Seeking those life-changing moments of revelation

‘Epiphanies allow us to catch a glimpse of heaven on earth, to connect with our divine source.’ Elizabeth-Anne Stewart

A person’s values and outlook on existence can be altered profoundly by an instance of ‘breakthrough’ or ‘power’ consciousness, also known as an epiphany, peak experience or ‘moment of vision’.

There are a variety of labels, including mystical experience, transcendent ecstasy, cosmic consciousness and awakening experience, for what, I believe, is essentially the same phenomenon of sudden illumination undergone by people at different degrees of intensity — and, most importantly, occurring naturally and spontaneously: no use of psychotropic substances is involved.

Even if the ‘oneness with the universe’ feeling of the mystical experience may be absent from the secular epiphany it still provides a moment of profound insight or revelation and, in my view, the respective experiences are intimately related. They show that consciousness is not intended merely to reflect consensus reality but to challenge it.

The mystic dynamism of epiphany can enter a person’s life ‘with a certainty that cannot be questioned and brings with it storm and earthquake to shatter the habit-frozen sea of everyday existence’ (Warner Allen in The Timeless Moment, 1956).