God wants to speak to us. God yearns for it, and many of us yearn for it too. God wants us to know Him ourselves, in our Selves. This is the very definition of Eternal Life (John 17:3). But we must do our part. We must get out of our own way. We must surrender and submit our egos, our egoic mind, in order to allow God to speak to us. The Prophet Joseph Smith seems to have known how to do this, but we seem to have lost this ability today, even the kinds of practices that lead to it.
We've been surrounded by Christianity for many centuries, Mormonism for 200 years, yet it seems Christ consciousness hasn't penetrated most Western people, even those in Utah. Most don't know that Christ lives in them (Galatians 2:20).
I believe that meditation and other related contemplative techniques, including the use of seer stones, can help us become aware of the Divine and enter God's Presence. This post introduces some concepts from psychology and neurobiology which might begin to help explain how this happens.
I don't think there is any evidence in nature that bodily resurrection can happen. I think this is a misunderstanding of the resurrection.
One of the most remarkable things I've found is the tremendous insight that comes from doing nothing. That sounds strange, and it is. But I think there is truth in it.
When the false self dies—the ego, the old creature, the constructed personality, the illusory self, the separate independent idea of one's self, the man of sin, the son of perdition, the natural man, the carnal mind—when this is seen for what it really is, when it is revealed in truth, when it is put off, taken out of the way, when it is crucified and passes away, then the true Self is revealed in glory.
There is a term that the scriptures use to refer to something in us that separates us from God. It is called the "natural man," or at times the "carnal mind." What is this? And how can a correct understanding of it help us commune with and become one with God?
It pervades the entire universe but nothing pervades it. It is effulgent by nature, and its splendor illumines everything...
Last night, in dark night of the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus went a little ways off from his disciples and fell to his knees, and began his prayer, the prayer, his contemplation, his meditation to commune with the Father within.
Today I feel I had my eyes opened to the meaning of scripture. It was like flipping the switch on a light. I suddenly understood and the meaning was laid open to my view. I'd like to share with you what I think is a key to understanding the scriptures having to do with the "natural man."