For Arto - About an encounter with Jesus

[Guest guest]

Arto -

 

I noticed your inquiry about Jesus

in your correspondence with Alan.

 

If you have patience for a fairly

long read, the following is from

a magazine article I wrote a couple

of years ago .The title was:

 

" How I found Jesus in a Hindu Temple "

 

Going way back to the 5th grade, in a class on world religions, I first

encountered the

word, " Nirvana " . It was described as utter tranquility and perfect peace of

mind. I felt my

heart leap at these words. I lived in a volatile family environment and the

appeal of a place

of utter tranquility and perfect peace of mind held immediate fascination for

me.

 

Having been born into a Christian culture, my search began in the local

churches. I went

from church to church, from denomination to denomination, and finally to

baptism.

Nothing happened. Nada. No utter tranquility. No perfect peace of mind.

 

Years went by, and eventually I boarded what I have come to call, the last train

to

Hippieville, in a desperate attempt to find " Nirvana " , but also to escape the

guilt and

shame and degradation I felt from the many mistakes and bad judgements of my

teen

years and early 20s. I'll spare you the details.

 

Suffice it to say that by the time I got to Hippieville, my mantra was " Let me

die " . As a last

ditch effort to avoid this drama, I went with some friends to listen to

Maharaji, a " guru " –

another new word to me, at the time. A few months later, in a Hindu ashram, a

woman

from India, a mahatma (teacher) by the name of Mohani Bai Ji was teaching at

morning

satsang (a discourse " in the company of Truth " ). She often read from a copy of

the

Bhagavad Gita. By now I had come to see some of the many parallels in the

teachings of

Christ and Krishna. In the midst of her teachings, this particular morning in

the summer of

`75, she used the exact words that had precipitated my search so long ago. She

spoke of,

" utter tranquility and perfect peace of mind " as the promise of the true guru. I

rolled

across the floor (we sat on pillows in a big room then), tears streaming down my

cheeks.

 

And then I spontaneously offered what I have come to know, in Buddhism, what is

called

the bodhisattva vow. As Ken Wilber so aptly captures it, I said, in effect, " If

I am allowed to

see this Truth, to know this utter tranquility and perfect peace of mind, I will

spend the

rest of my life communicating it to others, especially those who traveled the

same painful

journey as I did before coming to seek this Truth. " I didn't know that what was

to come

could not be put in words.

 

When I was selected for initiation, I eagerly approach the day. It was July 21,

1975. We

were being shown meditation techniques, and after a couple of techniques were

shown, I

felt a heavy discouragement set in. I wasn't going to be assuaged by phenomenon.

I began

to believe that I had come to another dead-end, another empty promise. I gave

up, but

rather than disrupt the ceremony and the other people involved, I chose to just

go along

with the rest of it, thinking I would leave the ashram the next day. And that

old familiar

mantra starting sounding deep within, from deep disappointment, once again: Let

me die.

Let me die. Let me die.

 

In the next simple meditation technique, my world changed. And I did die, but

not in the

way I expected. As I sat quietly, with no expectations whatsoever, it was as if

some unseen

force performed radical brain surgery. As soon as I felt this influx of a new

way (words fail

here and will be imprecise) of " knowing " , I felt myself as if transported to a

mountain. I

walked along for a few steps on what appeared to be a pathway. As I looked down

the

pathway, I saw a glowing figure in a white robe. My cultural past easily and

comfortably

plugged the identity of Jesus into this figure.

 

When I came upon Jesus along the path, he sent me into a blue-white light. He

didn't say

anything to me, he just nodded and I knew he wanted me to look further down the

path.

As soon as I did, I saw a huge bluewhite, egg-shaped light. And as soon as I saw

it, I was

enveloped in it. There I learned that Jesus had made the impossible possible. He

had

crossed the barrier between spiritual and material or physical reality. He had

collapsed all

concepts of time and space. So, the intervening 2,000 years and thousands of

miles from

his physical presence on earth were literally erased and irrelevant. I had met

my satguru.

 

My submission to death, in the context of the deep meditation, (following 24

years of

searching that became more and more urgent until it all collapsed in surrender)

was

accepted. My spontaneous vow to serve others who were in pain and suffering was

accepted and honored. I was " Christed " . Jesus was recognized for who he is - not

the

twisted distorted view the manipulative church (not all churches) has presented

for years.

 

Following my " resurrection " from the blue-white light and the presence,

residence and

absorption in God, I was a newly created being with a new and expansive heart

and mind.

I was invited to participate in a mission of service - the focus being, the

announcement of

the good news that this " Christing " , this awakening and enlightenment, is the

possible

destiny of all humankind (if we blow up the planet first, a new script will be

written).

 

My " return " into this time, in this realm, was granted with a commission to be a

loving,

encouraging, light bearer, a darkness remover, a teacher; to serve others, to

respond to

those who seek the light of Love and peace and compassion, to a truly inspired

work. I

was " told " that I was now capable of inspired work - to carry on a work that

Jesus died to

establish in those who would come to know him.

 

" The works I do you shall do, and even greater works than I do, you shall do, "

must have

been pretty startling words to his disciples. I've come to understand these

words to mean

that while Jesus had to die to open the veil and send the filling of the Holy

Spirit, those

who come after his death and who receive this Holy Spirit that he promised to

send; a

promise that he delivered on at Pentecost, are empowered to do the work while

alive. " I

will baptize you with fire and with power to witness of me. "

 

Jesus remains outside the blue-white light as a heavenly intercessor, for those

who come

along his mystical path, as a true bodhisattva, who will not enter and finally

sit at the right

hand of God until all sentient beings are " Christed " as well. Yet, he exists in

bliss at all

times. He is contained within every breath I take, and His tender mercies are

new every

morning. That's how it has been for me, since July 21, 1975 at about 9:30 in the

morning,

in this epical meeting of Jesus in a Hindu temple.