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I agree Ilene.
BTW, I go by faith not by feelings. Feelings go up and down minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. Faith is not concerned with feelings.
That's the only way to go if you're going to be religious, by faith and faith alone. You'll be sorely disappointed otherwise. I just don't have faith any longer.
Gotta agree with going with Faith not Religion. Don't want to get off topic too much but I look at Religion as being mankind's doing and is prone to error.
That's the only way to go if you're going to be religious, by faith and faith alone. You'll be sorely disappointed otherwise. I just don't have faith any longer.
One day you won't need faith but will have realization by sight.
Many years ago I had a "spiritual awakening". I felt what I believe to be God's presence and a basic understanding of who He is. A living being but much superior to us. A being who created me, my soul as well as the entire universe. A being that I continue to have a relationship with. And over time I have come to realize that there are many people who have experienced a very similar thing.
Levity is not so much a feeling as a sense of release from a previous sense of gravity (weighted downess -a sense of being held in a bad way). Love is filled by patience to endure the trials in this human theater. Levity gained in release through spiritual practice increases the patience to endure. It's not so much a feeling as a joy. Upliftment in spiritual practice is not to me so tinged with emotion, but rather gives one strength and power to endure and rise above the tendency to be emotional (especially neg. emotion (but pos. as well?)). Religion to me implies a relation with dogma and ritual. My spiritual practice is private and for me. I'm 50 ' ish so I've studied for 35 years or so ( mostly eastern teachings). I'm happy to share what I know, but honestly few are really interested in this material age. Spirituality to me is only successful if it gives one a sense of control. This sense of levity or release from the previous gives me a sense of control. At least a joy can be had in the moment. This prepares one for the onslaught of the day.
Last edited by GrantVirgilHolland; 01-30-2013 at 07:41 AM..
Reason: too negative sounding
It usually happens when I'm fishing, or sitting for a spell on a log near a creek.When it occurs, I feel a sense of belonging to a much larger whole - an interconnectedness with everything around me, and by extension, everything - period.
I have felt it on occasion. Doesn't happen often. There is a peace, like nothing can go wrong. That was the strongest I ever felt it. Other times it's just knowing something , a "6th sense" which puts me at ease. It is a calm feeling.
As a former Christian, I experienced a lot of what fundamental Christianity would call "moving of the spirit". I've witnessed people falling out on the floor with eyes rolling back in their heads, spinning around on one foot for hours and lots of speaking in tongues.
Now, I see it as all theatrics, hype and "want to" type experiences, that's all. Sorry, but I never saw anything "miraculous", just a bunch of people very anxious to experience something so they made it up. These church services can be very lively and it's easy to get caught up in the hype.
The reason you don't "feel" anything is because there's nothing there to feel. I never did either, and I tried. But you say "what about all these miraculous healings?"......well.....we know for a fact that they've been proven false time and again, just actors and actresses playing a part. Makes people dig deeper into their pockets and fatten the wallets of these so-called miracle healers.
Maybe I'm a little jaded, I don't know but I've experienced what you seem to be looking for and I'm here to tell you that it's all fake. At least you've got enough sense to know what's real and what isn't.
I once had a friend, a very non religious man tell me through the church, I don't recall if it was prayer or laying on of hands, that he was healed of cancer. I do believe him.
I am spiritual, not religious. As a spiritual person, I "believe" in a power greater than myself . . .don't have a clue what it is, but I believe there is a divine power of some kind . . .
And I pray to that divine power and believe my prayers have some effect on changing "reality."
But my faith is intellectual - and maybe spiritual, but not emotional or physical . . .I can't FEEL anything coming back in terms of reciprocation . . .
So this post is for those of you who FEEL a spiritual presence . . .what can you say about that?
I am not sure why my spiritual/emotional senses are blocked (I perceive that there is a block) . . .It is very frustrating. I think my whole life would be different if I could actually FEEL a divine presence in my life.
This thread is strictly about FEELING DIVINE PRESENCE, NOT ABOUT RELIGION. I would love to hear people's experiences.
You're praying out. It lies inside you, Grasshopper.
Seriously, that's where it is. Look within and you will see beyond, my child.
I never had the slightest subjective spiritual experience, even when I was open to it and seeking it. I am just one of those people who aren't subject to them I guess. However, my particular branch of fundamentalism was anti-charismatic and often cautioned (wisely, in this case, IMO) that subjective personal experiences can be misleading. We know that stimulating a particular region of the brain produces transcendent religious experiences, a sense of a Presence (positive or not), etc. so it's clear that having a "peak experience" in and of itself proves or validates nothing necessarily about one's spiritual beliefs.
Rather than seeking after experiences we were encouraged to study the Bible and meditate on it in a presumably more rational fashion. This proved to be my undoing as there is not much that's rational about the Bible, when it comes to it.
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