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Well for a raving atheist, at least you admit that science has no clear cut explanation of your supernatural experiences. At least you are not close minded as your peers here. Out of curiosity, can you share those experiences, ladyice? And were you dumbfounded that people from all over the world feel EXACTLY the same as you? Meaning the experience, the sensation, exactly the same? I was glad that was not the only one that experienced sleep paralysis, was shocked that people from all over the world experience it as early as in 1800 or earlier. I actually thought before I googled that I will be paralyzed soon or something. I mean gosh that was freaking scary... imagine waking up paralyzed, cant even freaking scream. It happened to me frequently that I already know what to do when it happens.
I just learned that someone I know has had the same sleep paralysis as you and he actually saw his sprit body walk out of the room. To me this was something that he had to experience because he's been pretty close to leaving this earth for the last year... just getting him prepared.
The only time I had an experience that my spirit body was above my body, I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn't move my arms or legs, so this is probably what you had. Then I heard this buzzing noise and I had this vision that I fell off the bed, but when I opened my eyes, I was laying on the bed as before and everything was back to normal... so the buzzing was just my spirit body returning back from a trip to the spirit world. And by the way, this happens all the time when we're sleeping and we may not be aware of it.
I also know someone else who went on an astral projection flight and she could see a city below her and then she went to a friend's house. Another person I know, went flying over the ocean. As I said before, when you've had a spiritual awakening, then you may have all kinds of different experiences... and they aren't bad or frightening at all.
Personally, I don't believe in anything supernatural. And I won't until I'm proven otherwise.
As humans, our minds/brains are incredibly powerful. Most of the time that's good, but I think it can also play tricks on us. Take those that are anxiety prone, for example. One can fully convince themselves of something that is utterly ridiculous. Your mind can convince you of things that seem unimaginable.
I don't know. I think that some supernatural experiences that seem real or feel real are often the result of our powerful minds. That's not trying to discredit anyone else and their experiences, just my opinion.
Well for a raving atheist, at least you admit that science has no clear cut explanation of your supernatural experiences. At least you are not close minded as your peers here. Out of curiosity, can you share those experiences, ladyice? And were you dumbfounded that people from all over the world feel EXACTLY the same as you? Meaning the experience, the sensation, exactly the same? I was glad that was not the only one that experienced sleep paralysis, was shocked that people from all over the world experience it as early as in 1800 or earlier. I actually thought before I googled that I will be paralyzed soon or something. I mean gosh that was freaking scary... imagine waking up paralyzed, cant even freaking scream. It happened to me frequently that I already know what to do when it happens.
This is quite funny. I wrote a reply to this yesterday (my time) saying that I was not a "raving atheist" and then went into great detail of some of my experiences. I deleted it because I was sceptical of myself even while I was writing it. Then I did a bit of research on the sleep paralysis because I had suffered from this a lot when I was younger but knew it was a sleep disorder that, for me, eventually corrected itself. What I hadn't realised was the associated hallucinations that often accompany it. This would explain a great deal of my supernatural experiences because they almost always happened at night in my bedroom but I was awake. This has opened up a whole new line of enquiry that should have been obvious to me before. But when you spend most of your life thinking that you have encountered ghosts and approaching the subject as if the supernatural is a given, it almost becomes part of who you are and you miss the obvious explanation. I'll be doing a lot more research on the biological reasons for this disorder.
Inadvertently you have put me one step closer to becoming the "raving atheist" that you accused me of being. LOL.
I have to say, the last year and a half, nearly two years actually, on these forums has helped me to question and put into perspective a lot of things that I previously believed. This of course has a lot to do with me starting study around the same time but seeing the self imposed blindness that people are capable of and the things that people will believe without question has really opened my eyes. I really was a firm believer in the supernatural when I first started posting here, not religious but definitely spiritual. Now I am at a point where there is only the vaguest notion of a maybe that still resides in me, but even that is getting weaker by the day. Up until yesterday I had always taken it for granted that my experiences were supernatural and perhaps part of me liked the idea that I had these experiences to boast of. Today I have a fresh perspective and I am tempted to just laugh at my own stupidity for holding on to this stuff for so long.
Lamplight: There is nothing supernatural about sleep paralysis.
I know, and even when I was super religious and believed in ghosts and spirits, I still wouldn't have thought sleep paralysis was supernatural. That's why I'm so surprised to see that people do.
I know, and even when I was super religious and believed in ghosts and spirits, I still wouldn't have thought sleep paralysis was supernatural. That's why I'm so surprised to see that people do.
Guess you all didn't get the word... but better late than never.
People who have had an OBE or out of body experience... or astral projection... have experienced sleep paralysis.
"Another reported common sensation related to OBE was temporary or projective catalepsy, more commonly known as sleep paralysis. The sleep paralysis and OBE correlation was later corroborated by the Out-of-Body Experience and Arousal study published in Neurology by Kevin Nelson et al."
Guess you all didn't get the word... but better late than never.
People who have had an OBE or out of body experience... or astral projection... have experienced sleep paralysis.
"Another reported common sensation related to OBE was temporary or projective catalepsy, more commonly known as sleep paralysis. The sleep paralysis and OBE correlation was later corroborated by the Out-of-Body Experience and Arousal study published in Neurology by Kevin Nelson et al."
The study you posted is not accessible without paying for it but I have access to academic data bases so I will look for studies on this, I would not consider wikipedia a credible source. The term projective catalepsy implies that the sensation is purely a biological anomaly that occurs within the brain thereby proving it not to be a supernatural experience. I will do some research on this when I have time and let you know what is really going on. I am actually studying neuroanatomy right now so I have all of the text books right here.
Oh and just so you know, a basic truth of any scientific research is that correlation does not imply causation. In fact in this case it just means that there is a tendency for both experiences to occur in the same individual. This would suggest to me that the biological cause for both sensations is located in the same area of the brain or very close.
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