On the pavement a group of schoolchildren was walking past the
driveway with their teacher. I noticed these young children
crossing and suddenly I saw them in a way I have never seen human
beings before or since. They were so full of light I could
hardly 1ook, and on each child's chest where the heart is, a huge
radiance like the sun was shining. Each little child had this
dynamic, brilliant light, this radiant sun, ín the center of
their being. The experience of the líght, its brillíance and
energy, was beautiful and overwhelming. Later I came to
realize that what I saw is the true nature of human beings —
we are dynamic, luminous creatures of light.
~ from THE FACE BEFORE I WAS BORN by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
And how does one go chasing after a glimpse of the uncreated Light? The Hesychasts, high on Mount Athos, bowed their heads upon their breasts, took a deep breath, and plunged in. What they plunged into was prayer. It began with a tack with which to fix the attention. It became breath itself, an inlet for the universe to invade one's body until the entire cosmos, drawn in, heaved out, was transformed into prayer. The body's posture was important. The breathing was to be carefully controlled so as to keep time with the words. Eventually the prayer, breathed in, united with their very blood and heartbeat; breathed out, it blessed the world. And some monks claimed after a while to have indeed seen the Light of the Transfiguration, uncreated energy beheld by bodily eyes.
~ from AND THE TREES CLAP THEIR HANDS by Virginia Stem Owens
