Valid Knowledge acquired through personal vision

Many religions and spiritual traditions speak about humans receiving knowledge directly from Spirit. At times these visions, revelations, or “downloads” from Spirit have become the cornerstone of a tradition. 

For example, some schools of Tibetan Buddhism recognize monks called “Tertöns” (Discoverers of Dharmic Treasures), who are said to be able to “hear” and reveal teachings taught by earlier Rinpoche/Lamas. Hundreds of Tertöns have found thousands of volumes of scripture and sacred objects hidden in earth, water, sky, mountains, rocks and mind.

The Bah’ai faith speaks of the individual “Manifestations of God” who founded all the major religions, as well as “lesser prophets who reflect the light of the Manifestations but are not independent divine intermediaries” [Wikipedia]. Inside the Christian tradition, the Holy Spirit is said to communicate directly with people and bring them gifts of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, etc.  (Corinthians 12:1-11).  Visionary dreams have always played a key role among Native American tribes, inspiring both personal understanding and providing guidance for an entire people through spiritual leaders such as Hiawatha, Black Elk, Wovoka, and more.