There’s a parable by Neale Donald Walsch called The Little Soul and the Sun. There are two parts to this tale. In a nutshell, the story is about a soul who wanted to know who he was., but because all there was, was light, and all he was, was light, he could not do this.
It begins:
There once was a soul who knew itself to be the light. This was a new soul, and so, anxious for experience. “I am the light,” it said. “I am the light.” Yet all the knowing of it and all the saying of it could not substitute for the experience of it. And in the realm from which this soul emerged, there was nothing but the light. Every soul was grand, every soul was magnificent, and every soul shone with the brilliance of God’s awesome light. And so the little soul in question was as a candle in the sun. In the midst of the grandest light — of which it was a part — it could not see itself, nor experience itself as Who and What it Really Is.
And then goes on to explain that in order for the soul to know itself, it must separate itself from all that is and call upon the darkness so it may know its own light and experience who he or she really is.
But in order for that soul aspect to know itself as light, someone had to play the part of being the darkness.
In this story, the soul wished to experience forgiveness, but as there was no one to forgive; someone had to play that part.
Another soul offered: “I will come into your next physical lifetime and do something for you to forgive. I ask only one thing in return,”
“Anything! Anything!” the Little Soul cried.
“In the moment that I strike you and smite you, in the moment that I do the worst to you that you could ever imagine – in that self-same moment…remember Who I Really Am.”
“Oh, I won’t forget!” promised the Little Soul. “I will see you in the perfection with which I hold you now, and I will remember Who You Are, always.”
This story illustrates perfectly why we have darkness. Why there are demons, and why people attack and hurt us.
And while many people do indeed seem to understand that all we do is because we have created it on some level, and that is our free will in action, they seem to forget the very thing they need to remember.
The ones who are dark are dark because without them, we could not experience our own light.
Far too often, I see people condemning demons, so called evil, people who have wronged them and cursing them to Hell (or whatever place they feel is punishing enough. )
Far too often people insist that there is no help for those being and they are not worthy or their time, their healing, or even their love or blessings.
But is this really what we should be doing? So called negative beings don’t remember who they really are. Perhaps they have chosen a part where, by necessity, they cannot have any connection to the light. No matter what is done, they will always be of the dark because that is what is required. And they will remain so until they eventually return, with the rest, to source.
People seem to take great pride in condemning that which they consider to be dark. They simply love to hate and detest anything that doesn’t meet their own personal standards.
But condemning the dark is as useless as condemning the night. Everything is there for a reason. It wouldn’t exist otherwise.
I can’t help but wonder how horrible it would be to be hated by everyone, attacked and detested just for being.
Personally, I feel we should bless the darkness. Thank them for their gift and even their sacrifice. Those who have even experienced a little of what it’s like to not have light in your life should understand what it is like to be like them.
They may not remember who they are. They may never be able to in this realm, but that doesn’t mean we should forget, either.
And while you may not agree or condone their actions, always come from a place of love, rather than hate or fear.
Someone has to play the bad guy. Perhaps one day it may be you.
great book! one of the best that illustrate the human drama.
With all the problems in the world today, I try my best to help. It becomes overwhelming many times and I cry a lot! This article reminds me of who I am and my purpose here; it also reminds me that others may not recognize the good in themselves or others and behave in a very destructive way to the world. I have no problem hating their actions but I must remember that I do not hate the person. And I really don’t hate, it’s just that sometimes I forget.
Indeed.. wise words. The person is not their actions.
Hate is just fear of a form as all negative emotions are. Fear of the pain that may be inflicted upon you. You hate that with the potential to hurt you. Remove the fear of the pain: remove the hate. It doesn’t matter what you hate whether it is the person or the action. The energy of hate is still with in you acting as your point of attraction, attracting more things to hate. Be careful here, our emotions are a guide to what we are creating for ourselves.
Sorry using phone app for some reason not signed in. – above comment by Nattie. Xx
Nattie, thank you for the kind response to my statement. I truly do not hate. Literally, my entire life has been one of abuse….emotional, mental, and physical including rape. At times, I have experienced strong dislike for the perpetrators including my parents but the actual feeling of hate – no. I have learned that I do not want to ever be the cause of someone’s pain and have spent my career as a nurse trying to help. I also believe that those life experiences opened me to empathy for every part of life.
I always suggest you come from a place of love. Seems to be hard for many to do, though. 🙂
Gary, you are right. Coming from a place of love can be hard but only because we sometimes forget who we are. I don’t want to forget.
People forget duality is an illusion all that is was once source and will be again. Good and evil are concepts created by man to describe the contrast they experience in three dimensional reality. By experiencing the unwanted we may understand truly why the wanted is indeed wanted. With this understanding we may experience the wanted more fully with much more zeal and joy. This does not mean in any sense we should allow the unwanted to consume, condemn or control us but to understand that movement is constant in the universe and the activation of personal power will allow the unwanted to move and the wanted to arrive, until it’s time to learn why we want the next thing. Great post Gary. 🙂
Indeed. I’m not suggested that at all. Just that we remember who they are and what they have given up.. for us.
Thanks, Nattie.
This resonated within me and I started crying! I will remember this truth from now on. Thank you for your insight!
Welcome 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it.
Reblogged this on Rising from the Abyss and commented:
Interesting reflections about light and darkness,
Thanks, Luna. I’m flattered.
This reminds me of back in the day when I was seeking light in the words of that savior son of virgin mother:
Remember brethren, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. So take on all the armor of God so that in the evil day you may fight back and having done so still stand.
I guess sometimes the light of the sun does come, in form, to talk to me in my time of need.
Thank you Gary ! ! !
: )
Thanks and welcome.
Interesting, I’ve never heard of this one…but to be honest I think there is a mixture of types of evil, not just one. Like this story mentions there are some who plays the part of being evil because it is necessary, there are some who chose to be evil (they don’t like or care for light or good, for some reason they hate it), then there is actual real evil (demons etc) and they do influence people or harm them(from my experiences I’ve seen/felt a lot of things, especially this). Everything has an opposite so there could be a balance between the two and there isn’t just one explanation of how or why, I believe there are several. I believe all these mixtures (and more) do help people who are of the light to make them stronger/wiser, they also go against their own that are evil to make those people change their lives OR the actual evil tries to harm the light from making a great and positive change and harm innocent people etc. (I think people need to figure out which is which.) In the short amount of time that Ive had with the paranormal etc. I realized that there are a mixture of things/theories/prophecies etc. that are true to either help us or give us knowledge. Besides this fact, I do thank that I have had a hard life…otherwise I wouldnt be so wise and wouldnt think a lot. =)
I guess it depends on what you believe. Is there only God (in which case, there is only one soul and everything is it) or is there others outside of God, in which case, no one has the right claim they are the only way.
To me, the we are all one thing always felt right for me, even though when I was younger, I couldn’t comprehend it.
Ah yes It does but its also on some of what others believe in too! =) I’m Christian and I have experienced somethings that have dealt with Christianity BUT I have also experienced things thats in Native American culture my whole life and I knew nothing about it until now. For some unknown reason Ive always had a strong feeling that what others believe in is true (spiritual/religion) and that it adds up..I feel that some religion etc has answers but people are too stubborn to try to understand it and each others beliefs for some reason and this causes conflicts with others. =/(Maybe something is trying to stop us from finding out something great?) That being said we will never know the truth if we dont all put it together(like what I mentioned to you before in your recent “Past Lives” post). For some reason I realized I’m the only one who has noticed certain things such as this. After my studies in college I want to research my findings/experiences further and write about it, it’s just all so interesting and exciting! XD
This reminds me of a song by the band Angels & Agony, called Inner Light.
Centuries of wisdom are buried in sand
And eons of progress lost in time
Most tell the stories of how it began
But we’ve seen the future arriving
No one remembers
No one remembers who we are
As we storm down the mountains and reach for the stars
We are blinded by our illusion
Whatever we want will not be enough
We’ve silenced our inner guidance
Do you remember who you are?
Do you remember you and me?
Do you remember what we were?
And do you know why you are here?
Do you remember?
Please remember
Please remember
The storms never ending erasing the earth
Cleansing the air of allies we have told
Structures we’ve built will be razed til the night
And we’ve seen history repeating
No one remembers
No one remembers what we have done
As we pray to the laments lament how you ___
Ignoring the voices within
Telling us that this is just what we are
We rise and fall like the seasons
Do you remember who you are?
Do you remember who you are?
Do you remember you and me?
Do you remember what we were?
And do you know why you are here?
Do you remember?
Please remember
Please remember
Great song. Thanks for sharing it.
From my Christian upbringing:
Matthew 7:1
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
John 8:7
“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”
It is hard to believe that those of us in human form can possibly say that we have never done any wrong. We can argue that someone else has done more wrong, but that is sometimes nothing but perspective. Forgiveness and love, I believe, are the only way to be healthy for ourselves as well as the universe,
“They say there is no light without dark, no good without evil, no male without female, no right without wrong. That nothing can exist if it’s direct opposite does not also exist.”
― Laurell K. Hamilton, Incubus Dreams
Thanks Patti. True words.
Having empathy for the darkness is in character for you, but remember they couldn’t care less what others think of them. It doesn’t hurt their feelings to be hated, they don’t have any feelings to hurt though they pretend to. They actually get a sense of power from that because that’s all they want is power, in whatever form they can get it. So in a way, having empathy for them is a wonderful way to protect yourself because they hate empathy and all things having to do with Love. Hating them just feeds into their power trip and they are pleased to bring you down to their level.
Yes, it’s true they don’t give a crap. (though from what I’ve observed, they do on some level but that’s another subject.)
My point really is, people feel that by fighting the darkness or condemning it, it makes them a spiritual warrior. Makes them somehow better than the darkness. In my view, it doesn’t and hurts one far more than anything dark can ever do.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Couldn’t agree more. What makes a spiritual warrior though, is knowledge of the dark forces and the way they operate. Also you need to be careful of encouraging empathy for dark things because they use that against the empathic, to lie to empaths and make them get attached and identified. I’ve learned to keep my distance with a realistic but non-judgmental attitude. Predators hurt and kill other things because it’s in their nature so it’s in the best interest of non-predators to keep emotionally detached. Too many empaths equate empathy with identifying with the object of empathy and get caught in terribly painful situations. And yes, dark things get narcissisticly injured from people’s bad perceptions of them, they are baffled and hurt to get a bad reaction to their bad behavior.
Thanks for the discussion!
Yes, good point.
It’s easy to see how one would want to feel sorry or try to ‘save’ the darkness from my words, but that wasn’t what I was actually saying. It’s more about not condemning it.
I guess it’s like, you can accept a snake for being a snake, but you wouldn’t want to feel sorry for it. It is what it is.