God is Light! (energy!)

No, really. God IS Light / Energy

Not just an idea, but a life-changing realization you can experience for yourself. If only as a working hypothesis, many things begin to make sense. This is how I conceptualize the enlightenment experience (aka “connection to the energy that pervades the universe”), based on my personal journey and the latest scientific evidence.

Image by Dũng Hoàng Trí from Pixabay

Okay. This is a long one. But I think you’ll find it’s worth it. So grab a cuppa, or print it out and read it a bit at a time.

When I say that “God is Light”, I don’t mean to reduce the idea of “God” to the mundane level of a physical experience we think we know. Quite the opposite. I seek to elevate our conception of “Light”, and give it the recognition it deserves. In fact, as you read this article, you may begin to come to the realization that (paraphrasing Carly Simon), “I really don’t know Light at all”.

My intent, rather, is to elevate “light” to the status of the divine connection we experience as the joyful state of (wait for it…) enlightenment. Because Light, in all its majesty and glory, is the power that drives the universe — and electricity, the “spark” of Light within us all, is the medium that supports us, sustains us, and connects us all — part and parcel of the medium in which we swim — Light!

Contents
1. Introduction
— Who this article is for
2. The Comment I Saw
3. My Response
— Understanding Energy
— The Energy Experience
— The Peril of “Separation Language” (What’s in a Word?)
4. My Perspective
— Enlightenment
— Understanding
— God is Love (? … !)
— Afterlife
— Electric Universe
— Electric Body / Torus
— Electrical Channels
— Electricity and Sunlight
— Source of Life
— Electric Earth
4. In Summary
5. What’s in a Word? (reprise)
6. Manifesting “Connection”
7. Personal Note

Introduction

Thinking of things that way is one thing. But to experience it is something else. There is no way at all to explain what water tastes like. It’s an experience. When it’s a shared experience, you can give it a label, and talk about it. But you can’t give that experience to another human being. You can only give someone the tools and techniques that led to your own experience, instruct them in their use, and encourage them along the way — hoping that, in the end, you’ve put them on a path that will help them reach the destination.

As for me, personally, I came to the personal conviction that God is Light over a long period of time. The foundation was the direct personal experience mentioned above. Many years later, accumulating evidence provided by the latest scientific developments provided context for my experience. Eventually, the light dawned (so to speak).

Let me hasten to add, though, that is my conceptualization of the “enlightenment experience” (aka “God connecton” or, in some circles, “Christ Consciousness”). Fundamentally, though, it is the experience that matters, not the conceptualization.

We’ll talk more about that in a bit. For the moment, just know that while I find this conceptualization helpful to make sense of the world, it is totally understandable if your background traditions have given a different way of thinking about things. That’s fine, too! But if you’re at all interested in this particular thought framework, I think you’ll find a lot to chew on here. :__)

As you read (whether skeptically or avidly), keep the following question in mind:

What do Tantra Yoga, Yogananda’s Raja Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, spiritual artwork, spiritual literature, and sunlight have in common?

If you said, “freely flowing light energy” then congratulations! You are way ahead of the curve!

Who This Article is For

• People who have had what I call the connection experience tend to share my conviction. This article is for them, to help them explain why it really is so.
• But I know there are people who believe the idea that “God is Light” without having had that experience. This article is for them, too, so they can discover that it does not have to be something you merely “believe”. There is evidence, there is experience, and there is science. With any luck, this article will give them some kind of context, and help them identify the kind of path that will carry them forward on their spiritual journey.

Both kinds of people are my people. They are my tribe! When I can, I want to give them something more than belief: experience. And I want to learn from them. We need to find each other! Maybe this article will help.

Note: This article contains YouTube video links and Amazon-affiliate book links.

2. The Comment I Saw

A great comment on Quora inspired this long-intended post — even though I initially misread the comment!

The person who wrote it was positing what “God is Energy” believers must be thinking, in order to dispute the idea. But it seemed like a succinct and well-stated case. So I took it that way — erroneously, as it turned out, but profitably, nonetheless.

With what I thought he said in mind, I replied instinctively. It was easy to do, as these thoughts have been gelling for months, and have been just begging to get expressed! Finally, they bubbled to the surface. So, as with many of my articles, this one began life in a comment or an email.

Here’s a summary of the thesis the Quora commentor put forth as representative of what “God is Energy” believers must be thinking:

1. I really want to believe in something called ‘God’.
2. But I’m way too smart to buy into the idea of a bearded old guy up in the sky, running things.
3. So I need to find something that definitely does exist, and call that ‘God’.
4. Much science fiction talks about this mysterious stuff called ‘energy’ (the ‘Force’, etc.)
5. I know that ‘energy’ is real (even if I don’t understand it).
6. So I call my version of ‘energy’ ‘God’, and assume (or try to persuade others) that it can be “wielded”, like magic. (He then links to a post called “Energy is Not Magic”.)

Unfortunately, the term “energy” in physics conflates two entirely different things under the same banner (a point we will refer to repeatedly). Separating the two will help to clarify the discussion.

Here are the two meanings:

• Momentum — A mass that is moving has a kind of “energy” that can cause other objects to move. That is the energy described in the post he references, “Energy is Not Magic”. That kind of energy is either kinetic (in motion) or potential. It is real, of course, but it isn’t pure energy.
• Light — The photons that move through the universe at different frequencies (some “visible” to us, and others “invisible”, because we we cannot directly perceive them) are also “energy” — along with electrons and other sub-atomic wavelets that caused at least one physicist to describe matter as “frozen light”.

The person writing the comment seemed to be thinking in terms of momentum. But once you distinguish that kind of “energy” from Light energy, we have an entirely different question. It is from that perspective that I wrote my response.

3. My Response

Here is my response. I originally wrote it as one long comment. Here, I’ve broken it up into sections to make it easier to digest. Following my response, I give a deeper (and much longer) explanation of the perspective I’m writing from.

Understanding Energy

Energy is definitely not magic. But it is so far beyond the experience of most that it can seem that way! It’s kind of like gravity. It’s there, always at work. Once we understand gravity, we stop walking off cliffs! (As children, a few falls quickly convey the message.)

The important thing, to my mind, is that the Universe really is “electric”. (Think plasma, visible light, and “invisible light” — aka photons and other wavelet-particles operating at frequencies less than or greater than the visible spectrum we can directly perceive.)

Add to that thought one physicist’s observation that “matter is frozen light” (see Matter is Frozen Light on YouTube) and now we have Light energy and physical matter as essentially the same.

So let us ask: What else is there in the universe? Nothing I can think of. That’s all there is. That’s everything! So what actually exists in the space that makes up the universe is effectively infinite, right? I mean, there isn’t anything else occupying the space.

Okay. Got that? Light is infinite. And we identify “God” as infinite, too (if only as a concept). Yes?

Good. Now, in mathematics, you can have different kinds of infinities. But in the real world, if two things are infinite, they are one and the same! If one is infinite, there is nothing left for the other to be. So it can only be the case that we are using different words for the same thing! (An important issue we will come back to in a moment.)

The Energy Experience

Connecting with “God” (or “the Force”, or any other conceptualization of the infinite power that pervades the universe), means that we (somehow) come to experience that energy. How can we do that?

The Tantric Yoga / Raja Yoga / Kriya Yoga techniques I studied, practiced, and now teach help one become mindfully aware of the energy within — to actively enhance and experience that energy.

As I do, I experience peace, joy, love, harmony, wisdom — all of that.

That vehicle — derived from training with a variety of “energy masters”, coupled with my own insights and experience in energy-flow meditation — is the vehicle that got me here:

When (1) You have that energy experience, and (2) You understand that the nature of the universe is essentially electric, you realize that you truly are “one” with the energy that pervades the universe.

It’s a moment of profound connection — a realization that results from the personal experience of internal energy, coupled with a radically new understanding of the nature of the universe.

Additional Note:
It took me 30 years to put together the collection of energy-flow techniques I use. They arose from a variety of traditions I explored. and evolved in my own practice. But with diligence, the energy experience can be yours in significantly less time — a matter of years, or possibly even less — mostly depending on your background, the presence or absence of emotional blockages, and the regularity of your practice.

The Peril of “Separation Language”

At this point, let me add that I’m constantly alert for what I call separation language. Because you’re right. If God is “out there” or somewhere “up there” sitting on a throne, then God is *separate* from you, from me, from everyone!

I don’t have much use for that notion of “God”. In fact, I don’t have much use for anything that stands between me and my inner connection. So I avoid “separation language” like the plague it is.

What’s in a Word?
In my view, language is a tool. It’s a powerful tool, too. It’s like a chainsaw. Use it well, and it can help you build a house, or feed a fire. Use it poorly, and it can rip your leg off. Words have that powerful an effect on our thinking. For me, then, linguistic accuracy is a must.

For that reason, I don’t use words like “Him”, or “He wants”…. Not only are they misogynistic (strike one) but they create separation (strike 2, strike 3, automatic strikeouts for all remaining innings, and game forfeit).

For more on this subject, see an article I posted at TreeLight.com a couple of decades ago: There is God.

4. My Perspective

To more fully understand the response I wrote, it will probably be helpful to describe the perspective I’m coming from in a bit more depth.

Enlightenment

It’s no accident that a connection with Divinity is called “enlightenment”. Because “Light” is what we perceive and experience — as I have, after diligent, assiduous practice of “energy flow” techniques.

But please do not confuse “enlightenment” with “perfection”. I have experienced the former, but can make no claim to the latter — which came as something of a surprise, given my own prior confusion on the matter.

Similarly, it is important to understand that “enlightenment” is not necessarily permanent. I can tell you from personal experience that emotional “triggers” have a way of bringing you back down to earth.

But once you have experienced the supremely exalted state, it pretty rapidly becomes one’s mission in life to identify and resolve any and all triggers (or at the very least avoid them), so that the upward “lift” of enlightenment becomes more and more long-lasting.

The goal, of course, is for the state of enlightenment to become a permanent fixture in your life. (At that point, it is probably reasonable to be called “perfected”. I’ll let you know when I get there.)

Understanding

A characteristic feature of the “enlightenment experience”, for me, is a continuing stream of insights and aha! moments. Things that were unclear before suddenly make sense.

In fact, one reason I write so much is that when the experience lapses, the understanding does, too. Did you ever read Flowers for Algernon? It’s like that. Brain-impaired person becomes awake to the world. New understandings dawn. Then he loses it. (Sad tale.)

And once you beginning thinking in terms of “light energy”, so many lyrics in so many inspirational songs (as well as many ancient religious texts) suddenly make so much sense. It’s a “light dawning” (pun intended) kind of experience.

God is Love (? … !)

One insight occurred to me while pondering the thought, “God is Love”. How can that be, I wondered?

I was inclined to agree with the “natural phenomenon” idea. That idea, stemming from Hermeticism, says that understanding and aligning ourselves with such powerful forces is the key — that sheer ignorance is all-to-often the cause of our undoing, rather than some “malevolent power”.

Note:
One thing I like about the Unity organization is their first principle: There is only one presence, one power active in the Universe. (No “devil”. Just shadows where light isn’t present. You can bring light energy to the shadows, but while you can block the light, there is no “dark energy” you can bring to the bright areas.)

But if God is energy/power/force moving through the Universe — a natural phenomenon like gravity, how can it be “love”?

The answer arrived in meditation. “Light” is the visible form of an energy that exists at multiple vibration frequencies. Vibrations in the frequency range we can perceive is “visible light”. But frequencies above and below that range are given the oxymoronic label “invisible light”.

But therein lay the answer! If Light energy arrives in a spectrum of frequencies, then the frequency we perceive in the heart is called “love”. And by extension, in the head: “insight”, “wisdom”, in the gut: “Life Force”.

This notion made all the more sense to me when I reflected on how often feel music at different locations along my spine. Some parts of music (like guitar solos) tend to resonate higher up, while others (like bass parts) resonate closer to the base of the spine.

With observational evidence suggesting that the spine resonates at different frequencies, India’s chakra system made sense, too, with each chakra vibrating at its own frequency.

The heart — the center of the chakra spectrum in my experience — then resonates at the frequency of love energy.

When we connect with divine energy, we feel the resonance where we are most attuned (and least energetically blocked). Ideally, I think we would experience all of the energies simultaneously. But even then, our attention is like tuning a radio station — where we focus our attention is where we experience the energy the most.

Notes:

• The practice I teach combines the Asian and East Indian traditions of the energy centers. From Asia, we have the gut or navel area (hara in Japan, dantien in China, tanjun in Korea). From India’s chakra system I focus on the heart center and 3rd eye (aka medulla, or center of head) energy center.
• The three correspond to the three major “brains” in the body. (Science has found prototypical neurons in the heart and gut, so it is not unreasonable to call them “brains”.)
• Once awakened with breathwork and internal energy activations, the energy awareness they precipitate serves as a springboard to more subtle awareness of internal energy flows, and deeper connection with the energy that pervades the universe.
• Students of Tantra Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, or Raja Yoga will recognize what I’m saying here, but I prefer to keep my discussions — and classes — centered around the more general concept of energy — aka light, electricity, etc. (More on that subject later.)
• Those three major energy centers also correspond nicely with one of Unity’s foundational teachings: “We are one with the infinite flow of love, love, and wisdom”. Like Light, they are different aspects of the electromagnetic frequency spectrum we perceive and resonate with.

Afterlife

On a personal level, my new understanding has brought me a great deal of comfort, as well. For centuries, philosophers and religious scholars have wrestled with the question, What will happen at the end of life? My answer is this:

• Remember that energy can be neither created nor destroyed.
• So the energy within me will live on, in some way.
• Perhaps it will maintain existence as an individualized entity. I can’t deny the possibility.
• But just as a ripple merges with a larger wave and becomes one with it, I tend to think that I, too, will merge with the greater energy of the cosmos, flowing in harmony within it.

To explain what that means, let me relate a story…

Once, when I visited the Painted Desert, the crowd I was with would not stop yammering. So I hopped the fence, ran to a nearby tree, and sat near it awhile.

As I looked up, I was struck by the huge dome of sky overhead. It was a vast, overturned bowl stretching from horizon to horizon that I had never before perceived it in all its size and grandeur.

Used to much smaller vistas confined by buildings and trees, I was dwarfed by the immensity of it all. I felt tiny, insignificant. I felt as though the force of nature was a massive, irresistible, infinite force that filled the universe, and I was just a tiny speck. Who was I to oppose it?

I sat with that thought a while, but then realized that I did not need to oppose it. I could turn my direction 180 degrees and flow with it. I was now one with that infinite, irresistible force.

In that moment, all sadness, weariness, and hopelessness disappeared. I basked in the sensation for awhile and, now mollified, I rejoined my group.

That story comes to mind, because that the thought my energy will join with the energy of the universe brings up the same feels. For me, it is a comfortable feeling of “going home”.

Not that I am in any particular hurry. There are still many things to do. So it is not time to abandon the game just yet! But a big part of what I call my enlightenment experience is the knowledge — the conviction — that one day I will indeed be called home. :__)

Electric Universe

A decade after I began to have the enlightenment experience regularly, a variety of experiments recorded and posted to YouTube persuaded me of the essential validity of the “Electric Universe” theory. (My eternal gratitude to Wal Thornhill for casting a “light” on my thinking, as it were.)

Still, it would take several years before I put two and two together, and begin seeing the enlightenment experience in terms of a wider, cosmic energy field.

The Electric Universe perspective turned out to be something of a “power drill” when it comes to explaining the mislabeled “impact” craters — craters that have with flat surfaces, a dimple in the middle, smaller craters on the edge, and long strings of connected craters.

Along those lines, some of the most convincing videos I’ve seen are:

• Impact Craters vs. Electrical Discharge Craters shows how the two differ
• Plasma craters from experiments match real craters collects a variety of lab experiments and puts them side-by-side with astronomical observations to make a compelling, “seeing is believing” kind of case.
• Our Electrically Scarred Moon shows the odd collections of craters one would be hard-pressed to duplicate using impact mechanisms.

The Electric Universe perspective also explains the long dark crevices on the surface of Earth, the Moon, and other planets, along with other visible scarring that can be replicated in smaller scale in a lab.

In addition to planetary formation, that perspective can also explain the shape of galaxies and solar systems, and their formation.

Interestingly those explanations do not require “black holes”, “dark matter”, or “dark energy” — each one an unobserved mathematical patch to a gravity-is-the-only-force-in-the-Universe model that has been creaking with advanced age for decades now, much like the earth-centric model of the solar system that “science” tried to hold on to for so long, because religion said it must.

The Electric Universe theory also explains why the surface of our sun is hotter than the interior — as our own scientific measurements can testify. Were the sun actually a giant fusion reactor, those easily-repeated observations make no sense. But if it is, in fact, a giant ball of electricity, the observations are more easily explained. (I bring this up now, because understanding the nature of the sun becomes important to our understanding as we move along.)

(For a fast-moving 20-minute video summary of the thesis, see The Electric Universe — an Alternative Cosmology. For more detail, see The Magnetic Universe — It’s Electric! To go really deep, visit the YouTube Thunderbolts channel or my “YouTube U” E.U. playlist.)

Electric Body / Torus

The book, The Body Electric, was also seminal in my thinking. It provides a highly readable rendition of experiments conducted with regard to the phenomenon of electricity in the human body and the body’s potential for regeneration.

In fact, the human body is surrounded by an electro-magnetic field. It can be measured from up to a six feet away. That field is in the shape of a torus (a beach ball with big dimples at top and bottom).

If you’ve seen pictures of the earth’s magnetic field when solar energy strikes it, generating an “aurora” at the North and South poles, it’s the same thing — a torus.

Moreover, the cells in the body generate light — light that also serves as a communication mechanism.

We’ve all see the light in another’s eyes — a light that can actually be measured.

(For more, see Michael Clarage’s excellent video, The Light of Life. Interesting topics start at these approximate times:
1:30 — Measuring light emanating from the eyes
2:40 — Green light generated as seeds germinate
10:00–14:15 — Light/electricity in the body’s biochemical systems
14:30 — DNA as transmitting & receiving antenna for light energy
16:30 — Earth’s Schuman Resonance frequencies promote DNA replication)

Electrical Channels

What is perhaps more fascinating is that just as electrical energy reaching the earth in the form of photons is transported to the poles, where the auroras form, that is the way every torus-shaped electric field receives incoming energy from an external source — at the poles.

Now then, the sacred texts of India talk about kundalini, arising from the base of the spine (one pole of the torus). The Kriya Yoga practices brought to us from India by Yogananda, meanwhile, regard spiritual energy as entering at the top of the spine — the other pole!

So ancient practices originating in India describe energy in our bodies being generated at the top and bottom of the spine — the “poles” of the torus. (I think it’s pretty clear that somebody knew something, way back when.)

Electricity and Sunlight

As mentioned, the idea that the sun is “nuclear fusion” reactor just doesn’t make much sense, given the fact that sun is hotter at that surface than it is in the interior.

Thinking in things of electricity, though, things begin to make more sense (Observations have revealed other anomalies, but that’s the big one. It’s the one that sticks in my mind, in any case.)

It is also worth noting that light (photons) and electricity (electron “wavelets”) are fundamentally identical. A photon can add to an electron’s energy, and an electron can lose energy, releasing a photon in the process.

Indeed, the very atoms that make up matter are formed within stars — and by powerful lightning strikes as well, as observed in Aurora (nee Safire) experiments. (YouTube is your friend.) That is another reason that stars can profitably be considered “electrical” in nature.

More importantly we know that plasma is a gas so hot (on Earth) or at such low pressure (in space) that electrons separate from atomic nuclei. So while a gas may not normally conduct electricity, a plasma always does.

A plasma, then, consists of negative and positive ions. The stream of ions emanating from the sun is called the solar wind. And what is electricity if not electrical charges in motion?

The two are not exactly identical, but they’re pretty darn close! So it makes a lot more sense to think of the sun in terms of electricity than in terms of fusion reactions.

Source of Life

We know that the Sun is the source of all “life energy” on earth. The ancient Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaten even tried (unsuccessfully, alas) to convert his entire kingdom to Sun worship.

Plants use chlorophyl to store the sun’s energy. Animals consume the plants. The hemoglobin that carries oxygen to our cells is remarkably similar to chlorophyl, in fact. Sunlight itself generates Vitamin D and a variety of other critical hormones and nutrients just below the surface of our skin.

Meanwhile, the near-infrared spectrum of sunlight has a direct impact on our cellular mitochondria, improving their operation and helping them generate the most powerful antioxidant there is — cellular melatonin. (Melatonin that exists within the cells, that is, where it acts as an antioxidant, as opposed to the sleep-inducing variety that circulates in the bloodstream.)

The fact that we are so deeply connected to sunlight made me appreciate even more the yoga “Sun Salutation” I learned at a Hindu temple — a version that includes a devotional prayer in praise of the Sun at each step.

That knowledge also helped to explain the “Breatharians” who believe they can live on sunlight and air alone. (I suspect there is some cheating going on. There has to be! But to my understanding, the idea originated in India where, in my view, their spiritual traditions reflect the advanced science their civilization was almost certainly founded on.)

Electric Earth

We know, too, that lightning strikes carry electrons from the upper atmosphere down to the surface of the earth, where they are stored like a giant electrical “battery”.

When we connect with the earth, those electrons (aka anti-inflammatories) enter our bodies, and combat the free-radicals (compounds missing an electron) that are the very definition of “inflammation”. (That is the basis for the “Earthing” movement.)

So, yeah. We are essentially electrical beings, living in a vast electrical system consisting of the earth, sun, stars, planets, solar systems, and galaxies!

4. In Summary

In short, Light (aka electricity) is the force that powers everything. It is the essence of life, and a fundamental component and foundation of all matter.

It is the power behind the electrical activity of our heart, brain, and nervous system. It is the release of electrons from stored ATP molecules that creates the energy that powers our muscles. Electrons power our immune system, our hormones, and the hemoglobin that carries oxygen to the trillion+ cells in our body.

The Chi meridians from China and the nadis from India are “energy circuits”. To my mind, they are undoubtedly related to electron flow. (That’s still a bit speculative, as the process of mapping them has proven to be troublesome — but it is a speculation I am willing to entertain.)

5. What’s in a Word? (reprise)

At this point, the potential peril of language have come up several times. It’s time to dive into the subject in just a bit more depth.

A while ago, I made the point that language is a tool. Used well, it can clarify our thinking. Used not so well, it can make things much harder to understand. (I liken it to a chainsaw. It can be used to build a cabin — or it can rip your leg off.)

Now, science has a done a magnificent job of separating things with language. We used to consider air, water, and “earth” (in the form of food) as the basic prerequisites for health (i.e. “fire”, or internal energy).

That kind of thinking was okay, but it didn’t really help to identify and understand the nutritional causes and remedies for the chronic diseases that modern civilizations face.

Now, though, we have identified a wide variety of nutrients and internal physiological mechanisms that contribute to health — or the lack of it. The list includes vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, free-radicals, enzymes, hormones, fats, and oils, with each category containing multiple dozens of specific items.

That’s all to the good. But at the same time, science’s penchant for separation has inadvertently cut us off (linguistically speaking) from the wider universe. And by creating many different terms for what is fundamentally the same thing, their underlying unity is hidden — as is our intrinsic unity with it.

I am of course speaking about “light”. But please consider, for a moment, the essential underlying identity of: Light, electricity, photons, electrons, lightning, sunlight, the sun, the “solar wind”, ions.

Within the body, meanwhile consider the essential underlying identity of life energy, nervous system operation, brain function, the immune system in action, brain synapses “firing”, cellular bio-luminescence, free-radicals, oxidation, anti-oxidants, electrolytes, inflammation, and anti-inflammatories. All are different ways to deliver an electrical charge, or describe the lack of one.

When we talk about ice, water, and steam, we know their underlying nature is one and the same. But for the phenomena listed above, it has not occurred to many that their essential underlying nature is also the same.

Good things happen when we begin to think about those things the same way we think about ice, water, and steam — separately, when it’s helpful to do so, but at the same cognizant of their identity equivalence.

And just to bring things back to where we started, this is how *I* conceptualize the enlightenment experience.

As I believe I mentioned (somewhere, way back there), the way we conceptualize the experience doesn’t really matter! Two people who have had that connection experience will recognize each other by the light in their eyes, and get along famously, respecting each other differences while at the same glorying in the bond that joins them.

At the same time, like most of humankind, I like to understand things. (I also like things, simple. And short. Sorry about that!) But all of the details described in this treatise are gathered together under one banner — the experience of enLIGHTenment — or, as I like to call it, an inner connection to the energy that pervades the universe.

6. Manifesting “Connection”

The understanding of internal “solar” energy (aka light, electricity) provided an explanation for the energy experiences that arose from the Tantric Yoga, Raja Yoga, and Kriya Yoga techniques I was exploring and now teach.

The “Electric Universe” model, meanwhile, gave me a wider context for that experience, suggesting that what I was experiencing internally was part of the grand, magnificent energy that pervades the cosmos.

Once I did that, the final step was the realization that the vast, infinite energy of which we are speaking—the very foundation of matter — was, in fact, what we generally call “God” (or “Divinity”, “the All”, “the Almighty” or. as I tend to call it, “the energy that pervades the Universe”).

As I said at the outset, my goal is connect with the people of similar persuasion — my tribe, if you will. So if you can point me to any books or communities, please do. (But before you do, please read my Personal Note below!)

7. Personal Note

In Why I Reject Christianity, I give my personal reasons for eschewing a Biblical perspective. But at the same time, I know that there are many ways to conceptualize the energy experience.

People who have had that experience adore the tradition that got them there (for good reason!). And they recognize each other by the Light in their eyes — even if they come from a radically different religious background. Such people get along well regardless of differences in their background traditions.

They get along so well — and recognize each other — because it is the experience of connection that is important, not the personal conceptualization of what it means.

All religious ideas, including this one (“God is Light”) are simply codified versions of a conceptualization that helps to understand and explain the experience.

What matters most about the path an individual pursues, then, is the degree to which it facilitates that connection, with a minimum number of extraneous “add on” shalts and shalt-nots. (They’re useful if they help to facilitate the coveted “connection”. Otherwise, they are extraneous.)

In this article, I have shared my conceptualization of the connection experience. I don’t dispute the validity of different conceptualizations experience, because it’s not the conceptualization that matters — but kindly keep my perspective in mind when deciding whether or not to recruit me for your tribe!

About Eric

Eric Armstrong describes himself as an “inspired bubble of imperfection with important things to share”. The author of Bench Yoga (volume 1 of the Subtle Energy Yoga series) and The Secret Science of Weight Loss, he created the “Instant Alignment” Yoga Meditation Bench, and founded MeditateBetter.com.

Eric spent 30 years studying the internal energy arts with a variety of masters. A former volleyball coach and martial arts instructor, he focuses on practical, efficient techniques that can make a difference in your life, sharing his deep understanding of the subject in his books, articles, and occasional workshops at the Unity Spiritual Center in Palo Alto, CA.

Learn More: About Eric (Internal Energy Bio)