Go Toward the Light

I saw a bumper sticker last night that I just loved. It said, "You don't have to be dead to go toward the Light."

I have been writing partial postings and never finishing them. At least I am in a better situation than I was for so many years, not able to write at all.

Back to the bumper sticker - "go toward the Light" is a reference to the research on NDE (Near-Death Experiences). It is said that many returnees from NDEs report seeing a beautiful light, or a light at the end of a tunnel, and feeling the urge to go toward it. This becomes meme in popular culture, and a substitute for religious belief. Or, it could just be called a simple religious belief.

It is a good one. The phrasing on the bumper sticker says why. It is useful for counteracting fears about death. But it can also be a principle for living life. Going toward the light is choosing the good. It says, "Don't be afraid, there is always something good to move toward, or to countenance." You might fear that when you die, you will not see any light. But consciousness itself, while it can't be described, is more like light than anything else. If death leaves a person in darkness, it is only because that person is not aware of his own consciousness. If there is consciousness, there is light. There is a home. If death should be darkness "forever", then there will be nothing there to distract from pure awareness. That is the only thing that exists wherever anything exists. If you can point your desire toward light, you will always have the object of your desire.