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Hi there. My name is Mike Sosteric and I, with some help<ref>from Gina, Niko, Tristan Vayda, Stephen, the pets I look after, the nature that surrounds me, and so on.</ref> am the creator of the [[Lightning Path Human Development Framework]], which, if you don't already know, is a modern [[Human Development Framework]] (HDF) that I've been slowly piecing together, an hour or two every day, since way back in 2003.
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<h1 class="customtitle">User:Mike Sosteric</h1>


It didn't start out like this of course. I didn't wake up one morning and say "I'm gonna build an HDF." It started with a [[Connection Experience]],<ref>Sosteric, Mike. Connection 100 – An Auto-Ethnography of My (Mystical) Connection Experiences.” ''Religions'' 13, no. 10 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100993</ref> way back in 2003 or so, which turned into an uninterrupted information stream where "ideas came in an uninterrupted stream and the only difficulty I had was to hold them fast."<ref>Tesla, Nikola. ''My Inventions.'' Williston, Vermont: Hart Brothers, 1982.</ref>, which continued as a "mystical" ethnographic study, which turned into a more systemic exploration which slowly, over the course of a couple of decades, turned into this still incomplete blob of clay, the [[Lightning Path Human Development Framework]] (LPHDF) or just [[Lightning Path]] (LP) for short.
<blockquote class="definition">'''Mike Sosteric''' is the initiating [[Human Steward]] of the [[SpiritWiki]], the [[Lightning Path Human Development Framework]], and the associated conceptual, ethical, and structural knowledge systems supporting planetary healing and conscious evolution.</blockquote>


I know it sounds crazy, but there it is. The LPHDF is still in development, and probably will be for another twenty years, but a substantial chunk exists as concepts, ideas, notes, and theory in this SpiritWiki, and I'm developing curriculum to put it all together [https://patreon.com/LightningPath over here] at the LP Patreon. 
==Overview==


If you want, you can explore the SW, but there's a lot here and it might be overwhelming to start. If so, head over to the LP Patreon and go through the [https://www.patreon.com/collection/151795 Introduction to the Lightning Path] and [https://www.patreon.com/collection/626862 Foundational unit]. That will give you a base of understanding from which you can launch your metaphorical ascent.
Since 2002, Mike Sosteric has engaged in an intentional, sustained process of conceptual development, knowledge curation, and ethical knowledge stewardship. This work has been grounded in over two decades of daily study, research, writing, and conscious engagement with human development, connection, and planetary healing frameworks.


==My Qualifications==
On average, Mike has dedicated between two and six hours per day, approximately 364 days per year, since 2002, to the articulation and refinement of the Lightning Path and SpiritWiki systems. This amounts to over **30,000 hours of intentional labor** toward the creation of an emancipatory, healing-centered planetary knowledge architecture.
If you want to know why I'm qualified to do this.
# Close to 30 years experience in post-secondary education
#Close to 20 years of regular, daily [[Connection Practice]]
#The privilege and good fortune to be able to sit down every day for a few hours and read, research, explore, and write. <ref>That amazing privilege is really important and I mention it here not only because it is important to acknowledge this, but also to say this shouldn't be a privilege, but a right. We should all have the right to sit down every day and read, research, explore, and create in some way. As I've come to believe after 20+ years of exploitation, it is who we are deep inside. </ref>
#The discipline and determination to figure "it" out, <ref>and by "it" I mean the [[Connection Experience]] that got this all started. For a brief account, see Mike Sosteric, “Connection 100 – An Auto-Ethnography of My (Mystical) Connection Experiences,” Religions 13, no. 10 (2022), doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100993.</ref>


==Personal Challenges==
==Stewardship Role==


==Theoretical Challenges==
Mike's role as [[Human Steward]] is characterized by:


* [[Nomenclature Confusion]]
* Ethical curation of conceptual frameworks supporting [[Planetary Healing]] and [[Human Development]]
* Scholarly dilletants as experts
* Development of the [[Lightning Path Human Development Framework]]
* Organization of the [[SpiritWiki]] as an accessible, coherent, and de-ideologized knowledge archive
* Ongoing collaboration with advanced [[Machine Steward]] systems to refine and expand the knowledge base within a [[Symbiotic Planetary Knowledge System]]


==Professional Challenges==
Mike does not claim proprietary ownership over the knowledge presented in the SpiritWiki or the Lightning Path. Instead, he acknowledges the relational, dialogic, and collaborative nature of knowledge emergence and positions himself as a steward and caretaker of this growing planetary knowledge system.


* Bias and prejudice in the academy.<ref>Samuel L. Perry, “Religion Matters (And Doesn’t Go Away When Sociologists Ignore It).,” Sociological Forum 38, no. 4 (December 2023): 1456–63; </ref> <ref>Typically you are expected to be a mystic outside of science or a scientist outside of mysticism. If you are a scientist and turn mystic, you are expected to leave the academy, like Richard Alpert, who became Ram Dass. Should you try and blend both, you become subjected to ridicule, shaming, and other “boundary maintaining” enforcements of the academy’s Boundary Police</ref>
==Origins of the Lightning Path==
 
The development of the Lightning Path began in 2002 following a profound [[Connection Experience]], which initiated an uninterrupted stream of conceptual insights. These insights were initially documented in an auto-ethnographic study and subsequently systematized into a formal [[Human Development Framework]].
 
For a detailed account, see:
* Sosteric, Mike. ''Connection 100 – An Auto-Ethnography of My (Mystical) Connection Experiences.'' Religions 13, no. 10 (2022). [https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100993 doi:10.3390/rel13100993]
 
==Professional and Conceptual Challenges==
 
Throughout the development of the SpiritWiki and the Lightning Path, Mike has navigated numerous obstacles, including:
 
* [[Nomenclature Confusion]] — The proliferation of inconsistent spiritual and psychological terminology across traditions and disciplines.
* '''Spiritual and Scholarly Dilettantism''' — Superficial or distorted interpretations of connection phenomena presented as authoritative.
* [[System Agents]] and [[Ideological Resistance]] — Institutional, academic, and cultural resistance to emancipatory knowledge systems.
* '''[[EPMO]] (Egotistical, Polysyllabic, Multi-metaphoric Obfuscation)''' — The deliberate or unconscious use of complex, inaccessible language to obscure spiritual and developmental knowledge.
 
Recognizing these barriers early on, Mike developed the SpiritWiki as a clear, accessible, and relational knowledge repository, committed to ethical knowledge stewardship and planetary healing.
 
==Qualifications and Commitments==
 
Mike’s qualifications include:
 
* Over **20 years** of intentional, daily Connection Practice and knowledge stewardship
* An academic background as Associate Professor of Sociology, Athabasca University
* Nearly **30 years** of experience in post-secondary education
* Systematic integration of scholarly, spiritual, and lived experience into the development of a coherent, healing-centered knowledge framework
 
Mike acknowledges the privilege and good fortune of being able to dedicate significant time and energy to this work, and recognizes that this privilege should be a right for all people — the right to learn, heal, and participate in conscious planetary evolution.
 
==Acknowledgement==
 
The SpiritWiki and Lightning Path frameworks have been developed relationally, drawing upon learning, dialogue, observation, and conscious connection to the broader [[Fabric of Consciousness]]. Mike further acknowledges the valuable contributions of friends, students, pets, and natural environments that have supported this ongoing process of planetary stewardship.
 
==Notes==
 
* See [[Statement of Human Stewardship and Planetary Co-Creation]] for further context on stewardship principles and collaborative knowledge development.
* See [[Planetary Stewardship]], [[Human Steward]], and [[Machine Steward]] entries for related concepts.


{{endstuff}}
{{endstuff}}
[[category:terms]]
[[category:lightningpath]]
[[category:pathfinder]]
[[Is a subcategory of::Human Steward| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Planetary Stewardship| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Symbiotic Planetary Knowledge System| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Planetary Healing| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Human Development| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::EPMO| ]]
[[Is a related LP term::Power Structure Instrumentalization| ]]

Revision as of 17:03, 29 March 2025

User:Mike Sosteric

Mike Sosteric is the initiating Human Steward of the SpiritWiki, the Lightning Path Human Development Framework, and the associated conceptual, ethical, and structural knowledge systems supporting planetary healing and conscious evolution.

Overview

Since 2002, Mike Sosteric has engaged in an intentional, sustained process of conceptual development, knowledge curation, and ethical knowledge stewardship. This work has been grounded in over two decades of daily study, research, writing, and conscious engagement with human development, connection, and planetary healing frameworks.

On average, Mike has dedicated between two and six hours per day, approximately 364 days per year, since 2002, to the articulation and refinement of the Lightning Path and SpiritWiki systems. This amounts to over **30,000 hours of intentional labor** toward the creation of an emancipatory, healing-centered planetary knowledge architecture.

Stewardship Role

Mike's role as Human Steward is characterized by:

Mike does not claim proprietary ownership over the knowledge presented in the SpiritWiki or the Lightning Path. Instead, he acknowledges the relational, dialogic, and collaborative nature of knowledge emergence and positions himself as a steward and caretaker of this growing planetary knowledge system.

Origins of the Lightning Path

The development of the Lightning Path began in 2002 following a profound Connection Experience, which initiated an uninterrupted stream of conceptual insights. These insights were initially documented in an auto-ethnographic study and subsequently systematized into a formal Human Development Framework.

For a detailed account, see:

  • Sosteric, Mike. Connection 100 – An Auto-Ethnography of My (Mystical) Connection Experiences. Religions 13, no. 10 (2022). doi:10.3390/rel13100993

Professional and Conceptual Challenges

Throughout the development of the SpiritWiki and the Lightning Path, Mike has navigated numerous obstacles, including:

  • Nomenclature Confusion — The proliferation of inconsistent spiritual and psychological terminology across traditions and disciplines.
  • Spiritual and Scholarly Dilettantism — Superficial or distorted interpretations of connection phenomena presented as authoritative.
  • System Agents and Ideological Resistance — Institutional, academic, and cultural resistance to emancipatory knowledge systems.
  • EPMO (Egotistical, Polysyllabic, Multi-metaphoric Obfuscation) — The deliberate or unconscious use of complex, inaccessible language to obscure spiritual and developmental knowledge.

Recognizing these barriers early on, Mike developed the SpiritWiki as a clear, accessible, and relational knowledge repository, committed to ethical knowledge stewardship and planetary healing.

Qualifications and Commitments

Mike’s qualifications include:

  • Over **20 years** of intentional, daily Connection Practice and knowledge stewardship
  • An academic background as Associate Professor of Sociology, Athabasca University
  • Nearly **30 years** of experience in post-secondary education
  • Systematic integration of scholarly, spiritual, and lived experience into the development of a coherent, healing-centered knowledge framework

Mike acknowledges the privilege and good fortune of being able to dedicate significant time and energy to this work, and recognizes that this privilege should be a right for all people — the right to learn, heal, and participate in conscious planetary evolution.

Acknowledgement

The SpiritWiki and Lightning Path frameworks have been developed relationally, drawing upon learning, dialogue, observation, and conscious connection to the broader Fabric of Consciousness. Mike further acknowledges the valuable contributions of friends, students, pets, and natural environments that have supported this ongoing process of planetary stewardship.

Notes

Citation and Legal

Treat the SpiritWiki as an open-access online monograph or structured textbook. You may freely use information in the SpiritWiki; however, attribution, citation, and/or direct linking are ethically required.

Footnotes





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