An addition to the BHT, my translation of Exodus 3, one of the signature chapters of the Old Testament and Torah, where Moses first encounters God in a burning “bush,” which I perceive was a mystical vision of God within Moses’ very own mind and heart (cf. Psalm 104:4; Isaiah 33:14). (The painting above is “Holy Fire,” by visionary artist Alex Grey, 1987, oil on linen, 224 x 90 inches.)

1 As Moses was tending the sheep of Jethro, his father-in-law and the priest of Midian, he guided the flock deep into the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, known as “God’s mountain.”

2 It was there that he perceived a messenger of the One within him, and it seemed as though it was a blazing Fire within a mere common bush. And he stared in utter awe—although this bush in him was scorched to nothingness in that devouring fire and everlasting burning, yet he survived unconsumed.

3 And Moses thought to himself, “I should examine myself more closely and determine how it is possible in this awesome vision that the bush of me is burned up within me but I AM not consumed.”

4 When the One saw that he sought to “know” his Self, God cried out to him from within the bush, saying, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses thought in his heart, “Here I AM!”

5 And God said, “Do not try to ‘know’ This. Remove the sandals from Your feet, because the place where You stand, the very space where You are Present, is Holy Ground. This is Adam, the Ground of your Eternal Being and Substance.”

6 And God continued, “I AM is the God of all of your Ancestors, even the same God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. I AM your Being.” When Moses realized this he hid himself, even his own Face and Countenance from his Self, because he was terribly humbled to perceive God in His own Presence.

7 The One in Him uttered, “I have personally seen the miseries of my fellow Humans in Mizraim, and I’ve personally heard their agonies and distress cries before their egoic and selfish oppressors, for I personally know their excruciating suffering and pain.

8 “And it is I that has condescended to rescue and save Them, to deliver and liberate them from out of the clutches of those egos, and to help lift them all up, that they may ascend the ladder out of that lone and dreary wilderness, to a Gorgeous and Infinite space, a natural world that flows endlessly with the Richness of milk and the Sweetness of honey, to a Home that others have found even among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

9 “Look at these People! and Listen! to the cries of the Children, my own Family, who have so struggled and wrestled, which have reached my Ears. And how I’ve seen with my own Eyes how severely those egos are oppressing and abusing them.

10 “So Go! Now! I AM sending You to the highest of egos, Pharaoh, so that You may help lead my own struggling People out of that egoic place, and Liberate them from out of Mizraim.”

11 But Moses shrank from his Self, and said to God, “Who am I? How could I possibly go to this ego, this Pharaoh, and help bring the Human Family of Sufferers out of this egoic space?”

12 And God answered within his Self, “I AM in You!! And This will be for a sign and a token to You, that I have sent You: when You have led them up out of the egotism of Mizraim, You will work and serve God in this selfsame Mountain that you are in even now.”

13 But Moses kicked against the goads and protested to God within, “Wait! What if I go among my Family of Strugglers, and I tell them, ‘The God of all your Ancestors and of all Humankind and Life itself has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is God’s Name?’ then what should I tell them?”

14 And God replied within Moses, “I AM! I AM! I AM!… I AM that which IS, even the ONE self-existent BEING who is in YOU and ALL BEINGS, and I will always be this BEING. This is what you will teach all Humanity: ‘I AM (YHWH) sends Me to You.'”

15 God said further, “Say this to my People, ‘I AM the ONE, the God of all our Ancestors and People everywhere—even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of Moses, and the God of Saptarishi, and the God of Zoroaster, and the God of Gautama, and the God of Confucius, and the God of Laozi, and the God of John, and the God of Jesus, and the God of Paul, and the God of Muhammad, and the God of Nanak, and the God of Luther, and the God of Calvin, and the God of Knox, and the God of Smyth, and the God of Fox, and the God of Ammann, and the God of Wesley, and the God of Lee, and the God of Smith, and the God of Báb, and the God of White, and the God of Parham, and the God of Yogananda, and the God of Maharishi, and the God of EVERY BEING who has ever known their deepest Self—which sends Us to Each Other. This BEING is our Eternal Name and Identity, and this We will remember again and again throughout all generations of time.’

16 “Go! and gather together as One the Wisest among My People, and say to Them, ‘The ONE God of all our ancestors and traditions and religions and spiritualities became Present within Me, and gave Me this insight, “I have personally been with You and in You, and I have known Your sufferings in egoic Mizraim.

17 “‘”And I have said that I will lift you out of your miseries, and bring you up and out of your sufferings of Mizraim, and ascend to an Earth and Home as is found among the Canaanites, and Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites, even a natural world that flows endlessly with the Richness of milk and the Sweetness of honey.”‘

18 “And the Wise will hear You and will receive Your voice and message. And You will go together with the Wise of My People, to the ego-king in Mizraim, and you will say to him: ‘The ONE I AM God of the People has found Us, and knows Us. So, now, please LET US ALL GO! to take a three-day journey into unknown space, and in so doing we may sacrifice ourselves to know the ONE I AM God within us.’

19 “But I know with certainty that the narrow ego-king of Mizraim, of boundaries, limits, and restrictions, will not allow you to go, unless compelled to by a strong and severe force.

20 “So I will stretch out my hand, or in other words, I will send my powers out to strike, with scourges and with stripes, and crucify that egotism of Mizraim with all the natural wonders of the world, right within the center of that ego. And only after this will the ego-king release You.

21 “And I will pour out precious Grace on this People in the sight of the egoic Mizraim. And when You come out of the ego, it will not be in a void of emptiness.

22 “Every One will be filled from their former egoic inhabitants, and from every stranger that was in their House, with vast treasures of silver, and gold, and beautiful garments. And You will share these gifts with your Posterity and all People. And in this way the ego will be stripped bare, leaving desolate the egoic Mizraim, and You will be liberated and delivered. You will save yourself.”