Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment

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Colonel Gaydafi

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #30 on: February 03, 2008, 10:22:57 AM »
I'm a committed atheist, but I've had a number of experiences that I think are like what you meant, Gayer. It happens a lot when I'm doing long, repetitive sessions of exercise, and sometimes at other times if I'm reflecting.

I think the best way I can describe it is as 2 parts deja vu, 3 parts meditation. A sort of disconnected, airy, euphoric feeling. To me it doesn't have any sort of religious or spiritual implication, but I can easily see how someone with a different viewpoint would believe it to be so. (I'm not saying believing it to be religious or spiritual is wrong!)

Anyone that's had deja vu should have a little bit of an idea of the feeling I mean.

Try to recapture that feeling if you can :D

I'd love to recapture the feeling again. I tried going for a walk again to see what happened
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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #31 on: February 03, 2008, 11:38:02 PM »
Experience is not the events that effect us but rather what we make of those events. When you say that you saw god in everything, was this the presence of god? Was it the realization that everything has purpose, or that nothing is without meaning? This reminds me of the notion popular in Islam that everything is filled with holiness because it was made by Allah, and also of that existentialist scene in American Beauty about the plastic bag blowing in the wind being the most beautiful thing the main character ever filmed.

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Colonel Gaydafi

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #32 on: February 04, 2008, 04:45:02 AM »
Well actually it felt more like nothing really mattered, that nothing has a purpose.
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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #33 on: February 04, 2008, 05:03:11 AM »
Nihilism for you then. Remember: because nothing matters you should do everything you can get away with.

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Colonel Gaydafi

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #34 on: February 04, 2008, 05:06:05 AM »
Sounds good
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Loard Z

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #35 on: February 04, 2008, 05:08:21 AM »
Nihilism is a good stance to take. Because, at the end of the day, it rocks.
if i remember, austria is an old, dis-used name for what is now Germany.
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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #36 on: February 04, 2008, 05:20:39 AM »
And in the other threads they claim that atheists are no less moral  ::)

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Loard Z

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #37 on: February 04, 2008, 05:31:34 AM »
And theists are....

 ::)
if i remember, austria is an old, dis-used name for what is now Germany.
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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #38 on: February 04, 2008, 06:24:49 AM »
Parallels could also be drawn to Samsara and Buddhism I imagine.
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Miss M.

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #39 on: February 04, 2008, 10:36:16 AM »
So does this mean you now believe in a higher being, then, gayer?

Sounds interesting. I'd love to have some mystical experience, but I think my cynicism gets in the way.
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Chris Spaghetti

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #40 on: February 04, 2008, 11:02:54 AM »
Quote
It was just easier to define it as god because I couldn't describe it. So yeah you're write, I was being intellectually lazy, fair point. But it was still something, no matter what its called.

I had a feeling like it before while at a youth service at this church in Watford. I can't say that it was 'God' but it was definitely...something (how lame...)

It's experiences like what I felt and stories from people like yourself that keep me a deist rather than athiest. I believe there is something but organised religion effectively 'cashes in' on it.

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #41 on: February 04, 2008, 11:47:22 AM »
Religions are founded when the average person thinks he can take what a religious genius does and "mass produce" it for everyone.

It works, but in a SPAM sorta way.
So long and thanks for all the fish

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Colonel Gaydafi

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #42 on: February 04, 2008, 12:50:44 PM »
So does this mean you now believe in a higher being, then, gayer?

Sounds interesting. I'd love to have some mystical experience, but I think my cynicism gets in the way.

Sort of, but I dunno what. That's the problem witu cynacism, that's why it's important to have an open mind
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Chris Spaghetti

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #43 on: February 04, 2008, 02:03:57 PM »
The problem with having an open mind is that people insist on putting things in it - Terry Pratchett

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Benocrates

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #44 on: February 04, 2008, 02:10:13 PM »
The problem with having an open mind is that people insist on putting things in it - Terry Pratchett

"Let's not open our minds so much our brains fall out" - Richard Dawkins

Another good open mind quote I thought I'd toss in there.
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Colonel Gaydafi

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #45 on: February 04, 2008, 04:14:32 PM »
Mine fell out long ago
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If Gayer doesn't remember you, you might as well do yourself a favor and become an hero.
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there is a difference between touching a muff and putting your hand into it isn't there?

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Dead Kangaroo

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #46 on: February 05, 2008, 10:10:17 AM »
Mine was Krang's stunt double for a bit.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2008, 10:12:24 AM by Viscount Dead Kangaroo »

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #47 on: February 09, 2008, 02:27:02 PM »
what u felt/saw was nature not god (same thing to some people)

i get these feelings once in a while

its when u come to a realization/epiphany (it could have been sub conscience) which links an emotion or thought (or in fact all of your conscienceless) to something in nature or all of it

thats what i get out of it anyway, what ur describing to me i have experience on multiple occasions

it depends how u see it..u see it as god, because u believe in god, or dont know what else to call it

i saw it as my mind/body finding some weird connection to nature

it is hard to explain, i hope this can help

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EvilToothpaste

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #48 on: February 13, 2008, 10:52:50 PM »
If you want some respect or even a response, spend the extra second to type the letters 'y' and 'o'. 

You have nothing better to do, don't worry. 

An amused,

Toothy. 

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TSEE

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #49 on: February 14, 2008, 12:31:22 AM »
what u felt/saw was nature not god (same thing to some people)

i get these feelings once in a while

its when u come to a realization/epiphany (it could have been sub conscience) which links an emotion or thought (or in fact all of your conscienceless) to something in nature or all of it

thats what i get out of it anyway, what ur describing to me i have experience on multiple occasions

it depends how u see it..u see it as god, because u believe in god, or dont know what else to call it

i saw it as my mind/body finding some weird connection to nature

it is hard to explain, i hope this can help

Surely we don't need txt spk? It's not like we've got a small box to write in.

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Colonel Gaydafi

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #50 on: February 14, 2008, 05:44:02 AM »
I've forgotten what it felt like so I dunno how to respond now :(
Quote from: WardoggKC130FE
If Gayer doesn't remember you, you might as well do yourself a favor and become an hero.
Quote from: Raa
there is a difference between touching a muff and putting your hand into it isn't there?

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #51 on: February 14, 2008, 07:54:12 AM »
So does this mean you now believe in a higher being, then, gayer?

Sounds interesting. I'd love to have some mystical experience, but I think my cynicism gets in the way.

I've had a number of mystical experiences, and am an atheist and a cynic and I still think they have a higher meaning.
So long and thanks for all the fish

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EvilToothpaste

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #52 on: February 14, 2008, 07:56:09 AM »
I had a moment of enlightenment a few years back. I was coming home from a job I detested, sitting at the longest red light in the country.  Very suddenly the bottom dropped out of my proverbial bucket of thoughts.  There was not a thought in my head, good or bad, and I just laughed because everything around was so simple when just seconds before it had been a big rat race.  I wasn't worried about where I was going with my job anymore, and everything faded away.  I was just right there, very simply and honestly.  There were no thoughts swarming in my head dragging me around with desires and worries.  Everything was right there in front of me, pure and simple like a hammer to the forebrain.  It needed no translation into thoughts.  Then the light turned green and the experience stayed behind me. 

Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #53 on: February 14, 2008, 11:37:29 AM »
I had something like that today.

Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #54 on: February 14, 2008, 11:42:18 AM »
When I was younger I was sitting on the step leading to our back yard and I was looking down to my right at our dog's food bowl. It wasn't a real food bowl rather it was the upturned lid of a glass casserole dish. At each end as you know are flat handles. As I looked at the lid, one end of it - I can't think of a better way to describe it- exploded. The flat glass handle shattered and it was very sudden and made a kind of popping noise. I'm not saying this was something supernatural but to this day I've never managed to think of a reason for it. It had been in the shade all day and was in the shade when it exploded so there was no temperature changes to speak of. It was just an average mild day.

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EvilToothpaste

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Re: Religious experiences/spiritual enlightenment
« Reply #55 on: February 17, 2008, 08:02:52 AM »
It was a mini black hole!   Your head a-splode!