Going towards the light
Go towards the light is a reference to near death experiences where people see a bright light often interpreted as heaven or the afterlife or god. Others beg to differ. They argue that if you don't want to die, you should head AWAY from the light. The "light" represents heaven and therefore you would be surrendering your life and resigning yourself to death. They think the phrase; "Stay away from the light!" is more appropriate. Most of us have heard of the concept of a person feeling like they are in a tunnel and that they are moving towards the light at the end of the tunnel. This visualization acts as an analogy representing the feeling that the person sees a solution or a happy ending at the end of the ordeal they are going through.
See also the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which is chock-full of advice of not only going to the light, but also exactly which light you should go to. Namely, you want to head for the Clear Light, as that's the landing beacon for liberation. But most dead folks get sidetracked with thoughts of how they're not going to get any more turtle sundaes or really good cheesecake (understandably, I think), and there's a whole slew of increasingly bad-news detour lights that show up. The continuing advice winnows down to exhorting the dead person to at least pick the best option available. Fine, they've missed the last possible exit ramp to the Clear Light, but they can at least pick one of the more promising worlds to be born into; if they're bound and determined to be reborn here, then they can for goodness sake avoid getting born as an animal, and above all else, "Be not fond of the dull smoke-colored light from hell." Which is pretty sound advice.
Software media: Adobe Photoshop ®, Adobe Illustrator ®, Autodesk 3ds Max ®, Photo Stock,
George Grie, October 2007
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Going towards the light