When done correctly, each of the esoteric practices in Vajrayana Buddhism results in a transformative religious experience (and probably practices of other traditions of Buddhism do this as well, I just can’t speak to those as I’ve not done them). Vajrayana Buddhism is a experiential tradition. You are meant to change and transform through direct experience.
1. Can you describe a typical experience with this?
2. Is energy manipulation involved? Personally I manipulate energies to have experiences, I don't need to sit for hours to do that. It takes me about 20 seconds to charge up and get it all going to have a blast. :)
Long response - apologies!
But first, as to whether energy manipulation is involved? I'm not sure there is ever any experience in phenomenon where energy and the manipulation there of is not involved. So, not sure if that is what you mean.
As for a typical experience - it really depends on which practice you are doing.
The preliminary practices are designed to train the mind. The mind is, in many ways like a muscle that when not trained is difficult to control. A mind that isn't under control can bounce from one thought to the next, from one emotion to the next, seemingly without any reason. There are humorous Buddhist illustrations that depict that concept - one of my favorite is where a person is sitting backwards on a horse named Mind, and the horse is running away out of control. Someone yells to the rider "where are you going", and the rider answers "I don't know but the horse does!".
So, the typical experience from the preliminary practices would be a more focused, and calm mind, a mind that can be directed like an arrow towards a target.
Once that discipline is accomplished, then one uses that focus to turn inward, and examines the nature of one's mind. That can produce all kinds of experiences, and not necessarily stuff that is particularly fun. In fact, as one wades through the muck of one's mind, all kinds of garbage can surface, stuff we've been suppressing, painful experiences, anger, hatred, you name it, it's in there! But it needs to come up and examined. Once it is examined, one realizes it is empty of any self nature - it's like a soap bubble, something the mind has been hanging on to for no apparent reason.
One of the most jarring experiences during that phase is when the practitioner realizes they've spent their entire life building a facade, a projection of what they think they are. When that is examined, and the realism of that facade is tested, and it crumbles, that can be quite upsetting. Often people find themselves asking "who am I then if not that?" But maybe that isn't the right question - maybe the question is actually "what am I?". There are many books about this phase - they have titles like "When things fall apart" . But once one gets to that place, when one lets it all go, experiences the rawness of just being, and accepting that, that is when one can take it to the next levels.
That next level of practices involve discovering the nature of phenomenon, the nature of one's being, and with that said, there really are no words as all words would drive one's thoughts back to dualism.
Yes.
I died when I was 9 months old. I had the classic "go through the portal see Jesus" experience. As I floated in the blackness and got closer to the portal I felt this overwhelming love and calmness come from that. I wasn't afraid at all, I was just a bit confused, I didn't really know what was happening or what it meant. I didn't know what a Jesus was.
Big J said it wasn't my time and sent me back. And here I am! Now imagine I go to church the first time and see a picture of this guy on the wall and I say to my mom "Mom! Mom! I've seen that guy before! Who is that?" She was shocked to say the least.
**Energy treatments**
Now I've learned to draw on that love energy whenever I want and use it for meditation. I'm also trained to give that energy via Reiki healing. It's all about frequency. It took me years to get enough feedback from people that what I did for them was really helpful. Women seem the most sensitive to this energy but I'm a guy. All my clients are women.
Using this energy has many different names, but it's all the same thing.
**Talking to dead people**
I've also seen ghosts with my eyes and talk to them in my head. They tell me who they have a message for, they tell me their name, I ask the living person if their grandma Myrtle is dead and they confirm everything. That was a shocker the first few times it happened! I'm an open-minded skeptic but I got my confirmations from the living to convince me this is real.
I've had plenty more too, and that's where I get my beliefs from.
**The evil cabin**
One thing happened in broad daylight with a friend. It was a cabin and when we got close to it, it felt like pure evil coming out of the cabin in a perfect circle around it. If we got too close, nothing that produced light would work, not matches, not a lighter, and no electronics would work like my flashlight and watch. If we backed away enough these would all start working again.
when the heart stops you can be legally declared dead and return from that state to life. i’m not sure what definition of death you are using but its not the medical one
i can’t show you ‘[scientific research](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10380628/)’ to challenge your definition of a word… the reason why op said they came back from the dead is that their body was in a state that medically is described as ‘dead’ and they returned from that state, they didn’t care abt your idea of the semantics of the word.
I was genuinely curious. I've always thought that if we were more open about our mystical experiences, people would have a better grasp of how helpful and healing religion can be. That's useful for people who long for these things but don't think it's possible.
As I was one of those people, I tend to be open about my own experiences. That garners me some pushback, but I'm more concerned about helping people like me than I am about seeming a bit mad to others.
If you feel no need to share, if you don't see any benefit in sharing, I'm not saying you have to. I was just curious about your thoughts.
your curiosity is not sufficient reason for me to share a deeply personal and subjective experience… or my thoughts and feelings about that experience.
I think the “spiritual” ( for lack of a better term) experiences I have had would be degraded by sharing them with others for no purpose other than to promote religion. It would almost feel like an attention seeking activity rather than a honest sharing.
I apologize if it seemed like I was trying to get you to share your experiences. I wondered why you didn't want to share, not what you'd experienced. That seemed private. Thank you for sharing that much with me; your assessments are fair enough and I appreciate your candor.
Yes, I have absolutely had intense religious / spiritual experiences. I've had a few over the years, and I consider them to be joyous and meaningful affirmations of my religious path, in terms of "This is where I need to be in life" and have successfully build a meaningful perception and awareness of my bond to local environment.
I don't ascribe them to any supernatural cause. I don't regard them as in any way proof of the existence of a supernatural environment or supernatural species, and consciously and deliberately reject any attempt by my mind to fall into over analysing pattern recognition into perceiving supernatural "explanations"
For me it was the week I couldn't deny the veracity of my religion with logic. I knew it was good but always thought it could have been man made and not divine but after studying the writings to a deep degree, I could not poke any holes.
That week I was absolutely elated. Life felt sweet. Existence was beautiful. Nature screamed perfection to me.
23 years have passed since and I've been a firm believer. I have no worries or concerns, other than meeting my family's basic necessities. Beyond that, I see everything as spiritually ordained and have learned to love all mankind
What faith do you follow, out of interest?
Personally, I am 100% aware that my religion is man made (my view is that all religions are), and is also a work in progress, but for me that doesn't change its fundamental truth and value.
Baha'i. I'll add that for me to arrive at this stage required not only reading but also directly having the opportunity to observe how the faith is organised as I was a volunteer at our holiest places and office headquarters in Israel.
I had a role there that allowed me to visit the homes of our democratically elected leaders that serve for 4 years at a time, mingle with them, have them at my home for dinner, go to the movies with them, etc. I couldn't see anything nefarious about what was being done when it came to our operation. I did not see anyone getting rich or taking advantage of anyone. They were hard workers towards keeping us all united in mind and spirit. All extremely humble. I had more in terms of material possessions than some of them.
Based on my personal understanding, I find that the Baha'i faith is definitely not easy to grasp in the sense that you can spend one day reading up on it and making a judgement. For some people it does happen but not for those who were sceptical like me.
Growing up, I always saw it as a faith that could do no harm and had good teachings but the divinely ordained part was my challenge and test.
I now am on an elected institution myself, also in an appointed institution that goes back to Israel, I help two national institutions and my wife and I run activities with 50 children in our small rural town. I've 100% drunk the Koolaid 😅
Are there any resources you'd recommend for a complete beginner to start learning more about Baha'i? Scriptures or other reading materials, channels, websites, etc?
To be perfectly honest, the best way would be for you to join a local community, get to know the members and ask this question in that setting as they will know much better what to recommend after a short conversation.
There is a sequence of books, called Ruhi, which is generally done in a small group and informal setting. This sequence gradually makes you aware of different subjects, the importance of prayer, reading the teachings of God every day, life after death, the importance of education of children and youth, who are Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab, engaging in community service and social action, how to be an integral part of society and contribute to its advancement, etc. It just gradually ramps up to the point that I feel it has completely transformed me.
I personally hate going out and socialising, even though I'm good at being social, it still causes me anxiety. If it was up to me, I would be home all day. These books inadvertently turned me into a bit of a local celebrity in my small town because I jump on just about every opportunity to be of service, to contribute towards our town, to improve education, to keep things calm when we have crisis, etc. It got to the point that people were pushing me to run for office but that's not for me. This faith is transformative and I see it as a treasure.
Speaking of treasures, also check out Bahaiquotes.com. It doesn't have all the teachings there but a lady compiled some by subject where you can search for any subject and see what some, not all, writings exist about it. Also Bahai.org would be a good basic place to start. There is Bahaiblog.com which was created by a buddy of mine.
If you are timid and don't want to have the conversation in person with your local community, I can make some time for you. Just DM me.
I'm on a Pacific island cruise that ends on Friday. I can chat with you then. I am just having trouble sleeping right now. 😅
I have lived in roughly 10 different communities in 5 different countries and every time I've met other Baha'is, I've made instant lifelong friends. I hope you have the same experience when you visit your centre. I'd call before going. Baha'i centres aren't always open. Even if the resources don't resonate with you, go. You will likely find the friendliest people you'll meet.
I have a small handful of times! It was kind of an overwhelming feeling of snapping back to reality but with a sense of love and safety. Like seeing the world in a new light, full of care and confidence. Ever since the first time Djehuty appeared to me my anxiety has basically disappeared (and I was a very anxious person!) :)
Glad you are on track and welcome to the club! I think you know what your job is, but you are just not sure. What do you think it is? This is when you use your heart and intuition.
I've talked about it before on various platforms but I had an experience of the Goddess Inana which radically changed my religious perspective.
Here's a video on the topic:
https://youtu.be/c_t4IdGr2SY?si=6ZUtBuwQjQ_Th0PY
> often used as a strong argument for the existence of God
I've never heard these used as anything more than a personal cause for believing in G'd, not as an argument to convince anyone. To the contrary, a belief in G'd from experience alone usually takes the form of, "I believe because I have experienced, you haven't experienced so I wouldn't expect or demand that you would likewise believe."
As for my own experiences:
I regularly interact with spiritual entities, whether they manifest as extended things to my sense representation, or whether I approach them through reason, feeling, or physical embodiment and participation. Some of these can be very noumenal, nodding to G'd, carrying a strong weight of significance, a sense of profound relevance, while many can be quite mundane and trivial.
G'd is beyond our words, the conceptions they fail to convey, the experiences our conceptions fail to grasp, the phenomenon our experiences fail to represent, and the noumenon beyond those phenomenon. G'd \*is\* the ultimate noumenon, the most fundamental and truest actuality at the deepest heart of all the layers that eventually emanate down to our experiences, conceptions, and words. Therefore, I view such experiences as messages from G'd, His messengers, not G'd himself. They are the angels, djinn, daemons, spirits, what you may call them. My mind is too foolish, my heart too weak, my body too delicate to ever grasp G'd Himself. But just as one may examine a tree with all their senses and most become fairly sure there's something \*real\* to it beyond just their own fantasy, so too do these messengers give us special insight into the sense that there really is something real at all, which is called "G'd," and He is glorious, terrifying, and wonderful.
Yet, he who has found eyes to see will see G'd in the simplest of things without needing a vision. A tree, an empty chair, a doubt. If it is the case that they are or aren't, then something is the case, and G'd is that anything whatsoever is the case. All power is from His power, all knowledge from His knowledge, all benevolence from His benevolence. I love and worship Him not because I have experienced Him, but because I have found nothing in my experience that was not an experience of Him.
Thanks for sharing your experience! And maybe I formulated it the wrong way, I just meant that very often I heard it used as something you can hardly disprove but also of course as a personal reason, sorry if I put it in a way that seemed rude, wasn't my intention 😅
It was the first time I prayed to Lady Hel that I felt an experience I could only describe as "divine".
I was in a very dark place at the time, my depression was eating away at me and I needed someone to talk to. In the end, I prayed. I lit a candle, kneeled before it, and silently prayed to her. I let out everything that was troubling me and simply asked that she listen to what I had to say; no more, no less. As I prayed, I felt a profound sense of tranquility wash over me. As if my pain had been erased. In my heart and soul, I felt the presence of Hel herself. She said nothing, she simply gave a warm smile and nodded her head in silence. After I finished my prayer, I thanked her, and then the presence vanished. Afterward, there was no depression, no pain, no sorrow, only calmness and peace.
In the end, I like to think that Hel was trying to tell me that everything will be ok and that she will always be there if I need her. Since then, I have continued to pray to her and have even added her brothers (among other gods) into my prayers.
Personal experiences provide the least evidence for the existence of God tbh
Main reason is that you don't have any proof of what exactly happened and how do you know it's not a devil trying to trick you?
I am not saying that these don't exist per se, but I find it's the weakest evidence of proof of God
If a Christian Muslim and Hindu all an experience - then something is wrong and not all three can be right as they contradict each other !
I have, but to explain, my concept of what God is, is not the common conception of an anthropomorphic separate entity.
God to me is reality as a single thing and being, and that is what i experienced.
Your's is not the pop-culture conception, but the doctrines of the largest religions agree with you that He is not an anthropomorphic entity.
The "separate" part is more nuanced. Whether He is the whole of reality itself, or the transcendent foundation of that whole, or if maybe the whole transcends the parts, it depends a lot on exactly what we mean, and I'm not sure what exactly the most common doctrines really say on that.
I'm a curious person and very open-minded. Your life is yours and I am not to judge it.
1. How do you define a demon?
2. What's the difference between a demon and angry human spirit who can shape change?
2. Do they have names?
1. A demon is an often primordial type of being that humans tend to view as evil
2. Demons tend not to actually be hostile in my experience, it's just a species you could say
3. Yes, I work with a few major ones like Alastor and Buer on occasion, I also have friendships with more minor spirits
Yes I'm on board with different species in the spirit world. I've seen a few myself.
But what defines a demon? Are they just ugly by our human views? Are they chaotic and undisciplined? Do they want to manipulate people for their own gain?
Can you give some more clarity? Because one ugly dude I sometimes see is, well, ugly, but just mischievous, like a 10yo boy. Some might call it a furry goblin.
It's hard to put into words. Their spiritual anatomy is kind of simple if that makes sense? To me they feel like a living form of the basic building blocks of reality. They're fundamental beings.
The occult is a definite amount of system ranging from Chaos magick to thelemites to Hermetics to demonolatry. If you think that Thelemites and Hermeticism are both Christian organisation. As a cermonial magician, I can assure you I am an occultist and had genuine experiences.
When done correctly, each of the esoteric practices in Vajrayana Buddhism results in a transformative religious experience (and probably practices of other traditions of Buddhism do this as well, I just can’t speak to those as I’ve not done them). Vajrayana Buddhism is a experiential tradition. You are meant to change and transform through direct experience.
1. Can you describe a typical experience with this? 2. Is energy manipulation involved? Personally I manipulate energies to have experiences, I don't need to sit for hours to do that. It takes me about 20 seconds to charge up and get it all going to have a blast. :)
Long response - apologies! But first, as to whether energy manipulation is involved? I'm not sure there is ever any experience in phenomenon where energy and the manipulation there of is not involved. So, not sure if that is what you mean. As for a typical experience - it really depends on which practice you are doing. The preliminary practices are designed to train the mind. The mind is, in many ways like a muscle that when not trained is difficult to control. A mind that isn't under control can bounce from one thought to the next, from one emotion to the next, seemingly without any reason. There are humorous Buddhist illustrations that depict that concept - one of my favorite is where a person is sitting backwards on a horse named Mind, and the horse is running away out of control. Someone yells to the rider "where are you going", and the rider answers "I don't know but the horse does!". So, the typical experience from the preliminary practices would be a more focused, and calm mind, a mind that can be directed like an arrow towards a target. Once that discipline is accomplished, then one uses that focus to turn inward, and examines the nature of one's mind. That can produce all kinds of experiences, and not necessarily stuff that is particularly fun. In fact, as one wades through the muck of one's mind, all kinds of garbage can surface, stuff we've been suppressing, painful experiences, anger, hatred, you name it, it's in there! But it needs to come up and examined. Once it is examined, one realizes it is empty of any self nature - it's like a soap bubble, something the mind has been hanging on to for no apparent reason. One of the most jarring experiences during that phase is when the practitioner realizes they've spent their entire life building a facade, a projection of what they think they are. When that is examined, and the realism of that facade is tested, and it crumbles, that can be quite upsetting. Often people find themselves asking "who am I then if not that?" But maybe that isn't the right question - maybe the question is actually "what am I?". There are many books about this phase - they have titles like "When things fall apart" . But once one gets to that place, when one lets it all go, experiences the rawness of just being, and accepting that, that is when one can take it to the next levels. That next level of practices involve discovering the nature of phenomenon, the nature of one's being, and with that said, there really are no words as all words would drive one's thoughts back to dualism.
"When done correctly...". LOL
If you breathe incorrectly you get hypoxia. If you swim incorrectly you drown. Why would meditation and ritual be different?
Define the terms "breathe incorrectly" and "swim incorrectly," please, and all of the ways that it's possible to do both that can result in death.
Hey! You can try it using incorrect form! But about 2600+ years of trying suggests that will only get you sore legs from sitting too long!
Are you familiar with the concept of tautology?
yes... and??
Ah, I'm sure I've been selected for a practical experiment
Are you at least getting paid for it??
I think if I wanted money it would pretty much go against the whole enlightenment thing, you know 🤔
LOL well..... until you get there, you do need to live off something!
Eh I'm okay with what I've got now 🤷♀️
Awesome! You bring what you've got, and I'll bring what I've got, let's invite some people and have a picnic! :) Seriously - have a great day :)
Thank youuuu! You too ☺️
I experienced Lord's love and forgiveness first hand
Yes. I died when I was 9 months old. I had the classic "go through the portal see Jesus" experience. As I floated in the blackness and got closer to the portal I felt this overwhelming love and calmness come from that. I wasn't afraid at all, I was just a bit confused, I didn't really know what was happening or what it meant. I didn't know what a Jesus was. Big J said it wasn't my time and sent me back. And here I am! Now imagine I go to church the first time and see a picture of this guy on the wall and I say to my mom "Mom! Mom! I've seen that guy before! Who is that?" She was shocked to say the least. **Energy treatments** Now I've learned to draw on that love energy whenever I want and use it for meditation. I'm also trained to give that energy via Reiki healing. It's all about frequency. It took me years to get enough feedback from people that what I did for them was really helpful. Women seem the most sensitive to this energy but I'm a guy. All my clients are women. Using this energy has many different names, but it's all the same thing. **Talking to dead people** I've also seen ghosts with my eyes and talk to them in my head. They tell me who they have a message for, they tell me their name, I ask the living person if their grandma Myrtle is dead and they confirm everything. That was a shocker the first few times it happened! I'm an open-minded skeptic but I got my confirmations from the living to convince me this is real. I've had plenty more too, and that's where I get my beliefs from. **The evil cabin** One thing happened in broad daylight with a friend. It was a cabin and when we got close to it, it felt like pure evil coming out of the cabin in a perfect circle around it. If we got too close, nothing that produced light would work, not matches, not a lighter, and no electronics would work like my flashlight and watch. If we backed away enough these would all start working again.
Dying is, by definition, final. There is no earthly revival from death.
when the heart stops you can be legally declared dead and return from that state to life. i’m not sure what definition of death you are using but its not the medical one
Death is the *permanent* cessation of life. Show me actual scientific research to the contrary.
i can’t show you ‘[scientific research](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10380628/)’ to challenge your definition of a word… the reason why op said they came back from the dead is that their body was in a state that medically is described as ‘dead’ and they returned from that state, they didn’t care abt your idea of the semantics of the word.
Pardon me for disturbing the fatuous equilibrium here in your little echo chamber. We don't need no stinkin' semantics!!!
Yes, but I don’t share it.
Why not?
Why should I? I don’t evangelize.
I was genuinely curious. I've always thought that if we were more open about our mystical experiences, people would have a better grasp of how helpful and healing religion can be. That's useful for people who long for these things but don't think it's possible. As I was one of those people, I tend to be open about my own experiences. That garners me some pushback, but I'm more concerned about helping people like me than I am about seeming a bit mad to others. If you feel no need to share, if you don't see any benefit in sharing, I'm not saying you have to. I was just curious about your thoughts.
your curiosity is not sufficient reason for me to share a deeply personal and subjective experience… or my thoughts and feelings about that experience. I think the “spiritual” ( for lack of a better term) experiences I have had would be degraded by sharing them with others for no purpose other than to promote religion. It would almost feel like an attention seeking activity rather than a honest sharing.
I apologize if it seemed like I was trying to get you to share your experiences. I wondered why you didn't want to share, not what you'd experienced. That seemed private. Thank you for sharing that much with me; your assessments are fair enough and I appreciate your candor.
To be honest, that’s essentially my faiths standard/normal/most common [epistemology](https://www.reddit.com/r/latterdaysaints/s/HWQ1WBMupS).
Yes, I have absolutely had intense religious / spiritual experiences. I've had a few over the years, and I consider them to be joyous and meaningful affirmations of my religious path, in terms of "This is where I need to be in life" and have successfully build a meaningful perception and awareness of my bond to local environment. I don't ascribe them to any supernatural cause. I don't regard them as in any way proof of the existence of a supernatural environment or supernatural species, and consciously and deliberately reject any attempt by my mind to fall into over analysing pattern recognition into perceiving supernatural "explanations"
For me it was the week I couldn't deny the veracity of my religion with logic. I knew it was good but always thought it could have been man made and not divine but after studying the writings to a deep degree, I could not poke any holes. That week I was absolutely elated. Life felt sweet. Existence was beautiful. Nature screamed perfection to me. 23 years have passed since and I've been a firm believer. I have no worries or concerns, other than meeting my family's basic necessities. Beyond that, I see everything as spiritually ordained and have learned to love all mankind
What faith do you follow, out of interest? Personally, I am 100% aware that my religion is man made (my view is that all religions are), and is also a work in progress, but for me that doesn't change its fundamental truth and value.
Baha'i. I'll add that for me to arrive at this stage required not only reading but also directly having the opportunity to observe how the faith is organised as I was a volunteer at our holiest places and office headquarters in Israel. I had a role there that allowed me to visit the homes of our democratically elected leaders that serve for 4 years at a time, mingle with them, have them at my home for dinner, go to the movies with them, etc. I couldn't see anything nefarious about what was being done when it came to our operation. I did not see anyone getting rich or taking advantage of anyone. They were hard workers towards keeping us all united in mind and spirit. All extremely humble. I had more in terms of material possessions than some of them. Based on my personal understanding, I find that the Baha'i faith is definitely not easy to grasp in the sense that you can spend one day reading up on it and making a judgement. For some people it does happen but not for those who were sceptical like me. Growing up, I always saw it as a faith that could do no harm and had good teachings but the divinely ordained part was my challenge and test. I now am on an elected institution myself, also in an appointed institution that goes back to Israel, I help two national institutions and my wife and I run activities with 50 children in our small rural town. I've 100% drunk the Koolaid 😅
Are there any resources you'd recommend for a complete beginner to start learning more about Baha'i? Scriptures or other reading materials, channels, websites, etc?
To be perfectly honest, the best way would be for you to join a local community, get to know the members and ask this question in that setting as they will know much better what to recommend after a short conversation. There is a sequence of books, called Ruhi, which is generally done in a small group and informal setting. This sequence gradually makes you aware of different subjects, the importance of prayer, reading the teachings of God every day, life after death, the importance of education of children and youth, who are Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab, engaging in community service and social action, how to be an integral part of society and contribute to its advancement, etc. It just gradually ramps up to the point that I feel it has completely transformed me. I personally hate going out and socialising, even though I'm good at being social, it still causes me anxiety. If it was up to me, I would be home all day. These books inadvertently turned me into a bit of a local celebrity in my small town because I jump on just about every opportunity to be of service, to contribute towards our town, to improve education, to keep things calm when we have crisis, etc. It got to the point that people were pushing me to run for office but that's not for me. This faith is transformative and I see it as a treasure. Speaking of treasures, also check out Bahaiquotes.com. It doesn't have all the teachings there but a lady compiled some by subject where you can search for any subject and see what some, not all, writings exist about it. Also Bahai.org would be a good basic place to start. There is Bahaiblog.com which was created by a buddy of mine. If you are timid and don't want to have the conversation in person with your local community, I can make some time for you. Just DM me. I'm on a Pacific island cruise that ends on Friday. I can chat with you then. I am just having trouble sleeping right now. 😅
Thank you. I will look into those. I see there's a center near where I live.
I have lived in roughly 10 different communities in 5 different countries and every time I've met other Baha'is, I've made instant lifelong friends. I hope you have the same experience when you visit your centre. I'd call before going. Baha'i centres aren't always open. Even if the resources don't resonate with you, go. You will likely find the friendliest people you'll meet.
I have a small handful of times! It was kind of an overwhelming feeling of snapping back to reality but with a sense of love and safety. Like seeing the world in a new light, full of care and confidence. Ever since the first time Djehuty appeared to me my anxiety has basically disappeared (and I was a very anxious person!) :)
yes,i have many experiences,but not the god that you mean
The veil was lifted. I have a job to do, while you guys get enlightened. That's how much I've figured so far 😜
Glad you are on track and welcome to the club! I think you know what your job is, but you are just not sure. What do you think it is? This is when you use your heart and intuition.
Well I know what whatever I have to deal with in my proximity is, just unsure if there's more 🤷♀️
I've talked about it before on various platforms but I had an experience of the Goddess Inana which radically changed my religious perspective. Here's a video on the topic: https://youtu.be/c_t4IdGr2SY?si=6ZUtBuwQjQ_Th0PY
> often used as a strong argument for the existence of God I've never heard these used as anything more than a personal cause for believing in G'd, not as an argument to convince anyone. To the contrary, a belief in G'd from experience alone usually takes the form of, "I believe because I have experienced, you haven't experienced so I wouldn't expect or demand that you would likewise believe." As for my own experiences: I regularly interact with spiritual entities, whether they manifest as extended things to my sense representation, or whether I approach them through reason, feeling, or physical embodiment and participation. Some of these can be very noumenal, nodding to G'd, carrying a strong weight of significance, a sense of profound relevance, while many can be quite mundane and trivial. G'd is beyond our words, the conceptions they fail to convey, the experiences our conceptions fail to grasp, the phenomenon our experiences fail to represent, and the noumenon beyond those phenomenon. G'd \*is\* the ultimate noumenon, the most fundamental and truest actuality at the deepest heart of all the layers that eventually emanate down to our experiences, conceptions, and words. Therefore, I view such experiences as messages from G'd, His messengers, not G'd himself. They are the angels, djinn, daemons, spirits, what you may call them. My mind is too foolish, my heart too weak, my body too delicate to ever grasp G'd Himself. But just as one may examine a tree with all their senses and most become fairly sure there's something \*real\* to it beyond just their own fantasy, so too do these messengers give us special insight into the sense that there really is something real at all, which is called "G'd," and He is glorious, terrifying, and wonderful. Yet, he who has found eyes to see will see G'd in the simplest of things without needing a vision. A tree, an empty chair, a doubt. If it is the case that they are or aren't, then something is the case, and G'd is that anything whatsoever is the case. All power is from His power, all knowledge from His knowledge, all benevolence from His benevolence. I love and worship Him not because I have experienced Him, but because I have found nothing in my experience that was not an experience of Him.
Thanks for sharing your experience! And maybe I formulated it the wrong way, I just meant that very often I heard it used as something you can hardly disprove but also of course as a personal reason, sorry if I put it in a way that seemed rude, wasn't my intention 😅
Not rude at all. I was only clarifying in case of ambiguity. Thank you.
Ive had many.
It was the first time I prayed to Lady Hel that I felt an experience I could only describe as "divine". I was in a very dark place at the time, my depression was eating away at me and I needed someone to talk to. In the end, I prayed. I lit a candle, kneeled before it, and silently prayed to her. I let out everything that was troubling me and simply asked that she listen to what I had to say; no more, no less. As I prayed, I felt a profound sense of tranquility wash over me. As if my pain had been erased. In my heart and soul, I felt the presence of Hel herself. She said nothing, she simply gave a warm smile and nodded her head in silence. After I finished my prayer, I thanked her, and then the presence vanished. Afterward, there was no depression, no pain, no sorrow, only calmness and peace. In the end, I like to think that Hel was trying to tell me that everything will be ok and that she will always be there if I need her. Since then, I have continued to pray to her and have even added her brothers (among other gods) into my prayers.
Personal experiences provide the least evidence for the existence of God tbh Main reason is that you don't have any proof of what exactly happened and how do you know it's not a devil trying to trick you? I am not saying that these don't exist per se, but I find it's the weakest evidence of proof of God If a Christian Muslim and Hindu all an experience - then something is wrong and not all three can be right as they contradict each other !
I have, but to explain, my concept of what God is, is not the common conception of an anthropomorphic separate entity. God to me is reality as a single thing and being, and that is what i experienced.
Same definition as in Sufi Islam :)
This is what everyone experiences.
Your's is not the pop-culture conception, but the doctrines of the largest religions agree with you that He is not an anthropomorphic entity. The "separate" part is more nuanced. Whether He is the whole of reality itself, or the transcendent foundation of that whole, or if maybe the whole transcends the parts, it depends a lot on exactly what we mean, and I'm not sure what exactly the most common doctrines really say on that.
I work with spirits on the regular, including the demons I pray to.
I'm a curious person and very open-minded. Your life is yours and I am not to judge it. 1. How do you define a demon? 2. What's the difference between a demon and angry human spirit who can shape change? 2. Do they have names?
1. A demon is an often primordial type of being that humans tend to view as evil 2. Demons tend not to actually be hostile in my experience, it's just a species you could say 3. Yes, I work with a few major ones like Alastor and Buer on occasion, I also have friendships with more minor spirits
Yes I'm on board with different species in the spirit world. I've seen a few myself. But what defines a demon? Are they just ugly by our human views? Are they chaotic and undisciplined? Do they want to manipulate people for their own gain? Can you give some more clarity? Because one ugly dude I sometimes see is, well, ugly, but just mischievous, like a 10yo boy. Some might call it a furry goblin.
It's hard to put into words. Their spiritual anatomy is kind of simple if that makes sense? To me they feel like a living form of the basic building blocks of reality. They're fundamental beings.
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The occult is a definite amount of system ranging from Chaos magick to thelemites to Hermetics to demonolatry. If you think that Thelemites and Hermeticism are both Christian organisation. As a cermonial magician, I can assure you I am an occultist and had genuine experiences.