"Spirituality", do you take phenomena seriously?

[Zylka]

In a rather emotional conversation with my Aunt (of West) I've just learned some stunning things of my folks out east. Well, it seems that my Uncle as a child saw faint auras around people - I'm not bullsh*ting you here. Like glowing halos around people in every day life, priests on fire as they spoke (He's since rejected Christianity though). He's an amazing, kind, and very successful man whom I've been getting to know well over the past 2 years, so I take this very seriously. Furthermore, their family had an absolutely horrible tragedy come about when my cousin was about 15 (which I have no intent of talking about). After this happened, as would be suspected - my cousin was severely depressed. Yet it goes on; she started to hear voices on a regular basis - as if calls from out of nowhere. On top of this she would have weird experiences, ie) driving through next to a field, to be mentally and seemingly physically transported into that field for a moment, and back into the car. This hit hard enough to start me bawling, as my cousin is a perfect sweetheart who simply did not deserve that kind of bullsh*t after mental trauma - it's ridiculous, at best.

My Uncle looked up certain medications thoroughly when she was prescribed, and took a spiritual look to it in telling her it was best not mask something like this. She followed, and is a wonderful, happy person today. Oh, and the wife - does not have the same spiritual inclinations as the husband, but she understands and puts up with it. They were engaged when they were 19, and are still together strong today - which amazes me given such drastic personalities in this respect.

It's so easy to laugh at and immitate those who profess some connection with another reality... but these are good people. What has your life so far shown in this respect?

[Drogue]

I have often had experiences that mentally some people would class as supernatural, but I think it's just a result of chemical imbalances in my brain. To be honest, though I don't dismiss it out of hand automatically, I don't believe in anything supernatural. I think it's her mind playing tricks on her, as is quite common after a serious psycological trauma, but I don't know her, so this is just an idea.

Could you explain a bit more about the transportation. 'Mentally and seemingly physically' - does that mean you see her move, or that she feels like she's moved?

[Zylka]

She feels she's walking in that field, feeling and smelling the grass - until she suddenly wakes up and is driving on the road. I take it seriously a lot in part due to her father's childhood preminitions. What experiences have you had?

[JimmyCracksCorn]

You love that stoned smiley don't you zylka?

[Drogue]

If she feels it, it is probably her mind playing tricks, in the sense that she probably is dreaming to some extent.

Me, I've meditated for quite a while, and often feel like I'm somewhere else. You can touch it, smell it, taste it, but it is all in your head. Then again, so is the real world to some extent. What you feel in the real world is what your brain interprets it as. I do not see it as such a leap that your brains impulses get mixed up, even purposely fooled, so that you feel you are somewhere different.

My first thought would be for her to see a psychologist or neurologist. It sounds like she has some psychological imbalance, and she is unconciously fooling herself into 'dreaming', or she has an chemical imbalance in her brain. If he father has something too, it may have been passed down (or it may be completely unrelated). This is just my opinion, and what has seemed to help for me and my friends I speak too. Severe trauma can bring about all sorts of strange behavior and feelings.

What would be strange would be if she feels as if she was in actual places, and could recall the details, but has never been there. That would be supernatural, but I doubt that is the case.

[Zylka]

No, as far as I know it's gone away without medication - it was years ago. Also, when I see this kind of thing as a schizoaffective (or whatever) disorder, the people seem very troubled and non functional, and won't change without meds. Like I've said before, they function well and are very easy, compassionate, aware people.

It just seems a struggle to really define who is chemically imbalanced, and who is experiencing something real - beyond neurons firing innappropriately.

[Urban Ranger]

I don't think "spirituality" is the right word for this - you're talking about ESP or some kind of psionic powers.

I too have experiences that might be called paranormal but I just put them down as my brains playing tricks on me. One type is somebody calling out my name, when nobody who knows my name is nearby. Another type is when my consciousness is somewhere between awake and asleep. I could see, feel, and hear that I would be somewhere else, like on a pirate ship or an alien craft. Then there was once I could swear that Pavarotti was singing in the streets somewhere.

[jdd2007]

i have never seen anything unreal and will probably never experience something supernatural.

[Dis]

spirituality does seem like the wrong word. I consider myself spiritual. I call it a gut feeling I get in certain situations. I have never seen anything supernatural though- not while sober at least.

[Graag]

I tend to believe in spiritual stuff. And I'd like to belive in ESP, I certainly rule nothing out.

I once had a vision of my A-level results a month before they came out, and told my friends. And I was right! (I got BBC)

[Felch]

I think there are things that we don't understand scientifically. Also, I highly doubt that science can address all truths. If that's what you mean by spirituality, and I think it is, then I do take the phenomenon seriously.

[monkspider]

In a word yes, spirituality is the great common thread that unites all of mankind. Nay, spirituality is what unites man and divinity. Not all people understand these things yet, but they will one day. I have experienced a great deal of truly remarkable things through what is termed spirtuality, and discovered truths that I would have never even dreamt of otherwise. I realize there are many here who may scoff at such words, and I am totally understanding in regards to this little fact. It is quite absurd really, to the purely technical mind. But I can give no less than a 100% guarantee that they one day, perhaps far in the future, come to the same basic conclusions that I have. Even with this ironclad guarantee you may still disagree, but I can do nothing but promise you that one day that this will not be so.

[Boris Godunov]

Monkspider, if you don't go to bed, Santa will skip your house. Vamoose.

[Urban Ranger]

Yup, monkie is more of a mystic than a Christian all right.

[FemmeAdonis]

I believe in this sort of stuff to an extent....

there is still so much in the world that we DON'T know...so we realyl can't ..well SHOULDN'T riule anything out...


I have a family member that reads tarot cards.....she always knows whats going on with me before I tell her...

she knows how I am..what Im feeling..what Im going through without having to speak to anyone about it..because she sees it in the cards...I belive SHE can read them.....she always KNOWS too much..

I beleive in omens too....I always side with my GUT feeling....it has never steered me wrong...Ive had dreams that have told me things that happened later on...my mother too...:\

I could go on and on....but Im tired of typing

[Sava]

I'm very cynical when it comes to supernatural stuff. I don't believe in ghosts or psychic abilities. I haven't ruled the possibility of their existence out completely, but I haven't seen any evidence supporting it. I tend not to believe things without some sort of evidence supporting it.