From Darkness to Light.
In the days of the Kripalu ashram,
We began our gatherings with Sanskrit prayers,
Always including this phrase.
From Darkness to Light.
The words in Sanskrit are
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya.
The word tamas means darkness and jyoti means light.
In the ancient scriptures,
Tamas refers to the darkness of ignorance.
Jyoti refers to the light of wisdom or true knowledge.
I understood darkness then,
In my way.
I come from suffering,
Physical and emotional.
I understood my suffering.
And I do,
More and more.
From darkness to light
Made sense then.
Certainly—
Certainly
My work
On this planet
Continues
To be…
From a connection
To my own pain,
Being present with
The suffering
Of others,
And
Touching
Into it
With respect
And
Compassion.
~~~
Earlier in my life,
Earlier in my practices,
I thought
Light would banish,
Vanish,
Wipe away
Darkness.
That somehow
Light would “win”.
I am older now.
I am so sure
That
The darkness
Is inevitable.
Today!
Oh, friends,
Today.
There is much darkness today.
Politically,
Ecologically,
Racially—
Injustice
And
Inequity
And
Unknowns
Abound.
I am suggesting—
In the midst
Of
The
Darkness
May we find light.
The darkness?
It is inevitable.
We are here now.
Born here now.
Born to be
Here
Now.
Born to witness.
Born to bear witness.
Here to bear witness.
In the darkness,
May be find
The
Light.
In the darkness
May we
Be
The
Light.
~~~
Here is a song by Israeli singer-songwriter Dafna Rosenberg-Yel-Tai. After traveling the world for many years as a wandering troubadour, Daphna returned to Israel and reconnected to her Jewish roots through music. Daphna composes music to prayers and Israeli poetry and is a main prayer leader in the Nava Tehila Jewish Renewal community in Jerusalem.
The song starts in Hebrew and has English words two-thirds of the way. Lyrics are also below.
Between Darkness and Light
~~~
Lyrics:
Between Darkness and Light
I will always walk.
And wherever I will go,
I will open the window of light
And will plant the seed
Of love.
~~~
How do we be the Light
Amid the darkness?
We practice.
We practice
Bringing kind care to ourselves.
We practice
Offering kindness to others.
We watch and breathe and rest and feel.
And gather with sangha, communities of heart.
We find our way to our practice.
Our practice finds its way to us.
With patience,
With tolerance,
With wise hope—
Hope that gives us access to the moment,
Rather than taking us away from it.
Patience,
Tolerance,
Wise hope.
May we practice.
Stay blessed,
Aruni
P.S. And how ridiculously wonderful to have both Sanskrit and Hebrew in the same piece! Yahoo.