“…When the chakras begin to manifest, either spontaneously or through concerted spiritual practices, they reveal themselves most commonly through the perception of subtle light, subtle sound and subtle physical sensation, such as tingling, vibration or temperature change. In a sense, all of these phenomena concern vibration in various aspects. Light is simply electromagnetic vibration as perceived through the eyes; sound is simply the vibration of physical matter, emitted through a medium such as air and perceived through the ears; physical sensations like those mentioned above are caused by vibrations at a localised point and perceived directly through the body. Of course, vibration of any kind is a direct manifestation of energy – just as vibration and energy are themselves manifestations of life. Medically, vital signs are all measured through the presence of energy and vibration, be it the repetitive rhythm of your heartbeat, the slower ‘vibration’ of your breath or of the electromagnetic vibration of your brainwaves. Consciousness, life, vibration, energy, light: all just different aspects of the same principle…”

There will come a point when you personally experience that the subtle energy flowing through your chakras and nadis is living.  Practices of the Way of Light are designed to catapult you to this realisation.

“… Regardless of how the chakras actually manifest – whether as light, sound or physical sensation – the physiological process through which you perceive them is the same. Subtle energy diffuses from the energy body to the physical body, and is then detected by your nervous system in the usual manner. It activates the optic nerve, the auditory nerve or any other sensory nerve in the body, and lights up the relevant area in the brain. As a result, it often ‘feels’ like any other everyday physical sensation which originates from within or around you – except for the fact that it’s otherwise inexplicable, that there’s no physical energy source in the vicinity capable of causing such a stimulus…

In one sense, all the phenomena described in the previous section is just ‘scenery’, a mere by-product of meditation specifically designed to create energetic effects, increasing the strength of your energy body, as well as developing your sensitivity towards such energy. It’s easy to get hung up on these effects. This is one of the potential pitfalls in following the Way of Light: you can easily get distracted by your ego. It’s easy to want more and more of these kinds of experiences, which can then lead you off track from what really matters…”

Although the Way of Light may accelerate your movement on the spiritual path, it also carries a real danger of inflating your ego – which in the long term can only hinder you.  This is an ongoing theme throughout the book as a whole.

“… I’ve personally experienced all the scenery described in the previous section (omitted here), and can emphatically confirm that none of it has carried the feeling of direct spiritual experience – and certainly nothing like the kind of life-changing personal connection with infinity which must occur somewhere along the spiritual path. What it can do, however, is get you thinking. Until you have deeper, direct knowledge, the light of every little firework will inevitably pose the question: ‘Where is this light coming from?’ You can choose to believe it’s all a hallucination, or that it’s a by-product of some as-of-yet unexplained physical process taking place in the physical body alone. Or, with each drop in the bucket, it can strengthen your belief that it really is spiritual light, the light of the universe beginning to shine through you. It can give you hope that, one day, your whole body truly will be full of light.

More importantly than strengthening belief (which is itself nothing to write off), the kind of ‘workout’ you’re giving to your energy body through various types of yoga and meditation forms a foundation for further growth: one which does lead to an increased likelihood of deeper spiritual experience. Practically, this means that the chakras and nadis must first loosen and open more fully, so that universal energy can begin to flow more freely into you. With continued practice, the inner light begins to grow, gradually brighter, until like a river in flood there comes a point when it sweeps your consciousness along with its current. Along sushumna nadi, through the floodgates of sahasrara, you’re carried beyond your physical body, into the light. Pure energy. Pure consciousness. Or alternatively, while still based within physical consciousness, your third eye opens so completely that you not only see the light pouring in, but you feel it too, making a connection with everything.

These two scenarios describe the basic mechanics of deep spiritual experience. Either your consciousness flows out from the physical body to meet infinity. Or the universe flows into you, transforming your physical consciousness and washing your limited beliefs away with knowledge. One flows through yang, the other through yin. Both require a connection through the upper chakras: sahasrara and the third eye.”