There is an African folk story of Hilolombi, the Creator, who held a lamp in his hand that brought light into the world. But after his firstborn, Kwan, committed incest with his mother, Hilolombi dropped the lamp and it shattered into a thousand pieces. To bring the light back to the earth, human beings began to pick up these fragments, and today each person is in possession of one fragment, believing that he has the whole lamp. Unless we join together, the fullness of light will never return to the earth.

    I found this story in Bernie Glassman's book entitled "Bearing Witness: a Zen Master's Lessons in Peacemaking." Glassman shares how the "Zen Peacemakers Order" way of bearing witness to all situations in life, no matter how horrible or painful and living with the unknown, promotes healing in all creations and ourselves. He describes making peace as making whole. He also says that when we begin to accept our differences we begin to see the oneness of life. He points out that the one thing we all have in common is our diversity. What a paradox this is and how freeing and healing it can be to grasp this concept!

    The idea of honoring diversity helps me to make sense and order of the fragmentation that I see the world experiencing. We have not yet come to a peacemaking stage as individuals or as a country, or even as a human race at this point in time. Instead, we are still in the phase of our "war against terrorism" or the "war against America." Different peoples are holding on to their own fragment of the light, believing that they hold the light for the entire world just as in the African story of Hilomobi as described by Glassman.

    When seen through the lens of Jungian Psychology, the metaphor of the original light that Hilolombi carried, broken into fragments, helps us to understand the world with some perspective. Original wholeness of the light is like a Uroboric state in which we are one with the unconscious. This means living unconsciously. In that state, we are unable to differentiate or separate out what is "I" what is "you" and what is "other". The act of incest, when viewed metaphorically, can be interpreted as a wish to remain in an unconscious state. Psychologically, it is necessary to break away from the mother or from the unconscious in order to develop or to increase consciousness, which is reflected in the metaphor of the incest taboo. In this view, separation or differentiation is a necessary part of the developmental process of the psyche. This is why Hilolombi must drop the lamp, which shatters into fragments. This is the psychological action necessary for differentiation or separation between conscious and unconscious. We can hold no consciousness or no light without differentiation of the unconscious or darkness.

     It is important that we become aware of the fragment of light we carry individually and the need to continually shine this light into the darkness of the unknown that dwells within and around us. This process must happen within the individual as well as on a collective basis. One is really a reflection of the other. It is important for us to recognize that others carry a fragment of that same origin light, attempting to shine their own light into the darkness from their perspective as well. Recognition of "other" is one aspect of honoring diversity. Using this potential lens to view events widens our perspective. It does NOT justify specific actions taken against the life principle around the world but allows us to "bear witness" as Glassman suggests "to every situation, no matter how difficult, offensive, or painful it is. Out of that process of bearing witness the right action of making peace, of healing, arises." We must continue to carry our own individual fragment of light, bearing witness to the events within and without, while we also search for ways to join our lights back together.

    Jung commented "the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." Perhaps this differentiation-this shining of lights into different corners of darkness from around the world, although painful and horrible-is necessary for the principle of life as a whole to continue. This perspective puts us beyond ourselves into the realm of "wholeness", seeing the world in process as one entity. If we consider the psychological task of holding the tension of the opposites as one possibility, perhaps other possibilities will surface from the darkness as well. Our ultimate desire is that wholeness and healing of all creations and ourselves can exist. It is possible within this framework.

~Kathy Mays, Ph.D.

References:
Glassman, Bernie. Bearing Witness; A Zen Master's Lessons in Making Peace. Bell Tower, NY, 1998;
Jung, C.G. Memories, Dreams and Reflections. New York, Vintage, 1961