A tradition of a "heavenly book" runs through many traditions, including Mormonism with its "gold plates." What spiritual reality might these traditions be pointing to?
Tag: mysticism
Infographic—The Perennial Cycle of Religions: Mysticism to Politics v1.0
I created a graphic to better illustrate the evolution (or devolution) from mysticism to religion to politics, and back again, as originally modeled by David Steindl-Rast.
The “Ahman Prayer”: Toward a Mormon Contemplative Practice
There is no genuine contemplative practice in Mormonism, an inner meditative gaze deep in consciousness. I offer a possible format for a uniquely Mormon practice.
The Perennial Cycle from Mysticism to Religion to Politics
What is the relationship between mysticism and religion? It is perhaps a cycle, which begins in mysticism and ends in fundamentalist dogmatic religion, and politics, where it begins again.
An Introduction to the BHT Translation of Joseph Smith’s First Vision
I introduce a new translation of Joseph Smith's First Vision, giving some background to this interpretation of his mystical experience, the nature of translation, its pseudepigraphal nature, how it was done, and more.
Ken Wilber’s Fallacious “pre/trans fallacy” and the Condescension of Children
This fallacy says that people mistakenly believe that children are connected to the Divine in a similar way as those mystics who transcend ego. I don't think this is mistaken at all.
Religion vs Mysticism: A Taste Test
It can be difficult to understand the difference between organized religion and the mystical experience. An analogy can help.
When Myths turn from “True” to “False” and a New Mysticomodern Myth
Mythologies run in cycles. We may be in the middle of a massive paradigm shift in the myths which point to our deepest meaning and identity in the cosmos.
Eight Points of Agreement of Perennial Wisdom from Contemplatives of Eight World Religions
In the 1980s there was a group of contemplatives from several different religions that gathered to dialogue, and they came up with eight points of perennial wisdom that they seemed to share in their experience of an Ultimate Reality.
The Mysticism of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”
Scrooge is a metaphor of the egoic mind, dismissing mystical experience as pathological.