A narrative and a dream; For some time I was prey to an intense obsession. I ceaselessly practised meditation and spiritual exercises, since the problem of knowledgeassailed me with insoluble difficulties. What they say about it in books brought me no light.
On one particular night I experienced a dreamlike ecstasy. Suddenly I was wrapped in gentleness; there was a blinding flash, then a very diaphanous light in the likeness of a human being. I watched attentively and there he was: Helper of souls, Imam of wisdom, Primus Magister, whose form filled me with wonder and whose shining beauty dazzled me. He came toward me, greeting me so kindly that my bewilderment faded and my alarm gave way to a feeling of familiarity. And then I began to complain to him of the trouble I had with this problem of knowledge.
“Come back (awaken) to yourself,” he said to me,” and your problem will be solved.”
“How so?” I asked.
“Is the knowledge which you have of yourself a direct perception of yourself by yourself, or do you get it from something else…?”
Some of the similarities of this vision to Joseph Smith’s First Vision seem to be:
mentally stressed by a problem over a lengthy time period
finding no answers in the typical places
the vision coming on to him suddenly
being wrapped in the vision
blinding flash of light
seeing a likeness of a human being in the light
having a conversation with the being to solve the problem
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