaac Newton says, “Are not gross bodies and light convertible into one another; and may not bodies receive much of their activity from the particles of light which enter into their composition? The changing of bodies into light, and light into bodies, is very conformable to the course of Nature, which seems delighted with transmutations.”
We respond to light like plants, continuously moving toward greater alignment with the light and the consciousness that underlies it, while interacting with the qualities and quantities of light that best support our physical, emotional, and spiritual development. We are all creatures of light.
How Light Guides Us
In this very moment, light is guiding your eyes to these words, illuminating meaning and creating a connection between you and this book. That connection is called presence. Without light you would not be able to see these words. They simply would not appear to your eyes. Light literally brings the words to you, creating a sense of inseparability between perception and meaning. The light that brings you the words you read also brings “to light” the people, situations, and opportunities required to spur your evolution. It takes you by the hand and leads you where you need to be and when you need to be there. And light’s guidance has no side effects. However, we must remember how to recognize it.
It is the same with everything we see. Light — from the sun, from lamps, from fire — reflects off objects and interacts with our eyes, releasing energy and information about those objects, which are then magically transformed into an image that appears full of light. But, it is not actually light. It is just a mental interpretation that we experience
