T heir light is merged into the light of the infinite.

quote 4300  |   The Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maru Ashtpadi, M.1, p. 1009

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T he world of Brahman is light itself

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quote 4297  |   The Upanishads Chandogya Upanishad 4.1-2

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G od is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche, and within it a Lamp; the Lamp enclosed in Glass: The Glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, an olive neither of the East nor of the West, Whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it. Light upon Light! God guides whom He will to His Light: God sets forth parables for men, and God knows all things.

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quote 4295  |   The Quran Qur'an 24.35

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Y our eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light; but when it is not sound, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.

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quote 4294  |   Jesus Christ Luke 11.34-36

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H im the sun does not illumine, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor the lightning--nor, verily, fires kindled upon the earth. He is the one light that gives light to all. He shines; everything shines.

temple_hindu

quote 4292  |   The Upanishads Katha Upanishad 5.15; Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.10; Svetavatara Upanishad 6.14

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T hose who believe will stand alongside [the Prophet], their light streaming on ahead of them and to their right. They will say, "Our Lord, perfect our light for us, and forgive us!"

mosque

quote 4291  |   The Quran Qur'an 66.8

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J esus spoke to them, saying "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

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quote 4290  |   Jesus Christ John 8.12

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Y our eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light; but when it is not sound, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.

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quote 4192  |   Jesus Christ Luke 11.34-36

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W e did not create the heavens and the earth and everything between them as a game. We did not create them except with truth but most of them do not know it. (Surat ad-Dukhan: 38-39) Did you suppose that We created you for amusement and that you would not return to Us? (Surat al-Muminun: 115) They know an outward aspect of the life of this world but are heedless of the hereafter. Have they not reflected within themselves? Allah did not create the heavens and the earth and everything between them except with truth and for a fixed term. Yet many people reject the meeting with their Lord. (Surat ar-Rum: 7-8) That day Hell is produced, that day man will remember; but how will the remembrance help him? He will say, "Oh! If only I had prepared in advance for this life of mine!" (Surat al-Fajr: 23-24) Those are the people who have lost their own selves. What they invented has abandoned them. Without question they will be the greatest losers in the hereafter. As for those who believe and do right actions and humble themselves before their Lord, they are the Companions of the Garden, remaining in it timelessly, forever. The likeness of the two groups is that of the blind and deaf and the seeing and hearing. Are they the same as one another? So will you not pay heed? (Surah Hud: 21-24) The stupor of death will come in truth. (And it is said unto him): "That is what you were trying to evade! The trumpet is blown. That is the day of the threat." (Surah Qaf: 19-20) Like those before you who had greater strength than you and more wealth and children. They enjoyed their portion; so enjoy your portion as those before you enjoyed theirs. You have plunged into defamation as they plunged into it. The actions of such people come to nothing in this world or the hereafter. They are the lost. (Surat at-Tawba: 69). Alif Lam Mim Ra. Those are the signs of the Book. And what has been sent down to you from your Lord is the truth. But most people do not believe. (Surat ar-Ra'd: 1) They swear by Allah with their most earnest oaths that Allah will not raise up those who die, when, on the contrary, it is a binding promise on Him; but most people do not know it. (Surat an-Nahl: 38) We have variegated it for them so they might pay heed but most people begrudge aught save ingratitude. (Surat al-Furqan: 50)

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quote 3986  |   The Quran

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I t is the peculiar characteristic of this birth that it always brings new light. It constantly introduces a strong light into the soul since it is the nature of goodness to pour itself forth wherever it may be. In this birth God pours himself into the soul with light so much that the light gathers in the being and ground of the soul and spills over into the faculties and the outer self. This happened to Paul too when God bathed him in his light as he journeyed, and spoke to him. A likeness of the light in the ground of the soul flows over into the body, which is then filled with radiance. But sinners can receive nothing of this, nor are they worthy to do so, since they are filled with sin and evil, which are called "darkness". Therefore it is said: "The darkness shall neither receive nor comprehend the light" (cf. John 1:5). The problem is that the paths which this light should take are blocked with falsehood and darkness. After all, light and darkness cannot coexist any more than God and creatures can. If God is to enter, then the creatures must leave.

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quote 3534  |   Meister Eckhart Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 216

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O everlasting Light, far surpassing all created things, send down the beams of Your brightness from above, and purify, gladden, and illuminate in me all the inward corners of my heart.

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quote 3511  |   Thomas a Kempis The Imitation of Christ. Trans. Richard Whitford, moderenized by Harold C. Gardiner. New York: Doubleday, 1955, pp. 155-156

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I n the Seventh Mansion} everything is different. Our good God now desires to remove the scales form the eyes of the soul, so that it may see and understand something of the favour which He is granting it, although He is doing this in a strange manner. It is brought into this Mansion by means of an intellectual vision, in which, by a representation of the truth in a particular way, the Most Holy Trinity reveals Itself, in all three Persons. …The spirit becomes enkindled and is illumined, as it were, by a cloud of the greatest brightness.

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quote 3481  |   Saint Teresa of Avila Interior Castle. Trans. E. Allison Peers. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1990, p. 209, Seventh Mansions, Chapter 1, Paragraph 6

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L ater, this same companion {I.e. Masazuola} told me, brother scribe, that on one occasion when Christ's faithful one {I.e. Angela} was lying on her side in a state of ecstasy, she saw something like a splendid, magnificent star shining with a wonderful and countless variety of colors. Rays of astonishing beauty, some thick, others slender, radiated from Christ's faithful one. Emanating from her breast while she was lying on her side, the rays unfolded or coiled as they ascended upward toward heaven. She saw this with her bodily eyes while she was wide awake, near the third hour. The star was not very big.

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quote 3454  |   Angela of Foligno Complete Works. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1993, p. 144

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N o one can be saved without divine light. Divine light causes us to begin and to make progress, and it leads us to the summit of perfection. Therefore if you want to begin and to receive this divine light, pray. If you have begun to make progress and want this light to be intensified within you, pray. And if you have reached the summit of perfection, and want to be superillumined so as to remain in that state, pray.

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quote 3453  |   Angela of Foligno Complete Works. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1993, p. 234

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T his embrace of God sets ablaze a fire within the soul with which the whole soul burns for Christ. It also produces a light so great that the soul understands the fullness of God's goodness, which it experiences in itself, and which is, moreover, much greater than the soul's experience of it. The effect then of this fire within the soul is to render it certain and secure that Christ is within it. And yet, what we have said is nothing in comparison to what this experience really is.

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quote 3452  |   Angela of Foligno Complete Works. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1993, p. 190

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I saw a fullness, a brightness with which I felt myself so filled that words fail me, nor can I find anything to compare it with. I cannot tell you that I saw something with a bodily form, but he was as he is in heaven, namely, of such an indescribable beauty that I do not know how to describe it to you except as the Beauty and the All Good.

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quote 3451  |   Angela of Foligno Complete Works. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1993, pp. 151-152

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A s we ascend to that which is more perfect, He who is without form or shape comes no longer without form or without shape. Nor does He cause His light to come to us and be present with us in silence. But how? He comes in a definite form indeed, though it is a divine one. Yet God does not show Himself in a particular pattern or likeness, but in simplicity, and takes the form of an incomprehensible, inaccessible, and formless light. We cannot possibly say or express more than this; still He appears clearly and is consciously known and clearly seen, though He is invisible. He sees and hears invisibly and, just as friend speaks to friend face to face (cf. Ex. 33:11), so He who by nature is God speaks to those whom by grace He has begotten as gods. He loves like a father, and in turn He is fervently loved by His sons.

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quote 3433  |   Saint Symeon the New Theologian The Discourses, p. 365, Trans. C.J. de Catanzaro. Ramsey, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1980.

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G od} is called light, Who transcends all light, because He illumines us; and life, Who is beyond all life, because He vivifies us. Shining around us all, and encircling and cherishing us with the glory of His divinity, He is called raiment, and so we saw that we clothe ourselves with Him Who is intangible in every way and Who cannot be grasped. Uniting Himself without mingling with our soul, and making it all as light, He is said to indwell us and, uncircumscribed, become circumscribed.

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quote 3432  |   Saint Symeon the New Theologian On the Mystical Life : The Ethical Discourses. Trans. Alexander Golitzin. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1996, (Vol. 2)", pp. 93-94

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H itherto I had frequently seen a light, at times within, when my soul had enjoyed calmness and peace. At times it appeared to me externally, from afar, or even it was completely hidden, and by its hiddenness caused me the unbearable pain of thinking I would not see it again. But when I lamented and wept and displayed complete solitude and obedience and humility it appeared to me again. It was like the sun as it penetrates through the thickness of mist and gradually shows itself a gently glowing sphere. Thus Thou, the ineffable, the invisible, the impalpable, the immovable, who always are everywhere present in all things and fillest everything, at all times, or if I may say so, by day and by night, art seen and art hidden. Thou goest away and Thou comest, Thou dost vanish from sight and Thou suddenly appearest. So bit by bit Thou didst scatter the darkness that was within me; Thou didst dispel the mist and dissolve the thickness; Thou didst clean the dim eyes of my intellect. Thou didst remove the barriers of my eyes and didst open them; Thou tookest away the veil of insensitivity. At the same time Thou didst put to sleep all passion and every fleshly pleasure and totally expel them from me. Having thus brought me to this state Thou didst clear the heaven of every mist. By "the heaven" I mean the soul Thou hast cleansed in which Thou comest invisibly (how or from whence I know not). Thou who art everywhere present art suddenly found and manifested like another sun. O ineffable condescension!

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quote 3431  |   Saint Symeon the New Theologian The Discourses, pp. 364-365, Trans. C.J. de Catanzaro. Ramsey, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1980.

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W hile many have seen {the light of God}, they have not all acquired it, just like many have seen the great treasure in the royal vaults and have gone away empty. While a divine light and illumination often comes in the beginning to those who are fervently repenting, it passes away immediately. If they give themselves up even to death itself and seek it with hard labor, presenting themselves to the Lord as worthy and blameless in every way, then at last they receive it again come back to them. If however, they become a little lazy and take leave from throwing themselves into greater labors by loving their own souls, they become unworthy of so great a gift and do not enter, while still living in the body, into everlasting life.

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quote 3430  |   Saint Symeon the New Theologian On the Mystical Life : The Ethical Discourses. Trans. Alexander Golitzin. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1996, (Vol. 1), p. 159

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B lessed are they… who have received Christ coming as light in the darkness {Jn 1:5,12}, for they are become sons of light and of day {1 Thes 5:5}. Blessed are they who even now have put on His light, for they are clothed already with the wedding garment. They will not be bound hand and foot, nor will they be cast into the everlasting fire… {cf Mt 22:11-13} Blessed are they who hourly taste of the ineffable light with the mouth of their intellect, for they shall walk "becomingly as in the day" [Rom 13:13], and spend all their time in rejoicing… Blessed are they who have kindled the light in their hearts even now and have kept it unquenched, for on their departing this life they shall go radiant to meet the Bridegroom, and go in with Him to the bridal chamber bearing their lamps… {cf Mt 25:1-13} Blessed are they who ever weep bitterly for their sins, for the light shall seize them and change the bitter into sweet {cf Mt 5:4}. Blessed are they who shine with the divine light and who see their own infirmity and understand the deformity of their soul's vesture, for they shall weep without failing and, but by the channels of their tears, be washed clean. Blessed are they who have drawn near the divine light and entered within it and become wholly light, having been mingled with it, for they have completely taken off their soiled vesture and shall weep bitter tears no more {cf Rom 13:12-14}. Blessed are they who see their own clothing shining as Christ, for they shall be filled hourly with joy inexpressible and shall weep tears of astounding sweetness, perceiving that they have become themselves already sons and co-participants of the resurrection. Blessed are they who have the eye of their intellect ever open and with prayer see the light and converse with it mouth to mouth, for they are of equal honor with the angels and, dare I say it, have and shall become higher than the angels, for the latter sing praises while the former intercede. And, if they have become and are ever becoming such while still living in the body and impeded by the corruption of the flesh, what shall they be after the Resurrection and after they have received that spiritual and incorruptible body? Certainly, they shall not be merely the equals of angels, but indeed like the angels' Master, as it is written: "But we know," he says, "that when He appears we shall be like Him" [1 Jn 3:2]. Blessed is that monk who is present before God in prayer and who sees Him and is seen by Him {cf Jn 14:21, Mt 5:8}, and perceives himself as having gone beyond the world and as being in God alone, and is unable to know whether he happens to be in the body or outside the body {2 Cor 12:2-3}, for he will hear "ineffable speech which it is not lawful for a man to utter" [2 Cor 12:4], and shall see "what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived" [1 Cor 2:9]. Blessed is he who has seen the light of the world take form within himself, for he, having Christ as an embryo within {cf Gal 4:19}, shall be reckoned His mother, as He Himself Who does not lie has promised, saying: "Here are my mother and brothers and friends." Who? "Those who hear the word of God and do it" [Lk 8:2]. So those who do not keep His commandments deprive themselves voluntarily of so great a grace, because the thing was and is and will be possible, and has happened and happens and will happen for all who fulfill His ordinances.

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quote 3429  |   Saint Symeon the New Theologian On the Mystical Life : The Ethical Discourses. Trans. Alexander Golitzin. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1996, (Vol. 1), pp. 166-169

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W hen the intellect has been perfected, it unites wholly with God and is illumined by divine light, and the most hidden mysteries are revealed to it. Then it truly learns where wisdom and power lie… While it is still fighting against the passions it cannot as yet enjoy these things… But once the battle is over and it is found worthy of spiritual gifts, then it becomes wholly luminous, powerfully energized by grace and rooted in the contemplation of spiritual realities. A person in whom this happens is not attached to the things of this world but has passed from death to life.

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quote 3409  |   The Philokalia Philokalia (Vol. 2), p. 355

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T he person who listens to Christ fills himself with light; and if he imitates Christ, he reclaims himself.

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quote 3408  |   The Philokalia St. Thalassios, in On Love, Self-control and Life in accordance with the Intellect: ("Philokalia (Vol. 2)", p. 321)

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Y ou should not doubt that the intellect, when it begins to be strongly energized by the divine light, becomes so completely translucent that it sees its own light vividly. This takes place when the power of the soul gains control over the passions. But when St. Paul says that "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14), he definitely teaches us that everything which appears to the intellect, whether as light or as fire, if it has a shape, is the product of the evil artifice of the enemy. So we should not embark on the ascetic life in the hope of seeing visions clothed with form or shape; for if we do, Satan will find it easy to lead our soul astray. Our one purpose must be to reach the point when we perceive the love of God fully and consciously in our heart …

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quote 3407  |   Diadochos of Photiki On Spiritual Knowledge: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 265, text 40)

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W hen in fear, trembling and unworthiness we are yet permited to receive the divine, undefiled Mysteries of Christ, our King and Lord, we should then display even greater watchfulness, strictness and guard over our hearts, so that the divine fire, the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, may consume our sins and stains, great and small. For when that fire enters into us, it at once drives the evil spirits from our heart and remits the sins we have previously committed, leaving the intellect free from the turbulence of wicked thoughts. And if after this, standing at the entrance to our heart, we keep strict watch over the intellect, when we are again permitted to receive those Mysteries the divine body will illumine our intellect still more and make it shine like a star.

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quote 3406  |   Saint Hesychios the Priest On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 179, text 101)

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