Transfiguration: Kingdom of Light and Glory.

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The Holy Transfiguration on Mount Tabor transmits vision (theoria) of uncreated light, opening glory to glory in the Kingdom of God.  Participation in this uncreated, creative vision of light is incorporation into the glory of the Kingdom.  Transfiguration unveils light of glory that consecrates and blesses purity of heart, true turning that sees God (Mathew 5:8).  Transfiguration hallows God’s Name ‘I AM’ without predicates, as in, ‘Before Abraham was, I AM,’ (John 8:58), right glorifying God’s Name with predicates, ‘I AM the way, the truth and the life,’ (John 14:6) and ‘I AM the light of the world,’ (John 8:12, 9:5).  For where ‘I AM’ is God’s self-revelation in his Name above all names, beyond predicates, there glory unveils ‘I AM’ to all through transfiguration, embracing apophatic predication.  Wisdom awakens through the Name as the union of God’s ‘I’ with God’s ‘AM,’ awareness of presence centred in the presence of awareness.  Transfiguration communicates awareness as presence of light, and light as presence of luminous awareness.  Divine presence is uncreated light, transfiguring present awareness illumining everything as transfigured presence, unveiling everything as light.

‘I AM’ is not of this world and those who awaken to the transfiguring Name are not of this world.  Fear falls away when ‘I AM’ is revealed, because the Name saves, from first to last, being both Alpha and Omega, from beginning to end, wholeness of hallowing healing in every generation.  The transfiguring Name restores lost likeness to the image of God we never lost, as light from light, restoring light through light, true God from true God, deifying the saints.  Prophets saw glory, so were able to unveil glory to the apostles, who imparted transfiguring light of glory to elders, who pointed to ‘I AM’ in glory, hallowing the saints.  Hesychast tradition hands on light through light, so as to sustain light from light, in light, unveiling the mystery of Holy Trinity.  The light of the Name is awareness of presence, one spirit with presence of awareness, alight as uncreated light.  The Spirit illumines awareness of presence so that presence of awareness in the Son grounds awareness with presence in the Father, as ‘I AM’ from ‘I AM.’  Ever-present awareness unveils the presence of uncreated luminous completeness.  These mysteries of Mount Tabor renew transfiguring glorification at the heart of Christian wisdom in age after age. 

The experience of transfiguring glorification lives from ‘I AM’ the Father, through ‘I AM the Son, in ‘I AM’ the Holy Spirit.  The radiance of the Spirit illumines the divine-human mysteries of Christ as light revealing light, proceeding from the Father to abide in the Son, so that through the Son, creation is restored to the Father.  The Name unveils glory In pure presence, where awareness is light, for in pure awareness, everything is light.  Holy Trinity unveils God by revealing the Name, turning dark blindness into light, then glory, transcending conditioned knowledge by imparting divine knowing, knowing that knows by divine unknowing, seeing that sees as we are seen by God, through God, in God.  Conceptual speculation is no substitute for the transfiguring experience of light and glory, which is why elders do not deal out doctorates, although sound knowledge of dogmas may be a help in formulating the experience of the saints.  What elders actually do is let God be God, light and glory, never usurping God, which causes confusion, never distancing God, causing division.  The mysteries have always been ineffable, just as God’s Name ‘I AM’ is intrinsically ineffable.  Christian mystical tradition has always been apophatic, without trace of nihilism, because though God is not something created, it does not follow that uncreated awareness and uncreated presence are nothing at all.  The Name heals nihilism just as it cures the narcissism that infects hard hearts with shallow or narrow nihilism.

In Christian mystical tradition, glory enthrones ‘I AM,’ which wisdom discerns as a thrice holy mystery, ‘Holy, holy, holy is ‘I AM,’ (Isaiah 6:3), awareness of presence in angels, presence of awareness in saints, opening God’s ‘I’ awareness in prophets, unveiling God’s ‘AM’ presence to apostles.  Saints see ‘I AM’ in glory but angels ascribe glory to God in a ‘thrice holy hymn,’ known as the Trisagion.  The Spirit of God abides in the ‘I AM’ of light and glory, to the glory of the Father, three holy hypostases unveiling oneness without confusion, three hallowing persons unveiling oneness without division.  The Patristic tradition draws certain distinctions, such as persons and essence, essence and energy, but ‘essence’ is not a concept that grasps the divine but a symbol that holds open the mysteries that reveal and deify. On Horeb, Elijah bears witness that, ‘I AM, he is God, ‘I AM,’ he is God,’ one light, one glory for Moses in the burning bush, one doxological theophany on Sinai and Horeb, one hallowing transfiguration on Mount Tabor.  Transfiguring glorification is realisation of revelation at the heart of Christian Hesychasm, holding sacred tradition steady in indivisible wisdom, opening the Name ‘I AM’ to mysteries of glory without confusion.  Companions of transfiguration are centred in these mysteries of glory, which strike wonder into the awakened heart and awe into the humbled mind.

Transfiguration encircles light with glory, opening light from light, glory to glory, revealing everything as light, transfigured by glory.  The healing circle of light crowns those who awaken, renewing them with transfiguring glory, depicted in the iconographic tradition as a halo, gold signifying transfiguring light, crowning the saints in glory.  The experience  of glorification turns everything back into light, embracing the whole spectrum of the rainbow in present awareness, lived icon of glorification, expanding into divine-human cosmic transfiguration.  Awareness turns, releasing into uncreated presence, empowered by the sacrament of Baptism.  Awareness is light of radiant presence, opening hearts to ever-present awareness, symbolised by the sacrament of Chrism, holy anointing in light and glory.  The sacrament of union is the Eucharist, imparting communion in glory to the saints.  Awareness weds with presence in the Bridal Chamber, conjoining presence with awareness in the Holy of Holies.  

Everywhere, awareness conjoins with presence as wisdom weds with glory, transforming glory into transfiguring glory wherever we turn.  The transfiguring Name writes divine-human union everywhere, being a union of awareness and presence wherever we turn.  Transfiguration writes sacred mandalas of union in every direction and in every dimension, bearing witness to the completeness of wisdom as she embraces glory everywhere.  Those who gather to listen to her voice, hear her whisper God’s Name ‘I AM,’ unveiling God’s kingdom of transfiguring glory in the midst, imparting the wholesome wholeness of awareness as the luminous presence of glory, which is radiant completeness.