Zukav elaborates on the nature of the soul, arguing that every person is a “system of Light” (77). While the soul isn’t physical, it’s a force field for one’s being. He believes that people cannot rationally or cognitively understand the existence of a higher self or the soul. The rational mind wants proof, but this proof doesn’t exist in a way that the rational mind could process. However, just as people didn’t think that microscopic life existed until someone developed a tool to investigate it, the soul really does exist, even if humans haven’t found proof of it yet.

Zukav argues that “nonphysical reality” is humans’ real “home” and that many interactions continue to happen in that realm throughout the course of physical life. For instance, loving and healing thoughts affect others subconsciously. He compares inner thoughts and feelings to a bank full of data being exchanged, explaining that people emotionally close to a person affect them, and vice versa. Emotions have frequencies. Negative emotions produce low frequencies, while positive ones create high frequencies. Changing one’s emotions changes the frequency of one’s “Light,” with higher frequencies resulting in better feelings and health outcomes and lower frequencies prompting deterioration and disease.

The Light of the soul is not physical light. It moves instantly, affecting others right away. For instance, wishing someone well has an immediate effect on that person. The absence of Light is experienced as fear, prompting negative feelings and actions. Zukav compares the spectrum of physical light to the variety of spiritual Light, arguing that the Light of other beings is simply a different frequency from that of humans.

As people live their lives, they will gain assistance from beings with a higher frequency, who are their guides and teachers. Teachers may be forces that guide one to the right path, the vertical path, and can guide one with “impersonal” clarity and compassion. Of course, they aren’t responsible for an individual’s choices. Meanwhile, those who stay on the horizontal path will always remain at the same level. Their selfish actions will satisfy their personalities, but no experiences will really be new, as actions will keep producing the same results. The author concludes by offering his interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve. He feels that this story is a metaphor that captures the human experience of misusing knowledge and thereby generating shame and fear, which oppose Light. All people must decide whether to learn from fear, doubt, and shame or allow them to fester.

Zukav’s chapter on Light borrows from many philosophical and religious movements. For example, his discussion of the various frequencies of Light echoes elements of Hermeticism, an esoteric philosophy developed in Hellenistic Egypt that describes motion—specifically, vibration—as central to all existence. Like many New Age writers, Zukav combines such ideas with gestures toward modern science (e.g., quantum theory), though his core claims remain unsubstantiated. Nevertheless, his arguments in this chapter helped popularize the idea that different emotions resonate at different frequencies; David Hawkins would explore a similar idea in his 1995 work Power vs. Force, although his particular framework predated Zukav’s. 

Chapter Lessons

• All people are systems of Light.
• Positive emotions generate high frequencies and healing, while negative ones foster low frequencies and deterioration.
• Changing feelings and intentions affects your Light and consciousness, as well as other people’s.

Reflection Questions

• Do you agree that your inner thoughts can have an instant effect on others? Why or why not?
• Do you feel like you’re repeating old patterns or moving “up” vertically?
• Are you comfortable taking the existence of the soul on faith, or do you want rational proof?