Reflections on the Sun

“Dost not thy know that the light of the sun is the reflection of the sun behind the veil?” (Rumi) 

Yoga teaches that everything is a symbol, and one of our great symbols is the sun. A symbol is something that points to something higher than itself. What is the sun communicating in secret language?   

Indian spiritual teachings refer to the “Sun behind the sun”. The physical sun is our source of light and growth; but behind and above it is another, more profound source of light and transformation: the Divine Light. The Divine Light is associated in India with Brahma, Krishna, Shiva, or Savitri, all of whom represent the “Sun behind the sun”. 

This spiritual sun is the source of love, creativity, transformation and our very Consciousness. While the sun’s light makes things visible, the inner light of Awareness is more luminous, because Consciousness is the greatest power of visibility. The sun would simply not exist for us were it not known in the light of Awareness.  

There is a beautiful saying in the Mundaka Upanishad to convey this:

“That by shining, everything shines”

Yoga teaches that our Awareness or Consciousness is a gift of the Spirit/Atman and did not evolve from matter. As the Spirit/Atman is seated in the heart centre, so the “sun behind the sun” is in our heart, as well as in the highest heavens!  Again, a prayer from the Isa Upanishad, often recited for the dying, captures this beautifully:   

“The face of truth remains hidden behind a circle of gold. Unveil it, O God of light that I who love the true may see!

O life-giving sun, off- spring of the Lord of creation, solitary seer of Heaven! Spread thy light and withdraw thy blinding splendour that I may behold thy radiant form: that spirit far away within thee is my own inmost Spirit”.   

And in the Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad:

“He who, dwelling in the sun, yet is other than the sun, whom the sun does not know, whose body the sun is, who controls the sun from within- He is your Self, the Inner Controller, the Immortal”. 

Surya Namaskara and the Gayatri Mantra are beautiful solar practices from the Vedic age. Surya Namaskara was traditionally practised facing the rising sun, and each position was a prayerful mudra, in homage to the “Sun behind the sun”. If we practise with this attitude, what is often considered as a warming sequence becomes a beautiful ritual of connection with the sun, not in the heavens, but in the heart centre.  This prepares us for the Gayatri Mantra, which is the great Vedic prayer to the “Sun behind the sun”, but which, ultimately, shines within.  

Hari Om Tat Sat.        

Michael McCann