Like some words in English, light has both an esoteric and exoteric meaning, distinguished by capitalizing the former in Panosophy. The Light within is a property of Consciousness, enabling Self-reflective Intelligence to see what is causing us humans to behave as we do.

However, the radiant Light of Consciousness is not like the diffuse light of the Sun, where rays of light are scattered in all directions. Rather, Light is coherent, like a laser, enabling us to view the Totality of Existence holographically, like a fractal, with the property of self-similarity.

The Coherent Light of Consciousness is thus enlightening, helping us to heal the fragmented mind in Wholeness, as a Buddha, beginning and ending the Eightfold path with Prajñā. Here is a symbol for the brilliant Light of Consciousness, borrowed from the University of the Trees, showing Divine Light radiating from a black hole at the Origin of the Universe.

This Light is present within everyone, but it is often occluded by our collective, cultural, and personal conditioning. So, at the very least, we need to disperse the clouds of unknowing, as an anonymous fourteenth-century English mystic advised.

Doing so does not necessarily lead to Wholeness. But it could lead to Oneness in Union with the Divine, essential to resolve the existential crisis being much talked about today. For it is in Oneness and Wholeness that we realize our True Identity as humans, free of the sense of a separate self.