The Human Passage Through Self

 Bernadette Roberts

One possible way of envisioning the human passage is the following.  We think of ourselves as originally emerging from the unknown, from darkness, nothingness or non-existence into the light of consciousness.  But as consciousness develops we discover the increasing ability to see in the dark, see into the nothingness or mystery within ourselves and eventually realize that this darkness and nothingness is the Divine from which we emerged and with which we are one.  Thus we discover that our original darkness IS true light.  Midway in this passage, Divine light (darkness or unknowing) and the light of consciousness are in balance, with neither outshining the other.  But as we move beyond this mid-point, divine light begins to outshine the light of consciousness until, in the end, the light of consciousness goes out and only Divine light remains.  From this vantage point we look back on the passage and see that although consciousness was the veil that dimmed the light, this dimming was necessary in order to make the human dimension possible.  

But if consciousness makes human existence possible, it is also not separate from the Divine, nor does it completely hide it; on the contrary, consciousness or self is man’s faculty or medium for experiencing the Divine – so long as it remains, that is.  Our passage through consciousness is the gradual return to the Divine; we leave the Divine unknowingly and in darkness, but we return knowingly and in light. The Divine, of course, is not light; we only use this term metaphorically.  The essence of the Absolute cannot be known or experienced by the mind or consciousness, for which reason all our names, labels, definitions, and descriptions are incapable of grasping it.

What is Self?, page 55