the light of awareness

In the beginning was the Tao.
All things issue from it;
all things return to it.

To find the origin,
trace back the manifestations.
When you recognize the children
and find the mother,
you will be free of sorrow.

If you close your mind in judgments
and traffic with desires,
your heart will be troubled.
If you keep your mind from judging
and aren't led by the senses,
your heart will find peace.

Seeing into darkness is clarity.
Knowing how to yield is strength.
Use your own light
and return to the source of light.
This is called practicing eternity.
--  Stephen Mitchell, Chapter 52,Tao Te Ching

We climbed the mountain and sat in a grove of aspen.

"Close your eyes," said Lao Tzu.

I sat quietly with eyes closed.

"What do you see?" he asked.

"Light."

"Take your jacket and put it over your head," he said.

I put my jacket over my head.

"What do you see now?" he asked.

"Light," I said.

"No movies of your mind?"

"No."

"You are seeing the past," he said. "The past which is present now. The light you are seeing is the light of the origin of all things."

"That light is you," said Jesus. "You are the light of the world."

"Do you also see the darkness?" asked Lao Tzu.

"Yes."

"That is Dark Energy from which all light arises," he said.

"You are like a tree," said Jesus. "Your roots are in the Ground of all existence. Your trunk and branches are in the Sky of being."

"Take that jacket off your head," said Lao Tzu.

I removed the jacket.

The day was beautiful and bright.

We three trees got up and moved through the grove.