The Kena Upanishad says that the Self 'shines through the mind and senses,' which is a poetic way of saying that it is the power of the Self which allows the mind and senses to function. So the eternally conscious Self is what makes us conscious. Essentially, it is light.
We distinguish the announcements of the soul, its manifestations of its own nature, by the term Revelation. These are always attended by the emotion of the sublime. For this communication is an influx of the Divine mind into our mind. It is an ebb of the individual rivulet before the flowing surges of the sea of life.
Bibles may convey, and priests expound, but it is exclusively for the noiseless operation of one's isolated Self, to enter the pure ether of veneration, reach the divine levels, and commune with the unutterable.
that blessed mood, In which the burthen of the mystery, In which the heavy and the weary weight Of all this unintelligible world, Is lightened:—that serene and blessed mood, In which the affections gently lead us on,— Until, the breath of this corporeal frame And even the motion of our human blood Almost suspended, we are laid asleep In body, and become a living soul: While with an eye made quiet by the power Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, We see into the life of things.
This is an account written by Norris Stearns of Greenfield, Massachusetts, published in 1815, five years before Joseph Smith's First Vision experience, in a pamphlet titled The Religious Experience Of Norris Stearns Written by Divine Command. The 35 page pamphlet can be read in its entirety online at this link. Here is an excerpt of part of his vision.
We are not what we think we are. This self that we believe ourselves to be everyday, that goes to work, eats lunch, spends time in a hobby, chats with friends, and all else, is a false self.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which will soon be ending its mission, recently sent a photograph back to Earth that is quite awe-inspiring. It is an image of us, of the Earth, framed between Saturn's rings. We are the dot in the center of the photograph. Behold! Like the famous "Pale Blue Dot" photograph, this image shows [...]
We are not separate from the universe. We are part of this one great whole. Mike Rugnetta discusses this from various philosophical and spiritual perspectives on his PBS Idea Channel video below.
"Sometimes during meditation golden light pours into my head, as if squeezed through a cloth, filling my head with light. At times, I feel like a newborn baby entering a new dimension of reality made of infinite tenderness, purity, love, and divine wholeness, a heavenly domain."
"As I wander through the dark, encountering difficulties, I am aware of encouraging voices that murmur from the spirit realm. I sense a holy passion pouring down from the springs of Infinity... Bound to suns and planets by invisible cords, I feel the flame of eternity in my soul. Here, in the midst of the every-day air, I sense the rush of ethereal rains. I am conscious of the splendor that binds all things of earth to all things of heaven—immured by silence and darkness, I possess the light which shall give me vision a thousand-fold when death sets me free."