Page 8 - ASHLAR - July-Sept 2020

N A L G R
I O
G E AND LODGE
The Ashlar R Vol. XVI Issue II
FROM DARKNESSTO LIGHT

By W.Bro. Harish J Shah, Lodge Tyrell Leith No.43

“Dark or Light,This my journey Sharanam Vraj“meaning “Abandoning all
My Journey through Life, pursuits come unto me alone for shelter. Worry
Thank God for darknessWithout such not, I will liberate thee from all sins “.
Where- from the light “ Before we proceed to travel from Darkness to
light and reach the destination through
In the darkness of ignorance we attach transcendent spirit, it would be rather helpful to
ourselves to the unreal and ephemeral world; in understand the dictionary meaning and usages.
the light of knowledge, we identify ourselves As described in the “Oxford English Dictionary
with the real and everlasting. Reality and (Fifth edition, 1963) DARK is adjective and
unreality would lead the person to realize the meaning (i.) With no or relative light, (ii.) Un-
Truth and help to unattachone from the illuminated (iii.) evil (IV) unenlighted and if used
concocted worldly things.When a person has as noun, meaning (i.) absence of light (ii.) want
conceived relative value the shower of love is of knowledge and when used as “Darkness”it
generated. Love is not generated unless means prince of darkness, the devil. The
sufficient thought is bestowed. This thought LIGHT isnoun, meaning (i.) The natural agent
attribute to cause the kindness and humility and that stimulates the sense of sight (ii.)
the beneficiary instinct and intuition to help appearance of brightness, (iii.) Sun's rays, the
ourselves and our fellows. This divine spark day light (iv.) mental illumination (v.)
shall give light to the world and it requires the enlightenment (vi.) One's natural or acquired
grace of God, the Lord, the divine,and the mental power (vii.) Radiance of heaven,
creator, who is the Great Architect of illumination of soul by divine truth. The meaning
theUniverse. It is said in our sagas- “God cannot of Light are same in most dictionaries, but
give grace until you allow him to enter your “comprehensive Desk Dictionary by Thorndike
life.”To invoke him is to invite his grace. “It is Barnhart “also refers about the spiritual
God's grace alone” as rightly said by Swami guidance and inspiration, shining figure. Word
Chinmayanandji,“that functions in those dark power dictionary by Reader's Digest the
and dreary moments before the cheerful dawn, darkness meaning the 'bleak – evil ' gloomy,
while we try to reach the outer limit of the finite sullen, while the light meaning to show, to guide,
and enter the realm of the Infinite.” It is declared to create a flame or spark, to become bright or
by Jesus that “I am the way, the truth and the animated, to realize or understand something,
life.”In Sanskrit“ Pratarnamami Tamasah and hope. The darkness is also known as
Parmarkvarnam“ – Prayer by well-known shadow and shadow caused by blocking a
Sankara that “At dawn I salute the effulgent direct source of light; it is an illusions and an
being, who is beyond all darkness, who is called imaginary opponent. To be realistic one has to
the supreme, the Infinite and the eternal, in stop chasing shadows, likewise, the tunnel is
whom appears the world of manifold forms like always a scene of darkness, but to find
the Snake Vision superimposed on the rope.”In something pleasant, it is said that “There is
Bhagavad Geeta, the Lord Krishna, the always a light at the end of the tunnel.”
destroyer of all sins of the world, said in the sixth Therefore one has to pass through darkness to
discourse which says “ He who seeth Me avail the blessings and blissful light. One may
everywhere and seeth everything in Me, him I ask “How was the world created?” The answer
never leave and he never leaves Me either.“In is very simple that in the beginning God created
the eighteenth Discourse wherein Shri Krishna the heavens and the earth. The earth was
tells Arjun “Sarvdharman Partiyajya Mamekam formless and empty. Darkness was over the

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