By Renee Whitefield
To begin the exercise of knowing more about God, we need to become like little children with pure hearts again. That will take some humility. Let’s start at the beginning. As newborn infants, our eyes were not fully developed, but our whole body knew our mother’s essence as we rested upon her bosom. Likewise, most people’s spiritual eyes are not fully developed. However, we can begin to recognize God’s essence with “bodily vision” similar to newborn babies, as we receive and develop feelings of holiness that are derived from the unspeakable name of God.
I discovered the unique phrase, “bodily vision”, when searching for the origin of the word “behold” which is used many times in holy scripture. Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words defines the word behold, with the following meanings: (a) of bodily vision (b) of mental perception (c) of taking heed (d) of experience... (e) of caring for... ¹.
To behold something seems to involve physical perception as well as mental perception or experience and action, and so this article is going to suggest that beholding with bodily vision can take place in the bosom, the bowels, the eyes, the heart and wherever the divine spark of God is kindled within man. Essentially, our whole bodies can be filled with bodily vision if our eye is single to the glory of God.
Also, during etymology research for the origin of the English word behold, as used throughout scriptures, it was discovered that a Proto-West Germanic root word for behold is "bihaldan" which is an equivalent to the two English words, be + hold,² suggesting that we thoroughly hold something we are told to behold.
Do the following exercise with me now: Behold our Heavenly Father in an embrace with each one of us and let’s become as little children again in our way of feeling. As we practice this with our perception, God’s embrace is more comforting than our earthly mothers’ caresses were. The Lord’s embrace becomes an expansion of our souls, which takes us beyond the third and fourth dimensions where space and time seem to rule over us. Our physical body, even our whole soul recognizes our Heavenly Father’s essence as we fall into God’s shoulders of Light, then lean within God’s bosom of Love and Holiness. We then realize that we cannot tell where our own bosoms begin or where God’s bosom ends as He receives us in to His omnipresent embrace. We can feel the arms of the Great Jehovah holding us, and even our faces against His chest—we are still very aware of our own sphere of existence during the embrace. Yet, at that same moment, we experience being in the Father and the Father being in us as reality, and not as a metaphor. Continuing this exercise in beholding God’s embrace, let us imagine that our hearts swell as wide as eternity. In this hug with our Father in Heaven, we realize that God is what He said He is in so many scripture verses where God said the words, I AM, followed by a description or attribute of Himself.
For example: I Am “thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Genesis 15:1) Or, "Behold, I am God; Man of Holiness is my name; Man of Counsel is my name; and Endless and Eternal is my name also. Wherefore I can stretch forth my hands and hold all the creations which I have made, and mine eye can pierce them also." from Genesis 7:42 Joseph Smith Jr. Inspired Version (IV).
By studying the Holy Scriptures brought to us through Moses, we have learned that mysteries were unfolded to Enoch at the time he was taken into God’s bosom. Enoch’s knowledge might seem quite mystical to people in our time. Consider the following verse. “I will be in the bosom of the Father and behold Zion will be with me. Enoch, then looked at the Earth; and he heard a voice coming from within, saying: Woe, woe is me, the mother of men; behold I am afflicted, behold I am weary because of the iniquity of my children, and behold, their actions ruin the earth…” from The Sealed Book (SB) of Moses 4:56.
Are we able to behold such things as Enoch did? When it was suggested to “Behold our Heavenly Father in an embrace with each one of us”, there was not a suggestion that we think about ourselves being in God’s bosom. The reason is because our thinking habits tend to dissect every thought form, feeling, notion and scenario; and, every written word in order to discover logical explanations. Logic can be very good, so please do not misunderstand what is written here. We can’t throw out logic. Humans need logic on this planet to survive, prosper, solve problems, be more organized, and conduct scientific experiments. However, part of logical human nature tends to tear apart scriptures, and analyze everything according to the third and fourth dimensional realms.
However, “time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live.” (Albert Einstein 1941) ³
With logical deductions based on space-time, people have trouble realizing that an entire city is in the bosom of the Father; or that the earth groans and speaks about her children; or that Enoch’s heart could swell as wide as eternity (Genesis 7:48 IV). So, instead of beholding the bosom of God and the earth like Enoch did, most people count this experience of Enoch’s as a fairy-tale, as well as the exercise where we beheld ourselves in God’s bosom, forgetting that with God, anything is possible. In our Father’s house there are many dimensions, worlds, galaxies, and glories.
"When we try to understand God's proceedings from a human perspective, the rest of the story told to us looks a fable, unless God gives the children of men, according to their attention and diligence, to know its mysteries." (SB 3 Nephites 1:1).
If only we could reconcile the seeming mystical scriptural stories with logic and observable science, making these two opposites a compound in one. All things are possible, and so, this history of Enoch prompted me to consider that the scientific quantum entanglement theory could help explain some things regarding that scripture about Enoch, and other scriptures as well.
At the quantum level, scientific study takes place on the scale of atoms and subatomic particles; matter and energy. Quantum theories allow for multiple dimensions as well (which Enoch experienced in God’s bosom). With quantum physics, when particles or elements have been entangled, they still remain connected, even when separated by vast distances. If we believe God is the One who fills all things, then God fills the quantum level. “(…)he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things: and all things are by him, and of him; even God, for ever and ever.” (DC 88:41 or DC 85:10c RLDS).
In the book, MIND DYNAMICS IN SPACE AND TIME, A PHYSICIST’S EXPLORATION OF THE NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Elizabeth A. Rauscher, Ph.D. explains that, “In modern quantum physics, entanglement is fundamental. Then it appears that space is no longer basic, at least at the quantum informational level and neither may time.”³ Many scenario’s in our scriptures, would not seem like a fable to some scientists and physicists anymore if they would consider the scriptures together with quantum mechanics. The way The Sealed Book describes God’s attributes is congruent with the nonlocality involved in quantum entanglement.
“Essentially, if quantum mechanics fits the Bell’s theorem test, which it does, then nonlocality must be true!” (Elizabeth Rauscher Ph.D.)³ A detailed article on Bell’s Theorem can be found at “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy”, online. ⁴
The omnipresence of God, would make wonderful round table discussions between quantum physicists! And, if scientists would begin to study The Sealed Book in conjunction with quantum entanglement, the topic of God’s unspeakable names active within us would be an excellent place to start because God’s Names, which are His divine attributes in us, are inseparable from His person. That is entanglement at the most sublime level.
So if our souls are in a quantum entanglement with God, why don’t we experience the elements obeying us the way the elements obeyed Enoch, Moses, Morian-Cumer, Elisha and many more? The answer to that is in The Sealed Book of Moses, chapter 14:22-23—which explains that the earth and the elements were cursed along with man because of the fall of Adam. However, Moses said, “But behold since the elements are arranged by the gifts, which are feelings derived from the name of God in me, they are grouped by the power of faith, which, through command of the word of God, the worlds were created; and so all creation submits to the authority that is in the name of God and of His Only Begotten Son, through the order of His priesthood...” (SB Moses 14:23). The feelings derived from God’s unspeakable names are living gifts that are in authority over the quantum level. In other words the geometries of quantum entanglement is arranged by active feelings derived from the names of God as gifts and not from fallen man’s feelings.
Science has discovered that, “The significance of the Schrodinger equation and more generally the quantum approach in general is the possibility, at least in part, of describing possible micro psychokinetic links between the intentional observation and the effect on a system. This in some sense links body, the physical, and the spiritual “unseen” while producing effects on the physical domain.” (Elizabeth Rauscher Ph.D.)³. In simpler words, the elements, which are at the quantum level, are affected when there is an intentional observer.
“And thus said the Lord: this is the sacred Secret that you, Moses, must keep sealed in this book that I made you write after that My people Israel harden the heart for want of the right spirit, that are feelings that in times past, I the Lord, gave through the Holy Spirit so that My people would observe My power acting within themselves…” (SB Moses 3:51).
In this article, I am calling the “observer” the “beholder”, who is in a sublime entanglement with the holy feelings of the One who fills all things. If one has read verse 22 of chapter 14 (SB Moses), it was shown that God put Moses through some exercises regarding Moses’ staff and his own body where Moses was linked in a quantum entanglement with God’s gifts in spite of the curse initiated by Adam’s fall.
Let’s consider the word “behold”, with the definition, “bodily vision” a little further, because it is important to recognize the link between body and spirit when receiving the gifts from the Great Jehovah. From the official 2021 edition of The Sealed Book,⁵ God tells Enoch, "Behold, therefore, I let you know beforehand, that this system which your eyes contemplate..." (SB Moses 4:50). Stop there. It seems this is a strange verse. Can “eyes” contemplate?
The sentence about eyes contemplating, written in The Sealed Book, is not any more strange than reading that Jesus Christ had “bowels of compassion” (3 Nephi 17:7-8 or RLDS 8:8), or that people and God, can have “thoughts of the heart” as stated in numerous scripture verses. ⁶ These scriptural statements involve bodily vision.
The effects of God’s holy feelings on the human body is important, because the body is made of the elements which are on the quantum level. And the elements can become subject to us. There are many things that science can still discover that will lead people closer to God. For instance, scientists used to assume that contemplation could only take place in the brain. However, recently scientists have discovered that the bowel area, also known as the gut, has its own nervous system, and they have nicknamed the gut as a “second brain” which is intricately connected with feelings or emotion. ⁷ Besides the bowel area being nicknamed the second brain, scientists have also discovered that the heart has its own “little brain” according to The National Library of Medicine online. ⁸ However, in our traditional thoughts, the phrases “thoughts of the heart” and “bowels of compassion” seem like poetry or idioms of the Hebrews or Nephites, as does the sentence in The Sealed Book about eyes contemplating, unless we really behold those words with faith and care.
During research for this article, I could not find biological scientific data that indicates the eyes have brain cells belonging only to the eyes similar to the bowels or the heart which do have their own nervous system or brain cells. However, I did find that along with our eyes, the pineal gland, located in the center of the brain and certainly connected with the eyes via the optic nerves and the hypothalamus, ⁹ is the only other organ in a human body that interacts with and detects light. ¹⁰ We should probably not be surprised if someday we learn from biological scientific discoveries, that the eyes do have the equipment to “contemplate” things and that there is the eye referred to by Jesus, which can fill the entire body with light and intelligence.
“And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you, and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things (DC 88:67 or DC 85:18a RLDS). This is bodily vision.
"And the light which now shineth, which giveth you light, is through Him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God, to fill the immensity of space." (see all of DC 88:6-13 or DC 85:2b-3b RLDS) . This is quantum entanglement.
When Oliver Cowdery was told by Jesus, in Section 9 of the Doctrine and Covenants, “I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right;” Oliver was being instructed regarding a feeling of holiness experienced in the area of the bosom.
"..but, BEHOLD, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right, I will cause that YOUR BOSOM SHALL BURN within you; therefore, you shall FEEL that it is right; but if it be not right, you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought, that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong;" (DC 9:8-9 or DC 9:3c-d RLDS). This burning of the bosom, is a type of bodily vision or beholding with feelings of light.
In The Sealed Book of Moses 3:54 we read: "Behold, you are well aware of this agitation in your mind, my servant Moses, and you know how difficult it is to recognize the feelings of light amidst this stupor of emotions coming out of darkness, which tends to prevent the children of men to identify feelings originating from light and truth”. In this scripture we see the mind can get in the way of identifying feelings of light and truth.
Remember the exercise to behold ourselves in the bosom of the Father using a bodily vision which recognizes God’s essence? It is possible that we had a difficult time keeping our attention on that subject during the exercise. Within seconds, some people found their minds wandering, and doubting who is worthy to be in the bosom of God. Some began to worry about being separated from loved ones in eternity. Perhaps the whole exercise was a frustrating struggle due to the attempt to blend a logical space-time embrace with God’s omnipresence. Suddenly there is a stupor of thoughts that have nothing to do with the exercise regarding being in the bosom of God.
We do the same thing when reading scriptures such as The Sealed Book, or saying prayers, or listening to important discourses. We often find ourselves in a stupor of thought. So, from now on, let’s allow ourselves to really behold The Sealed Book when we read it, and all sacred texts.
We need to really experience what it means to behold, or have this bodily vision. Because we have linguistic traditions, and rules which we consider correct, we are not used to the ancient syntax in The Sealed Book which came to us by the gift and power of God. But if we make the effort to be + hold the sacred texts in our hearts, we could overcome our often occurring stupor of thoughts. Some may think that is not possible, but, there is a beautiful passage of scripture from ancient times that can help us. It is written in Psalms 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God”.
In that Psalm, we have a profound statement that many of us have never accomplished in our thoughts—to be still. The second part of the Psalm is “know that I AM God”. In The Sealed Book of Moses 4:25, it is written, “The names of God are fundamental so that we can know more about Him.” Let’s be still in our thoughts long enough to identify feelings originating from Light and Truth (names of God¹¹), so we can know more about God, who is the great, I AM THAT I AM, resonating in the elements of our bodies.
"For I make known to you my name, which I did not reveal to Abraham; Isaac and Jacob. You therefore have knowledge that I AM the existence beyond any reason or cause; I AM the One who fills all things; who dwells in light inaccessible to men in the flesh, whom no man has seen or can see unless he is vivified in the spirit, neither can the tongue of man utter my name. Therefore, I AM and I am in you and you are in Me through the feelings that emanate from my name." (SB Moses 14:16).
God fills all things, even our bodies and our spirits. Our bodies are made of atoms, subatomic particles, electro-magnetic fields of energy—more than three dimensions (the abilities of the five known senses, as well as the intelligence to think, feel, and know, are much more than three dimensional measurements of space and thickness). God fills all dimensions. The mystical sages in ancient times as well as modern scientists who theorize about quantum entanglement or String Theory tell us that everything is connected. It is true. And their understanding is drawing science and the world closer and closer to comprehending the Great I AM THAT I AM, the One who fills all things.
However, knowing God involves more than philosophizing, theorizing or even objectively verifying that everything is connected through fascinating and complicated mathematics and experiments. Knowing God is more than having an understanding of scriptures or quantum mechanics. This is because we can understand many things intellectually, without being pure in heart—and we must be pure in heart for the names of God to be intimate within us. God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance, and so that intimacy brought about by a pure heart is what allows us to hold the connection with God.
"Therefore, even though they fully understand these words of mine in relation to the gifts of the Spirit; nevertheless, it will be a constant struggle to guard against the influence of the evil one, and with that, not be overwhelmed by feelings of fear, anger, envy, pride, greed and other derivatives of the iniquity. Only by having purity of heart can feelings of holiness be attained, for this is to be holy, to be pure before God." (SB Moses 5:38-39).
Therefore, we must do more than read and understand what the unspeakable names of God are and what they mean, in The Sealed Book. The way to obtain a pure heart is by keeping God’s commandments and living the teachings God has given us; not simply analyzing, debating, or studying the teachings. Live the teachings about the unspeakable names of God. Be the unspeakable names. Hold to those teachings and feelings of holiness—like we would hold tightly to an iron rod. Having a pure heart also involves getting the impurities out of the heart. Part of the teachings in The Sealed Book is, "never to be overwhelmed by the opposing feelings of the devil, which occasionally make up residence in the heart of the natural man…” (SB 3 Nephites 5:3).
Love is the best way to know God. “He who loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” (1 John 4:8). If we understand the teachings in The Sealed Book about the names of God, we should feel compelled to practice and live a pure religion as an intimate religion, taking God’s own feelings of love upon us, which are attributes that cannot be separated from Him. This pure religion involves walking with God in all our ways, including on the quantum level.
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the vices of the world" (James 1:27). The “opposing feelings” written about in The Sealed Book, are vices of the world and the cause of vices.
“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing”, (1 Corinthians 13:3). Does this mean we don’t need to visit the widows and fatherless? Of course not. It means without keeping ourselves unspotted from the vices of the world (the opposing feelings), there is no synergy, no pure religion in our actions. We will not be practicing a pure religion until we diligently fulfill all of James 1:27. First Corinthians 13, the entire chapter, thoroughly instructs us on vices of the world we need to abolish.
Since some of us do visit the widows and fatherless with great love in our hearts, we are wondering why the elements are not yet subject to our command. The reason is that our own feelings of love, no matter how passionate, dedicated, and sacrificial, are not powerful enough to arrange and group the elements because of the curse of Adam’s fall. That is why Mormon tells us to pray unto the Father, with all the energy of heart, that we may be filled with Charity at the end of Moroni 7. Charity is a gift from God. All the unspeakable names of God are gifts. The gift of the Pure Love of Christ is bigger than we could ever possibly imagine; more than the greatest love we are currently able to generate within ourselves, by ourselves; being in a fallen state. We have to depend on God for these gifts. Read all of Mormon’s words in Moroni 7 as a part of this exercise.
"Humble yourself in faith before God in mighty prayer and fasting. Call upon the name of the Lord, until the elements are purified over your head and the earth sanctified under your feet." Joseph Smith Jr., p.59 Column II, Millennial Star Vol.2
In conclusion, when we truly take God’s name upon us intimately, observing God’s power acting within us due to the use of right feelings—that is the moment when we, collectively, will be able to spread God’s Love with grace and power. The names of God are divine gifts. When we collectively abolish opposing feelings in order to have pure hearts and connect with God like little children, and we practice a pure religion, our congregation will grow and expand. The elements which are entangled with all creation, will submit to the command of those in the Holy Order of the Priesthood of the Only Begotten Son of God who have (received as a gift) authority from the living name of the Great I AM THAT I AM. The elements will also submit to those who are filled with Grace, one of the names of the Only Begotten Son of the Father. This will be God’s reason to take us. At that point, resting in God’s bosom like a little child, or walking with God, will no longer be an exercise, it will be reality.
"For if you can gather all the good feelings derived from My name into the men, women, and children of your congregation, then the sum of these attributes will be my reason to take you, because you bear in yourself the likeness of my Only Begotten, who is full of grace and power. And because you have all these gifts within your heart, you will never walk alone, because I will always be with you, whereas you will walk with God in your ways." (SB Moses 4:18-19).
Bibliography 1. Blue Letter Bible, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Behold, Beheld, https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/Dictionary/viewTopic.cfm?topic=VT0000256
2. Wiktionary.org, behold, Etymology, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/behold#:~:text=From%20Middle%20English%20beholden%2C%20from,hold%20with%2C%20keep%E2%80%9D)%2C
3. Rouscher, E., Hurtak J.J., Hurtak D., (2016) Mind Dynamics in Space and Time, A PHYSICIST'S EXPLORATION OF THE NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Albert Einstein quote. 462, Entanglement. 397, Nonlocality. 426, Observation produces results on the physical domain. 440.
4. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Myrvold, W., Genovese, M., Shimony, A., (2019) Bell's Theorem, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bell-theorem
5. There are some unauthorized versions of The Sealed Book, published without permission in spite of copyright laws. I recommend none of the unofficial versions which may have changed some of the words and grammar in The Sealed Book without permission from the copyright holder: United Literary Order of the Last Days, LLC. This article quotes from the current official publication of The Sealed Book as of 2022: https://www.mormonsdolivroselado.org/download
6. List of scriptures that mention thoughts of the heart: Genesis 8:10 (IV only); Judges 5:15; 1 Chronicles 29:18; Job 17:11; Psalms 33:11; Jeremiah 23:20; Daniel 2:30; Luke 2:35; Luke 9:47; Mosiah 24:12 or 11:59 RLDS; Alma 18:20 or 12:95 RLDS; Helaman 9:41 or 3:111 RLDS.
7. John’s Hopkins Medicine, The Brain-Gut Connection https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-brain-gut-connection
8. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, Alshami, A. M., (2019) Pain: Is It All in the Brain or the Heart https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31728781
9. Encyclopeida.com, Oxford University Press, Arendt, J., (2018) Pineal Gland, https://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/anatomy-and-physiology/anatomy-and-physiology/pineal-gland
10. Brain World, Keller, B., (2019) Know Your Brain: The Pineal Gland – Perceiving Your “Mind’s Eye”, https://brainworldmagazine.com/know-your-brain-the-pineal-gland-perceiving-your-minds-eye
11. A list of only a few “I AM” quotes in Holy Scriptures referring to Light or Truth, which are attributes of God; however, these are only two of God’s many attributes which attributes are God’s unspeakable names. LIGHT: John 8:12; 3 Nephi 15:9 or 3 Nephi 7:10 RLDS; DC 11:28 or DC 10:12a RLDS; DC 88:50 or DC 85:12f RLDS. TRUTH: John 14:6; DC 93:26 or DC 90:4c RLDS.
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