The Tao Of Lightening

Lightening, aside from being one of my favorite forms of fireworks, is possesed of a simplisity and balance so few people ever look at. It is, all at once an natural expression of incredible power and fury, and yet the peace and serenity of a perfect day.

From a technical standpoint, lightening is a balance of positive and negative charges seeking equilibrium. In effect a perfect example of the Yin and Yang in the world around us. All that power, all the energy seeking, and finding, before our very eyes a balance. It is Chi, and the flow of Chi, a tributary in the river of life. Like a river it is going somewhere, flowing, peaceful, ebulaint and an example of Wei Wu at work.

Like a river, helping water to seek and find balance, so to is the "fury" of a Lghtening Bolt a river. Helping positively and negativly charged electrons seek and find a harmonious balance. What seems to us a flash of violent power, is in fact the path of least resitance. Doing the work of find balance, with out working at all.

Technically what happens is an ionization corridord opens between the earth and sky, sky to sky or in very rare cases earth and earth. What this means in effect, is an invisible electric line is formed for the briefest of moments, and in what seems to us a single flash, balance is achieved. In reality, faster than the eye and the brain can usually process information, electrons move back and forth along the invisble wire, or river, allowing the electrons to balance.

If you meditated, and slow yourself down enough, you can actually see what is two, or more strikes in exactly, or nearly the same place. Sometimes even three strikes or more strikes. What? How do you ask can slowing down enough allow you to see something that happens at the speed of light? I mean it is after all lightening we are talking about here!

Simple grasshopper. Mindfullness is a form of meditation, during which we reach the stillness of each splinter of time resolves itself as unique and individual as a snowflake. Very much like a camera taking a picture, every moment becomes a snapshot you can watch, absorb, appreciate and chersh before you move onto the next.

In one of the Star Trek Movies, Data (the android) mentions being "Tempted" by the Borg Queen's offer for all of 0.68 seconds, which is an eternity for an Android... Not somy dear Data, not so! 0.68 seconds is an eternity for anyone who knows mindfulness, of the power of finding stillness. 0.68 seconds is just over half a second, and when looking at light, a varitable eternity. When you have reached the Tao of lightening, 0.68 seconds is indeed and eternity for anyone.
Like the first rays of sun at sunrise, or the last rays at dusk, when apprecaited in the right circumstances, it seems like the time slows, and even stops. In classic cloud to ground lightening you'll see energy, electricity, surge from the cloud and arc like a static charge toward the ground. It actually takes something like several tenths of a second for all this energy to navigate the "inoization corridor" or river I mentioned before. Then a second strike travels in the opposite direction along this same pathway.

It's quite breathtaking to watch, and with practice as easy as floating down the river watching the sky or shore pass by.

The Tao, or way, of lightening is Wu Wei Wu, "Do without doing" and very easy to percieve once you get used to it!