Group of blue poppies

THE SAGE OF THE ROCKIES: Dedicated to the late Ram Dass

Last updated: January 26th, 2020

High in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, a forest sage known by his devotees as Jethro began to publicly preach a message of peace, unity and love throughout the mountain and plains regions.

No one knew for sure Jethro’s precise age or place of origin. It was thought that he was in his late sixties, and that he’d resided in a small mountain cabin at a high altitude for most of his adult life. Any information beyond these scant details couldn’t be verified.

However, some of Jethro’s supporters maintained that he’d once been a “flower child” in the hippie counterculture, and that during this era, he’d developed a more than a passing interest in Hindu and Buddhist mysticism. Three of his longtime devotees even recalled that while travelling through India in early 1972, they’d seen him on a pilgrimage to the sacred Ganges River.

Despite the few known details of his life, Jethro touched the hearts of all those who had the good fortune to meet him. As in the epic tales of Jesus’s whereabouts from more than two millennia earlier, Jethro would seemingly appear out of nowhere one moment, only to disappear into a cloud of mystery the next. On the rare occasions when his faithful supporters succeeded in tracking him, he’d always vanish into thin air once he realized he was being followed.

The folklore behind his mysterious travels so captured the imagination of his followers that one determined devotee resolved to follow the sage for kilometres on foot, deep into the mountains. After 12 exhausting hours of playing cat-and-mouse with this revered but secretive teacher, the follower finally pinned him down in an isolated town that stood 9,000 feet (about 2743 metres) above sea level. He reported that when he finally came within 20 feet (6 metres) of the sage, Jethro suddenly turned his head in gentle acknowledgment and disappeared without a trace.

According to this account, the devotee then approached the spot where Jethro vanished and made a startling discovery: A beautiful pile of Blue Poppy flower petals lay on the snow-covered ground below. At this point in the story, it wasn’t uncommon for all who were listening to break into goosebumps, for blue poppy flowers were only found in the forests of the great Himalayan Mountains!

Jillian enters the picture


Silhouette of woman wearing winter hat

Jillian was raised in a strict Baptist household. For much of her young adult life, she’d lived under a heavy cloud of fear that she attributed to her strict religious upbringing.

However, unbeknownst to both her parents and the church, the 23-year-old Jillian had begun working with a spiritual organization whose aim it was to expose the fallacies of fundamentalist Christianity and Scientific Atheism—the two dominant existential strands among most Westerners.

The organization’s main goal was to recruit one atheist speaker, one fundamentalist Christian speaker and one unaffiliated spiritual speaker to share their insights on the key philosophical questions of life. More specifically, the idea was to create a series of open debates aimed at young adults. After much deliberation, colleges, high schools and non-denominational churches were chosen as the three settings for these dialogues.

Within two months of volunteering for the organization, Jillian found herself in charge of selecting the unaffiliated spiritual speaker to join the series of planned events. With the start of the tour only a month away, she felt significant pressure to hire a unique and engaging speaker.

Jillian wanted to find an articulate and inspiring individual who was far outside the box of dualistic thinking. She’d heard of an old hermit who lived up in the mountains, and from what she’d learned, it sounded as if this man lived a very simple but beautiful life. He farmed his own food, served the poor and spent the rest of his time in meditation.

The name of this man was Jethro. Jillian knew that she’d have to seek the wise sage out herself if she really wanted him on the tour.

First meeting with Jethro


The following morning, Jillian packed up her camping gear and drove for a half-hour to an old logging road that, according to locals, led to Jethro’s cabin. She then exited her car and began the challenging four-mile hike through the high-elevation pine forests to the sage’s dwelling.

After two hours of walking, Jillian finally arrived at Jethro’s humble abode. The majestic scenery surrounding his cabin immediately captured her attention. The size of the cabin couldn’t have been more than 500 square feet; incredibly, though, it stood at the top of a massive canyon that stared directly off into the Continental Divide—the astounding convergence of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains.

Jillian stepped forward to the edge of the cliff and fell into an awe-filled silence. Within a few moments, she sensed a presence, and turned around to see an old, bearded man standing about 15 feet behind her. He wore a smile on his face that radiated eternal peace and love.

Jillian felt so moved by his spirit that she ran instantly into his arms, and embraced him with a hug of gratitude. She couldn’t be sure how, but she intuitively felt that she’d met him before, although she quickly dismissed this thought, as she knew it was impossible for their paths to have crossed. As if reading her thoughts, Jethro spoke at that exact moment:

“Dear seeker, you are quite right, we have met before. Not until now have we met in this life. But we have shared many past incarnations together. At various junctures in our journeys, you have been my dear friend and disciple. The strange feeling of deep recognition and affection one feels when meeting a person for the first time is no coincidence. It is the joy of two souls reuniting after time spent apart on the physical plane of reality.”

Jillian stared for a long moment at Jethro, and then bowed her head in gentle acknowledgment to her guru from long ago. She then spoke her first words to the revered mountain sage:

“Sir, I have just two questions to ask you. First, what made you want to live the life of a hermit? Second, why do you shy away from your well-deserved reputation as a saintly preacher?”

Jethro smiled warmly and replied:

“My faithful devotee, why does the snake shed its skin? Why does the rooster crow at sunrise? Why does the eagle soar high above the peaks? Only the One of which we are a part can answer these questions. So, if you will, I will refer your first question to the Great Mystery. For IT alone has chosen for me to live this style of life. All I am is an instrument of IT’s mysterious vision and divine plan.

“As for your second question: Should the brilliant painter seek fame for a talent that creation has bestowed upon him? Should the transcendent poet drink from the golden cup when all his words flow directly from the divine hand? Should the master musician credit his opus to the qualities of individual initiative and accomplishment? Likewise, should a passionate orator receive praise for preaching truths already planted firmly within all beings? All creative acts are absolutely attributed solely to the Supreme Spirit.”

Jillian bowed her head and immediately set upon the task of convincing Jethro to join her speaking circuit, but as with their initial greeting, he somehow already knew why she’d journeyed up to his rugged hermitage.

Jethro looked at Jillian playfully, saying, “Have you come here to drag me off this mountain? Because, if you have, I should warn you that it isn’t going to work today.”

Jillian smiled at the wise man and prepared to jump into a laundry list of reasons why he should join the tour. However, rather than starting to speak, Jillian felt a calm silence fall over her. Jethro then smiled wide and said, “I will agree to join the tour, based on your third and fourth reasons from your list!”

Mystified by the sage’s demonstrated clairvoyance, Jillian raced to remember what her third and fourth selling points were. Still in awe over his obvious powers, Jillian stammered out a response in turn: “My third and fourth reasons for you to join the tour were to inspire inner faith in the youth and to help them remember how we’re all tied together as One.”

Jethro smiled as wide as the morning sun. He invited Jillian to join him for dinner, and to spend the evening with him in meditation. As evidence of a delightful omen, two eagles soared through the majestic canyon at the same moment Jillian accepted Jethro’s invitation to spend the evening in contemplation!

Witnessing a miracle


University of Colorado in Boulder

A large crowd of undergraduate students, faculty and young people from the surrounding community, as well as wanderers from all around, packed into a university auditorium (in the Colorado plains) to hear the inaugural debate between the three anticipated speakers.

To thunderous applause, the Reverend Grant Samuelson, a televangelist and bestselling Christian author, was the first of the speakers to appear onstage. With his dark, slicked-backed hair and attractive features, Reverend Samuelson projected great charisma and unlimited confidence.

To an equally fine reception, Dr. Tabitha Maroney, a highly esteemed evolutionary biologist who was already famous for her podcasts, was the second speaker to take the stage. With her slightly intimidating professorial demeanour, Dr. Maroney conveyed a mastery of the intellectual world of rational thoughts and models.

To a much more subdued greeting, Jethro was the last of the speakers to take the stage. Dressed in nothing more than a grey flannel and jeans, Jethro effortlessly projected an authentic, down-to-earth vibe of simplicity and openness.

The moderator, a rotund man in his mid-to-late fifties, then proceeded to introduce himself and the speakers to the audience before immediately diving into the first of the two pre-selected questions for the evening: “What happens to us when we die?”

Reverend Samuelson eagerly raised his right hand and the moderator called on him to speak.

“For all of us proud Christians, we know what awaits us at the moment of death. There is an afterlife, all right, and depending on how much you sinned in this life, it can either be pleasant or not. Heaven or Hell… those are the only two fates applicable to man. When we die, the Bible is clear when it teaches that we will all be judged for our sins.

“If we accept Jesus Christ, the only Lord and saviour into our lives, then we may be saved and ascend into Heaven. However, if we reject his glory and close our hearts to him in this life, we are sure to face an eternal hellfire of torment and suffering. This is the true meaning of rapture within the Book of Revelations. That is, the true believers of Christ will be saved by our Father in Heaven, and the rest will burn eternally at the merciless hands of our creator.”

Dr. Maroney rolled her eyes condescendingly at Reverend Samuelson, as she raised her hand to speak:

“I don’t believe in blind faith. Scientific evidence tells us that when we die, the brain ceases to function and the heart stops beating. That’s all. There is no afterlife. There is nothing at all beyond this. When the body dies, that’s all there is. There is no eternal judgment. No Heaven or Hell. We are only responsible for our choices and actions in this life, nothing more.

“When we die, our bodies simply decompose into the very minerals that presently nourish the earth. To put it rather crudely, each of us is just a conglomeration of chemical reactions, and when they finally cease reacting, we cease to exist. That is all. There is nothing more to this phenomenon that we call death.”

Jethro flashed a loving but rascal-like smile at the audience, and then back at the two speakers, before clearing his throat to explain the very topic he’d spent many years meditating upon:

“At the inevitable moment of our death, death is imminent, and death is not so. Death is the entrance into a world without beginning or end. Death is the continuance of a sacred cycle in which that eternal kernel of our being—which some call a soul—drops the body and continues its quest for enlightenment. Death is the survival of pure awareness beyond the contours of the flesh. And it is the inner realm by which the soul reflects the light of its own luminous essence.

“Death is to reunite with Brahman and the one within all. Death is the entrance into the deepest realms of consciousness, and where one goes interminably in preparation for rebirth in a new body. Death is our karmic bridge between the memories of yesterday and the promises of tomorrow. In death, we are fully present and clear of the illusion of separateness.”

The moderator briefly looked out into the nearly 500-person audience, reminded the panel participants and audience to hold off on their questions and rebuttals until after the second question, and then returned his gaze to the three speakers. He proceeded to ask his second question:

“What do you make of miracles? Are they real? Or, are they simply hallucinations of our minds?

Before the Reverend Samuelson or Dr. Maroney could raise their hands to speak, the moderator called on Jethro to answer the question first:

Jethro scanned the eyes of all those in the audience, smiled, and pressed his right hand to his heart. In a flash, he vanished into thin air, but standing in his place were blue poppy flowers!

All in attendance gasped out of surprise and delight, as it became clear that they’d witnessed a miracle. Immediately, the Reverend Samuelson dropped to his knees and gave praise to his lord and saviour. Having no such reference point within her own mind, Dr. Maroney simply fainted, as medical staff on hand rushed to her side and whisked her away.

Thousands of pilgrims


As word of Jethro’s miracle spread throughout the surrounding towns and villages, pilgrims by the thousands began their descent high into the mountains, where it was rumoured that the old forest sage dwelled. Using his powers of clairvoyance, Jethro anticipated their arrival and considered it his divine mission to meet with and counsel as many pilgrims as he could.

Of course, having visited him before, Jillian was the first seeker to arrive at his abode. Humbled by his transcendent wisdom and spiritual power, she quickly journeyed to Jethro and appeared before him on the very evening of the miracle. After an exhausting hike through the same mountain wilderness she had only recently navigated, she finally arrived at the old sage’s dwelling.

At the exact moment of her arrival, Jillian heard Jethro call to her from inside the house: “My sweet Jillian. I am beyond ecstatic that you have returned. I have been expecting you. Please come inside and make yourself at home.”

Jillian hugged the holy man and sat down crossed-legged on the floor. She then spoke: “Beloved teacher, I have travelled all this way to make one request of you. I wish to live with you up on this mountain as your disciple. I can contribute in any way that will help you. Please consider my request with an open mind and heart.”

Jehtro stared back at the young seeker and a huge smile appeared on his face. He then replied:

“I would be honoured if you came to live with me up here. But I must warn you, in addition to the hard winter that is soon to follow, hundreds of men and women are on their way to seek out my counsel. It may not be as quiet as you expect up here. If you are willing to tolerate both the weather and the barrage of people to follow this autumn, then you are more than welcome to stay, contribute and learn.”

Jillian bowed her head to the revered sage and immediately set to work helping Jethro prepare for the many pilgrims who were on their way to the hermitage. For Jillian, the speaking tour that she’d organized seemed to be a distant memory. Indeed, one miracle had altered the course of her life forever.

Two unlikely disciples


People hiking up a mountain

The next day, hundreds of pilgrims began arriving at Jethro’s hermitage. One by one, each seeker waited in line (sometimes for weeks) to meet with this esteemed, Christ-like figure.

The specific reasons varied for why each person made the pilgrimage. Some were spurred on to visit Jethro out of a lifelong fear of death. Others journeyed to the sage to find a cure for a sickness or disease. Still, some were simply seeking peace after the passing of a loved one or the end of a marriage. And others sought nothing more but to receive a blessing or affirmation from the one who could perform miracles.

No matter the reason for their visit, Jethro made sure he gave each seeker 20 minutes of his time. Finally, by the end of the third week of visitations, he made it through the entire line of pilgrims. Thanks to Jillian’s help, he’d been able to complete the gargantuan task of meeting with each and every seeker before the season’s first snow.

Each day, while Jethro listened, counselled and accepted eager disciples; Jillian cooked meals for all the pilgrims, ran down the mountain and back up to resupply, and played the roles of nurse and host to those who made the journey. In return for her generosity, Jethro taught Jillian the sacred mystical teachings that his own guru in India had bestowed upon him.

In addition to teaching her mantras, meditation techniques and the highest forms of prayer, he taught her something even more basic, but vitally important on the path of spirit: that all wisdom comes from within, not outside oneself. Everywhere she went, Jillian carried this truth with her. Never again would her own free will be stripped from her as it had been when she was a youth in the church.

As the final day of meeting with pilgrims came, both Jethro and Jillian simultaneously felt feelings of relief and sadness. They felt relief when looking forward to the rejuvenating effects of solitude they’d soon have. However, they also felt the sting of sadness arise within their own hearts, for many of the pilgrims had become their dear friends and members of their newfound community of seekers.

With Jillian sitting by his side, the old sage met with his final pilgrim, and then quickly turned his attention to winterizing his house for the long and brutally cold season to come. As the sun set over the majestic mountains, Jethro and Jillian watched as the last pilgrim disappeared out of sight. Yet, at the very moment they took their eyes off the horizon, the silhouettes of one female and one male suddenly emerged from the sun-cast shadows.

The sage of the Rockies and his devoted disciple watched with wild wonder as his two “opponents” from the debate (that now seemed so long ago!) approached them.  Reverend Grant Samuelson, the former televangelist, and Dr. Tabitha Maroney, the atheist materialist, came within two feet of Jethro before falling to their knees with humble knowledge of the way to wisdom.

Overcome himself, with feelings of loving-kindness, Jethro knelt and placed his hands on theirs. He then repeated the following mantra three times to his new disciples: “Love is the beginning and seeing is believing; God comes to those with hearts wide open.”

Despite the ascent of darkness, Reverend Samuelson and Dr. Maroney felt a warm and radiant light flow through them, coming from Jethro’s hands. These two new disciples looked up at the mountain sage, only to see him vanish again before their very eyes.

Astonished with disbelief, the Reverend, the Professor and Jillian looked down at the exact spot where Jethro had been standing. What did they see in his path? Blue poppy flowers!

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image 1: Needpix; image 2: Pixabay; image 3: sk; image 4: Pixabay

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