Being Light
2026, April, Issue 198
It’s my light, as light,
How can it be?
Where is mine in all of this?
Timeless Luminosity, here now,
Where am I?
Here I am!
Claiming to be separate,
Without existence,
without any evidence,
without a shred,
not a shred of evidence,
not having examined
assumptions,
guesses, scientific evidence,
appearances that cannot be fathomed
by senses,
Here I am!
Though I cannot be found,
This confused being
who has not realized
the nature of this light,
the Nature of Mind,
not even
the essence of this vast journey
from beginningless beginnings,
this eternal madness,
madness that we embrace
as if it were normal,
as if it were normal…
In this vast expanse,
where only Buddhas reside,
though we think it is not so,
only those who have fallen
into darkness
only those few forget,
though the number seems vast,
forgetting
who they really are,
not knowing this light manifests all,
even in darkness,
even in ignorance,
even when distracted
by what appears, being light,
As Light,
As It Is.
A poem by Robert Aho © 2026
Imagine yourself as a beam of light. Where do you go? Where did you come from? What happens to you in your infinite journey?
These sorts of questions are worth considering, if you are interested in understanding just what is going on here. In order to learn from this investigation of reality, you must let go of habitual notions such as beliefs and concepts, simply observe mind, as it is. See yourself as that energetic condition that changes continually, a slow form of light we call matter. Understand what is happening with each atom, with the continual change each particle experiences, the quantum nature of this motion where aspects of us come and go from this place we call the universe. Really see it for what it is, rather than this ignorant notion of a solid unchanging thing we refer to as existence.
It’s not such an easy thing to do, because we are habitually coming to the wrong conclusions about everything. A sane person might be concerned about this; however, very few of us have ever actually encountered someone who could be called sane, if we consider sanity to be related to understanding reality, as it is. The whole world is insane, not just the few who annoy us or disagree with what we think of as reality.
The only way to discover reality is to realize the Nature of Mind, then Awaken. This is what I am referring to when I ask people to awaken, it’s not something superficial like a belief or a way of living. I’m asking people to look within and discover reality for themselves, through spiritual effort. This takes considerable humility, simply because we defend our erroneous assumptions as part of our egotistical view. We embrace insanity, defend it, continue on our way for an eternity in this way. It is, to say the least, rather unfortunate.
When we observe a beam of light, it’s not static in the way we might imagine it to be. Light travels at the speed of light, which means there is no time for that beam of light. It is an eternal moment that we witness. The energy that generates light has no beginning and no end, as it is also eternal, beyond time and space. Even though we think that light, that energy, is separate from us, that is simply an illusion generated by our unenlightened view, our egotistical outlook.
When we examine mind, we cannot locate that. It’s not in our brain. It’s not in our thoughts. Mind occurs because we do not know. We are lost in this fabrication of relative reality, not knowing the origin of our delusions, not realizing that we are fixated on what is not real.
The great Buddha of our age, Buddha Shakyamuni, pointed to the suffering of life as being a great reason to awaken. That is what often comes up as the core reason for awakening; however, we can find any number of reasons for awakening, not just this notion of removing ourselves from suffering. Beings need only discover who they really are, then everything becomes possible. Certainly we can remove all suffering by following the classic teachings; however, we unlock our real potentiality through awakening, which means discovering unlimited possibilities.
The potentiality of a conscious beam of light is unlimited. As peaceful as a beam of light may appear, there is a dynamic component to this infinite appearance. Light manifests to our greatly limited senses, and we have no idea what it is that we are witnessing. We tell ourselves a story that satisfies us for a little while, even though it can never be any better than a lie. All beliefs are a lie, nothing more than that.
I pray to the infinite wisdom that we all share, that we find a good reason to awaken. Maybe we awaken out of curiosity. Maybe we awaken because we are offended by our own ignorance. Maybe we awaken because this suffering we experience in life is simply too great.
Whatever the reason we need for our Aspiration to Awaken, take this opportunity. It is the most important thing you can ever do. Now is your opportunity—AWAKEN!
Blessings of Source,
Rigdzin Robert Aho
Robert Aho is the author of Timeless Luminosity and The Frog: A Spiritual Autobiography, Spanning Many Lifetimes. Both books, written after his death experience, give advanced spiritual advice regarding the complete Spiritual Path, inspiration for living each day and words of encouragement, with the intention of helping people to stay committed to their Spiritual Path, as well as preparing for death. This ultimately leads to discovering your own power within, which lead to Awakening. Both books are available on Amazon, Zenith Bookstore, as well as various other sources.