Inner Light (moral, soul, doctrine, church, dogma)

[Green Gaia]

Inner light

The Inner Light, or "the Light within" is a concept central to Quaker theology. It refers to the Quaker belief that God speaks directly to everyone, and that in order to hear it one must learn to listen for the voice of God (generally through silent meditation), and give God a chance to speak through you.

Some Quakers believe that the Inner Light means that the human soul is "that of God in everyone," instead of God being strictly external from a person.

It is important to note that this divine guidance (or "promptings" or "leadings of the Spirit") is considered to be distinct both from impulses originating from oneself and general moral guidelines. Quakers are generally suspicious of hard and fast rules, as evidenced by the postscript that a Quaker meeting attached to a list of "Advices" published in 1656:

Dearly beloved Friends, these things we do not lay upon you as a rule or form to walk by, but that all, with the measure of light which is pure and holy, may be guided: and so in the light walking and abiding, these may be fulfilled in the Spirit, not from the letter, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.

To paraphrase, human laws are fallible, and ultimately we must rely on that of God within us in order to conduct our way through the grey areas of life; right action cannot be legislated. This does not mean that individuals must make their own decisions in isolation, however: Quakers often gather together to address sticky questions in a clearness committee or meeting for discernment.

Compare and contrast the Inner Light with the similar concept of an Inward Light, which appears in older Quaker writings but seems to have fallen out of use. This evokes an image of people being illuminated by the light of God or Christ, rather than having a light source inside them.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

[michel]

Well, I tend to believe in an 'inner light' - but probably in a different sense - the one used in kundalini ( the yogic life force that is held to lie coiled at the base of the spine until it is aroused and sent to the head to trigger enlightenment) - also, to cleanse the Chakras.......

[Victor]

I also believe in an inner light, but like Michel I also see it differently. Many times I may ignore the inner light. Why? Several reasons. But the important thing as a Catholic is that we have a way to distinguish inner light from dark light. Thru Church dogma..

The Least
~Victor

[ayani]

thank you, Maize!

one thing i liked about Quaker doctrine on The Light is that it is available to everyone, regardless of religion, culture, location, education... it's a pleasantly unifying thought for me.