Excerpts

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Please scroll down to see excerpts from the following sections: 

1. One Great Whole:

Disembodied Consciousness

The Human Energy Field

Spiritual Character

2. The Spirit of God:

Faith and Action

Light and Purity

3. The Parable of the Seed:

Intro Pages

4. A Testimony of Christ:

Another Testament..

Across a Great Distance

5. On Dreams..

An Inwardly Visual Experience

6. Chess in the Desert:

A Heavenly Light

Trained at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Melvin Morse first became interested in such phenomena after witnessing the recovery of a seven year old drowning victim who was resuscitated and had a Near Death Experience (NDE) during that period. [19] Morse was skeptical but fascinated and did studies researching NDEs in children. [20] He conducted interviews of hundreds of children who related verifiable conscious experiences that took place during the period that they were declared dead: “I interviewed children who had left their dead bodies on emergency room tables and ‘floated’ to the waiting room to visit with their concerned families. Later, they were able to recall conversations and scenes that they could not possibly have witnessed in their comatose state.” [21] 

Scientists call [the] verifiable aspects of the NDE “veridical perceptions”, perceptions of specific and unique events that can be verified as true or false. Veridical perceptions are often  accurate depictions of events that the NDE experiencer’s  (NDEr’s) physical body could not have seen or heard and  that the NDEr could not have figured out through logic  or reasoning skills. The veridical perceptions normally  happen in stages of the NDE where the subjects experience  themselves in surroundings considered part of the “natural”  world. Moody reports a case in which a woman left her body  during surgery, traveled to the waiting room, and saw that  her daughter was wearing mismatched plaid clothes. While the mother did not see her daughter that day physically, she later mentioned this to her maid, who was astonished to hear how she knew this fact and explained that she had dressed the woman’s daughter so hastily that she had not noticed the mistake. [22]

Dr. Raymond Moody, researcher and author of 'Life after Life' says that there are maybe 15 elements of the Near Death Experience, such as hearing oneself pronounced dead, traveling through a tunnel, finding oneself outside of their physical body and watching the resuscitation attempt being made by doctors. Then the experiencer notices that he still has a body, but one of a very different nature, is visited by the spirits of relatives and friends who have already died, and encounters a spirit demonstrating love beyond description, or a being of light, then is asked a question to “make him evaluate his life”, and is shown a review of his life, etc. Sometimes the experiencer comes to a point of no return, which if he passes, he will have to stay in the spirit world, and is told he must return to earth. Finally he reunites with his physical body, and experiences bodily sensations of pain, etc. again. [23] Moody says that nobody he interviewed experienced all 15 elements of the experience, but many have reported 8 or more. Moody also reports that these common elements of the NDE are given by people of various “religious, social and educational backgrounds”. [24]  

The Human Energy Field (HEF) is now in that same place that human electromagnetic fields used to be. It is not something that can be easily measured and is not well known or accepted. But a variety of unconventional methods and instruments have been used to measure and verify its existence. “Dr. Victor Inyushin at Kazakh University in Russia has done extensive research with the Human Energy Field since the 1950s. Using the results of these experiments, he suggests the existence of a ‘bioplasmic’ energy field composed of ions, free protons, and free electrons. Since this is a state distinct from the four known states of matter- solids, liquids, gases, and plasma— Inyushin suggests that the bioplasmic energy field is a fifth state of matter.” [2] In 1979, another scientist, Dr. Robert Becker of Upstate Medical University in New York, “mapped a complex electrical field on the body which is shaped like the body and the central nervous system. He named this field “the direct current control system” and found that it changes shape and strength with physiological and psychological changes. He also found particles moving in this field that are the size of electrons.” [3]  

Some of the most notable research on the Human Energy Field has been performed by Valerie Hunt, a professor of  kinesiology at UCLA: “she discovered that a device used  to measure the electrical activity in the muscles called an  electromyograph (EMG) can measure the electrical presence  of the HEF: Hunt used the electromyograph first to test the  frequency of the brain, heart, and other muscles and areas  of the body. In addition to these, Hunt discovered that the  electromyograph could pick up another field of energy radiating  from the body, much subtler and smaller in amplitude than the  traditionally recognized body electricities, but with frequencies  that averaged between 100 and 1600 cps, and sometimes even  higher.” [4] These frequencies were much higher than those of  the brain, which averaged between 0-30 cps, and the muscles,  which averaged 225 cps. The HEF demonstrated the capacity  to vibrate at  a much faster speed than the physical body. [5] ...

 The understanding that humans have a body of energy that dwells within the physical body is a principle through which many other aspects of human experience can be explained. The physical body is driven by physiological impulses and attuned to states of physical pleasure or pain. The energetic body is driven by desire for wholeness and attuned to states of peacefulness and anxiety, joy and misery. When an energetic body comes into a physical one, it comes into an instrument which possesses strong innate drives and inclinations which seek fulfillment. In order to secure the continual fulfillment of its needs, the physical body must enlist the support of the active human aspect—the energetic body, or spirit. 

 (The term “spirit” will frequently be used in the text to refer to the collective entity of the energetic body, energetic organs, and any other aspect of the human spiritual body that may as of yet be unknown to us. The term soul will be used frequently to refer to the

whole human entity, most often to include both its physical and spiritual aspects..)

The relationship of these two bodies to each other can be one in which the energetic body possesses power to direct its physical instrument according to its will. It can also be a relationship in which the spirit subjects itself to the direction of the physical body, in fact becoming a passive or captive agent if it is driven by biological impulse or inclination. For this reason, a biblical passage gives the direction: “In your patience possess ye your souls”[11], teaching each to seek to willfully control or direct their own soul and not submit it to the possession and direction of forces which act upon it. 

In scientific support of this principle, Dr. Emoto explains that while “Most of the objects found in nature emit stable frequencies,” [12] human beings are unique in their capacity for energetic variance, the degree to which they both affect and are affected by the energetic content of their environment. [13] He describes being less energetically static or stable as a “double edged sword” since human beings can more easily affect each other and the environment for either positive or negative influence. Being more acutely affected by the energetic content of the environment makes a person’s primary relationships one of the most important factors in the health of their energy field. 

Of all the discoveries regarding the Human Energy Field that relate to its character or composition, perhaps the most astonishing is that it can be positively or negatively affected by human thought. “Dr. William A. Tiller and his colleagues at Stanford University developed a subtle energy detector – an ultra-sensitive Geiger counter-type device – and were able to determine that this subtle energy field responds to intentional human focus.”[16] In 1959, Dr. Leonard Ravitz at William and Mary University showed that the Human Energy Field fluctuates with a person’s mental and psychological stability. He discovered that there is a field associated with thought processes. He suggested that variation of this thought field "caused psychosomatic symptoms.” [17] 

Brennan’s assertion that she can see the effect of a person’s ‘negative or toxic thoughts’ as well as wrong beliefs, in distortions within the HEF demonstrates that effect upon one’s energetic   character is in part built, slowly, through the thoughts one maintains over the course of daily life. As the energetic body’s most constant companion, if the messages sent by a person’s thoughts are a loving wave, they will serve to elevate and purify the field. If they are of self-degradation and negativity towards life and other people, the energy field's natural and vibrant color will dim and its level of vibration will be affected. When people talk about “the power of positive thinking” they rarely realize how literally this is true. The scriptural premise that “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” [18] is literally true as thought comes to affect the actual composition of the soul.  

(See pdf for references listed here.)

As faith moves a person to action  in the absence of proof, some argue that faith-based ideologies can be dangerous since they cause a person to act without the certainty that the principles he is operating  from are in fact correct. Yet all human action possesses  some degree of uncertainty. Outcomes and responses to a  person’s actions are rarely, if ever, absolutely predictable or determined. Human beings do not act with full and  perfect knowledge of every event that will arise after the  words they speak or the actions they make. Every attempted  communication requires a person to have the faith that his  intended meaning will be conveyed. Every movement is  enacted by the faith that its course will find completion.  As no course of events or human response is entirely  determined, no matter how likely, faith is ever-present  in human action: faith in a person’s abilities, faith in his  decisions, faith in others, faith in the processes of day to  day life. The scriptural declaration that “without faith you  can do nothing” (D&C 11:1) is a universal law that applies to every  deliberate or non-instinctual action, in every instance.

 Faith is the principle of action by which humans move and enact their will in the world. All principles of human understanding, whether derived from experience or accepted on the authority of another source, require faith in their validity in order to apply them. The possession of knowledge of a principle concerning dynamics in the world gives a person the potential to negotiate with these dynamics rather than be at their effect. But this potential must be unlocked. The knowledge of the principle must be applied for this increased power to be realized. Faith allows the potential that knowledge promises, to be unlocked in each moment...

Just as climbers scaling the top of Everest need to  know what temperatures and air conditions they will  face as they make their ascent, knowledge of the nature  of a person’s spiritual destination lets her know what  preparations will be required in order for the journey to  be successful.  

The evidence of the pre-mortal existence of the soul [1], coupled with the emotional innocence of children  testifies of a spiritual plane from which souls came that is  pure beyond description. NDEs give additional support to  this premise. In nearly every NDE described as pleasurable  that has a period where the subject goes beyond the natural  realm, there is a description of an incredible light that  encompasses everything. This light not only illuminates  the external surroundings, but pierces through the soul, making every aspect of one’s heart and mind open and  visible before all others present. [2] One effect of being in  such a place of authenticity is that people see themselves  as they really are, even beyond their own self-image, or  rationalizations of their behavior. There is no possibility of  making oneself different in one’s mind; every unconscious  motivation is manifest. The experience is described as  complete nakedness, all of one’s life actions, thoughts,  and desires opened, with every detail exposed in the light.  Every thought or intention is instantly manifest before all  others. It is impossible in this place to lie, to conceal one’s  feelings, or to even entertain a private thought:  

“Whatever anyone thought, however fleeting or  unwillingly, was instantly apparent to all around him,  more completely than words could have expressed it, faster  than sound waves could have carried it...What was it going  to be like, I thought with a sudden panic, to live forever  where my most private thoughts were not private at all? No  disguising them, no covering them up, no way to pretend  I was anything but what I actually was.”[3] In Return From  Tomorrow, George Ritchie notes what an uncomfortable  experience it would be to live in such a state of openness  before all if one’s thoughts and intentions were prideful,  angry, or full of judgment or resentment towards others.  “How unbearable. Unless of course everyone around me  had the same kind of thoughts.” [4] This casual observation  points to the difficulty of living in a place of such purity and  authenticity if one is not prepared to do so. He explains  understanding that living in this state of authenticity  before others in a realm of purity, with any embarrassment of one’s deepest self, would be much more uncomfortable  than living with others who had similar aspects of character  that they were not comfortable exposing, whether pride, or  lust, or hate, or bitterness, or deceit. While those who have  had such experiences do not claim to be in the presence  of God, those who returned from these experiences often  testify of “purity” as an energetic reality and explained  feeling uncomfortable to be near such purity while filled  with any degree of impurity of heart or intention.  

For this reason, nearly all scriptural texts exhort each  and every soul to purify their hearts and intentions,  understanding that “God is a discerner of the thoughts  and intents of the heart.”[5] In the course of the ‘Life  Review’, Ritchie is asked what he has done with his life and  searches for an accomplishment that would be of spiritual  worth: “I started to point out my pre-med courses, how  I was going to be a doctor and help people. But visible  alongside the classroom scenes was that Cadillac car and  that private airplane – thoughts as observable as actions in  that all pervading Light.” [6] Where the action of going to  Medical School may have seemed an admirable thing on  it’s own, this account demonstrates that beyond this life,  the intentions behind action are as important as the actions  themselves, and visible to others. Scriptures and NDEs set the standard of  human worth far beyond achievements, and beyond how  a person’s actions may appear on the surface to others;  spiritual worth is placed on the love and kindness shown  to other souls, and the state of one’s heart and intentions.  

There is a massive gap between objects and qualities  emphasized to be of worth in practical life, and the spiritual qualities given importance in these types of Near Death examples. The gap between these two different  value structures, those of the immediate world in contrast  to those of the world to come, works to create the slope  of this mountain. It is this gap which makes it an uphill  climb to pursue things of spiritual worth while in a place  which ignores them, or at times encourages one to hold  values in conflict with things of spiritual worth. As with an  actual mountain, it requires more effort to progress up a  steep pitch then to take a leisurely walk through a gentle  valley or downhill slope. Since it is more difficult to go  uphill, unless the climber sees value in the objective of  summating the mountain and therefore willing to do what  is required (however more difficult to keep moving higher  in elevation), any climber will certainly take what appears  to be the easier path. 

(See PDFs for the References which correspond to those marked here.)

During his ministry among the Jews, Jesus told them that there were “other sheep” who would hear his voice:  “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” [2] After his  Resurrection, when Jesus sent the Apostles to preach to the Gentiles, many assumed that they were the other sheep to whom he was referring. But as Jesus said these  sheep would “hear my voice”, and the Gentile nations did  not ever hear his voice literally as did the those he walked  among during his ministry, question of the identity of  these other sheep remains unanswered in the Bible. Yet the existence of a 531 page record stating itself to be a temporal and spiritual history of “a remnant of the seed of Joseph, whose coat was rent by his  brethren into many pieces” or Joseph of Israel’s descendants, solves the  mystery of the identity of the “other  sheep”; its existence as another testament of Jesus Christ, according to  the promise of two or three witnesses, helps to establish the truthfulness of  important spiritual premises, none  more important than correctly  recognizing the redeemer of all  humankind.

The record includes account of  the resurrected Jesus specifically appearing to a people whom he identifies as a “remnant of the house  of Joseph” [4], a branch of the tribes of Israel, and then declaring: “verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold;  them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice;  and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. And they understood me not, for they supposed it had been the Gentiles; for they understood not that the Gentiles should be converted through their preaching.  And they  understood me not that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice— that I should not manifest myself unto them save it were by the Holy Ghost. But behold, ye have both heard my voice, and seen me; and ye are  my sheep, and ye are numbered among those whom the father hath given me.” [5]

(Revised edition coming 2029- 2031)

References: 

2. Bible. John 10:16

4. Book of Mormon. 3 Nephi 15:12

5. Ibid. 3 Nephi 15: 21-24

...Over the last 10 years I got a lot closer with my mom and dad, and even moved into their home for a few years to help and spend more time with them while my dad had a serious illness. We would take walks, watch shows and eat together at night, sit and talk for long periods.. They were really great years and times together.

During those years my mom and I took a drive together almost every day, while my dad rested at home. Every day we drove, we took the same route in the foothills in Littleton, Colorado. One of the stories my mom told me then was of an experience she had a few nights after her dad, my grandpa Fullmer had passed away. As she was falling asleep, she felt an overwhelming, or beyond earthly love pressing down on her on the bed. She then felt connected to her father, and heard him say words that were a very fatherly type of message. The experience stuck with her, as it was a confirmation that after his death, her father very certainly still existed, and was in a place of incredible love, and could express a glimpse of that..

In recent years, my mom started attending church with me. She hadn’t been regularly since she was 13 or so. And in attending, she came to grow a lot spiritually, taking steps to do more in her relationship with God and Jesus Christ. When I sat next to her, I sometimes heard her sing. After getting remarried and moving to California a few years later, I would sometimes remember or miss sitting next to her in church. In early May of this year, one hymn that the congregation sang was a new hymn the church has released called “O Lord, Who Gave Thy Life for Me.” The song gives a reverent memory of Jesus Christ and his suffering and atoning sacrifice. The last words of each of the four verses reference connecting or binding our heart to God’s. Progressing with each from Bind my "sorrowing heart" in verse one, to my "trusting heart", my "willing heart", and finally to my "grateful heart", in verse four.

As the love and humor in our family during my dad’s illness gave him more strength to fight the aggressive brain cancer he suffered, he beat his prognosis by some time, but eventually succumbed to the disease in June of 2021. My mom suffered a lot of grief to lose a partner of 46 years. On the day we sung this new hymn for the first time in church, I had recently posted a picture of my mom and I at lunch for a Facebook cover pic. In doing that, it felt like over all this distance between the states we live, it connects us in a way. As we sang the hymn I felt it was really pretty. When we got to the fourth verse and the final phrase, I heard my mom’s voice aloud in my head. It was with a spiritual tone that felt like it reflected or revealed the hurt and grief she has gone through for years after losing my dad. Almost as if I was sitting with her in church in Colorado, the phrase began “O Savior, may Thy love Divine".., and as I sung the final words, I heard my mom sing with me, “Now bind my grateful heart to thine.”

* (There will be some overlap of sections regarding family and personal spiritual experiences in this book, and the spiritual memoir- Chess in the Desert.) 

…Don't I know my own associations for words, or wouldn't I at least recognize them if l saw them? Don't I know that for the word "Mountain", I think of trees, and this picture of Everest,  and perhaps a city I have lived in near mountains?  When I see such a place, or Littleton, CO in a dream, I don't realize that it was my dream's pick to signify "mountain". Just show me a mountain! But when alternatively I see a mountain in a dream, how do I know whether I am to take it for a mountain, or if it is intended to be an association of some other word or meaning, such as "climbing" or "difficulty"? Herein lies the problem: mental contents are many times (but not always) representational things. Sometimes they are used as an association of a sign, but sometimes they just are the things they are. In a dream it seems I have lost objectivity in being able to tell which are which. 

Perhaps I need go no further. Wittgenstein's objection to the content of dreams being considered as signs is that though one may determine a use of a symbol and translate this into speech, with a dream the opposite of this is not as straight-forward. I can say now, that not only can I not translate my speech into the symbols of a dream, but I could not have any objectivity either, in determining what part of the content of a dream are symbols to start with. It is not only that I cannot determine a use, I cannot determine a sign! This looks to be the more technical clarification of Wittgenstein's objection to dream language on the grounds that it fails the test of two-way translation. 

But I am not yet ready to concede this inquiry to an impossibility of determining meaning in dreams just yet. It is true that deriving determinations of the use of the represented contents that I believe to be associated with meanings is going to be quite difficult as perhaps I have associated many contents with one meaning or use, and a particular content for many different meanings or uses. But is it impossible in all cases, or so subjective of an endeavor that it is futile to even try??

Examples of dream content that seem persuasive that meaning about the particular life of the dreaming individual is being transmitted in a comprehensible form or with a determinable link between expression or content and particular use, are the following two examples regarding physical ailments: A case of a man that had dreams of a rat gnawing at his stomach just before being diagnosed with an ulcer and of a woman who dreamt of the shattering of a contact lens just before the shattering of one of the disks in her vertebrae is noted by MD, PhD, Mona Lisa Schulz in her analysis of body phenomena reflected in unconscious mental process. [1]

Now these people could listen to Wittgenstein or me and say to themselves, "well, it looks as if the border between the associative content I carry for a word, and the words themselves, has dissolved in my dream, so it is no use to pay any attention to these useless dream manifestations." But should years go down the road and either of these two individuals begin to have dreams where these same contents of the contact lens or the rat are used in similar ways, it would be wise for them to go and see a doctor. Or if the application of a symbol seems to resemble either instance e.g. the man begins to dream of little black specs filling his lungs, he would benefit from checking to see if he has developed lung cancer.

In the book 'Love, Medicine, and Miracles' Dr. Bernie Siegel gives many examples of the mind- body-dream connection. In one place he says that UCLA Research psychologist Russell Lockhart explains the phenomena in this way, "Bodily organs and processes have the capacity to stimulate the production of psychic images, meaningfully related to the type of physical disturbance and it's location." Siegel notes, "This probably comes about by means of electrical and/ or chemical messages from the diseased part of the body to the brain, which are interpreted by the mind as images." [2] Considering that many aspects of the mind have been demonstrated to be a part of the Human Energy Field or Spirit [3], we can consider that this mind-body-dream connection, is also, and in greater part, a spirit-body-dream connection..

References for this excerpt:

1. Schulz, Mona Lisa. Awakening Intuition. (New York, NY: Three  Rivers Press, 1999, P.48, 53)

2. Siegel, Bernie.  Love, Medicine, and Miracles. (Harper and Row, 1988, p.158)

3. Talbot, Michael. The Holographic Universe. (Harper Collins. 1991, P. 192)

In Spring 2007, while I was in the very early stages of writing 'One Great Whole', before I had any idea what I would call the progression of evidences for God, the afterlife and immortality of the soul, and many other spiritual truths.. I had a very memorable and powerful spiritual experience. I would go into the study, which was the center room of the house and just write solid as long as I could. On one evening, I got into a flow and wrote a lot on a lot of different sections, but came to having trouble with organization, and the structure and layout of the book. This eventually brought my writing to a stop, as I wasn't sure of the order of the sections or how they would connect and progress. 

While struggling, I might’ve said a few quick prayers that my writing could be guided by the Holy Ghost, to be the best that it could be. And then soon, at some point later into the night, I suddenly saw the area behind the computer against the wall illuminate into a beautiful iridescent light and saw a vision of the layout of the book, written out with the chapter headings and titles in a special font, as if I was seeing the organization of the book as it would have been conceived in heaven, or as an inspired layout would look. I felt seized upon in my heart and felt a very real and beautiful possibility of the book’s potential. 

As I had been writing late at night and gotten very tired, this intense vision and feeling also brought my mind sharply into focus and alertness, and quickened my spirit or gave me the energy to continue. I only was able to glean a little from the headings and the structure I saw. I didn’t remember everything, but just enough to get through my block with the organization and get into a great flow and progress again with the writing.

*  ((In sharing or talking about spiritual experiences, I’ve sometimes heard people say that some are too sacred  to share. I agree with that, and sometimes feel the same way about mentioning certain memories, often if a special or vulnerable moment with a family member, etc. In creating a website to share the books I’d written and am working on, I often feel a spiritual constraint with something I logically might feel fine about sharing, or think makes sense to share. In these cases I sometimes have acted on the logical thought, and then have to change it later because of the feeling, or the feeling getting stronger.

There are some things I really want to post or write about, but may have to wait a long period, or may never be able to post or write about them. But some very sacred things also feel very safe to share. This book will contain many experiences related to my life and family, and more of my personal spiritual journey..))