"New Zealand Herald" journalist Graham Reid writes of Harrison having been "emotionally isolated" during the "Material World" era, and adds: "gloss of his position as a revered former Beatle/Bangladesh patron and spiritual guide was starting to tarnish him ... He was sounding ungracious and irritable, but wrapping the message up in melodically interesting songs." Reid cites "The Light That Has Lighted the World" as a track where Harrison "nailed it", and an example of how "this album can be very moving." Writing for the music website No Ripcord, Matt Bevington describes the composition as "perhaps his most revealing lyrical work and exemplary of his ability to convey with both charming humour and coarse honesty". Bevington adds: "it reads like a precious sermon ..."