If there is something you know, communicate it. If there is something you don't know, search for it.
— An engraving from the 1772 edition of the Encyclopédie; Truth, in the top center, is surrounded by light and unveiled by the figures to the right, Philosophy and Reason.
Illumination: to light, to illuminate, to bring light in from the dark. From Wickepedia: The term light has been used in spirituality (vision, enlightenment, darshan, Tabor Light). Bible commentators such as Ritenbaugh see the presence of light as a metaphor of truth, good and evil, knowledge and ignorance.[1] In the first Chapter of the Bible, Elohim is described as creating light by fiat and seeing the light to be good. In Hinduism, Diwali - the festival of lights - is a celebration of the victory of light over darkness.[2] A mantra in Bhadārayaka Upaniad(1.3.28) urges God to 'from darkness, lead us unto Light'.
In the beginning, This phrase has been the question asked by many and the answer to this has brought about beliefs, religions, cults and much tumult throughout the history of man. History? Where did we come from and where do we go, if anywhere, from here? This question has caused empires to rise and fall over the entire recorded existence on man(kind). Is there a true, original religion? We as humans are the top of an ecological chain that seems to have come from (where), we have developed thought to the point that we desire to know the unknown. Are we just a development of organisms that happened to come together and evolve into what we now are; or as religions teach, did we come from some unknown higher power formed in the image of Him/Her/Them?
The answer to these questions have caused man to divide into many cultures and groups.....it has been the stimuli for wars, divisions and even worse, Racism. Man's inhumanity to man, far surpasses what any other creatures on earth are capable of. Do we blame this on demons, devils, fallen angels or are we the developers of our own destiny. Religions have created many different stories to explain all of these questions, are they answers from deity as they claim or stories embellished over the centuries by man himself, a way to deal with what only mankind is aware of...Death, or the finality of existence as we are aware of it. Does life go on after death? Religion say's yes, evolution say's no, unless you count in the fact that your body is consumed by other living organisms and therefore continues on until all life on this planet is exterminated. Questions, Questions, Questions???
Are there any answers? Where? We as thinking, living beings are solely responsible to determine the answers alone. We can, as many over history have done before us, allow others to direct our search and decide the answers for us. A life of Illumination, means that we as individuals have the right and responsibility to look for and believe what we will. We are not bound to the elders, priests, and gurus who try to impress their ideas upon us.....we are thinkers, we have the ability to decide for ourselves what we are going to believe or not beleive. Good luck in seeking your own answers.
Mel