Joseph Smith’s “Sinking” Into the Darkest Abyss to Commune with God

"The highest form of meditation is not an activity that is undertaken by the mind. It is a relaxing, falling back or sinking of the mind into its source or essence of pure awareness, from which it has arisen."

Exodus 3 BHT, Moses Meets God as a Fire in His Self

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).

Saint Teresa of Ávila’s “First Vision” Accounts

Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) was a Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, and was canonized a Roman Catholic saint by Pope Gregory XV. In her autobiography, The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, she describes many of her ecstatic visions of the Divine which should ring a few bells for Latter-day Saints.

John 1 BHT, The One

An addition to the BHT, the first chapter of John which talks about the One from which all of reality has emerged, and of which all of reality is.

Henry David Thoreau’s “First Vision” Account

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) is widely known as a great 19th century transcendentalist essayist, poet, philosopher, naturalist, and historian, among other things. He is most well-known for his book Walden, and his essay "Civil Disobedience." The following comes from his poem titled "Inspiration."

Nancy Clark’s “First Vision” Accounts

In 1979 she had an experience while giving a eulogy at the funeral of a friend that forever changed her life. She later called it a "near-death-like" experience, being similar to many NDEs (including one she had earlier in life), but she was not near death at all. She describes it in one place this way...

We WILL Surely Die

Happy Halloween! For many people, however, today is not a happy day, but it is the most disliked day of the entire year. This is when people seem to celebrate the death, the macabre, evil, darkness, the shadows, wickedness, perhaps even Satan himself. Those things are a big turn off for many people, particularly the most religious and devout.