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<blockquote class="definition">
'''Connection''' occurs when your [[Bodily Ego]] unites, even if only briefly, with your own [[Spiritual Ego]], or some other monadic location within the [[Fabric of Consciousness]].<ref>Sosteric, Mike, and Ratkovic, Gina. Lightning Path Workbook One: Basic Concepts. Vol. 1. Lightning Path Workbook Series. St. Albert, Alberta: Lightning Path Press, 2016. https://press.lightningpath.org/product/the-lightning-path-book-one-authentic-spirituality/. You can read the chapter where the concept is introduced online [https://www.lightningpath.org/workbook-one/connection-the-physical-unit-the-spiritual-ego-the-bodily-ego/ here]</ref> <ref>Sosteric. “Mysticism, Consciousness, Death.” Journal of Consciousness Exploration and Research 7, no. 11 (2016): 1099–1118. https://www.academia.edu/30527026/</ref> Connection is the point of [[Connection Therapy]], the goal of [[Authentic Spirituality]], and the explicit purpose of the [[Lightning Path]].


<blockquote class="definition">
'''Connection''' occurs when your [[Bodily Ego]] unites, even if only briefly, with your own [[Spiritual Ego]], or some other monadic location within the [[Fabric of Consciousness]].<ref>Sosteric, Mike, and Ratkovic, Gina. Lightning Path Workbook One: Basic Concepts. Vol. 1. Lightning Path Workbook Series. St. Albert, Alberta: Lightning Path Press, 2016. https://press.lightningpath.org/product/the-lightning-path-book-one-authentic-spirituality/. You can read the chapter where the concept is introduced online [https://www.lightningpath.org/workbook-one/connection-the-physical-unit-the-spiritual-ego-the-bodily-ego/ here]</ref> <ref>Sosteric. “Mysticism, Consciousness, Death.” Journal of Consciousness Exploration and Research 7, no. 11 (2016): 1099–1118. https://www.academia.edu/30527026/</ref> Connection is the ostensible goal of [[Authentic Spirituality]], and the explicit purpose of the [[Lightning Path]].
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
==LP Core==
[[Lightning Path Core]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Lightning Path Core]]}}


==Syncretic Terms==
==Syncretic Terms==
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[[Connection]] > {{#ask:[[Is a syncretic term::Connection]]}}
[[Connection]] > {{#ask:[[Is a syncretic term::Connection]]}}


==Related Terms==
==Related LP Terms==
 
[[Connection]] > {{#ask:[[Is a related LP term::Connection]]}}
 
==Non-LP Related Terms==


[[Connection]] > {{#ask:[[Is a related term::Connection]]}}
[[Connection]] > {{#ask:[[Is a related term::Connection]]}}


[[Physical Unit]] > {{#ask:[[Is a related term::Physical Unit]]}}
==The 3Ps of Connection Practice==
 
[[3Ps of Connection Practice]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::3P]]}}
 
==Connection Axes==
 
[[Connection]] : [[Connection Axes]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Axis]]}}
 
==List of Connection Enhancements==
 
[[Connection Enhancements]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Enhancement]]| format=ul}}


==List of [[LP]] Connection Experience Types==
==List of [[LP]] Connection Experience Types==


[[Connection Experiences]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Experience Type]]}}
[[Connection Experiences]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Experience Type]]| format=ul}}


==LP Categorization==
==List of Connection Outcomes==


Process: [[Connection]], [[Awakening]], [[Activation]], [[Ascension]], [[Triumph of Spirit]] (i.e. union)
This is a draft list of connection outcomes cited in the voluminous sacred and scientific literature of this planet. This is a list only. Empirical claims must be sorted out in the research and evidence cited in each outcome.  


Foundation: [[Accountability]], [[Atonement]], [[Alignment]]
Note the extent of this list. This is an indication of [[Nomenclature Confusion]].


==List of Connection Outcomes==
[[Connection Outcome]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Outcome]]|Limit=1000| format=ul}}


[[Connection Outcomes]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Outcome]]|Limit=1000}}
==Types of Connection Pathology==


==Syncretic Terms Connection Outcome==
When the [[Bodily Ego]] is damaged by [[Toxic Socialization]], connection can lead to connection pathology.


[[Connection Outcome]] > {{#ask: [[Is a syncretic term::Connection Outcome]]}}
{{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Pathology]]}}


==List of Connection Obstacles==
==List of Connection Obstacles==


[[Connection Obstacles]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Obstacle]]|Limit=1000}}
[[Connection Obstacles]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Obstacle]]|Limit=1000| format=ul}}


==List of Connection Frameworks==
==List of Connection Frameworks==


[[Connection Framework]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Framework]]}}
[[Connection Framework]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Framework]]| format=ul}}
 
==List of Connection Manuals==
{{#ask:
[[Is a:: Connection Manual]]
| format=ul
}}
==Notable People who Have Experienced Connection==
 
[[Mystic]]s > {{#ask:[[Is a::Mystic]]}}
 
===The Phenomenology of  Connection===
 
Connection may be identified by its phenomenology. When one connects, one feels like they have moved into an abnormal (not normal) space. They feel connected to "something more."
 
'''Freeman''' suggests that "mystical experience entails not only an encounter with the other... but also the sense that "this encountered Other is larger than me, or comes 'before' me, that it embodies a dimension of reality that is ''prior'' to the more mundane spheres ordinarily inhabited."<ref>Freeman, M. “The Priority of the Other: Mysticism’s Challenge to the Legacy of the Self.” In Mysticism: A Variety of Psychological Perspectives, edited by Jacob A. Belzen and Antoon Geels, 213–34. New York: Rodopi, 2003. p. 213.</ref>
 
Hood <ref>Ralph W. Hood, Jr. “Differential Triggering of Mystical Experience as a Function of Self Actualization.” Review of Religious Research 18, no. 3 (1977): 264. https://doi.org/10.2307/3510214.</ref> provides a classification of mystical triggers, including natural triggers (all aspects of nature), sexual triggers (sexual intercourse, note he restricts this to "heterosexual" intercourse), drug triggers, religious triggers (religious settings and religious activities, rituals, and prayer).
 
=== Theoretical Approaches ===
 
There are three general approaches to the study of connection experience, an '''reductionist approach,''' an '''adaptive approach,''' and a '''transformative approach.'''
 
The reductionist approach reduces mysticism, often in a normative and dismissive manner, to neurological/psychoanalytic phenomenon (i.e. an infantile state). 


==List of Connection Practices==
The adaptive approach frames mysticisms as healing enterprise.


This is a multi-cultural list of connection practices. Research is included where available.  
The transformative approach frames mysticism as capable of leading to profound personal, psychological, sociological, political transformations. <ref>Parsons, William B. ''The Enigma  of the  Oceanic Feeling: Revisioning  the Psychoanalytic    Theory of Mysticism.'' Cambridge, MA: Oxford University Press, 1999. <nowiki>https://amzn.to/2Tq1qsl</nowiki>.</ref>
   
 
[[Connection Practice]] > {{#ask:[[Is a:: Connection Practice]]}}
==Notes==


==List of Connection Appliances==
additional notes on the [https://spiritwiki.lightningpath.org/index.php/Talk:Connection Discussion Page]


[[Connection Appliance]] > {{#ask:[[Is a:: Connection Appliance]]}}
Connection can occur spontaneously, but may reliably induced with the use of various [[Connection Practices]]. In the LP we divide connection practices into [[Connection Preparation]], [[Connection Procedures]], and [[Connection Processing]], the [[3Ps of Connection Practice]].


==List of Connection Supplements==
Various [[Connection Obstacles]], known as "poisons" in the Buddhist literature, may interfere with, distort, and even block connection.


[[Connection Supplement]] > {{#ask: [[Is a::Connection Supplement]]}}
Connection leads to [[Connection Experience]]s which typically result in one or more [[Connection Enhancement]]s. Connection enhancements may lead to greater awareness, intelligence, insight, emotional receptivity, etc. Connection enhancements may also lead to [[Connection Pathology]].


==Notable People who Have Experienced Connection==
[[Connection Experiences]] may be operationalized using the five [[Connection Axes]].


[[Mystic]]s > {{#ask:[[Is a::Mystic]]}}
Connection is often (always?) initiated via an [[Intent to Connect]] of some sort.


==Studying Connection==
The Goal of [[Human Development]], the goal of the [[Lightning Path]], is to nurture and create healthy [[Physical Unit]]'s capable of handling pure and persistent connection. This is done by creating a society where all [[Seven Essential Needs]] are met. 


How to study connection?
'''The benefits of connection:''' "...indigenous shamans worldwide know that spirit power is basic to one’s health, survival, and ability to heal others. Without this power, one is not resistant to illness or misfortune." <ref>Harner, Michael. Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books, 2013.</ref>


{{#ask:[[Is a::Research Method]]}}
Connection may be visually represented with the [[Water Glass Metaphor]].


==Connection Tools==
===What others have said===


[[Connection Tool]] > {{#ask:[[Is a:: Connection Tool]]}}
"...we should all pursue our [[connection]] to our higher self, the master, the inner voice, the saviour, the aumakua, the bodhi, God, Buddha, Jesus, our soul, the all-knowing, the inner voice, our intuition, 'I've got a hunch,' 'something tells me,' our superconscious, or 'whatever you want to call it. Since there are many names for this, and the name to be used depends on the person and their cultural orientation, he used "E" when referring to this, and the appropriate word is to be verbally filled in during [[E-Therapy]] sessions. He said that all religions had their Prophets, those who spread this word, in various ways and times throughout history. He further told us that it was man who often corrupted the message, that we all have a direct [[connection]] to this, and that we don't need to go to an organized house of worship to get it....He also taught us not to deify anyone to the point of our own blindness. '<ref>Kitselman, A.L. ''E-Therapy.'' Masterworks International, 2013. p. 13</ref> "


==Notes==


"Religious experience, the mystic experience, the peack experience, and all paranormal experiences may have one thing in common. They are the encounters with consciousness ''as such...''"<ref>Ramakrishna, K. Rao. “Some Reflections on Religion and Anomalies of Consciousness.” In Body, Mind, Spirit, 68–82. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads, 1997. p. 80</ref>
Grof speaks of mystical experiences as "connection with the spiritual realm..." <ref>Grof, S. (1999). Technologies of the Sacred—Part Two. ''The International Journal of Humanities and Peace'', ''15''(1), 93–96. p. 93. https://www.lightningpath.org/readings/Technologies_of_the_sacred_II.pdf</ref>
"Religious experience, the mystic experience, the peak experience, and all paranormal experiences may have one thing in common. They are the encounters with consciousness ''as such...''"<ref>Ramakrishna, K. Rao. “Some Reflections on Religion and Anomalies of Consciousness.” In Body, Mind, Spirit, 68–82. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads, 1997. p. 80</ref>


Stace called mystical experience "a psychological fact of which there is abundant evidence." He further went on to say that, "To deny or doubt that it exists as a psychological fact is not a reputable opinion. It is ignorance and "very stupid." <Ref>Stace, Walter Terence. Mysticism and Philosophy. London: Macmillan, 1960. https://wudhi.azurewebsites.net/mysticism/ws/wts-mp%20-%20index.htm. Also Stace, Walter Terence. The Teachings of the Mystics. New York: Mentor, 1960</ref>
Stace called mystical experience "a psychological fact of which there is abundant evidence." He further went on to say that, "To deny or doubt that it exists as a psychological fact is not a reputable opinion. It is ignorance and "very stupid." <Ref>Stace, Walter Terence. Mysticism and Philosophy. London: Macmillan, 1960. https://wudhi.azurewebsites.net/mysticism/ws/wts-mp%20-%20index.htm. Also Stace, Walter Terence. The Teachings of the Mystics. New York: Mentor, 1960</ref>
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William Harmless in his study, Mystics (2008), quotes Gerson: “The saints use various names to describe these interior forms of experiential knowledge of God … They speak of contemplation, ecstasy, rapture, liquefaction, transformation, union, exultation. They talk of a jubilation beyond the spirit, of being taken into a divine darkness, of tasting God, of embracing the bridegroom, of kissing him, of being born of God, of obeying his word, of being brought into the divine cellars, of being drunk in a torrent of delight, of running into an odor of his perfumes, of hearing his voice, and entering into the bedroom, and of finding sleep and rest in peace in him”.<Ref>Harmless, William. Mystics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. p. 5</ref>
William Harmless in his study, Mystics (2008), quotes Gerson: “The saints use various names to describe these interior forms of experiential knowledge of God … They speak of contemplation, ecstasy, rapture, liquefaction, transformation, union, exultation. They talk of a jubilation beyond the spirit, of being taken into a divine darkness, of tasting God, of embracing the bridegroom, of kissing him, of being born of God, of obeying his word, of being brought into the divine cellars, of being drunk in a torrent of delight, of running into an odor of his perfumes, of hearing his voice, and entering into the bedroom, and of finding sleep and rest in peace in him”.<Ref>Harmless, William. Mystics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. p. 5</ref>


The Western Catholic church has worked hard to contain connection within cloistered monastic walls, but according to Lossky,<ref>Lossky, Vladimir. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2002.</ref> mysticism and mystical experience, specifically union with God, has remained a more "in the open" goal of the Church, something even layman could achieve (p. 19).   
The Western Catholic church has worked hard to contain connection within cloistered monastic walls, but according to Lossky,<ref>Lossky, Vladimir. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2002.</ref> mysticism and mystical experience, specifically union with God, has remained a more "in the open" goal of the Church, something even layman could achieve (p. 19).  | format=ul


Connection is important because, as William James says, they are the foundation from which religion emerges. As Bender notes, practitioners reassert and reinforce this basic "narrative," when they assert that is religious experience which drives them forward towards spiritual practice. <ref>Bender, Courtney. The New Metaphysicals: Spirituality and the American Religious Imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.</ref>
Connection is important because, as William James says, they are the foundation from which religion emerges. As Bender notes, practitioners reassert and reinforce this basic "narrative," when they assert that is religious experience which drives them forward towards spiritual practice. <ref>Bender, Courtney. The New Metaphysicals: Spirituality and the American Religious Imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.</ref>


John W. Nevin felt that Christianity was "grounded in the living union of the believer with the person of Christ." <ref>Quoted in Hewitt, Glenn A. Regeneration and Morality: A Study of Charles Finney, Charles Hodge, John W. Nevin, and Horace Bushnell. New York: Carlson Publishing, 1991.p. 101. </ref>
John W. Nevin felt that Christianity was "grounded in the living union of the believer with the person of Christ." <ref>Quoted in Hewitt, Glenn A. Regeneration and Morality: A Study of Charles Finney, Charles Hodge, John W. Nevin, and Horace Bushnell. New York: Carlson Publishing, 1991.p. 101. </ref>
Connection is often (always?) initiated via an [[Intent to Connect]] of some sort.


Connection experiences are "pleasing in and of themselves, but they also have been said to eventuate in long term positive changes, such as increased creativity and insight; improved intellectual, emotional, perceptual, and physical functioning; a holistic perception of the world and the self; a sense of objective understanding and wisdom; a naturally arising moral and ethical sense; and an experience of inner peace and freedom" <ref>Havens, R. A. “Approaching Cosmic Consciousnes via Hypnosis.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 22, no. 1 (1982): 105–16.</ref>
Connection experiences are "pleasing in and of themselves, but they also have been said to eventuate in long term positive changes, such as increased creativity and insight; improved intellectual, emotional, perceptual, and physical functioning; a holistic perception of the world and the self; a sense of objective understanding and wisdom; a naturally arising moral and ethical sense; and an experience of inner peace and freedom" <ref>Havens, R. A. “Approaching Cosmic Consciousnes via Hypnosis.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 22, no. 1 (1982): 105–16.</ref>
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Connection is thwarted by [[Wrong Thought]], [[Wrong Action]], and [[Wrong Environment]], all of which lead to [[Disjuncture]], [[Disconnection]], and [[Disconnection Pathology]].  
Connection is thwarted by [[Wrong Thought]], [[Wrong Action]], and [[Wrong Environment]], all of which lead to [[Disjuncture]], [[Disconnection]], and [[Disconnection Pathology]].  


Connection may be visually represented with the [[Water Glass Metaphor]].
Some think that connection is the root of all(!) great scientific discoveries. Evidence appears to exist, but is largely forgotten these days. 
 
<blockquote>
Altered states of consciousness have been responsible for all great successful scientific discoveries. Science really has its genesis in the phenomenon of intimate, immediate and even normally inaccessible states of consciousness. Nikola Tesla's induction motor was born early in this century out of a spontaneous vision of incredible exactitude. F. A. Kekule was similarly struck in his discovery of the idea of the benzene ring, which began modern organic chemistry. So much so that he published an account of his ouroboros-type revelation in the 1890 proceedings of the German Chemical Society, ending with the memorable sentences: “As though from a flash of lightning I awoke [and] occupied the rest of the night in working the consequences of the hypothesis .... Let us learn. to dream gentlemen."
 
Henri Poincare similarly left us a record of his ultraconscious finding of automorphic functions-s0 important in modern mathematics. The discovery of the laster by an American scientist in a visionary experience in a park at dawn is a well-known  .twentieth century addition to the evidence.
 
Finally, the quantum physicist Max Born, in a letter of his of 1967, wrote that he had experienced during his lifetime "perhaps a dozen flashes of ideas which proved to lead to scientifically significant...results.” He compared the quality of his experience: to that of Kekule and added that ".I know for certain that in the few cases where I have discovered something of importance it came like a flash, and a minute before I knew nothing of it” <ref>Muses, Charles, and Arthur M Young, eds. Consciousness and Reality: The Human Pivot Point. New York: Discus Books, 1972. p. 89</ref>
</blockquote>


==Further Reading==
=== Islam ===


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According to Islamic theory, God is ''reflected'' in the physical world. "...it is not the entire being of God that is manifested in this world; rather it is the shadows or adumbrations (zilāl) of His attributes through which humans are able to experience the divine and taste divine satisfaction."<ref>Tareen, SherAli. “The Conduct of the Sufi Path: Naqshbandī Meditation in Early Modern India.” ''Journal of the Institute for Sufi Studies'' 2, no. 2 (2023): 251–62.  p. 253https://www.academia.edu/115032239/The_Conduct_of_the_Sufi_Path_Naqshbandi_Meditation_in_Early_Modern_India</ref> [[Dhikr]] (i.e., meditation) is used to facilitate connection.


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[[category:terms]][[category:lightningpath]][[category:RSGME]][[category:RSGAS]]
[[category:terms]]
[[category:bookone]][[category:booktwo]][[category:todo]][[category:BOLIFE]][[Is a related term::Physical Unit| ]][[Is a related term::Initiate| ]][[Is a related term::Healing Framework| ]][[Is a related term::Connection Framework| ]]
[[category:lightningpath]]
 
[[Is a related LP term::Activation Challenge| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Automobile Metaphor| ]]
 
[[Is a related LP term::Connection Framework| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Connection Practice| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Connection| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Connection Coach| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::3Ps of Connection Practice| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Big Bang Theory of Connection| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Connection Enhancements| ]]
 
[[Is a related LP term::Dimensions of the Psyche| ]]
 
[[Is a related LP term::Five Key Areas of Human Development| ]]
 
[[Is a related LP term::Healing Framework| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Holy Grail| ]]
 
[[Is a related LP term::Physical Unit| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Initiate| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Lightning Path Connection Manuals| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Water Glass Metaphor| ]]
 
[[Is a related LP term::Permanent Connection| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Syndesiology| ]]
 
[[Is a related LP term::Nomenclature Confusion| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Consciousness Quotient| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Reconnection| ]]
[[Is a::Lightning Path Core| ]]

Latest revision as of 12:08, 17 October 2024

Connection occurs when your Bodily Ego unites, even if only briefly, with your own Spiritual Ego, or some other monadic location within the Fabric of Consciousness.[1] [2] Connection is the point of Connection Therapy, the goal of Authentic Spirituality, and the explicit purpose of the Lightning Path.

LP Core

Lightning Path Core > Connection, Healing, Health

Syncretic Terms

Connection > Altered State of Consciousness, Born Again, Descent of the Holy Spirit, Divine Marriage, Divine Union, Drawing Down the Moon, It, Lightning Strike, Mysticism, Salvation, Shamanic State of Consciousness, Starlight Vision, The Dreaming, Trance, Union

Related LP Terms

Connection > Alignment Rule Set, Authentic Core, Authentic Spirituality, Automobile Metaphor, Big Bang Theory of Connection, Bodily Ego, Connected One, Connection, Connection Algorithm, Connection Axes, Connection Enhancements, Connection Experience, Connection Experience Type, Connection Manual, Connection Outcome, Connection Pathology, Connection Practice, Connection Supplement, Connection Technique, Connection Therapy, Consciousness Quotient, Essential Needs Rule Set, Healing Environment, Holy Grail, Human Potential, Initiate, LP Stages of Attainment, Lightning Path Connection Practice, Lightning Path Courseware, Lightning Path Videos, Lightning Path Workbooks, Nomenclature Confusion, Perfected Connection, Perfection, Permanent Connection, Power Archetype, Reconnection, Right Environment, Spiritual Ego, Spirituality, The Flow, Theoretical Approaches to Connection, Water Glass Metaphor

Non-LP Related Terms

Connection > Connection Triggers, Fear, Grounding, Highest Self, Human Psyche, More-Than-Human, Mystic, Neurodecolonization, Numinosity, Perfect Contemplation

The 3Ps of Connection Practice

3Ps of Connection Practice > Connection Preparation, Connection Procedure, Connection Processing, Filter Tuning

Connection Axes

Connection : Connection Axes > Connection Content, Connection Duration, Connection Intensity, Connection Outcome, Connection Quality

List of Connection Enhancements

Connection Enhancements >

List of LP Connection Experience Types

Connection Experiences >

List of Connection Outcomes

This is a draft list of connection outcomes cited in the voluminous sacred and scientific literature of this planet. This is a list only. Empirical claims must be sorted out in the research and evidence cited in each outcome.

Note the extent of this list. This is an indication of Nomenclature Confusion.

Connection Outcome >

Types of Connection Pathology

When the Bodily Ego is damaged by Toxic Socialization, connection can lead to connection pathology.

Communication Error, Connection Psychosis, Constricted Connection, Ego Inflation, Egoic Collapse, Egoic Explosion, Flooding, Gurutitus, Majdhub, Spiritual Emergency

List of Connection Obstacles

Connection Obstacles >

List of Connection Frameworks

Connection Framework >

List of Connection Manuals

Notable People who Have Experienced Connection

Mystics > Agehananda Bharati, Alan Watts, Bernard of Clairvaux, Emanuel Swedenborg, Howard Thurman, Ibn al-'Arabi, Julian of Norwich, Maria Sabina, Martin Prechtel, Michael Harner, Oscar Ichazo, Romain Rolland, Shihäb al-Din al-Suhrawardi, Thomas Merton

The Phenomenology of Connection

Connection may be identified by its phenomenology. When one connects, one feels like they have moved into an abnormal (not normal) space. They feel connected to "something more."

Freeman suggests that "mystical experience entails not only an encounter with the other... but also the sense that "this encountered Other is larger than me, or comes 'before' me, that it embodies a dimension of reality that is prior to the more mundane spheres ordinarily inhabited."[3]

Hood [4] provides a classification of mystical triggers, including natural triggers (all aspects of nature), sexual triggers (sexual intercourse, note he restricts this to "heterosexual" intercourse), drug triggers, religious triggers (religious settings and religious activities, rituals, and prayer).

Theoretical Approaches

There are three general approaches to the study of connection experience, an reductionist approach, an adaptive approach, and a transformative approach.

The reductionist approach reduces mysticism, often in a normative and dismissive manner, to neurological/psychoanalytic phenomenon (i.e. an infantile state).

The adaptive approach frames mysticisms as healing enterprise.

The transformative approach frames mysticism as capable of leading to profound personal, psychological, sociological, political transformations. [5]

Notes

additional notes on the Discussion Page

Connection can occur spontaneously, but may reliably induced with the use of various Connection Practices. In the LP we divide connection practices into Connection Preparation, Connection Procedures, and Connection Processing, the 3Ps of Connection Practice.

Various Connection Obstacles, known as "poisons" in the Buddhist literature, may interfere with, distort, and even block connection.

Connection leads to Connection Experiences which typically result in one or more Connection Enhancements. Connection enhancements may lead to greater awareness, intelligence, insight, emotional receptivity, etc. Connection enhancements may also lead to Connection Pathology.

Connection Experiences may be operationalized using the five Connection Axes.

Connection is often (always?) initiated via an Intent to Connect of some sort.

The Goal of Human Development, the goal of the Lightning Path, is to nurture and create healthy Physical Unit's capable of handling pure and persistent connection. This is done by creating a society where all Seven Essential Needs are met.

The benefits of connection: "...indigenous shamans worldwide know that spirit power is basic to one’s health, survival, and ability to heal others. Without this power, one is not resistant to illness or misfortune." [6]

Connection may be visually represented with the Water Glass Metaphor.

What others have said

"...we should all pursue our connection to our higher self, the master, the inner voice, the saviour, the aumakua, the bodhi, God, Buddha, Jesus, our soul, the all-knowing, the inner voice, our intuition, 'I've got a hunch,' 'something tells me,' our superconscious, or 'whatever you want to call it. Since there are many names for this, and the name to be used depends on the person and their cultural orientation, he used "E" when referring to this, and the appropriate word is to be verbally filled in during E-Therapy sessions. He said that all religions had their Prophets, those who spread this word, in various ways and times throughout history. He further told us that it was man who often corrupted the message, that we all have a direct connection to this, and that we don't need to go to an organized house of worship to get it....He also taught us not to deify anyone to the point of our own blindness. '[7] "


Grof speaks of mystical experiences as "connection with the spiritual realm..." [8] "Religious experience, the mystic experience, the peak experience, and all paranormal experiences may have one thing in common. They are the encounters with consciousness as such..."[9]

Stace called mystical experience "a psychological fact of which there is abundant evidence." He further went on to say that, "To deny or doubt that it exists as a psychological fact is not a reputable opinion. It is ignorance and "very stupid." [10]

William Harmless in his study, Mystics (2008), quotes Gerson: “The saints use various names to describe these interior forms of experiential knowledge of God … They speak of contemplation, ecstasy, rapture, liquefaction, transformation, union, exultation. They talk of a jubilation beyond the spirit, of being taken into a divine darkness, of tasting God, of embracing the bridegroom, of kissing him, of being born of God, of obeying his word, of being brought into the divine cellars, of being drunk in a torrent of delight, of running into an odor of his perfumes, of hearing his voice, and entering into the bedroom, and of finding sleep and rest in peace in him”.[11]

The Western Catholic church has worked hard to contain connection within cloistered monastic walls, but according to Lossky,[12] mysticism and mystical experience, specifically union with God, has remained a more "in the open" goal of the Church, something even layman could achieve (p. 19). | format=ul

Connection is important because, as William James says, they are the foundation from which religion emerges. As Bender notes, practitioners reassert and reinforce this basic "narrative," when they assert that is religious experience which drives them forward towards spiritual practice. [13]

John W. Nevin felt that Christianity was "grounded in the living union of the believer with the person of Christ." [14]

Connection experiences are "pleasing in and of themselves, but they also have been said to eventuate in long term positive changes, such as increased creativity and insight; improved intellectual, emotional, perceptual, and physical functioning; a holistic perception of the world and the self; a sense of objective understanding and wisdom; a naturally arising moral and ethical sense; and an experience of inner peace and freedom" [15]

St. Teresa of Avila, a medieval mystic Christian Nun, felt that everybody could have mystical experiences. [16] Underhill notes everybody is capable of connection: "It is a natural human activity" requiring no special talent or ability.[17] Contemplative Consciousness

Connection leads to expansion of Consciousness into the body, i.e., increased Consciousness Quotient.

The LP Connection Framework provides guidance on how to prepare for and facilitate stronger Connection.

Awakening and improvements in Acknowledgment, Atonement, Alignment, Activation, and Ascension facilitate stronger connection.

Connections may be characterized along five Connection Axes.

Connection may be facilitated with Connection Supplements (where legal in your area) and Connection Practices

The opposite of Connection is Disconnection. Connection Supplements enable controlled and metered reconnection.

Think of connection in internet terms. Like your computer/device connects to a website 'server, so your little self connects to your Self, Highest Self, or some other monadic location in [The Fabric of Consciousness]]. Make sure you have the right "web" address before you connect.

Connection is the ostensible and overt goal of Authentic Spirituality.

The ability to connect with Consciousness is a natural ability of the Physical Unit. It is facilitated via proper Development of the Physical Unit, or when the physical unit is damaged, via the use of Connection Supplements designed to overcome the psychological and emotional damage of Toxic Socialization. In this regard, Huxley notes that the ability to connect (what he calls mystical union) is "as all the evidence seems to show, a state which man [sic], as man [sic], has always had it in his power to realize..." (PP). Further Connection (what Huxley refers to as "direct awareness of the 'eternally complete consciousness,') is a "possibility occasionally actualized by some human beings at almost any stage of their own personal development, from childhood to old age, and at any period of the race’s history."

Proper development of the physical unit includes a socialization process, satisfies all Seven Essential Needs, and that teaches, encourages, and facilitates Right Action, Right Thought, and Right Environment.

Connection is thwarted by Wrong Thought, Wrong Action, and Wrong Environment, all of which lead to Disjuncture, Disconnection, and Disconnection Pathology.

Some think that connection is the root of all(!) great scientific discoveries. Evidence appears to exist, but is largely forgotten these days.

Altered states of consciousness have been responsible for all great successful scientific discoveries. Science really has its genesis in the phenomenon of intimate, immediate and even normally inaccessible states of consciousness. Nikola Tesla's induction motor was born early in this century out of a spontaneous vision of incredible exactitude. F. A. Kekule was similarly struck in his discovery of the idea of the benzene ring, which began modern organic chemistry. So much so that he published an account of his ouroboros-type revelation in the 1890 proceedings of the German Chemical Society, ending with the memorable sentences: “As though from a flash of lightning I awoke [and] occupied the rest of the night in working the consequences of the hypothesis .... Let us learn. to dream gentlemen."

Henri Poincare similarly left us a record of his ultraconscious finding of automorphic functions-s0 important in modern mathematics. The discovery of the laster by an American scientist in a visionary experience in a park at dawn is a well-known .twentieth century addition to the evidence.

Finally, the quantum physicist Max Born, in a letter of his of 1967, wrote that he had experienced during his lifetime "perhaps a dozen flashes of ideas which proved to lead to scientifically significant...results.” He compared the quality of his experience: to that of Kekule and added that ".I know for certain that in the few cases where I have discovered something of importance it came like a flash, and a minute before I knew nothing of it” [18]

Islam

According to Islamic theory, God is reflected in the physical world. "...it is not the entire being of God that is manifested in this world; rather it is the shadows or adumbrations (zilāl) of His attributes through which humans are able to experience the divine and taste divine satisfaction."[19] Dhikr (i.e., meditation) is used to facilitate connection.

Related LP Content and Courses

LP 100: Orientation to the Lightning Path (Lightning Path, 2024), https://www.lightningpath.org/courses/lp-100-orientation-to-the-lightning-path/.

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Footnotes

  1. ↑ Sosteric, Mike, and Ratkovic, Gina. Lightning Path Workbook One: Basic Concepts. Vol. 1. Lightning Path Workbook Series. St. Albert, Alberta: Lightning Path Press, 2016. https://press.lightningpath.org/product/the-lightning-path-book-one-authentic-spirituality/. You can read the chapter where the concept is introduced online here
  2. ↑ Sosteric. “Mysticism, Consciousness, Death.” Journal of Consciousness Exploration and Research 7, no. 11 (2016): 1099–1118. https://www.academia.edu/30527026/
  3. ↑ Freeman, M. “The Priority of the Other: Mysticism’s Challenge to the Legacy of the Self.” In Mysticism: A Variety of Psychological Perspectives, edited by Jacob A. Belzen and Antoon Geels, 213–34. New York: Rodopi, 2003. p. 213.
  4. ↑ Ralph W. Hood, Jr. “Differential Triggering of Mystical Experience as a Function of Self Actualization.” Review of Religious Research 18, no. 3 (1977): 264. https://doi.org/10.2307/3510214.
  5. ↑ Parsons, William B. The Enigma of the Oceanic Feeling: Revisioning the Psychoanalytic Theory of Mysticism. Cambridge, MA: Oxford University Press, 1999. https://amzn.to/2Tq1qsl.
  6. ↑ Harner, Michael. Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books, 2013.
  7. ↑ Kitselman, A.L. E-Therapy. Masterworks International, 2013. p. 13
  8. ↑ Grof, S. (1999). Technologies of the Sacred—Part Two. The International Journal of Humanities and Peace, 15(1), 93–96. p. 93. https://www.lightningpath.org/readings/Technologies_of_the_sacred_II.pdf
  9. ↑ Ramakrishna, K. Rao. “Some Reflections on Religion and Anomalies of Consciousness.” In Body, Mind, Spirit, 68–82. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads, 1997. p. 80
  10. ↑ Stace, Walter Terence. Mysticism and Philosophy. London: Macmillan, 1960. https://wudhi.azurewebsites.net/mysticism/ws/wts-mp%20-%20index.htm. Also Stace, Walter Terence. The Teachings of the Mystics. New York: Mentor, 1960
  11. ↑ Harmless, William. Mystics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. p. 5
  12. ↑ Lossky, Vladimir. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2002.
  13. ↑ Bender, Courtney. The New Metaphysicals: Spirituality and the American Religious Imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.
  14. ↑ Quoted in Hewitt, Glenn A. Regeneration and Morality: A Study of Charles Finney, Charles Hodge, John W. Nevin, and Horace Bushnell. New York: Carlson Publishing, 1991.p. 101.
  15. ↑ Havens, R. A. “Approaching Cosmic Consciousnes via Hypnosis.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 22, no. 1 (1982): 105–16.
  16. ↑ St. Teresa of Avila. Interior Castle. Kindle. New York: Dover Publications, 2007. https://amzn.to/2GpC7NG.
  17. ↑ Underhill, Evelyn. Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness. New York: Dover Publications, 2002. https://amzn.to/2C91xNY.
  18. ↑ Muses, Charles, and Arthur M Young, eds. Consciousness and Reality: The Human Pivot Point. New York: Discus Books, 1972. p. 89
  19. ↑ Tareen, SherAli. “The Conduct of the Sufi Path: Naqshbandī Meditation in Early Modern India.” Journal of the Institute for Sufi Studies 2, no. 2 (2023): 251–62. p. 253https://www.academia.edu/115032239/The_Conduct_of_the_Sufi_Path_Naqshbandi_Meditation_in_Early_Modern_India
















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