The Ultimate Encounter
I love to share stories as you might have guessed, especially about encounters with spiritual beings whom we all are familiar yet distant in personal experience. Whether you believe in them or not is no matter. An old friend, a mixed-blood Cherokee named Willy Whitefeather, used to start his talks with, "Don't believe a thing that I say." He was quite the character. Willy wrote desert survival books for children and worked with schools to educate the students about desert plant life. His work has saved a few children's lives. Okay, so I want to tell you a story about an encounter with Jesus some years ago. Don't believe a word of it as I'm just relating an experience and we all know their origin in imagination, right? Sometimes it is more than just imagination.
Well, this was a beautiful day in the mountains of northern Arizona, next to Woods Canyon lake, a pristine lake at about 6500 ft. elevation just south of the Grand Canyon. It was in the middle of June and the air was warm and smelled of pine. There was a group of us, 8 in all, that had come there for a weekend of spiritual retreat... or rather engagement. We were led by an elder gentleman, in his mid 60s, who had worked with Ray Stanford to form AUM (Association for the Unfoldment in Man). I had been asked to join them as I was now living in the house that was used as their 'center.' I was looking for a place to move and this showed up. It was on an acre and a quarter of land on a slope in north-central Phoenix where the downtown area could be seen from the front porch. One of three houses on the 1/8 mile slope, with the Phoenix Mountain Preserve as the property boundary to the east and a street nearly 50 meters to the west. This was the middle house on the hill, with all the desert landscaping and wildlife to go with it.
I had been asked to accompany the group on a week end retreat, staying in a cabin in Christopher Creek. Once unpacked we journeyed to Woods Canyon lake for an afternoon program of discussion and exploration of spiritual content. We were sitting on the side of a hill in an ellipse with the leader of the group on a stump, the rest on a log extending from a few feet away from the stump toward the lake, and myself on a rock facing the stump at the end of the log. The log was nearly parallel to the waters edge and we all had a wonderful view, the group overlooking the lake through the trees and I being able to see part of the lake extending into a small inlet. There was a light breeze with the smell of pine wafting through the air.
Ed (the elder) had just asked us to 'act as if' Jesus was in our presence. Interesting tactic, eh? It was surprising to me that everyone had difficulty acting as if and asked him questions about how to do it. He would refer them back to their own devices for acting. I watched as inner turmoil surfaced in their facial expressions. After a bit, I blurted out, "Hey, like this.... HEY DUDE, GLAD TO HAVE YOU HERE!!! LET'S PARTY!!!!" Obviously I went to an extreme and, well, Ed didn't care for that one too much. I appreciated his concern. He groveled a moment and then suggested we do a guided meditation together. He asked us all to close our eyes and take a couple of deep breaths. The group followed his suggestions immediately, and with some relief that they no longer had to act our their willingness to receive Jesus amongst their company.
As soon as I closed my eyes I had a vision unfold that was quite curious. I saw two hands and arms come around from behind my back at the level of my solar plexus. One was holding a piece of dark bread, like the color of wheat bread. The other hand grabbed the bread and 'broke' it in two right in front of me. As the bread was broken my sight was attracted upward at about a 45 degree angle. There was a brilliant light coming from above me that I did not know who or what was producing it, so I looked up to see a most magnificent sight. With my eyes closed still, I looked up to see Jesus just a few meters away, about 5 meters off the ground in front of the group. I was in complete awe with no thoughts for a moment. There was a ray of light coming from his forehead and his heart that became one about a meter in front of my head, bathing me in the most iridescent and effervescent feeling since I had been taken into the White Light as a teenager. It was absolutely awesome beyond any description available. Those of you who have experienced similar things know what that feeling is like... undeniable by any means of logic or reason.
Then he began to speak to me, "I would like to speak through you," he said in such an inviting voice that resistance was futile. I battled in my mind as I recalled the words of my adoptive mother, not much over a month prior, telling me never to let anyone channel through my body. Here, directly in front of me, was a personage that I had given up my life for many years prior in order to know Truth. What could I do? How could I be sure? Everything in my being was telling me this was real beyond any speck of disbelief. Accordingly, I broke down and cried like a baby, not knowing instinctively what to do... or so I thought. When I decided that there was truly no reason for alarm and the truth would prevail anyway, I took a few deep breaths and relaxed. I opened my mouth to let the words flow without any perception of what was about to happen. His first words were, "Know that I AM with you always." Then he threw me a curve. He continued, "This one's fear (speaking of me) is great." Well, I couldn't have him saying that! You know how the ego wants to butt in whenever it feels slighted. So I immediately asked what he meant by that.
Next thing I knew we were off together conversing about fear and how to get through it. I was totally unaware of my body or what I was speaking to the group from that point onward. I know this may sound goofy, buy he told me that the fears I had were the same as His were. He went through several examples of situations that he had to move through only by relinquishing his fear to the Father. What that meant was that He had to completely let go and trust in All That Is... totally free of emotional or mental attachments to outcomes. He managed to do a pretty good job I'd say. Our discussions will remain private as only when one is ready to hear things does he/she truly listen. They are within your own hearts as well, when you are ready. They are the fears we all go through in order to find the truth within us, inside of the Kingdom of God within us and all around us. The war, if there is one, is with the mind as a master vs. servant. Fear enslaves the mind. Love frees it to act with and in the realms of heart-space, of heart consciousness, said to be over 60% of our total 'consciousness' in these bodies. Faith in things unseen...
Next thing I knew, there was a sound of branches snapping as some people approached on the trail. I opened my eyes to see the others staring at me with gaping mouths. I don't know what I shared.. must have been pretty impactful. It wasn't about our conversation it seemed. I had no desire to speak a word for several hours. All I could do was breath and hum... the dynamic hum of one in total bliss. I found out later that 3 others had actually seen Jesus in exactly the way I experienced with the rays of light from him to me. The elder has since passed and joined my 'dead council' from time to time. The group grew and then dwindled over the years. I still keep in touch with one.. we play music together. It was he who invited me to become his housemate on the hill in Phoenix. I thank him for stepping out initially. We met at the very first discussion group I formed in the late 80s. He was looking for a housemate, which brought me on the seen. Wow, what a trip...
It is for reasons like this that I live, breath, eat, sleep, dream, make love, love, and awake with the connection with ALL THAT IS in the deepest essence of my being. I have continued my path in various vocations and working relationships for the sustenance of this human form. My personal path work includes my testimony and the evidence of my journey so far, demonstrated in the development and implementation of a model community that applies Divine Principles throughout. "Thy will be done," has been a constant mantra in my life. Everyone has the opportunity to connect with their inner nature, as naturally resident as the earth and sky. Although we often incorporate 'victim' mentalities in our daily living, it is for everyone to ascend to the next level of living experience. Accepting personal responsibility for choices is the first step, regardless of what others may attempt to enforce. Love means letting go of fear in all its subtle forms, allowing the limitless oscillating vibrational energy that is naturally present to pervade all living environments. What was made quite evident in my experience at the lake was that we are all family, born to reunite as one people and one planet in a conscientious living awareness that brings harmony to our world.