The Wound is Where the Light Comes In

“The wound is the place where the light enters you” – Rumi

I learned recently that Rumi’s poem preceded this phrase that Leonard Cohen made famous. While I’ve contemplated this on my own internal level many times, it feels that now the collective wound is open. The wound of our society’s prejudice and injustice. It’s painful. It’s uncomfortable. It’s deeply unsettling.

And yet, necessary.

Necessary for the light to make its way in, for the reckoning to begin. For healing to become possible.

We have our work cut out for us. It starts with being willing to fully feel the pain of the wound itself, to take an unflinching look at what is being laid bare. It continues with being willing to let the light to come in.

For me, this light is shining on the wound and illuminating it with my most fundamental value. The one that launched me on the path of yoga when I read the words (I’m paraphrasing here): “If you truly understood the value of a human life, you would understand why looking at another human with love and respect is the highest religion.”

We are all the same, part and parcel of the Divine. Yoga’s vision of oneness, of a universal brotherhood and sisterhood is the foundation for my yearning for unity and justice. May we bravely stand in the light, wounded, and ready to heal.​