From Darkness to Light
Submitted by Padmini Natarajan
A disciple asked his teacher “Is there a God?”
The teacher took him to a dark room and asked, “What can you see?”
“Nothing” replied the student.
“Now light a lamp” said the teacher.
The student did so and the room was lit up. “I can see everything in the room. Here is a chair and there is a bed. I can also see the fan whirring there in the ceiling.”
The teacher asked “What happened to the room, before you lit the lamp?”
“It was dark” said the student.
“Did the things in the room cease to exist when it was dark?”
“No. They were not visible. ” said the student.
The teacher asked “Where did the darkness come from?”
“From the absence of light”, replied the student.
“Then when you lit the lamp in the dark room, where did the darkness go?”
“It was driven away by the light”
“So the light is like a teacher—it illuminates the spaces of your mind. Without the light there is only darkness and you cannot understand the presence of the Divine. God too is there within you. You just need the light to shine and illuminate your mind, to drive away the darkness so that you can realize the presence of the Divine.
Even in the dark, although you could not see the chair, the bed or the fan, you could still feel the breeze from the fan. If you had groped your way in the dark, you would have touched the chair and the bed and felt their presence. You could have sat on the chair or rested in bed.
That is how god’s presence can be felt in every event of nature that happens around you, the rain, the breeze, the sun, the moon, the heat and the cold”.
“Why learn it the hard way groping in the dark? Let an illuminated mind in the form of a teacher guide you.” concluded the teacher.