Transfiguration
Origin
Latin transfigūrātiōn-em (Pliny), n. of action < transfigūrāre
Definitions
- 1a : a change in form or appearance : metamorphosis
- b : an exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change
- 2: capitalized : a Christian feast that commemorates the transfiguration of Christ on a mountaintop in the presence of three disciples and that is observed on August 6 in the Roman Catholic and some Eastern churches and on the Sunday before Lent in most Protestant churches
Description
Transfiguration refers to the assumption by spiritual masters, or its perception by their followers, of momentary divine radiance.
The most famous case of transfiguration is the transfiguration of Jesus.
In the ladder of Jacob, at the conclusion of this instruction, instead of simply being given the new name Israel, Jacob is introduced to his heavenly counterpart, the angel Israel.
In the Book of Enoch, when Enoch returns to Earth, he tells his children that although they see him as the earthly, human Enoch, there is likewise an angelic Enoch (Metatron) that has stood in the Lord’s Presence.
The assumption of Moses apocrypha offers a detailed account of the assumption and transfiguration of Moses.
Lumen Gentium states that the Immaculate Virgin [...] was exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe, that she might be the more fully confimed to her Son, the Lord of lords and the conqueror of sin and death.
In Christian eschatology, eternal life is said to be the transfiguration of all of humanity.
The Buddha is said to have been twice transfigured, at the moment of his enlightenment and at the moment of his death.
P.D. Ouspensky recounts an episode where he claims that he and other onlookers experienced a change in the aspect of Gurdjieff while seated in a railway carriage.
