Experience Of The Inner Worlds

Experience of The Inner Worlds

In 1996 I bought a book entitled “Experience of the Inner Worlds” by Gareth Knight; a book of guided imagery based on Christian Kabbalistic meditation exercises. The following is a summary of my own experiences with this method.

My first adventure began six months after starting the book, mostly because it took me that long to develop my imagery abilities to the point where I felt comfortable with them. There are a number of sequential imagery exercises in the book, and I always made sure that I was satisfied with my mastery of each part before I moved on to the next. I meditated nightly, normally for three hours, although I doubt the book instructed these long sessions. I simply enjoyed it, and I was able to devote this kind of time during that period of my life.

I won’t go into the details of the exercises because I truly don’t remember them, but I do remember that the first one involved imagining oneself inside a sphere of light. The last exercise involved imagining a sea of consciousness that flows through you, and in a few breaths, rises completely above your head so that you are completely immersed. Once you get these exercises down you’re ready for the actual “adventure” for lack of a better word. The adventures are all guided up to a point by recollection of the story-line, and then become free-flowing. They are not “Christian” perhaps in the stricter sense, but follow more along the lines of the archetypal psychology of Carl Gustav Jung. The Christian archetypes add a certain validity to the experience which may or may not be illusory.

In the first adventure or imagery, you find yourself in the streets of Jerusalem. You have all your senses in these exercises, so not only do you see and hear, but you also smell, touch and taste your surroundings. It’s very intense, and it seems more vivid than in the normal consciousness. This is perhaps due to the fact that you pay very close attention to everything because it’s all new. You smell the manure, and the spices for sale in the streets. You smell the perfume on the prostitutes who approach you, and you can interact with any of the people there. In my experience, the people looked at me as if I were out of place, but that didn’t keep them from trying to sell me their wares or offer their services. The book has explained all this to you because as I said, the adventure is guided up to a point.

After a good walk through the city streets you come upon an inn with a large open door, and once inside you see people eating and drinking and laughing out loud. You bypass all of this and find a stairway which leads to the second floor, an open walkway with handrails behind which there are a number of doors. At this point I feel I need to mention that everything is in high detail; the wood grain, the hardware on the doors, etc. Upon reaching the targeted door, you knock and find that the door is ajar; you open it and walk in. Jesus is sitting on a pillow on the floor beside a large oblong table which is the right height for just a pillow, and there are other pillows around the table as well. There is a container of wine, two cups, and a basket of bread on the table. Jesus motions for you to have a seat next to Him. At that point you take Holy Communion with Him. This is the end of the guided part.

This was my first experience with this sort of thing, so I wasn’t certain of it’s validity, and in the many years since then I still haven’t completely made up my mind. Also up until this point it seemed that perhaps I was putting the words in Jesus’ mouth; after all, the story-line was set. I looked at Jesus and said to Him sort of flippantly, “Well, I’ve made it this far, now what do I do?” This is where things got really intense. Jesus looked dead in my eyes for the first time, and with a very firm but deeply compassionate face He said, “Pray for strength brother. Pray for strength.”

My entire body began to tremble uncontrollably; partly because of His message, but also because I didn’t put these words in His mouth. This was something else! Remember, it’s free-flowing at this point, and you really have no earthly idea what to expect. His message disturbed me because it was nothing at all like I would have expected, and what did He mean by it? What is about to happen in my life that I will need strength for?

I finally found my feet and without a word I was out the door, down the stairway and back into the streets. People were looking at me as if I had seen a ghost, and everybody got out of my way as I headed back the way I had come. The next moment I found myself seated where I had began the meditation, and at no time was I ever asleep. I was fully conscious of my surroundings in both “worlds”. I’m not sure if I have ever been so terrified in my life.

A week or two later, I gathered up the courage to make my next “trip to Jerusalem”. This trip was also guided up to a point, and as it turned out I was never afraid again. Upon reaching the same door and knocking again, I entered the same room once more. This time Jesus was standing by a circular staircase at the left of the room holding a lantern. This lantern represents “The Light of Christ”, which you will use for the rest of the exercise which is free-flowing. The book tells you that going up the spiral staircase takes you to the spiritual realm, and going down takes you to the mundane. I chose to go down the staircase, but it wasn’t very mundane to me. In my opinion, it was the most spiritual thing I have ever done.

I took the lantern from Christ without a word, as He watched humbly with no judgment in His eyes whatsoever. I wasn’t sure how He would look at me because of the first incident, but the humility was extremely welcomed. He has masterful expression in His face, and it comforted me to no end. I stepped off into the unknown as I made my way down the staircase, which was totally dark; the only light was that which I carried. The thought occurred to me “Where do I get off this thing at, and how many levels can there be?” As soon as that thought came to mind, a platform appeared and I intuitively knew to get off at that level, but I seem to recall that the staircase continued downward. This is where things got weird to say the least, although at no time was I ever afraid.

As I stood a few feet away from the staircase in total darkness, save for the Light of Christ which shone around me in about a 40 foot circle, a male lion walked up to me. In my mind I knew that I was supposed to go with him. We walked a short distance to the edge of a cliff, and I could see an ancient city in the distance. Brief moments passed, then a white dove landed on the lion’s shoulders, and spreading his wings, merged with the lion. Before my eyes the two became one, and I was now looking at a winged lion. (Remember that this part of the exercise is not guided.) I intuitively knew to climb on the lion’s back.

The lion lunged from the cliff and we flew out close to the city, where I witnessed the crucifixion of Christ and the others about Him from a distance. As we neared the city, the lion turned to my right and we flew into total darkness. Scenes flashed before my eyes of major events in history; from the crucifixion until modern times. When we got to the part where astronauts were walking on the moon, I realized that these were my times and I became concerned (not afraid) that I would see myself, or perhaps even my own future.

The lion made a u-turn at that moment as if he understood my concern, and we flew back to the cliff where we began. I got off the lion, all the time holding this lantern in my left hand, and I stepped back a few feet. The wings on the lion’s back contracted, the dove separated itself, and flew off into the darkness. The lion accompanied me back to the platform, and then walked off into the darkness just as he had come. I walked up the staircase to find Jesus waiting for me. I handed Him the lantern, looked into His eyes, and headed for the door without a word. Once again, I walked out of the inn, back into the street, and was in my home once more.

I decided not to return until I knew more about what I was doing, but things happen and I never did. Two years later we found out that my first wife had breast cancer. She died three years later after one of the bravest fights I have ever witnessed. I had been remarried for sixteen months when my second wife died from complications after a stroke. I have always wondered if this is why Jesus told me to pray for strength.