Thursday, March 26, 2015


 

 

170. Jesus Christ seen/heard over centuries. Part two

 

 

4. The mother of St Augustine, saw a young man, which I presume was Jesus Christ, in a dream. I have already narrated the dream in a previous blog (154). However for the sake of continuity I will briefly narrate it here:

 

 

            “For she saw herself standing on a certain wooden rule, and a shining youth coming towards her, cheerful and smiling upon her, herself grieving, and overwhelmed with grief. But he having (in order to instruct, as is their wont not to be instructed) enquired of her the causes of her grief and daily tears, and she answering that she was bewailing my perdition, he bade her rest contented, and told her to look and observe, “That where she was, there was I also.”

 

5. St Teresa of Avila had several talks and visions of Jesus, sometimes both together (1). I have written about some of them in my blogs, 74-78. I will now narrate most of them. However to understand some locutions/visions I will have to describe the context. Her first locution of Christ was as follows:

 

“While I was wondering how in Thy justice Thou couldst ordain that so many of Thy faithful handmaidens, as I have said, should not be given the graces and favors which thou didst bestow on me, being such as I was, Thou didst answer me, Lord saying ‘ Serve thou Me, and meddle not with this’. This was the first words which I ever heard Thee speak to me so it made me very much afraid.”

 

She describes her vision of Jesus, for the first time in her book (not necessarily her first vision of Jesus):

 

‘ I was in the company of a certain person, right at the beginning of my acquaintance with her, when the Lord was pleased to make me realize that these friendships were not good for me, and to warn me and enlighten my great blindness. Christ revealed Himself to me, in an attitude of great sternness, and showed me there was in this that displeased Him. I saw Him with the eyes of the soul more clearly than I could ever have seen with the eyes of the body; and it made such an impression on me that, although it is now more than twenty six years ago, I seem to have Him present with me still. I was greatly astonished and upset about it and never wanted to see that woman again.’

 

Jesus Christ revealed Himself to her in stages:

 

‘I had the following experience. I was at prayers of glorious St Peter when I saw Christ at my side___or, to put it better, I was conscious of Him, for neither with the eyes of the body nor those of the mind did I see anything. I thought He was quite close to me, and speaking to me. I was very much afraid, and did nothing but weep…..’

‘One day, when I was at prayer, the Lord was pleased to reveal nothing but His hands, the beauty of which was so great as to be indescribable’.

‘A few days later I also saw that Divine face, which seem to leave me completely absorbed.’

One year, on St Paul’s day, when I was at mass, I saw the most complete representation of this most sacred Humanity, just as a picture of His resurrection body, in very great beauty and majesty.

Although this vision was imaginary, I never saw it, or any other vision, with the eyes of the body, but only with the eyes of the soul.’

‘……even in its whiteness and radiance alone, it exceeds all that we can imagine. It is not a radiance which dazzles, but a soft whiteness and infused radiance which, without wearying the eyes, causes them the greatest delight; nor are they wearied by the brightness they see in seeing the Divine beauty. So different from any earthly light……..by comparison with it, the brightness of our son seems quite dim……..It is as if we were to look at a very clear stream, in a bed of crystal, reflecting the sun’s rays’

 

She was never able to see His eyes. ‘His gaze has such power that my soul cannot endure it and remain in so sublime a rapture that it loses this beauteous vision…’

‘Almost invariably the Lord showed Himself to me in His resurrection body…..Only occasionally, to strengthen me when I was in tribulation, did he show me His wounds, and then sometime He would appear as He was on Cross and sometime as in Garden. On a few occasions I saw Him wearing crown of thorns and sometime He would also be carrying the Cross.’

 

She describes a mysterious light: “ For the light we see here and the other light are both light, there is no comparison between the two and the brightness of the sun seems quite dull if compared with the other.”

“ Once when I had been for more than an hour in this state, and the Lord had shown me wonderful things, and it seemed as if He were not going to leave me, He said to me, ‘ See, daughter, what those who are against me lose: do not fail to tell them of it’”

“ One day, when I was hearing Mass, at the elevation of the Host, I saw Christ on the Cross. He spoke certain words to me, which He told me to repeat it to the Rector for his comfort, and he added other things to warn him of what was to come and to remind him of what he had suffered for him and how he too must prepare to suffer. This brought him great comfort and gave him courage and everything has since happened as the Lord told me it would.”

 

 

For a period of time she was assailed with doubts that her locutions and visions were the work of devil. Her confessor and very pious and learned men of the church were also of the same opinion or had mixed feelings. During such periods Christ would comfort her. Here are some examples:

 

‘I have sometimes___often, indeed___found myself in this kind of affliction, but never, I think, have I been in such straits as I was then. I was like this for four or five hours, and neither in heaven nor on earth was there any comfort for me. When I was in this terrible state of exhaustion……….these words alone were sufficient to remove it and give me complete tranquility: “Be not afraid, daughter, for it is I and I will not forsake thee: fear not”’

On another occasion, when she was worried about a certain matter, the Lord said to her; “Why dost thou fear? Knowst thou not that I am most powerful? I will fulfill what I have promised thee”

 

“Once, when I was very much troubled about this, the Lord asked me what I was afraid of, for only two things could happen: those who believed it was His work would praise Him, and those who did not would condemn me without my having done wrong and that either course would be advantageous to me and therefore I should not be troubled. This calmed me a great deal and whenever I think of it, it still comforts me”

 

‘Once when I was struggling with the same doubts that I described above, as to whether these visions were from God or no, the Lord appeared to me and explained sternly: “Oh children of men, how long will ye be hard of heart”’

 

(1). The life of Teresa of Jesus, the autobiography of St Teresa of Avila

 

To be continued

Thursday, March 19, 2015


 

169. Jesus Christ seen/heard over centuries. Part one

 

Anything which is quoted from a mystic/yogi/saint/prophet in these blogs must fulfill one of these two requirements:

 1. It should be taken from an autobiography of that mystic. It will be an authentic account because such persons don’t lie. They may, though, misinterpret the event.

2. It should be written by a person of high integrity who heard it himself from the mystic’s mouth.

3. It should not be taken from a religious scripture, except as a brief quotation, such as Bible, Gita, or Koran

 

 All the incidents that I have ever quoted in all of my blogs fulfill one of these conditions, except the first encounter of the holy prophet Muhammadpbuh with an entity (blog 147). I have included it because the holy prophetpbuh told it himself to others. Most of the incidents are taken from the following books:

  • A search in secret Egypt by Paul Brunton
  • .A search in secret India by Paul Brunton
  • .Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  • .In Quest of God by Swami Ramdas
  • .Living with kundalini by Gopi Krishna
  • .Pilgrim of stars by Dilip Kumar Roy and Indra Devi
  • .Shahab Nama by Shahab
  • .The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Nikhilananda
  • .The Hunger of the Soul by Nancy Mayorga
  • .The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. Translated by Salvatore Scurba
  • .The life of Teresa of Jesus by Teresa of Avila. Translated by Allison Peers
  • Confessions By St Augustine
  • Kashaf-ul Mahjoob by Data Gunj Bakhash
  • The dark night of the soul, by St John of the cross. Translated by Allison Peers

  •  The autobiography of St Therese of Lisieux. Translated by John Beevers
    There are some incidents taken from other books but they pass the same standards. However, in some places, either I or my brother RQ is the witness of the events.
    I have stated these conditions, but I still want to tell you the vision of Jesus by St. Paul, mentioned in the Bible. Why is that? Because it is authentic. St Paul himself mentioned it, or Luke, a disciple and companion of Paul, narrated it, so he must have heard it from Paul himself. Many persons saw Jesus after his death, as mentioned in the Bible, but those persons did not write their account.
    1. I quote from New Testament:
    “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul (see footnote), Saul, why do you persecute me?”
    “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
    "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
    The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
    —Acts 9:3–9
     
    Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
    —Acts 9:17–19
    Paul, himself, gave the same account with some differences in Acts 22; 6-13, and in Acts 26:12-18
     
    2. Paul received instructions from Jesus some other times too. Here is an incident:
     
    “It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, and I saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.' "And I said, 'Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You.’ And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.'"And He said to me, 'Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles (non-Jews).'"
    ___Acts 22:17-21
     
    3. Here is an account of the conversation between Jesus and a man named Ananias:
     
    Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lays his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight." “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
    But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”__Acts (9:10-15)
    To be continued
    _______________________________________________________________________________
    ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Footnote. ST Paul’s original name was Saul