December: Darkness & Light

Every human being has within his or her experience certain shadow sides, dark corners of their existence, voids and places that are frightening.  In Winter, these parts of ourselves are reflected by the barren trees, the dark nights, and the veil of clouds that hide the bright sun.
What most human beings don't realize is the incredible opportunity that is given by these experiences.  As we get accustomed to the long nights, the cold air, and the rain, we are given the gift of time and space to look deeply and honestly at the shadows and dark corners. 
The amazing gift of darkness is that darkness is not darkness.  Darkness contains within it brilliant, radiant light.  Some traditions have called this darkness the Void, Emptiness, or the Dazzling Darkness.  And, it is only by embracing the darkness, the fear, the despair that we come to see the hidden secret inside the total dark.

For thousands of years, humans have celebrated this time of year, this winter solstice, with the exquisite embrace of darkness, and in celebration an unveiling of the Light that cannot be hidden even by the darkest night.

Nearly every spiritual and religious culture has some deeper understanding of the nature of darkness.  In mystical cultures such as those found in Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism there is deep significance to the power and sublime symbolism found in the dazzling darkness.  In the Sufi tradition, Layla represents the divine feminine, embodied as darkness and with a magnetic pull of divine Love.  In Hinduism, Krishna is described as the 'dark lord' whose quality is also that of the irresistible draw of divine love.  In the Tibetan Book of the Dead, practitioners are instructed to enter into the darkness to discover the ultimate dimension of being.  And one of the most beautiful expressions is represented by Christmas, where we acknowledge the indestructible Light that stands amidst the darkest, most barren hours.  The dazzling darkness is where we find the profound opportunity to enter into the silent solitary depths of our being to discover radiant light.  The gift of darkness, is ironically, the gift of Light.