John Muir
People in our time are weary of the self-referential quality of religion, where the "true believers" of each faith are constantly pointing to the superiority of their own religious founder. In the Christian tradition, this takes the form of a Christ who - through his "followers" - is continually talking about his own uniqueness and holiness. However, from a contemplative perspective, this is definitely not the true Christ - the one who is radically humble and eternally self-emptying. For this, the image of alpenglow is the perfect metaphor.
From the perspective of the observer standing on the ground just before sunrise, the alpenglow sun suddenly fires the peaks in shades of pink, orange or purple, while yet remaining hidden below the horizon. Similarly - through the human embodiments of his love, whether Christian or not - Christ delights in shining the light of his love on all of reality, clearing away the clutter of the constricted ego-self and making each thing glow in its own radiant divinity. Radically humble, he disappears - like the alpenglow sun - below the horizon of Being, not caring to be known as an object of devotion.
However, unlike the physical sun - which we could indeed encounter if we traveled far enough to the east, the essence of Christ from which this alpenglow love-light issues could never be found, no matter how far we traveled along the Horizon of Being. Nevertheless, the light of his love - surprise! - still appears within each creature, making it glow in its own innate divinity. Such is the mysterious, self-emptying humility of Jesus - and indeed, of all true spiritual teachers, no matter what their faith!
Photo: Alpenglow on Beckwith Mountain with golden aspens, near Crested Butte, CO, October 2, 2011
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