{"id":5941,"date":"2014-03-22T05:54:06","date_gmt":"2014-03-22T09:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/?p=5941"},"modified":"2014-03-22T05:54:06","modified_gmt":"2014-03-22T09:54:06","slug":"jesus-tells-me-hes-an-ace-up-my-sleeve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2014\/03\/jesus-tells-me-hes-an-ace-up-my-sleeve.html","title":{"rendered":"Jesus tells me he’s an Ace up my sleeve"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BoyWhoDied_cvr.indd\"<\/a>Our spiritual guides take forms adjusted to our understanding. \u201cI saw him in the way I was able to perceive him,\u201d runs a line on this subject in the Gnostic Acts of Thomas. In the Western Mystery tradition, the term \u201ccontact picture\u201d is used to describe a form a being from the larger reality make take, through a kind of mutual agreement with the perceiver, in order to be visible and comprehensible. <\/span><\/p>\n

The form of the guide may be familiar and comforting, fitting traditional belief systems and culture patterns. Or it may be shocking and radically new, as if devised to tear through the carapace of received beliefs and carry us beyond our comfort zones.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the midst of my spiritual crisis in the late 1980s, I found it entirely shocking to come upon a form of Jesus Christ in bright midday sunshine, near the old white oak. I thought I really had lost it at that point, especially since I rarely go to church and had wandered very far from the teachings of organized religion.<\/p>\n

This Jesus figure appeared as a figure of solid light, wearing a crown of thorns. I interviewed him, ready to conclude that I was talking to a projection. I began by asking, \u201cWhy are you still wearing a crown of thorns?\u201d The figure responded, mind to mind, \u201cBecause of all the evil that continues to be done in my name.\u201d That gave me pause; it was quite unexpected, and carried a sense of truth.<\/p>\n

Years later, walking a gritty downtown street with a Dominican sister, I had another vision of Jesus. I was again shocked to feel and see his presence. He gave me some good counsel. The best bit was his parting remark. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to talk about me. Just regard me as the ace up your sleeve.\u201d Now that, I remarked to my Dominican friend, is a Jesus I can relate to!<\/p>\n

– adapted from The Boy Who Died and Came Back<\/em> by Robert Moss. Published by New World Library. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our spiritual guides take forms adjusted to our understanding. \u201cI saw him in the way I was able to perceive him,\u201d runs a line on this subject in the Gnostic Acts of Thomas. In the Western Mystery tradition, the term \u201ccontact picture\u201d is used to describe a form a being from the larger reality make…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,10,26,7],"tags":[1727,1728,1152,800,1726],"class_list":["post-5941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-active-dreaming","category-conscious-dreaming","category-life-direction","category-lucid-dreaming","tag-contact-pictures","tag-spiritual-guides-acts-of-thomas","tag-spirituality","tag-visions","tag-visions-of-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\nJesus tells me he's an Ace up my sleeve - Dream Gates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2014\/03\/jesus-tells-me-hes-an-ace-up-my-sleeve.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jesus tells me he's an Ace up my sleeve - Dream Gates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our spiritual guides take forms adjusted to our understanding. \u201cI saw him in the way I was able to perceive him,\u201d runs a line on this subject in the Gnostic Acts of Thomas. 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He is the creator of Active Dreaming, an original synthesis of dreamwork and shamanism. Born in Australia, he survived three near-death experiences in childhood. He leads popular seminars all over the world, including a three-year training for teachers of Active Dreaming. A former lecturer in ancient history at the Australian National University, he is a best-selling novelist, journalist and independent scholar. His nine books on dreaming, shamanism and imagination include Conscious Dreaming, Dreamways of the Iroquois, The Dreamer's Book of the Dead, The Three \"\"Only\"\" Things, The Secret History of Dreaming, Dreamgates, Active Dreaming and Dreaming the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Dreaming for Healing and Becoming Whole. His most recent book is The Boy Who Died and Came Back: Adventures of a Dream Archaeologist in the Multiverse. Over the past 20 years, he has led seminars at the Esalen Institute, Kripalu, the Omega Institute, the New York Open Center, Bastyr University, John F. Kennedy University, Meriter Hospital, and many other centers and institutions. He has taught depth workshops in Active Dreaming in the UK, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Brazil and Austria and leads a three-year training for teachers of Active Dreaming. He hosts the \"\"Way of the Dreamer\"\" radio show at www.healthylife.net. He has appeared on many TV and radio shows, ranging from Charlie Rose and the Today show to Coast to Coast and the Diane Rehm show on NPR. His articles on dreaming have been published in media ranging from Parade to Shaman's Drum.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.mossdreams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/author\/rmoss"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5943,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5941\/revisions\/5943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}