White Daisy... "Day's Eye"
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In Wonders of Spiritual Unfoldment, John Butler answers the request: Tell more of your meeting with Jesus.
I was deeply depressed and alone in the Californian desert. Nothing was heard or visible, but suddenly I knew. He stood beside me, absolutely sure. But there wasn't really anything to describe. The descent into something to speak about hasn't happened to this day. Why not? I suppose because it happened and lives spiritually, in heart. Now, as I think how to answer, it seems that pivotal events of life are often like this - discreet and humble, almost unnoticed in origin, yet developing with time. Some weeks after the event, I stopped at a small town in Arizona, where an evangelist preacher was loudly proclaiming how Jesus had saved him from his sins. God bless the man - that's how it was for him. He invited his audience to come forward and witness. Being one of the few left behind, I made myself go up but found no words to say. I could only embrace him and return to my seat.
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We have deeply-felt experiences of the Sacred along the Way, and these are so intimate we cannot speak well of them, if at all. We hold dear these moments, and over the years, like hidden yeast, they enlarge our lives and unfold ever-deeper meanings of what happened then and lives on.
All wisdom paths introduce us to the potential of these sacred realizations. We could call this a "God experience," if we are of theistic faith. Robert Aitken, a late Zen Buddhist teacher, in Enouraging Words, speaks of these breakthroughs, saying, "In the course of ardent practice, a student will sometimes experience the sacred in a most personal way with makyō, the 'uncanny realm.'" Aitken realizes their value: "Makyō are often dismissed by teachers as mere dreams, but they can be profoundly encouraging, for when they have passed, the ongoing practice is intimately personal and meaningful." And this "sacred realm," as he calls it, is the same for every path, only clothed differently due to the contexts in which these realizations occur, even as dreams appear differently for different persons and cultures.
There are times we wisely remain quiet about these holy visitations. Most persons are not prepared to honor them, especially in secular cultures. Often persons close to us have as little receptivity to such precious visitations as others. Persons may reply with befuddlement, doubt, rebuttal, or even contempt, hence attempting to befoul what we hold dear to our hearts. So, we need to guard with care these sacred visitations; there is no reason to feel it imperative to share with persons who cannot respect them.
Jesus instructs us not to speak too easily of sacred visitations. He utilizes the images "dogs" and "pigs," both ritually unclean to his fellow Jews. Jesus says, in the Gospel of Matthew 7.6 (GNT), ...
Don't give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls to pigs. Otherwise, they will trample them and then tear you to pieces.
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Truly, the moments of sacred epiphanies that we meet along the Way deserve the utmost respect, even as we who received these visitations. And, as John Butler speaks, they live within us and develop over time. In fact, later, we may interpret these experiences differently, from a more mature perspective.
Moreover, we may later see how our sacred realizations are not as unlike those persons undergo in other wisdom paths. This has been true of me. The early, first breakthrough was when age 9. While it happened in a little Baptist church, I can now see how it is akin to sacred encounters in other faith paths much different from that Christian and Baptist context. So, these epiphanies remain our teachers, even long after they happened in the past. They, also, provide inspiration and anchoring. My opening 41 years ago has been a pivotal anchor to help me keep walking along the Way - I have returned in memory and gratitude to it many times, including times when staying true to the Way had become quite challenging and times of feeling alone and unsupported by others.
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*© Brian K. Wilcox, 2021
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse. The book is a collection of poems based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
