Beliefs are not merely concepts in our mind, they actively shape our perception of reality, and even form that Reality.
Tag: Beatific Vision
Joseph Smith’s First Vision in the Book of Mormon: The Earliest Accounts?
The earliest known account of First Vision may not be the one in 1832, but many esoteric accounts in April-June 1829, in the Book of Mormon text itself.
Joseph Smith’s First Vision, BHT: A New Translation
A new translation of Joseph Smith's First Vision.
The Mystical State of Consciousness in Joseph Smith’s First Vision
I suggest that Joseph Smith's earliest direct encounters with God happened in mystical experience, or what is also known as altered states of consciousness.
Reconstructing Joseph Smith’s “First Vision”
Mormonism traces back its history in modern times to its founding prophet, Joseph Smith Jr., and his "First Vision." Joseph was a young farmer boy who lived in western New York, born in the early nineteenth century. This was the time of what's known as the Second Great Awakening, and where Joseph lived is known as the "burned-over district." It was a time of much Protestant religious excitement, revivals, reforms, and the formation of new religious movements and denominations (which eventually included Mormonism). A Restoration Movement grew in popularity in the area, which involved ideas of "restoring" a pure, primitive, uncorrupted, and original form of Christian faith.
Is the Universe Made of Consciousness?
It sounds like a pretty woowoo thing to say, really smacking of the "New Age." But this seems to be the skeleton in the closet that even physicists don't want to admit. But some have.
We are Already God, We've Just Forgotten
Many mystical paths in the world's spiritual traditions claim to lead one to a conscious merging, union, and a direct identification with Deity, the Sacred, Reality, the Universe, the Transcendent, with a first-hand experience of being God.