"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."
Tag: dark night of the soul
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.
David O. McKay: Meditate to Enter God’s Presence
Fifty years ago in April 1967, David Oman McKay (1873-1970), the ninth president of the LDS Church, gave a talk in the priesthood session of General Conference that was unique. It was entitled "Consciousness of God: Supreme Goal of Life."
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.
Psalm 23 BHT, the Anointed One
An addition to the BHT, a poem by David about his realization of anointing.
2 Peter 1:19-21 BHT, Scriptures & Prophecy
As I add new translations to the BHT, I thought it would be good to also publish a blog post noting each specific addition, so that readers may get those updates. The following is a translation today of 2 Peter 1:19-21, which concerns the scriptures and prophetic revelation and interpretation of the Word.
Rabindranath Tagore’s “First Vision” Account
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a Bengali author, poet, essayist, playwright, novelist, composer, and painter. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, the first non-European to do so. He recounted the following experience that he had while in Calcutta, India.
Clark Heinrich’s “First Vision” Account
I shared this account in my introductory paper about mysticism, but I think it should be shared as a stand-alone post as well. This is because it is so stunningly similar in many respects to Joseph Smith's accounts of the First Vision.
AA Co-Founder Bill Wilson’s “First Vision” Account
Bill Wilson, the cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), had a spiritual awakening that involved bright light, sometimes referred to as his “hot flash” or “white light transformation.”
The Divine Light of a Lowly Farmer Boy
Ann invited me to write a guest post for her blog, Enlightenment is for Everyone: Exploring Potential From Every Angle. I did so, writing of Joseph Smith's First Vision experience from a mystical awakening universal divine grace perspective, using the various firsthand and secondhand accounts. My blog post is titled "The Divine Light of a Lowly Farmer Boy." You may read it on Ann's blog.