The Atma Jyoti Blog

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14).

How different is the real Jesus of the Gospels from the pseudo-Jesus of the churches! That Jesus tells us we are sinners, deserving damnation–but he will save us from justice if we only “accept” him. Still, we will remain worthless and inclined to evil by our very nature. But see what the true Jesus says to us: You are the light of the world. We are the light, not just unto ourselves but unto the whole world. What an astounding statement of his belief in us.

We are not surprised when Jesus says that he is the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5), but lifetimes of negative conditioning blocks our readiness to conceive of this truth in relation to us, much less accept it–and even less to dare to act upon it.

Yet, as already cited, in the first paragraph of his autobiography, Yogananda speaks of “the great masters who are India’s sole remaining wealth. Emerging in every generation, they have bulwarked their land against the fate of Babylon and Egypt.” The “salt of the earth” they have preserved India through the ages, and as “light of the world” the wisdom of all Masters throughout the world is shining “as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west” ( Matthew 24:27).

This is to be our function, too, if we cooperate with the divine plan. We are to be the presence of the Christ just as was he. “God is light” (I John 1:5). When we link our conscious with God, the Absolute Consciousness, through the invocation of Om, then we, too are light. More, we become sources of that light as it shines from us into the world.

Om is the Light

Speaking of Om, the Word, Saint John tells us: “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). It is the radiation of Om that evolves all sentient beings, bringing them to the level of human evolution and beyond.

Swami Vivekananda explains it this way: “The underlying reality of nature, soul, and God is Brahman; but It (Brahman) is unseen, until we bring It out. It may be brought out by Pramantha or friction, just as we can produce fire by friction. The body is the lower piece of wood, Om is the pointed piece and Dhyana (meditation) is the friction. When this is used, that light which is the knowledge of Brahman will burst forth in the soul” (Swami Vivekananda, Inspired Talks, Sunday morning, July 7).

The Maitri Upanishad (7:11) says: “Why is It [Om] said to be lightning? Because in the very moment of going forth [in repetition] It lights up the whole body. Therefore one should meditate with the Syllable Om, that boundless Light.”

Regarding Om the Narada Parivrajaka Upanishad, Upadesha VIII, states: “It is the Atma Jyoti [Light of the Self].”

“‘I’ denotes Om.…I am that which consists of Consciousness [Chit], I am Om. That is Ramabhadra, the supreme light. One should grasp the atman in the word ‘I’ [Om] and should unite him in spirit with Brahman,” says the Rama Uttara Tapiniya Upanishad.

Om as Light is not only Spirit (Purusha) but Power (Shakti). According to the Yoga Vashishtha: “She [Mahashakti] is known as Uma because She is the very essence of the sacred monosyllable Om.…Since She exists as a ray of light in one who has been awakened by the contemplation of the subtle inner vibrations produced by the sound of Om, She is known as Indukala [ray of the moon]” (Yoga Vashishtha 6:2:84).

Next: How a Yogi Can Change the World for the Better

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