Sacred Encounters

It’s my first university lecture in more than twenty years. I take a seat in the middle rows, students file into the theatre, and the Professor soon shows up. Carrasco is his name – David Carrasco. Of Latino descent, he’s well-built and carries himself with conviction. His course, “Religious Dimensions of Human Experience,” didn’t jump out to me, but after a three-minute pitch he did last week, with palpable charisma and passion, I was sold. Carrasco begins by recounting his academic formation at the renowned Chicago Divinity School in 1968, after which he shares his spiritual experience of meeting a Mexican angel called Niño Fidencio Constantino in an Attic on “18^th Street.” He eulogises his teachers and mentors, particularly Mircea Eliade. “You may want to write this down” he says with a sparkle in his eye, quoting Eliade: “the sacred is an element in the structure of consciousness and not a moment in the history of consciousness.” It made me smile.

Beyond the sociological, psychological and historical dimensions of religion, we’re looking for something more. I became a monk to find God. Secular scholarship often reduces religion to a social phenomenon – a force that played a role in the annals of history, but one that humanity has since outgrown. Émile Durkheim speaks of a “collective effervescence” that is generated in religious gatherings which gives people an illusory sense of divine experience. In actuality, he says, it’s just the overflow of collective human energy; humans worshipping themselves. Teachers like Eliade, however, argue that the hunger and drive to encounter the sacred is inherent within each being, a perennial search actualised in different ways. That Church attendance declines doesn’t mean religion declines – people just search for God in other ways. He tells of hierophanies, or defining moments in which the sacred reveals itself to humans. We discussed how religion is defined, why it continues to play such a pervasive role in society, what it means to encounter the divine, and how such experiences are expressed. Yet the best was still to come.

The night before, I had written my last blog post, concluding it with a parting thought: “Maybe I’ll meet Krishna in unique ways along the journey.” Now, here I am in my very first lecture. As we near the end, Carrasco asks everyone to stand, reminding us that his course is more than academic, quoting a former student who said, “Your life will never be the same again.” He then invites us for a spiritual meditation accompanied by a music video – and to my surprise, he plays “My Sweet Lord.” As Krishna’s name reverberates throughout the lecture theatre, I’m somewhat stunned. It’s a memorable moment in which everything seems to converge: my reflection from the night before, Eliade’s concept of hierophanies, and the hunger to encounter the sacred.

I guess Krishna showed up… even in a Harvard lecture theatre! At the end, I went up to Professor Carrasco to thank him. As I approached, he smiled warmly, and before I could speak, he shook my hand and said, “Thanks for coming, Swami.” I thanked him for reminding me of Krishna, and he replied with a grin, “We’re gonna have a fun semester.”

(Below is a video of the moment)