During the intro to a recent weekly meditation session, Linda H. reflected on the Hard Light Center of Awakening’s name. She offered:
In the mid-1980s, as Mark was exhibiting artwork in various galleries around the San Francisco Bay Area, he chose the name “Hard Light” for his artistic enterprise. Around 1986, Mark began teaching meditation. He also used the term “Hard Light” for his meditation and Dharma activities.
I knew “hard light” was used in photography to indicate a focused, often bright light that casts harsh shadows and draws attention to a specific part of a photo. This type of light is known for being edgy and dramatic.
Using the name Hard Light for Mark’s edgy, dramatic, and extraordinary artwork was totally cool. On the other hand, I had difficulty with the name Hard Light for a meditation center. Is that what meditation was really about? Hard Light?
I struggled quite a bit with this name through the years. When I would tell people the name of the meditation center, they would often seek to clarify. Did you say “Heart Light” as in “heart?” No, I would answer. The name is Hard Light, as in “hard.”
When I lived in Seattle from 1998 to 2000 and ran the Hard Light Center of Seattle, there was one fellow who came to an Intensive just because he wanted to see who would call his Center “Hard Light.” He actually ended up studying with Mark for a while during those three years.
I was greatly relieved when Mark added the words “Center of Awakening” to Hard Light’s name, and when I would introduce Mark’s group to new people, I would often just call it the “Center of Awakening.”
Starting in the early 2000s, I had a company named Fourth State. The principle and truth of the “Fourth State” and Mark’s teachings on the Fourth State was what I resonated with more than anything. As opposed to the edgy and dramatic darkness and light — such bright light, such deep shadows, my heart, and mind were eased by the knowledge that there was a state that was beyond the waking, dream, and deep sleep states — a state that underlies and pervades all states of consciousness, the fourth state of turiya. It seemed to me that realizing this state was the goal of our spiritual pursuits. And, to that end, the business expenses that I incurred in my support of Hard Light activities were done under the umbrella of my company, Fourth State Productions.
After Mark’s mahasamadhi, when I needed to create new bank accounts and new legal entities for the Center’s operation, I registered under the name Fourth State Productions, DBA Hard Light Center. This name allowed me to use both the legacy name and possibly a new name for Mark Griffin’s work as it continued. However, I quickly realized that Mark Griffin was and will always be Hard Light. And any sangha member who I asked about this matter confirmed this for me in no uncertain terms. In the future, I might try to drop Fourth State from the places where it shows up in PayPal and other Hard Light payment platforms. But, for the time being, it is what it is.
A couple of weeks ago, as I was going through some of the boxes of old Hard Light paperwork in storage, I came across the following note written by one of Mark’s students:
Hard Light is a good name.
Sometimes hard, but you still do get lighter.
And it’s harder without.
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