Spiritual reality is light, but not the light that is perceived by the senses. It is the spiritual light that is manifesting as perceived light. Spiritual light is reflected in varying intensities. Spiritual disciplines make us aware of that light.
About spirit, Sri Ramakrishna says, ‘It is Light, but not the light that we perceive, not material light.’ What makes spiritual light different from perceived light? There are three aspects: Spiritual light is unchanging, while material light is changing. Because perceived light is changing, it is always accompanied by darkness. Sri Ramakrishna says, ‘He who is aware of light is also aware of darkness’. All that is perceived is clothed in the dualism of perceiver and perceived. The outer light waxes and wanes. But the inner light is unchanging.
Spiritual light is self-luminous, while perceived light derives its light from some other source. Perceived light is either reflected from another source, or, as in the case of the sun, is generated by consuming fuel. But spiritual light is not generated, nor is it reflected. It is the very nature of Being; it therefore shines of itself. Thus, it cannot be perceived in the usual dualistic sense of perceiver and perceived. By what light can be known that which is the source of all lights? Sri Ramakrishna gives the parable of the night watchman who goes around the entire premises with a bright light. He can see everyone and everything, but none can see his face. For that, one has to request him to turn the light onto his own face.
Spiritual light is love itself. Just as the radiance of the sun consists of heat and light, spiritual radiance consists of love and awareness. This light is not an impersonal radiance. There is no condition on this love. Sri Ramakrishna says, ‘One man may read the Bhagavata by the light of a lamp, and another may commit a forgery by that very light; but the lamp is unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked as well as on the virtuous’. We may ask why there is good and evil in the world. But these are our classifications. It is like asking the sun why there is darkness. The sun will not understand what you are talking about. For the sun, there is only light. Darkness is the lack of perception of light. Swami Vivekananda says, ‘The vibration of light is everywhere’.
It is this same spiritual light that is manifesting as perceived light, even though it cannot be perceived with the eyes. Sri Ramakrishna says, ‘God is the Sun of Knowledge. One single ray of His has illumined the world with the light of knowledge. That is how we are able to see one another and acquire varied knowledge.’ We have already stated that all perceived light is borrowed: either by reflection or by consumption of fuel. If all perceived light is borrowed, there has to be an ultimate source.
The light of Spirit is the light of all lights. So, by what light can it be illumined? Though it cannot be perceived, it can be felt. We can see its reflection, as it were. It can be glimpsed through revelation. All revelations are partial; and yet each is a pointer to the Real. That is why Sri Ramakrishna could say ‘as many revelations (faiths), so many paths.’
Source – Excerpts from an article titled ‘Lead, Kindly Light by Prof. Vijaya Kumar Murty published in Prabuddha Bharata magazine November 2006 issue.