Michael Sharp Subscriber’s Resources

Over the mountains take me across the sky
Something in my visions, something deep inside
Where did I wander, where d’ya think I wander to
I’ve seen life’s magic astral plane I travel through
Ozzy Osbourne – Over the Mountain

Hi there. My name is Michael Sharp. I’m a spiritual author (a world teacher I like to say), and I write books about you. I write books about who you are, where you came from, where you are going, and how you can get there. You could think of my books as spiritual books and of course, they are. I am a spiritual author after all and so I write books about spiritual things. However, the books I write are different from what you might consider normal spiritual books, and for a couple of reasons. On the one hand, I don’t confine myself to what you might consider traditional spiritual topics. That is, I don’t just write about chakras and kundalini and cosmology and theology. I also write, in a spiritual sort of way, about the economic system, about sociology and psychology, and so on. It might seem a little strange at first to cast such a wide topical net, but it is not really. When you consider that creation in toto (i.e. all of creation) is the result of an imaginative act of Immortal Spirit, then everything we do, everything we think, and everything that we create is a spiritual thing at one level or another. As a result, pretty much every topic that you could think of has, if you look closely enough, a spiritual side.

On the other hand, my books are different from what you might consider normal spiritual books because I have a rather unique perspective on spiritual topics. In fact, in many ways my perspective on the spiritual is the exact opposite of what most people would consider spiritual. That is, where most people would think of spirituality as something to do with your immortal soul, where most people would tell you spirituality is some kind of test that you have to accomplish in order to temper your soul and graduate to the next level, I think of spirituality almost exclusively in terms of your physical body. For me, spirituality is a problem of the body. In the books I write I give minimal consideration to your immortal soul, which I argue is fine just the way it is, and instead focus almost all my attention on the physical body.

You have a spiritual question you want answered?

You want to live a more spiritual life?

You want to experience mystical realities and divine perceptions?

Then you’re going to need to forget about soul and god and spirit and consciousness for a while and instead focus on your physical body.

It is true.

If you want to make forward progress into authentic spiritual experience, you going to have to leave behind all your traditional notions of religion and spirituality because frankly these traditional perspectives, which focus your attention on your immortal soul, are about as effective in getting you moving you towards authentic spiritual experience as smashing your head with a sledge hammer would be in waking you up in the morning. You may see sparks at first, but after a while you’ll just end up in a permanent coma. The bottom line, if you want to experience the glorious truth of your magnificent divinity, you’re going have to see things from a different point of view.

The Problem of the Body

Now of course, the critical reader will at this point be asking the question why.

Why do you have to focus on your body?

Why, after thousands of years of teaching about god, spirit, karma, judgment, damnation, soul evolution, and mushroom aliens could I, the insignificant Michael Sharp, suddenly say something as ridiculous as that?

Well, it’s not that difficult to understand.

In a nutshell, you need to focus on your body (and mind) because your body is a vehicle for your powerful consciousness (i.e., your Immortal Soul) and it can’t function properly as a vehicle for consciousness unless it is healthy and strong.

The bottom line is, without a healthy and strong mind and body, you’re going to have a hard time dealing with the spiritual reality of you.

But why is that?

And what makes for a healthy and strong physical body?

Well, that’s where it gets a little tricky because frankly, we (and by “we” I mean the people of this earth) don’t really know what is required. Some of us think we know, of course. We think our schools and our churches and our moral education and our business education and our training and everything that we do provides us with the concepts and context we need to fully attain our potential, and we’ll prove it to ourselves by slapping each other on the back and pointing at all the new fangled technology that makes us look oh so smart, but it’s not really the case. The truth is, we don’t know what makes for a healthy and strong physical unit capable of functioning as a proper vehicle for spirit because if we did know, if we did create suitable vessels for the full expression of our higher consciousness, and if our higher consciousness did express through the body and into this world as had been intended when they were designed, then this world wouldn’t suck as bad as it does right now.

It’s true.

If we were all functioning properly, if we were all expressing more fully, the shit that goes down on this world would end with a perfunctory * snap * of our cosmically powerful creative fingers.

Don’t believe me?

That’s ok.

Why would you?

After being told for so many years and decades that humankind is nothing more than a fallen down angel or descended ape incapable of nothing more than grinding out a violent and pathetic existence in the dim hopes of graduating to the next level, I can understand why you’d have a hard time believing anything “as out” there as what I am trying to tell you now.

Still, it is the truth.

The truth is you are far more than you believe yourself to be and if you knew that, if you were that, then everything on this earth would change. And that’s how I know that we, as a species, don’t really understand about the body. If we were a healthy and fully functioning planet, living up to the full potential of spirit, things would be much different.

Now, I suppose at this point you have a choice. At this point you can either put this book down, cling to your dogma about broken angels or evolving apes, and walk away; or, you can stick around and see what it is that I have to say about spirituality, consciousness, and the physical body. If you walk away, no big deal. Come back when you are so inclined. However, if you decide to stick around, then the first thing that I have to tell you is that this book that you have in your hand is part of a system of spiritual education (a spiritual system if you like) that I am developing that I call the Lighting Path.^TM

The Lightning Path

And what exactly is the Lightning Path (or LP for short)?

Well, the LP is a system of total spiritual awakening and empowerment that presents you with all the information you need to conceptualize, understand, and repair your physical body so that you can return yourself to your divinity in a rapid, no compromise, and no strings attached fashion. Of all spiritual systems out there, the LP system is designed to be straightforward and fast. It is designed to rapidly cut through all the gobblygook and present you with the information you need to move forward as quickly as you (or rather your physical unit) can physically, mentally, and emotionally handle. On the LP there is no bafflegab, no gobblygook, and no authorial ego engaging in unnecessary holonic intellectual puffery. On the LP you’ll find straightforward, shoot from the hip, capital “T” truth that gets you from normal to divine quicker than you can say peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

And how does the LP return you to that glorious place of realized divinity from whence you will change this entire world?

Ah well, that’s complicated.

It’s not so much complicated in that it’s hard to understand. It’s complicated in the sense that explaining it requires a certain foundation. I could say, the LP returns you to your own power and divinity through a process of conceptual revision, practical application of technique, and social and psychological guidance that allows you to overcome blockages, heal, develop, and re-empower your physical unit in a manner that allows it to break free of the chains that bind it, and function as it was intended and designed to function as a powerful and capable vehicle for your holy spirit, but you’d have a hard time understanding that without the proper foundation.

But don’t worry, that’s what this book is for.

This book is the Lightning Path basic book. This book is the formal introduction to, and foundational statement of, the LP. Within this book you will find the spiritual, psychological, and sociological groundwork that you need to understand not only how the LP works, but also how to begin to apply its principles to your own personal or professional life. It’s not a complete treatise by any means and really is more of a basic framework that I fill in, in previous (and subsequent) books. Nevertheless, you should find in this book all the concepts you need to properly orient you towards the development of an authentic and powerful spirituality.

Authority to Speak

Before I get too deeply involved in a formal explication of the Lightning Path I should probably begin with a few words about me and why I’m qualified to build this system. “Why me?” in other words. It’s a good question and if you’re not asking it now, you’re definitely going to be asking it down the road at some point. At some point you are going to be reading what I write, and pondering what I have to say, and you’re going to say to yourself “who is this guy and how can he speak with such authority on things.”

It’s true.

I do speak with authority.

I do not beat around the bush or uses phrases like “it’s my opinion.” I also do not cite the work of my contemporaries except only rarely. When I speak, I generally say this is the truth and that’s the way it is and if you don’t like it, tough.

As you might expect, the authoritative voice that I use tends to raise eyebrows. It tends to put some people on their guard, especially if they come across my earlier books where I’m a little less self consciousness about the authority from whence I speak and a little more direct with it. It is true. There have been times when I have been accused of being arrogant and dogmatic. This usually goes away after a while but still, the sentiment is often there and so it worthwhile addressing this question up front just so you’re aware that I’m aware that you’re aware that I write with an uncommon spiritual authority. And besides, even if you are not bothered by the authoritative voice, it is definitely a question you should be asking. Anybody that comes up to you and says the kind of things that I say, anybody that tells you they have a system of spiritual awakening and empowerment, anybody that makes claims to anything, in fact, should be exposed to critical questions. If somebody tells you they can build a new house for you, you have to ask them for proof. If somebody tells you they are building a spiritual system, or that they are Edgar Cayce reincarnated here to save the world and lead you enlightenment, you have to ask the hard questions and if you’re not satisfied with the answers, you go somewhere else.

So, what do I base my authority to speak upon?

Well, I base my authority on four supporting pillars. The first supporting pillar (and the weakest in my opinion) that I claim gives me the authority to speak about spiritual things is the fact that I am, indeed, a social scientist with an interest in all things human. I have PhD in Sociology and additional degrees in psychology, all with very high standing, and have maintained an interest in both disciplines since the degrees were conferred. I read copiously in both psychology and sociology up until about 2004 when I abruptly stopped reading to focus on developing my own system of spiritual, psychological, and sociological thought. I know other people who talk about spirit have degrees and all that stuff, but the unique combination of sociology and psychology (combine with the other pillars listed below) I believe me in a particularly strong position from which to develop an integrated spiritual system.

Now, the second pillar upon that provides the support for my authoritative views on spirituality is that I am a practicing mystic. As I explain in the Book of Magic, after some initially clearing experiences ‘round about the year 2002 where I emptied my body of the dogmatic Catholic bred fear of all things spirit, I began a rather abrupt mystical awakening that has continued to this day. I have, during this time, had many mystical experiences, visions, connection experiences or as I like to say, discussions with The Fabric whereby I have accessed realms of consciousness far removed from the handicapped normal consciousness that passes for, um, adequate on this planet. Of course, I’m not the first one to do this by any means. And under normal conditions, I wouldn’t consider mystical experience a supporting pillar at all. In fact, more often than not, mystical experience leads to ungrounded weirdness, even psychosis and schizophrenia. Here though I’ll include it because it, combined with the other pillars, is what gives the doctrine I am developing here the punch that it has. This will become clear as we progress through the LP.

The third pillar from whence I gather my authority to speak is my many lifetimes of experience both as social scientist and as mystic. If you were to ask me, I would say that I’ve been a “social scientist” and mystic, with a broad interest in both psychology, sociology, and more recently the spiritual realms, ever since I first came to this planet on colonizing ships some 30,000 years ago.

Call me the first high priest of Babylon if you like.

Call me crazy and a little touched if it makes you feel better. [1]

The point is, I’ve been at this a long time.

It is true that I did take a few lifetimes off from my interest in social sciences to learn a different perspective, and to get my “teaching degree” so to speak, but other than that I’ve been at this thing that I do for about as many lifetimes as the artist formerly known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was at his music thing before he became the first wolfman and newly crowned prince of rock and roll, and that’s a long time. As a result of my devotion to the craft, I’m an expert at this stuff. Of course, I know how outrageous this claim will be to anybody who thinks within the confines of traditional spiritual or scientific dogma. But that’s not because what I’m claiming is untrue, (i.e., that I’ve been a practicing social scientist for a looong time), that’s because traditional religious or scientific dogma teaches you, in one way or another, that you are limited spiritual reject, long time karmic looser, or evolving piece of self conscious dirt. The belief, common in “old world[2]” dogma, in your limited spiritual/conscious experience is probably about as ridiculous sounding to me as my claim to spiritual authority by virtue of my lifetimes of dedication and service is to you.

The fourth pillar that I base my authority to speak on is empirical evidence. Since I started my process of mystical awakening and system building, I’ve been paying attention. I have been watching the effect that what I say has on not only myself, but on those who consume the materials. What I observe strengthens my conviction that I’m saying something useful. I see the impact that my “system” has on myself and others. Every since I started writing I’ve hosted online forums where I’ve watched the impact of the LP teachings on people and while I have no hard scientific data at this point, I do have a lot of anecdotal evidence that the impact has been dramatic and generally positive and empowering. That is, a high proportion of individuals who practice the LP[3] develop grounded spiritual sensibility and controlled mystical experiences[4] in relatively short order. What is more, the LP has been effective in helping individuals deal with mild to severe psychological dysfunction. Its’ not a miracle cure in this regard (although some people have reported significant shifts in psychological function), but it does provide, in my cautiously stated opinion, an extremely useful foundation for understanding and assisting those with depression, psychosis and even schizophrenia.

Now, please feel free to take the above statements with a grain of salt, or to be skeptical about past life claims, anecdotal evidence, and everything else I say. I am certainly not expecting you to take any of this on blind faith. What I am expecting you to do, however, is to keep an open mind. Consider what I have said (especially about the experience I draw from past lives), take a look at the edifice I a building, the concepts I’m putting together, the ideas I’m espousing, and decide for yourself. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding so check it out, compare it to what you’ve been taught, try it on for size, see if it makes an improvement in things (i.e. your understanding, your bodily and mental function, etc.) and, if in the final analysis you see positive benefit from it, move from there. Feel free to reject all claims of authority, past life, and truth if you conclude that there is nothing more than hot air here but if you do that, do it from a position of empirical and theoretical strength. Don’t engage in a gut reaction rejection. Examine the LP, put into practice the core technique (i.e. the Great Invocation) first and then, if it doesn’t work for you, or doesn’t provide your personal life or professional practice with useful information, reject it from there.

Felling the Tower of Babel

Before moving on to the main body of the book, there a few additional things I’d to consider starting with this whole “spiritual system” idea. Given my statements above about the Lightning Path as a powerful system of spirituality, a new doctrine so to speak, one might ask the question, how does the Lightning Path stack up against other systems of spirituality? More to the point, if the Lightning Path is an effective system of regaining power and divinity (i.e., reconnecting with The Fabric), is the Lightning Path intended to be some kind of replacement for other systems?

Well, to that question my answer is an emphatic no! As much as I do design this system with a no compromise, no strings attached attitude, and as much as it is intended to stand independently of other systems of thought, and as much as certain things in my system are diametrically opposed to what you’d find in traditional spiritual or scientific philosophies, the Lightning Path is not designed to be a drop in replacement for anything. It is quite the contrary in fact. In my opinion there are many beautiful systems of spiritual thought that exist on this earth and we should not feel compelled to leave these behind.

Unity within diversity could be one of the LP slogans.

The Lightning Path is designed to be unifying at a profound level and integrative in a true sense. No matter what your religious, spiritual, or scientific background is, it is my hope that you are able to read the LP and still be able to integrate with your traditional belief system. Of course, you may find yourself challenged by the Lightning Path. You may find some of the assumption and teachings in your belief system don’t mesh. But when that happens, I’m hoping you won’t experience it as a rejection of your whole tradition so much as a recovery of the truth that is embedded and that has been intentionally obscured and occulted as a result of the System imposed veil. The Lightning Path provides a kind of litmus test. The concept and techniques you learn here will allow you to look at your own spiritual traditions in a new light and judge for yourself what is true and what has been falsified, corrupted or twisted in the interests of creating and maintaining The System. It won’t be hard either. Once you’ve gained a basic facility with the Lightning Path, once you’ve taken steps towards awakening and empowerment as defined by the Lightning Path, you’ll have no trouble recognizing the BS from the pearls in your own spiritual system. Of course, after reading the LP you may feel more comfortable abandoning your old spiritual system, especially if the version that you have been fed is particularly negative, fear based, or faulty, but don’t feel compelled to do so. As noted above, the goal of the Lightning Path is to integrate and unit, not divide and conquer.

No Rocket Science

Now, in context of this whole “integrate and unite” intent, I feel compelled to say that, to the best of my ability, I avoid all forms of rocket science on the LP. As a result you will hopefully, at all times, find my writing clear, cogent, an accessible to the point where the average teenager would be able to understand. Of course, this doesn’t mean I simplify things or dumb them down as some might think. It just means that I take the time necessary, and do the work required, to present my ideas in a way that serves the reader and not my own individual ego, professional indolence, or work a day harassment (i.e. too much to do, not enough time to do it in). It just means I avoid complicated terminology, convoluted sentence structure, big words, and other forms of egoic window dressing wherever possible (i.e. rocket science).

It makes sense right?

If, as I say, the LP is designed to be integrative and unifying at a profound level, then the basic requisite must be accessibility. The goal here is to provide a unifying system and you can’t do that if you start excluding everybody who doesn’t speak the language natively, or who doesn’t have a PhD or some other fancy post graduate degree. The LP principle is Keep it Simple Silly. No rocket science, no EPMO,[5] just straight forward rock and roll as I might have said in my younger days.

Outline of this Book

Alright, with these preliminaries out of the way it’s time to provide a chapter overview of the book. For your information, the book is organized into two parts. Part one introduces you to many key Lightning Path spiritual concepts. In chapter one I issue a short warning and advisory. Whether you are convinced at this point or not, it still needs to be said. The LP is powerful and you need to be aware that can impact your consciousness and your life in significant ways. In chapter two I introduce you to the idea of authentic spirituality and provide you with several pillars or guideposts that you can use to assess spiritual systems or philosophical systems of thought. In chapter three I introduce you, briefly, to the nature of consciousness and then follow up, in chapter four, with an extensive look at physical unit (a.k.a. your physical body) and discuss its nature and role in the spiritual scheme of things. Chapter four also contains many additional LP concepts which you will find useful in contextualizing your own spiritual experience. In chapter in chapter five we round off our concepts section by looking at how consciousness (i.e. your higher self) interfaces with the physical unit. In chapter four we conclude or conceptual overview by looking at how consciousness interfaces with its physical unit.

In part two of the book we begin our look at the practical side of the LP. Given that your physical unit is a container/vehicle for spirit, and given the nature of consciousness as outlined in chapter three, the question becomes, how to ensure optimal functioning of the vehicle? As we will see, asking this question moves us into a psychological and sociological discussion of development (i.e. pre-natal, infant, and child development), adolescent, and adult experience. It also takes us into a consideration of the pathology and disconnection that we experience as a result of the oppressive socialization and development imposed by the System. Finally, we end the book with a look at how the LP can help specifically to heal and empower your physical unit and make it into a fully functioning vehicle for your higher consciousness.