New Testament track · step 4 of 6 · ← matching OT step
New Testament · Step 4
Visionary experience and samadhi
The New Testament records moments of light, ecstasy and being “caught up.” Indian traditions classify comparable states as forms of samadhi. Below are the texts, a few key Greek words, and a careful comparison.
The Transfiguration
Matthew 17:1-2
| KJVpublic domain | “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, and James, and John his brother, and doth bring them up to a high mount by themselves, and he was transfigured before them, and his face shone as the sun, and his garments did become white as the light,” | source |
Mark 9:2-3
| KJVpublic domain | “And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “And after six days doth Jesus take Peter, and James, and John, and bringeth them up to a high mount by themselves, alone, and he was transfigured before them, and his garments became glittering, white exceedingly, as snow, so as a fuller upon the earth is not able to whiten [them].” | source |
Luke 9:28-29
| KJVpublic domain | “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “And it came to pass, after these words, as it were eight days, that having taken Peter, and John, and James, he went up to the mountain to pray, and it came to pass, in his praying, the appearance of his face became altered, and his garment white -- sparkling.” | source |
Only Luke says the change happened “as he prayed.”
“When Christ was transfigured on the mountain it was his guru Elias, with Moses, whom he saw.”— Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, ch. 35 (his own interpretation of Matthew 17:3) · source
Paul: the Damascus road (Acts 9, 22, 26)
Acts 9:3-4
| KJVpublic domain | “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “And in the going, he came nigh to Damascus, and suddenly there shone round about him a light from the heaven, and having fallen upon the earth, he heard a voice saying to him, `Saul, Saul, why me dost thou persecute?'” | source |
Acts 22:6-7
| KJVpublic domain | “And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” | source |
|---|
Acts 26:13-14
| KJVpublic domain | “At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” | source |
|---|
Acts 22:17
| KJVpublic domain | “And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;” | source |
|---|
Paul: “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:1–4)
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
| KJVpublic domain | “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “I have known a man in Christ, fourteen years ago -- whether in the body I have not known, whether out of the body I have not known, God hath known -- such an one being caught away unto the third heaven; and I have known such a man -- whether in the body, whether out of the body, I have not known, God hath known, -- that he was caught away to the paradise, and heard unutterable sayings, that it is not possible for man to speak.” | source |
“St. Paul knew KRIYA YOGA, or a technique very similar to it, by which he could switch life currents to and from the senses.”— Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, ch. 26, on 1 Cor 15:31 (“I die daily”). This is Yogananda’s claim, not a historical finding. · source
Stephen (Acts 7:55–56)
Acts 7:55-56
| KJVpublic domain | “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “and being full of the Holy Spirit, having looked stedfastly to the heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and he said, `Lo, I see the heavens having been opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.'” | source |
John “in the Spirit” (Revelation 1 and 4)
Revelation 1:10
| KJVpublic domain | “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's-day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying,” | source |
Revelation 4:1-2
| KJVpublic domain | “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “After these things I saw, and lo, a door opened in the heaven, and the first voice that I heard [is] as of a trumpet speaking with me, saying, `Come up hither, and I will shew thee what it behoveth to come to pass after these things;' and immediately I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne was set in the heaven, and upon the throne is [one] sitting,” | source |
John on Patmos and Arjuna at Kurukshetra
Two of the great visionary texts of the world describe a seer who is shown the divine in overwhelming light and falls down before it: John on the island of Patmos (Revelation 1, 4 and 21) and Arjuna on the battlefield in chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna shows his “universal form” (viśvarūpa). The scenes are set side by side here; the texts follow.
Revelation 1:12–16: the glorified Christ
Revelation 1:12-16
| KJVpublic domain | “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “And I did turn to see the voice that did speak with me, and having turned, I saw seven golden lamp-stands, and in the midst of the seven lamp-stands, [one] like to a son of man, clothed to the foot, and girt round at the breast with a golden girdle, and his head and hairs white, as if white wool -- as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire; and his feet like to fine brass, as in a furnace having been fired, and his voice as a sound of many waters, and having in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth a sharp two-edged sword is proceeding, and his countenance [is] as the sun shining in its might.” | source |
| NRSV (NRSVue) (Revelation 1:14)© publisher · short quote | “His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire;” | source |
| ESV (Revelation 1:14)© publisher · short quote | “The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,” | source |
| NIV (Revelation 1:14)© publisher · short quote | “The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.” | source |
Gita 11: the divine eye and the universal form
“But you will not be able to see me with merely, this eye of yours. I give you an eye divine.”— Gita 11.8, tr. K. T. Telang (1882) · source
“If in the heavens, the lustre of a thousand suns burst forth all at once, that would be like the lustre of that mighty one.”— Gita 11.12, tr. K. T. Telang (1882) · source
“If there should rise
Suddenly within the skies
Sunburst of a thousand suns
Flooding earth with beams undeemed-of,
Then might be that Holy One's
Majesty and radiance dreamed of!”— Gita 11.12, tr. Edwin Arnold, The Song Celestial (1885) · source
“Then Dhanañgaya filled with amazement, and with hair standing on end, bowed his head before the god, and spoke with joined hands.”— Gita 11.14, tr. K. T. Telang (1882) · source
What the two visions share. Both seers are given a sight they could not have by ordinary means: John is “in the Spirit” (1:10), and Arjuna receives “an eye divine” (11.8). Both describe the divine as light beyond comparison, the sun “in his strength” and “a thousand suns”. Both seers collapse: John “fell at his feet as dead” (1:17) and Arjuna, hair on end, bows and later begs to see the gentle form again (11.45–46). Both are then reassured: “Fear not” (Rev 1:17, KJV) and “Be not alarmed, be not perplexed” (Gita 11.49, tr. Telang). In Ramakrishna’s terms these are visions of God with form (bhava samadhi; see below).
Where they differ. Arjuna sees the whole universe and all beings, including death and destruction, inside one divine body. John sees a risen human figure who “was dead” and is “alive for evermore” (1:18), and then a heavenly court. The Gita’s vision serves a teaching about action and devotion on the eve of battle; Revelation’s serves a message of hope and endurance to persecuted churches.
Scholarly note
Revelation is “the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon” (Wikipedia, “Book of Revelation”), and its imagery draws heavily on the Hebrew prophets: the figure “like the Son of man” recalls Daniel 7 and 10, and the throne, rainbow and living creatures recall Ezekiel 1 (see OT Step 4). Krishna’s universal form is “considered the supreme form of Vishnu”, shown to Arjuna “on the battlefield of Kurukshetra” (Wikipedia, “Vishvarupa”). The fuller Gita comparison is on NT Step 6.
Revelation 4: the throne, the rainbow and the sea of glass
Revelation 4:3-6
| KJVpublic domain | “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “and He who is sitting was in sight like a stone, jasper and sardine: and a rainbow was round the throne in sight like an emerald. And around the throne [are] thrones twenty and four, and upon the thrones I saw the twenty and four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and they had upon their heads crowns of gold; and out of the throne proceed do lightnings, and thunders, and voices; and seven lamps of fire are burning before the throne, which are the Seven Spirits of God, and before the throne [is] a sea of glass like to crystal, and in the midst of the throne, and round the throne, [are] four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind;” | source |
A rainbow round a throne is Ezekiel’s image (Ezek 1:28), and the “sea of glass like unto crystal” is a picture of perfect stillness before the throne. Contemplatives in many traditions have read a calm, clear sea as an image of the mind at rest, the Gita’s ocean which, “(though) replenished, (still) keeps its position unmoved” as waters enter it (2.70, tr. Telang). That reading is this site’s; in Revelation the scene is worship.
Revelation 21: the New Jerusalem
Revelation 21:2
| KJVpublic domain | “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “and I, John, saw the holy city -- new Jerusalem -- coming down from God out of the heaven, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband;” | source |
Revelation 21:10-11
| KJVpublic domain | “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;” | source |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Literalpublic domain | “and he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and did shew to me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light [is] like a stone most precious, as a jasper stone clear as crystal,” | source |
“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”— Revelation 21:23, KJV · source · compare: YLT · NRSVue · ESV · NIV
The vision ends with a city that “had no need of the sun”, lit by the glory of God. The Gita says of the supreme abode: “The sun does not light it, nor the moon, nor fire. That is my highest abode” (Gita 15.6, tr. Telang, source). The parallel is of image only: John sees a renewed creation and a community, not a state of the individual mind.
Comparing with samadhi
In the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna the Master contrasts two kinds of samadhi:
“In bhava samadhi you will see the form of God, and in nirvikalpa samadhi you will realize Brahman, the Absolute Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. In nirvikalpa samadhi ego, name, and form do not exist.”— Sri Ramakrishna, Gospel, ch. 24 “Pundit Shashadhar” · source
Read against that distinction, almost every New Testament vision above has a form and a content: a shining face, Moses and Elijah, a voice that speaks in Hebrew, the Son of Man standing, a throne and one seated on it. That is the profile Ramakrishna gives for bhava (devotional, form-filled) samadhi, and its nearest yogic name is savikalpa samadhi, “with distinctions.” Paul’s third-heaven account comes closest to the formless edge. He cannot say whether he was “in the body” or “out of the body,”, and he heard “unspeakable words” (KJV). His not knowing about the body echoes classic yogic descriptions of loss of body-awareness.
These parallels are phenomenological: they compare how the experiences are described. They are not claims that Paul or John practised yoga, and they are not claims that the experiences are the same. The biblical writers interpret their visions as encounters with a personal God and with Christ. Ramakrishna, meaningfully, also said that bhava samadhi is the devotee’s way of seeing “the form of God.”
A practical caution both traditions share. Visions are not the goal. Paul goes on to boast of weakness (2 Cor 12:9–10). Indian teachers repeatedly warn against attachment to experiences and powers. Step 5 is about what comes after the peak.
Eastern perspective · Vedanta · Upanishads · Gita
“The light of lights”: vision and glory in the Upanishads and the Gita
Revelation ends in a city with no sun, lit by God and the Lamb. Three Upanishads end their highest verses with almost the same picture, and the Gita repeats it.
“In the highest golden sheath Is Brahma, without stain, without parts. Brilliant is It, the light of lights— That which knowers of the Soul (Ātman) do know! The sun shines not there, nor the moon and stars; These lightnings shine not, much less this [earthly] fire! After Him, as He shines, doth everything shine. This whole world is illumined with His light.”— Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.9–10 (also Katha 5.15, Shvetashvatara 6.14), tr. R. E. Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (1921) · source
“It is the radiance even of the radiant (bodies); it is said (to be) beyond darkness. It is knowledge, the object of knowledge, that which is to be attained to by knowledge, and placed in the heart of all.”— Gita 13.17, tr. K. T. Telang (1882) · source
“The Light of Lights He is, in the heart of the Dark
Shining eternally.”— Gita 13.17, tr. Edwin Arnold (1885) · source
“The sun does not light it, nor the moon, nor fire. That is my highest abode, going to which none returns.”— Gita 15.6, tr. K. T. Telang (1882) · source
“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”— Revelation 21:23, KJV · source | “The sun shines not there, nor the moon” (Mundaka 2.2.10); “The sun does not light it, nor the moon, nor fire. That is my highest abode” (Gita 15.6). |
|---|---|
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”— John 8:12, KJV · source | “I am Vishnu among the Âdityas, the beaming sun among the shining (bodies)” (Gita 10.21, Telang): the divine speaker names himself as light. |
“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”— 1 John 1:5, KJV · source | “It is the radiance even of the radiant (bodies); it is said (to be) beyond darkness” (Gita 13.17). |
A city that needs no sun and an abode the sun does not light are two ways of saying that the final light is not a thing among things. John and the Gita both place that light in a person who speaks (“I am the light of the world”; “That is my highest abode”). The Upanishads place it in the Self that knows. Revelation’s vision is the end of history; the Gita’s and Mundaka’s are available now, in knowledge. Reading them side by side shows the shared image without hiding that difference.
Where the traditions differ
Revelation describes a new creation at the end of time; Vedanta describes a reality present always, hidden only by ignorance. Christian tradition keeps the Lamb, a crucified and risen person, at the centre of the light; Advaita’s light is impersonal, while the Gita’s Krishna and Ramanuja’s Lord are personal.
Light thread
“To thee no more is the sun for a light by day, And for brightness the moon giveth not light to thee, And Jehovah hath become to thee A light age-during, and thy God thy beauty.”— Isaiah 60:19, Young’s Literal · source
“Now, the light which shines higher than this heaven … verily, that is the same as this light which is here within a person.”— Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7, tr. R. E. Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (1921) · source