On Darkness

What Kahlil Gibran probably meant to write in "The Prophet"...

And then I added to the masses’ spectacle, “Speak to us of darkness.”

And he answered, saying:

A shadow is but the remainder of true light. It is darkness and gloom only when our attention is just to it. You think, ‘Oh if only someone could remove this shadow from my life! It is surely the cause of all sadness.’

Then look beyond the shade, from a different direction, and you will see an image strong and clear. ‘Ah, it is the image that creates such despair! It’s that other thing that casts out darkness; it thwarts my crops from growing tall; it gives me chills; it blocks the sun.’ For it is all too easy to place blame on the object that stands between you and light.

But remember, it is the same shadow that helps you sleep and prevents your plants from drying out. Our Earth moves round, and so it goes. The light will rise again tomorrow. So too, again the shadow grows. ‘The cycle then, is the cause of woes.’

The earth you walk on is able to change; as it’s turns to see what’s beyond the object that sheds dim light, so too can you. Again, change direction and open your eyes. Alas, cannot your own body’s object emit shadows dark when the sun is at your back?

Look around and you will see. Beyond the body is radiance, more than understanding can hold in. There is clarity at every angle. There is warmth as deep as the universe. The darkness, no doubt, is the shadow cast from one’s own mind, seen only from one’s own eyes. A new perspective can ensure that what’s dark is golden, and what’s light is yours.