I think i have just had some sort of religious experience

[Guy Incognito]

Long story short. Family is going thru some really tough times which i cant really talk about which involve money, jobs, hearings, and its been some of the hardest things my small family has had to endure. Its been a long arduous drawn out process and just when we think we are turning a corner it seems something else turns up and kicks us in the metaphorical balls.
Anyway, today we got some more bad news and both me and the wife have been pretty down today and its been difficult. The wife has been in tears today and i have been close. We just both feel like we dont know where to turn, we havent done anything wrong and are getting really shafted by red tape,two-faced twats and budgets etc.
So, i was a pretty low ebb on the tram on the way home, it was busy on the tram and i was squashed in with the masses on there and as the tram travelled on it got a bit clearer. A man got up to get off and i sat in the vacant seat, i felt something as i sat down and picked it up. I was listening to my IPOD on shuffle (10 thousand songs people). The thing i picked up was a small gold book of bible quotes it fell open on this :

For riches are not for ever. Proverbs 27.24.

Coincidence, maybe, but exactly at the same time two other things happened. "I am the resurrection" by the stone roses came on my IPOD and some chavvy lad getting on the tram shouted "Jesus Christ mate" to his friend.

Now i dont know what the fuck that was all about but for all three things to happen within a second of each other was pretty weird. Now i'm not religious person and have my doubts about the whole idea of God etc but it certainly got me thinking. I'm not gonna start rocking up to church evry day but it just spooked me out.

am i just being a dick reading into stuff?

[gbsuey]

Not being a dick, must've actually been pretty cool.....bruce almighty. Who can say....Dawkins would feel mighty silly if it was all true..hehe. Hope it all gets better for you guys

[MC Moot]

Jesus was a hell of a Rabbi...if you feel it,if it briongs you solace,second thought or hope for a brighter day,roll with it...god is awesome and she moves in mysterious ways...(y)

[Guy Incognito]

thanks, tbh it felt good getting some that scene setting off me chest.

has anyone else had experiences where jesus/god pops up in their normal day.

is it cool to just take that one moment of solace or whatever mooty? Isnt that selfish, havent you got to give something back i.e be more religious.

If someone was looking out for me and saying hey its ok dont worry about the money, i feel like i should pay them back but church and religion freaks me out a bit

[gbsuey]

Plant a tree or two, be nice to people....does more than sitting in a large expensive building singing crappy dull songs.

[MC Moot]

is it cool to just take that one moment of solace or whatever mooty? Isnt that selfish, havent you got to give something back i.e be more religious.

No not at all...at it's base and at it's best spiritual pursuits are about personal revelation,meditation,recognition of one's self,soul and our place in the grand scheme of it all...whether it provides comfort,faith,belief and thanks for what you have has little to with actual religious dogma,practice or group participation...what I do think is important is not ignore when you get that feeling of transcendence,coincidence or divinity...whichever it may be...for me it arrives most frequently with commune with the majesty of nature...take stock,personal inventory and lend a hand,a kind word and a compassionate dispositon...whatever gets you through the night,salright,salright (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDqWtfL4MxQ)...as well for me,although I do no practice or ahere to specific any sect I do see amazing wisdom in many parables...specifically Buddhisms 4 noble truths and that belief that to relieve suffering is devine in itself...:

1.The Nature of Suffering:

"This is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering."

2.Suffering's Origin:

"This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination."

3.Suffering's Cessation:

"This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it."

4.The Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering:

"This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.

[HAL 9000]

am i just being a dick reading into stuff?

You are not being a dick, and it is a shame you are going through a hard time. By all means follow a spiritual path which you think makes you a better person. But dont let a little coincidence lead you into a life of delusion, end of the day - religion is balls and you are better than it.

[Micodin]

Who can say....Dawkins would feel mighty silly if it was all true..hehe.

Who's Dawkins?

[Guy Incognito]

You are not being a dick, and it is a shame you are going through a hard time. By all means follow a spiritual path which you think makes you a better person. But dont let a little coincidence lead you into a life of delusion, end of the day - religion is balls and you are better than it.

but how do i follow a spiritual path without being religious.?Do i just be thankful for stuff? say a prayer now and again? still think its cheating if you dont do certain things like got to church once in a while or read bible. Didnt really think it was something i could just dip into occasionally

[abbott]

time for living
time for giving

I think when you find yourself giving your at church and sounds like you might just be called to give

[HAL 9000]

but how do i follow a spiritual path without being religious.?Do i just be thankful for stuff? say a prayer now and again? still think its cheating if you dont do certain things like got to church once in a while or read bible. Didnt really think it was something i could just dip into occasionally

I mean you can appreciate the amazingness of the universe, of life, existance and your fellow human beings without attributing any of it to some religious fairy story. Dont go near the church or the bible (or text of any religion claiming divine inspiration), you live in a time when you have access to knowledge and understanding that makes the authors of those texts look ignorant.

By their standards of knowledge you are a god, so go forwards and advance humanity, and don't spend too much time worrying about bronze age myths.

[Guy Incognito]

but if there is some sort of force that has the potential to look out for me i feel a bit selfish or fake if i am not recognising its there and that i am gratefull for that. I dont know i can do that apart from saying a prayer now and again. I dont know if thats enough. I agree church and books are intimidating prospects, i just wonder how else i can be spiritual.


I really dont know what i am talking about as this has all taken me by surprise a bit.

[abbott]

be true to yourself...

[gbsuey]

I honestly believe that so many people do exactly what the hell they like most of the time and think they will be absolved of any wrongdoing by going to chuch once in a while, and saying some prayers.

At the risk of sounding like a total hippy, not that i give a fuck, but our everyday world is the miracle we should be beholding!! We should appreciate everything we are and the things we can do, those people who abstain from sex, or talking or whatever in the name of religion, are, in my mind being blasphemous against everything it means to be human. And aren't we supposed to be made in his image. Heaven and Hell are right here, now. No point not making the most of your life and thinking you'll get a great time when you're dead.

Sorry...bit ranty....i just really think you need to not worry. Stress does some mental things to yer head matey and i really don't think you're going to be struck down if you don't go to church. Maybe it was a sign...but as long as you're a good person etc etc i think you'll be good. The basis of all religions is just common sense, the rest is nonsense.

[HAL 9000]

but if there is some sort of force that has the potential to look out for me i feel a bit selfish or fake if i am not recognising its there and that i am gratefull for that. I dont know i can do that apart from saying a prayer now and again. I dont know if thats enough. I agree church and books are intimidating prospects, i just wonder how else i can be spiritual.


I really dont know what i am talking about as this has all taken me by surprise a bit.

It is none of my business, and you must do what you think is best in a stressful situation.

I dont really want to comment further on the force you mentioned, if you chose to believe in such things that is fine. I would just say you dont need that belief and there are other options.

You can be spiritually fulfilled by being enlightened, to me enlightenment means rejecting supersition and embracing knowledge and reality.

Anyway none of my business, but I hope all goes well in the various difficult situations you mentioned.

[Bob]

today i was riding the bus home, listening to a podcast to kill the time, and we passed a best buy, i thought to myself "hey, it's that best buy, i know where we are now" and at that exact moment the guest on the podcast said "best buy"

kind of the same thing when you think about it except there's no precedent for how to react to the phenomenon. buy a dvd or something maybe

[gbsuey]

It does happen a lot, I was texting a friend the other day...was just typing out that I was feeling wierd about stuff and my son just looked at me and said..are you wierd? He couldn't see my phone y'know! Spooooky. coincidences,

[checkyourprez]

while that is an interesting couple of seconds you lived there, have you ever thought of all the other 1 billion or so seconds that you have lived where a situation like that has not occurred? probability states it was a random chance of events that had an unlikely hood of happening, but as long as the probability is not zero there is always a chance of something like that happening.


:D

[RobMoney$]

It's like deja vu, all over again.

[Dorothy Wood]

once when my mother was having a very rough time back when we were leaving my father (he had threatened to kill her, his new girlfriend was harassing her by phone at home and at work, and they were harassing the cop that was helping my mom with a restraining order, etc.), my grandmother came for a visit to help look after me. I didn't witness it, but my mom tells me that at one point she was just beyond upset and weeping uncontrollably, so my grandmother held her and started praying over her intensely. Eventually the words of the prayer became intelligible, my grandma began speaking in tongues, and my mom says she felt an immediate release of tension, that a spirit of calm washed over her.


To this day, my mom attributes that feeling to Jesus. She believes it was his spirit helping her by giving her the strength to continue on a new path. And she doesn't tell people about it because they never understand and don't take her seriously. I take it very seriously though, but I don't think it was Jesus. I think it was some intense meditation that went on between a mother and a daughter, two very sensitive people. I think that the speaking in tongues was a primal comforting instinct that helped my grandma create calming sounds and tones that work in a way that no one could understand but the two of them in that moment, at a subconscious level.

These sort of moments create religion for people, because they can't be explained immediately. but people want to hold on to that comfort, so they construct a mechanism to access that comfort. So my mom can go to church and zero in on that comfort if she wants because she attributed it to Jesus. I happen to think the power is in her and my grandmother, and me, and you; and that if there is a God, he probably would like us to accept that and honor it, rather than constructing mechanisms that just end up tearing people down.

So, I would say listen to yourself, harness the calming power of meditation. Jesus is just a symbol of the power we all have inside.

[checkyourprez]

once when my mother was having a very rough time back when we were leaving my father (he had threatened to kill her, his new girlfriend was harassing her by phone at home and at work, and they were harassing the cop that was helping my mom with a restraining order, etc.), my grandmother came for a visit to help look after me. I didn't witness it, but my mom tells me that at one point she was just beyond upset and weeping uncontrollably, so my grandmother held her and started praying over her intensely. Eventually the words of the prayer became intelligible, my grandma began speaking in tongues, and my mom says she felt an immediate release of tension, that a spirit of calm washed over her.


To this day, my mom attributes that feeling to Jesus. She believes it was his spirit helping her by giving her the strength to continue on a new path. And she doesn't tell people about it because they never understand and don't take her seriously. I take it very seriously though, but I don't think it was Jesus. I think it was some intense meditation that went on between a mother and a daughter, two very sensitive people. I think that the speaking in tongues was a primal comforting instinct that helped my grandma create calming sounds and tones that work in a way that no one could understand but the two of them in that moment, at a subconscious level.

These sort of moments create religion for people, because they can't be explained immediately. but people want to hold on to that comfort, so they construct a mechanism to access that comfort. So my mom can go to church and zero in on that comfort if she wants because she attributed it to Jesus. I happen to think the power is in her and my grandmother, and me, and you; and that if there is a God, he probably would like us to accept that and honor it, rather than constructing mechanisms that just end up tearing people down.

So, I would say listen to yourself, harness the calming power of meditation. Jesus is just a symbol of the power we all have inside.



and i would say...your mother is a crazy person.

[Dorothy Wood]

that's why she doesn't tell people. Actually, I don't know if she thought it was specifically Jesus or God, but she was a Christian already...so Jesus=God for all intents and purposes.

She's not any crazier than any other Christian.

[Guy Incognito]

I think that on reflection maybe that it was just a coincidence. But the fact that it happened to be that particular bible quote i saw whilst going thru troubles relating to money and my families security just struck me as more than a coincidence and then a couple of other things happened it started me thinking. But then last night i got Chinese takeaway and the fortune cookie i got was totally bang on with something i am going to do on Monday and it occurred to me this is all vague bollocks and i need to sort my head out a bit.

Thanks to some of the things said in this thread ,I think that i have got a handle on how to deal with these thoughts without any organisation being involved and that its more about me than anyone else alive or dead or possibly non-existent.

Although, things did get a lot better yesterday and its no longer a really shitty situation, its not over and it might still be tricky but we have definitely turned a corner(y)

[gbsuey]

Jesus is just a symbol of the power we all have inside.

This...totally. Well said DW

And great to hear things are on the up Guy I...yay for that!

[Waus]

That's quite a coincidence.

Hope things are going better for you, Guy.

[Guy Incognito]

thanks but in last 24 hours evrythings got a million times worse, its quite serious now, am struggling to cope. but we have to get thru this.

[venusvenus123]

A man got up to get off and i sat in the vacant seat, i felt something as i sat down and picked it up. I was listening to my IPOD on shuffle (10 thousand songs people). The thing i picked up was a small gold book of bible quotes it fell open on this :

For riches are not for ever. Proverbs 27.24.

Coincidence, maybe, but exactly at the same time two other things happened. "I am the resurrection" by the stone roses came on my IPOD and some chavvy lad getting on the tram shouted "Jesus Christ mate" to his friend.



Well it definitely means something, but is not necessarily proof that Jesus is the resurrection and that God is a bloke sitting on a cloud somewhere...
Brian Cox et al would dismiss it as a meaningless series of coincidences, but I think it has meaning. It made you think about things and feel more positive and that is important. Who knows why or how that happened?

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that things are looking up for you. Times are hard right now!

[fonky pizza]

I'd call this a mystical experience...anyway, I am happy this topic came up.

How would you call a huge amount of coincidences?(!)

[ms.peachy]

How would you call a huge amount of coincidences?(!)

Life.

[abbott]

thanks but in last 24 hours evrythings got a million times worse, its quite serious now, am struggling to cope. but we have to get thru this.

best wishes ... I hope your pressure is regarding money and not health.

[venusvenus123]

^^ true dat

thanks but in last 24 hours evrythings got a million times worse, its quite serious now, am struggling to cope. but we have to get thru this.

I'm really sorry to hear that! I think I posted around the same time as you and didn't see your update.:(

George Osborne just announced that my pay (which has been static for 2 years) is going to be stuck at 1% increase until 2015 (5.2% inflation!). If my family was depending on my salary we would be in deep shit. Things suck really bad for most people right now. :(

[fonky pizza]

Life.

Ha!

(y)

[fonky pizza]

thanks but in last 24 hours evrythings got a million times worse, its quite serious now, am struggling to cope. but we have to get thru this.

stay positive!!!(y)

[checkyourprez]

sorry to hear guy. but with everything much worse, look at it realistically...there is only one place to go from here. (y)

what doesn't kill you makes your stronger, thats for real though.

[Guy Incognito]

thanks all, its a health thing now for someone else but it could jeopardize two jobs and its really daunting.

hopefully it'll improve

thanks for the kind words all

[sab0tage]

Good luck in whatever you're going through Guy, I hope things improve soon.