Breast Milk of the Cosmic Mother
Artist Unknown
When I was 17, I met a Buddhist monk who changed my life.
I was in the middle of an enormous heartbreak, so devastating it seemed I would never recover. My family and I were invited to a weekend meditation retreat in the countryside, under the guidance of this monk.
It was my first time meditating, and the whole experience felt so new and overwhelming! (how were we to sit for 30 minutes doing ‘nothing’?! and the whole thing in total silence?!)
During the lunch break, my younger brother and I felt called to sit outside with the monk. His calm, centered presence was magnetic. I asked him about his journey, and what he revealed mystified me.
He was a young American who had grown a rebellious atheist, in a strongly religious environment.
One night, in his college dorm room, he was visited by the Divine Mother.
She started pouring divine breast milk onto him, anointing, blessing, and nourishing him with an incredible love. He received a message to look for a female Buddhist teacher in Germany who was awaiting him. His life soon completely changed, as he went on to follow this calling.
He later discovered that this cosmic breast milk anointment is a divine invitation to become a bodhisattva, one who commits to reincarnating until all beings are freed from suffering.
My meeting with him catalyzed my own spiritual path. A mystical door had been opened and I felt irresistibly called inside.
I recently came upon a similar story in the book Magdalene Mysteries, referring to a miracle in the Catholic faith known as The Lactation of Saint-Bernard, in which the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint-Bernard and squirted breast milk into his mouth. ‘Her milk granted him supernal wisdom, proving to him that she was not only his mother but the Mother of Humanity.'*
St. Bernard and the Virgin by Alonzo Cano, 1650
The Lactation of St. Bernard by Engraver Master IAM of Zwolle, ca. 1470-85
Ephesian Diana at Villa D’Este near Rome, 16th Century
As I go deeper and deeper into my present journey with the Feminine Mysteries, I love reflecting on how this feminine thread has been present all along.
I feel gently enfolded in this larger feminine presence that always answers our soul’s deepest longings.
