As purification progresses, the energies of light and darkness within our bodies and unconscious minds become more active and more visible to the self. This is in keeping with the fundamental principle of purification - that the infusion of God's light amplifies the light within us and activates the darkness in order to release it. Such action often leads to an ongoing experience of both light and darkness within the self, varying in intensity and duration as purification progresses.

The strengthening of light energy and the activation of dark energy⁸ in the process of purification are core to the healing process. Much of this process is spent observing the interaction of these energies, and especially managing the dark energies that arise. Often this emergence takes place as a function of light that is expanding.

As we purify, many of us undergo a major shift in perspective as we develop an understanding of energy as the fundamental basis for our emotional experience. Of greater familiarity is our tendency to view external events as the reference point for emotional states.

For example, if something happens to us that is difficult such as illness, disappointment, or loss, we tend to expect that certain feelings will emerge in response such as grief, anger, or sadness. Conversely, if something happens to us that is expansive such as marriage, the birth of a child, or a new job, we are more likely to experience positive emotions such as happiness, hope, and love.

The challenge before us is to open to a broader framework of viewing emotions as we acknowledge our bodies, minds, and spirits as being comprised of energies. These energies differ in content and intensity from one person to another, depending on our past history and current state of purification. As we become more conscious, our understanding of them will be key in maintaining emotional balance throughout the difficulties of purification.

For example, it is important at all times to remember that the energies of darkness must enter our conscious awareness prior to being released. These energies represent unconscious aspects of ourselves that have been kept hidden or suppressed, and the way to release them is to allow them passage through our consciousness. As they move through us, formerly suppressed energies can create the content of our thoughts and feelings. Our minds can become preoccupied with negative thought patterns such as self-hatred, doubt, or obsession. Our bodies may also be affected by their passage in such a way that we experience pain, illness, or disability. Finding a way to be present with the energies of darkness without engaging in denial or avoidance is necessary in order for us to become capable of being fully joined with the light.

An awareness of the nature of spiritual light helps to maintain our balance during the difficult passage through inner darkness. We remember that our core essence is light, and that it is at all times protected from darkness. In addition, we progressively strengthen and take in more light as we purify and ask for help from God.

As a result of continually asking and opening, the light of God's love is always available to us to draw on for nourishment and sustenance during times of difficulty. We also sustain ourselves through the knowing that light dissolves darkness, regardless of its density or intensity, and that there is nothing more powerful than the force of light.

Invoking the power of light serves several purposes. On the one hand, we are inviting healing for all that remains of our sense of separation from God. On the other, we are taking in light as energy to sustain us in a more immediate physical sense. In this way, we receive help with the present-day challenges of enduring whatever our life presents us with, without being overcome.

This practice is referred to as 'aligning with the light' or 'alignment' (see Principle Three), and is initiated by centering in the heart as the place of contact between our physical bodies and our souls, and between our souls and God's light and love.

'Aligning with the light' offers us the opportunity to experience the emotions of hope, love, and trust, regardless of what is happening in our life or in our emotions. In the face of even the most painful circumstances, through aligning, we can remember the truth of God's love as an everpresent reality.

The implications of accepting energy as the primary source of inner experience are far-reaching, and need to be adapted to ways of living and interacting with others with consciousness. As we learn about energies, we become aware that events in outer reality are defined by our perception of them - a perception influenced by the energies moving through us at any moment in time. By perceiving all of life as God's reality, with love and trust as the constant qualities for learning and healing, we can move through life more gracefully and with greater responsibility for our emotional reactions. As we do this, we develop the ability to anchor in the truth of God's love when minor disappointments or frustrations occur, as well as in the presence of the most extreme forms of suffering. Spiritual empowerment emerges out of this acceptance of life which strengthens us and makes ongoing purification possible.

Gradually, our awakened perception makes it possible to even endure the unendurable. We find that whatever we have pushed down or repressed because it was too painful to feel, finally becomes accessible. What was too difficult to encounter before, can now be met with the courage of full awareness. In this way, the darkness that was built upon years and lifetimes of separation can finally be healed, along with all limiting ideas of who we are.

Feeling emotions without denial, avoidance, or distractions is a monumental challenge that becomes easier with practice. We learn the dual awareness that allows us to feel the difficult emotion fully on the one hand, while maintaining spiritual perspective and the consciousness of light on the other. We learn to honor the fullness of the emotion, but not to identify with it as being all of who we are. In this sense we carry it and perceive it to be in us, but not us.

Through alignment with light, it becomes possible to dis-identify with painful emotions and to maintain an enlightened perspective toward the difficult lessons of life, a perspective which allows a sense of oneness and an awareness of grace.

Once we feel our emotions, containing them is our next task. 'Containment' does not imply the decrease of feeling. When tears come we feel the tears, we cry, we are sad. When anger or resentment comes, we feel the anger, it bristles within us. Containment requires that we feel emotions fully without projecting them onto others or acting them out.

Examples of projection occur when we blame others for causing our feelings. When we project in this way, we assume that we know what others are feeling toward us when they behave in a way we don't like or in a way that feels like rejection. Since all experience is ultimately based on our inner perception, the pattern of projecting feelings or acting them out results in a shift in perspective that takes us away from the context of responsibility for the energies within us. Instead, we move toward an attribution of responsibility to others.

Containing emotions and aligning with light have healing potential of immense value. Emotions that are particularly charged with negativity, when not acted out, can become positive in their content and direction, sometimes becoming the polar opposite of the negative emotion. We speak of this as 'transmutation,'⁹ a process of emotional transformation that takes place in the presence of light. Rage, for example, which is often a result of feeling powerless, can be transmuted through containment into acceptance of helplessness and trust in God. Extreme loneliness, which is an expression of the desire for connection, can be transmuted into compassion and participation with others.

When emotions arise in our consciousness and are held without being acted out, God's light can move within us in an optimal way, continuing to remove all remaining blocks to the expansion of its radiance.

The seventh principle is a powerful reminder of the sacredness of the Covenant¹⁰ between God and humanity. Within this Covenant, God's part is to uphold us always as we become willing and ready to become a holy people. The healing power of God's light is given to us to bring us forward in ways that we could not achieve through our own effort alone. It will be found that healing of the darkest and densest residues of our individual and collective pasts can take place miraculously through the infusion of this light.

To become humble in relation to God and to bear witness to the miraculous in life, we must go to the place within our being that holds our innocence and remembers the truth of the Covenant - our part, and God's part. It is the heart that remembers this truth – the heart that becomes willing to serve God with love and humility.

As light dissolves darkness, unwanted energies are released from body, mind, and spirit. This release is spontaneous and may take a variety of forms - physical, mental, emotional, or energetic. Experientially, the release may range from a barely perceptible feeling, to something quite dramatic. Within this range, there are many variations and intensities of feeling, and it is important not to have specific expectations about how releasing will take place. Rather, we can hold a vision of healing each time we align with light, and use this vision to support us at all times. Regardless of how we feel and regardless of the specific content of our lives at any point in time, trust in the healing process is always possible.

As light progressively dissolves the darkness within us, clearing occurs, until eventually we become totally transparent to light. This clearing takes place in stages and over a period of time, its pace and quality varying from person to person.

As we clear, the human need states described in Principle Six begin to weaken, and are replaced by the fullness of the experience of God's love and the experience of our own wholeness. We may not be aware of the absence of these need states until we begin noticing unconscious behaviors losing their power. The shift toward wholeness will often surprise us in its simplicity as we recognize ourselves becoming more peaceful, joyful, and more loving.

Always, there needs to be an emphasis on allowing purification to happen rather than trying to make it happen. Purification involves a partnership of effort with God and is based on the Covenant. We surrender to the process with which God works in our lives and consciousness, and at the same time we do our part. As we witness the power of the light working in our lives, we maintain faith that we can move through all difficulty into ever-greater degrees of purity, and that while doing this we will be carried and sustained through God's grace.