The State of Isaiah's Body During His Soul Travel Experience of Ascension Through the Seven Heavens, by James Bean

 

The State of Isaiah's Body During His Soul Travel Experience of Ascension Through the Seven Heavens, by James Bean

People often bring a physical plane folktales sort of bias to stories of ascension found in old scriptures, imagining a Jesus, Paul, or Muhammad (and his horse) ascending through the stratosphere bound for space without pressurized space suits or oxygen to breathe. The reality is of course much different from the perspective of mystics, with these being solely spiritual experiences "caught up in spirit". 

Below is excerpted from the Ascension of Isaiah. The text describes Isaiah's visions of the Seven Heavens, but here I focus on the state of Isaiah's body at the beginning and at the end of his soul travel experience. Rather than flying through the sky, the nature of it was a spiritual experience Isaiah was having while sitting on a couch. The text describes Isaiah during this experience as "his eyes were open although his lips were silent, and the spirit of his body was taken up from him. And only his breath remained in him, for he was in a vision... and he was left looking like a corpse." At the end of the vision, very much reminding me of near-death experiences (NDE's) when the soul is told it still has more to do in the world and gets sent back into it's body, it says: "And this angel said to me, Isaiah, son of Amoz, I set you free; for you have seen what no mortal man has ever seen before. Yet you must return to your garments of the flesh until your days are completed."

"The Vision which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw. VI (6). In the twentieth year of the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, Isaiah the son of Amoz, and Josab, Isaiah’s son, came from Gilgal to Hezekiah in Jerusalem. And Isaiah sat down on the king’s couch; and they brought him a seat, but he would not sit on it... 

"And they gave praise to him who had thus given to a man a door into an unknown world. And while he was speaking in the Holy Spirit in the hearing of all, he suddenly became silent, and his spirit was caught up into heaven, and he no longer saw the men who were standing in front of him. But his eyes were open although his lips were silent, and the spirit of his body was taken up from him. And only his breath remained in him, for he was in a vision. And the angel that was sent to explain things to him in the vision was not of this world, nor was he one of the angels of glory of this world, but had come from the seventh heaven. And, apart from the circle of the prophets, the people who were there did (not) believe that the holy Isaiah had been caught up into heaven. For the vision that the holy Isaiah saw was not a vision of this world, but of the world that is hidden from man. After Isaiah had seen this vision he gave an account of it to Hezekiah and to his son Josab and to the other prophets who had come. But the magistrates and eunuchs and the people did not hear it, but only Samnas the scribe, and Joachim, and Asaph the secretary of state; for they were men who did what is right and were approved of by the Spirit. And the people did not hear it either, for Micah and his son Josab had sent them away when the wisdom of this world had been taken from him, and he was left looking like a corpse....

"And I saw also the angel of the Holy Spirit sitting on the left hand. And this angel said to me, Isaiah, son of Amoz, I set you free; for you have seen what no mortal man has ever seen before. Yet you must return to your garments of the flesh until your days are completed. Then will you come up here. These things Isaiah saw and told them to all who were in attendance, and they sang praises."

-- Ascension of Isaiah, H.F.D. Sparks translation, The Apocryphal Old Testament  (selected from pages 794-812, a nicer translation of the books of Enoch, Odes of Solomon, and many other key writings, published in 1984)

IMAGES: 1) Swami Ji Maharaj of Agra used to meditate in a quiet, dimly lit cave-like "room-within-a-room" on the basement floor of his home sitting on a meditation cushion resting on this chair; 2) a rather intense-looking Swami Ji Maharaj (a.k.a. Seth Shiv Dayal Singh) in an old colorized photograph;

What Mystics Mean by the Word "Meditation" - Meditation vs. Meditation

 

What Mystics Mean by the Word "Meditation" - Meditation vs. Meditation 

There is always value in pondering the wisdom of various sages. “Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.” (Gospel of Thomas, saying one) In the case of Thomas, the goal of the pondering is discovering an existence beyond the body, beyond this world, and so one leaves behind -- transcends -- doctrine, information, theology and mind itself as one enters into the spiritual domain, becoming a gnostic, a mystic, a knower of that experience for one's self.  

I always avoid using the word meditation in connection with contemplating the meaning of verses as evangelical Christianity uses that word to mean that, and at the same time is utterly opposed to the mystical definition of meditation, which is direct experience of the spiritual dimension. When I use the word meditation, it's about this: 

"Give ear; withdraw your souls from all that appears but is not truly real; close these eyes if yours, close your ears, withdraw from actions that are outwardly seen; and you shall know the reality of Christ and the whole secret of your salvation." (Acts of Peter)

"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10) 

Evagrius of Egypt wrote: “The offspring of pure prayer is swallowed up by the Spirit. From this point on, the mind is beyond prayer, and prayer has ceased from it now that it has found something even more excellent. No longer does the mind actually pray, but there is a gaze of wonder at the Inaccessible Things which do not belong to the world of mortal beings.”

“When I have gone to the Light, preach to all the world and say to them: ‘Do not cease seeking day or night and do not let yourselves relax until you find the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Light, which will purify you and make you into pure Light and lead you into the Kingdom of Light.’ (Pistis Sophia)

"I am inviting you into the exalted, perfect Light. Moreover as for this Light, when you enter it you will be glorified ... you will become ... the way you first were when you were Light." (Trimorphic Protennoia, Nag Hammadi Library)

“Thus as a result of recollecting all these things the impulses of the mind are extended from the sphere of material things towards those impulses which are without limit, that is to say, wonder at the New World, and the faculty of vision which belongs to contemplation [of God]. For when the vision of the mind is mingled with the Light…., all its impulses become infinite. For none of the Visionaries or ‘Gnostics’ is able to distinguish the identity of the mind as a result of the vision of that glorious Light that is seen ….. for all the innermost chambers of the heart are filled by that blessed Light….”. (Joseph the Visionary)

"The stage when the mind is silenced and swallowed up in the light of the vision of lofty and sublime contemplation; the mind is mingled with the divine visitation." (paper on, Joseph Hazzaya [the Visionary] and the Spiritual Itinerary) 

“Blessed are those who have approached the divine Light, who have entered it and been absorbed by it, mingled in its brightness.” (Saint Symeon)

A parallel of the initiation saying in Thomas [saying 17] in the Mandaean scriptures: “Thou hast showed us that which the eye has not seen, and caused us to hear that which the human ear has not heard. Thou has freed us from death and united us with Life, released us from darkness, and united us with Light…. Thou hast shown us that which the eye has not seen, and caused us to hear that which the human ear has not heard.” (“Canonical Prayer Book of the Mandaeans”, E.S. Drower)

“We speak without tongue,

we see without eyes,

we hear without ears,

we walk without feet, and

we work without hands.”

(Guru Nanak)