Luminaries, part II: The River of Light

Gradually, the scene before my eyes began to change. Minutes before, as people released the Luminaries of their departed loved ones, everyone had stood on the shore alone in the darkness of their grief, in stunned silence and reverie. Now, there was a rustle here and there; people were moving around. What was going on?

I had noticed immediately that each Luminary upon release into the water seemed to have a mind of its own, or perhaps ‘karma’ of its own. Some of them moved swiftly into the middle of the river, sailing quickly toward the awaiting ocean. Others drifted toward the shore and seemed to get stuck in a place of no movement. Some of the lanterns got caught in little whirlpools and even moved backwards for a while.

Then I understood what was happening. People were moving down to the river in the darkness to free the lanterns that had gone off course, or were wandering lost around the banks. A little boy pushed two stranded lanterns out away from the bank with a stick. A man made waves with his hands which sent several helpless lanterns out toward the middle of the river, to the main stream of lights moving toward the ocean. The energy in the crowd shifted from sadness and loss to joy.

Then I saw a small boat out in the water. Several people were sailing in the darkness to rescue lost Luminaries and set them moving toward the ocean-seeking current. The crowd saw the boat and cheered. No Luminary will be lost! They will all reach the ocean! This physical and metaphysical reality hit me like a brick. Here on this one tiny planet on a little Island in the Pacific Ocean, a handful of human beings were making damn sure that the Luminaries of their departed loved ones would make it down the river to their destination in the ocean. Would an all-loving Supreme Being do any less?

The inescapable truth of unlimited mercy and universal salvation was so palpable to me in that moment that I started a one-way conversation in my head: ‘You ministers who talk of eternal damnation by a loving God….come down to this river bank tonight and see how every soul is saved. See the mercy of mere human beings who will in no way let a beloved relative or friend fail to reach their destination. Did you notice, my brother, that not a single Luminary floated upstream, away from the ocean. Did you see, my sister, that all lights got out to the sea---though some had gone off course and appeared lost? Can you see my friends how a loving God, the dearmost Friend and Beloved of all souls, will not allow a single soul to remain lost forever?’

That river, which in our humanity and sorrow had seemed a river of darkness and death, had now become a river of hope, a river of light.

In this Ashram of the World, every human drama, every act of heroism and courage becomes a metaphysical lesson for us—if we have the eyes to see.