An excerpt from The Eagle’s View: Five Steps to Modern Mysticism
Once during a spiritual awakening, I was inspired to visit the seacoast of England in order to stay at a remodeled lighthouse. Most lighthouses I have read about have the bedrooms in a house nearby that was used for the lighthouse keeper; that’s what I expected. However, this one was unusual. Bedrooms were on three of the nine floors of the lighthouse.
The kitchen was located on the eighth floor (quite inexpedient if you wanted to carry groceries into the kitchen to cook!). The top floor was an observation room, complete with glass windows that would allow the light located in the center of the small room to shine toward the sea. To enter this room, you had to crawl up a perpendicular ladder from the kitchen. From the narrow stone steps to the perpendicular ladder, I found nothing convenient at all about this experience.
Convenience wasn’t the point, though. Gaining a new awareness was the point.
The second day I was there, the sky darkened, the rain pelted, and the sea raged. A strong European gale began to cause rain to seep into not only the top floor observation room, but also the kitchen area and the den located just below. As the wind howled outside, I wasn’t really sure the entire top floor was steady; it felt to me like the lighthouse was swaying.
With the intention of seeking a safer, dry area inside the lighthouse, I began to descend the many stone steps to a lower level. About the time I got to the sixth floor, the electricity went out. I had to navigate the rest of the narrow, curving stone steps in pitch-black darkness; the raging storm had caused a surge in electricity to compromise the main circuit switch in the electrical panel.
All along the eastern and western coasts of the United States are famous lighthouses, each a remnant of days of ships and star navigational systems. The beacons within them shined forth, allowing the sailing ships to navigate coastlines and rocky areas without crashing into the shore.
In each of these lighthouses there is a power source that allows the light to shine forth; without it, the purpose of the lighthouse is thwarted. In all cases, the power is inside the lighthouse. They are all hooked up to a power supply, but the on/off circuit breaker to this source of energy is within the lighthouse itself. When the switch is in the “on” position, all works well; the beacon shines forth as a source of navigation. However, if the lighthouse’s switch is in the “off” position, the power source is still in the lighthouse but the light does not shine forth because the current has been blocked.
Likewise, when our own internal switch is “off,” the Power Source is still there but the spiritual energy does not flow. In this case, we stumble about in an unawakened darkness, ceasing to recognize our own Light. Often, allowing the illumination that comes from God’s Light is simply a matter of flipping one of our own internal switches.
The lighthouse principle illustrates that within the Divine part of our created selves there is a switch to Source — with God — that allows our inner Light to shine forth, navigating our lives. The switch is internal; the spiritual current flows from Source — from God. Your awareness is the first step in activating this switch.
Which is more important to you, becoming aware of the Divinity within, or remaining fearful? Whose job is it to change your God-switch into full operation? Do you believe you have this power? Do you have the intention to do so? More important, how is it to be done? Is there some deity somewhere standing in judgment? Do you think it is waiting for perfected behavior before we are able to sparkle in life as the people we are created to be?
Actually, the opposite is true. Each of us is in charge of the God-switch in our individual lives through recognition and utilization of our own unique Divinity — you, as a drop in a sea of God — present and operational in every moment, in all circumstances. Modern Mystics know of this switch and utilize it as a matter of fact. However, before we can activate this switch, we must be aware that it is there.
The ancient Greeks used the word nous to mean a combination of Spirit of God and mind. The Latin origination of the word “consciousness” comes from the two words con scire, meaning “to know with.” I prefer to call the recognition of this power switch of God-energy Soul Consciousness, an awakening of ourselves as part of the Divine.
