Light physical, light metaphysical, light internal, light of Christ, Buddha, Mohamad, light of wisdom, the light of a thousands suns, bursting at once into the sky, that is something, something like the splendor of the Mighty One, the Shatterer of Worlds, the Coming of Death, said J Robert Oppenheimer, witnessing the world's first atomic explosion.

 

And now, today, this moment, a light and voice within, saying,

 

Be smart, stop foolishness, let your little light shine.

 

We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu (or Shiva?) is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another. (J. Robert Oppenheimer, interviewed by NBC in 1965)