Lightning Strike
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Lightning Strike
The phrase Lightning Strike is a metaphorical representation of the flash of inspiration/insight that occurs when a disconnected individual makes a sudden, brief, and often unexpected Connection to Consciousness. It is a common spiritual and secular metaphor used to describe the dramatic illumination, insight, and enlightenment that is the outcome of a powerful Connection Event.
Notes
One concept does pop up a lot in the descriptions of the event provided by the people who have them, and that concept is “lightning,” “lightning bolt,” or “lightning strike” (Miller 2004; Hadamard 2013; Watts 1971). Lightning has long been associated with human spirituality and connection experience. [1], [2], [3] appearing in many iconic ways in ancient civilizations[4] and in modern experiences. Why? Because lighting strikes point to the dramatic and powerful “hits” that people can experience even from relatively low intensity, short duration, connection experiences.
Nikola Tesla describes a visionary insight wherein he saw the construction of a motor device in complete "As I uttered these inspiring words the idea came like a flash of lightning and in an instant the truth was revealed. I drew with a stick on the sand the diagrams shown six years later in my address before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and my companion understood them perfectly. The images I saw were wonderfully sharp and clear and had the solidity of metal and stone, so much so that I told him: “See my motor here; watch me reverse it.” I cannot begin to describe my emotions. Pygmalion seeing his statue come to life could not have been more deeply moved. A thousand secrets of nature which I might have stumbled upon accidentally I would have given for that one which I had wrested from her against all odds and at the peril of my existence."[5]
"Sufism is a blazing lightning bold." [6]
"The light of Brahman flashes in lightning." Kena Upanishad. [7]
Depending on the nature of the insight, the depth of an individual's disconnection, and the quality of Archetypes, the strike can be experienced in a positive (zenith) or negative (nadir) fashion.
In Jewish Mysticism, lightning is represented on the Tree of Life as the will of God.
"Now pertaining to the cosmos— [Brahman is seen as] satisfaction in rain, as power in lightning..."[8]
"Once the lightning of thought has squarely struck this ingenuous soil of the people, the emancipation of the Germans into men will be accomplished" [9]
R.M. Bucke describes his single Connection Experience by suggesting it was a "momentary lightning-flash of... Brahmic Splendor." [10]
Later on, he says "The instantaneousness of the illumination is one of its most striking features; it can be compared with nothing so well as with a dazzling flash of lightning in a dark night, bringing the landscape which had been hidden into clear view."[11]
Jacques Hadamard relates the account of Gauss who describes his insight and sudden solution to a problem as a "sudden flash of lightning."[12]
In the book Quantum Change, several individuals use the phrase "lightning" and "lightning bolt" to describe their connection experiences.[13]
"An Aymara Indian of Peru, in order to become a shaman, must be struck by lightning. Twp successive strokes are needed, one to kill him, and the other to bring him back to life."[14]
Tarot Tower: "Key 16 expresses downfall as a result of one’s selfish, egotistical ambition. It is a sudden change, a jolting event that will shake the Seeker to his or her foundation. There will be an undermining of the Seeker’s sense of security or stability. However, new revelations will come after the jolt. The aftermath is truth. The gold lightning rod suggests that there will be a sudden epiphany, realization, or significant spiritual growth through this period in the Seeker’s life."[15]
The Lightning strike down the Tree of Life is a cabalistic representation of the Emanation of Creation from Ain
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Footnotes
- ↑ Miller, William R. 2004. “The Phenomenon of Quantum Change.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 60 (5): 453–60. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20000.
- ↑ Hadamard, Jacques. 2013. An Essay On The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field. Hadamard Preess. https://amzn.to/2I5D9Bt.
- ↑ Watts, Alan. 1971. Behold the Spirit: A Study in the Necessity of Mystical Religion. Kindle Edition. Toronto: Vintage Books.
- ↑ Stone, Merlin. 1976. When God Was Woman. New York: Doubleday.
- ↑ Tesla, Nikola. My Inventions. Williston, Vermont: Hart Brothers, 1982
- ↑ Ernst. Teachings of Sufism. Boston: Shambhala, 1999. p. ix.
- ↑ Easwaran, Eknath, trans. The Upanishads: Introduced and Translated by Eknath Easwaran. Berkeley, California: Nilgiri Press, 1987.
- ↑ Katz, Vernon; Egenes, Thomas. The Upanishads (Tarcher Cornerstone Editions) (p. 196). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
- ↑ Marx, Karl. A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.
- ↑ Bucke, Richard Maurice. Cosmic Consciousness. Book Tree. Kindle Edition.
- ↑ Bucke, Richard Maurice. Cosmic Consciousness. Book Tree. Kindle Edition.
- ↑ Gaus quotes in Hadamard, Jacques. An Essay On The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field. Hadamard Press, 2013.
- ↑ Miller, William R. 2004. “The Phenomenon of Quantum Change.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 60 (5): 453–60. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20000.
- ↑ Rogers, Spencer L. The Shaman: His Symbols and His Healing Power. Illinois: Charles Thomas Publishers, 1982. p. 24
- ↑ Wen, Benebell. Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2015.