Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I suppose I was confusing illusion with hallucination because I've seen for example a person's face as someone else a lot of times but I still retain my position that just because someone sees a demon does not mean they need professional help.
The OP's problem is that they assume that just because they see a demon means that everyone else should start believing in them.
I'm not assuming anyone will believe me. I'm only informing of what exist. If people don't believe me it's fine with me. I know for it's a fact that everyone will know after they die I didn't lie. I would bet everything I have right now if I knew it could be proven today. I know I would be a lot richer. I'm that confident.
If any of you don't know the Gospel here it is from the Bible -
2 Corinthians 15:Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Let's see, how many nearly proponents of science were burned at the stake for heresy? Christianity suppressed science for quite a while until it finally lost it's grip. It was the Muslims who advanced science in the early days.
But let's have an open mind here, why do you say Christianity created science as we know it today?
Let's see, how many nearly proponents of science were burned at the stake for heresy? Christianity suppressed science for quite a while until it finally lost it's grip. It was the Muslims who advanced science in the early days.
But let's have an open mind here, why do you say Christianity created science as we know it today?
The only reasonable conclusion concerning lilydopip's statement is that scientific knowledge would be much more advanced had it not been for Christianity.
There are a lot of wacky beliefs out there, but encouraging this particular version is always extremely dangerous. If the OP is serious, there is a significant danger of mental illness leading to potentially catastrophic behaviors and outcomes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zymer
While there have been some amazing scientific advances over the last century or so, there is still a lot more left to learn about the human brain and its workings.
Times when I've been deprived of sleep, I've had some amazing hallucinations. Though seemingly very real visibly, ultimately they were just figments of my imagination.
When I sleep, sometimes my heart rate and respiration drop so low that I'm verging on CO2 poisoning*. When that happens, the dreams are incredible, sometimes related to events from the past but often disjointed and subject to morphing into unrelated and bizarre scenes. They 'feel' very real at the time (and often confusing). When I wake I can sometimes place the events that may have inspired them, sometimes not.
***(Occasionally, when I take my BP in the morning, the machine freaks out because my heart rate is too low for it. I have to have a cup of coffee and a couple of cigarettes and try again...I was in the hospital for a procedure a few months ago, the nurse was concerned because my heart rate was down to 35 and she was asking if that was 'normal'- I assured her that it was in the range of 'normal' for me, and that I could make it go lower if she would like to see it..."No! No, please don't do that!" I dropped it to 30 anyway. I thought it was funny, her, not so much.)
You should try to alter the experiences when you have these because those you cannot alter are real. My epiphany in deep meditation did not occur until I had acquired the ability to drop my heart rate below 40 bpm and slow my breathing considerably.Once I could do that the experiences enabled me to separate those from my subconscious and those that were real by attempts to alter the experiences. If I could alter the experiences (like in lucid dreaming) then they were the product oif my subconscious. The ones I could not alter (or those that simply intruded fleetingly into my experiences) I knew to be real. Develop a discipline in meditation by retaining conscious control while entering deeper altered states. That is your reality tester, conscious control.
You should try to alter the experiences when you have these because those you cannot alter are real. My epiphany in deep meditation did not occur until I had acquired the ability to drop my heart rate below 40 bpm and slow my breathing considerably.Once I could do that the experiences enabled me to separate those from my subconscious and those that were real by attempts to alter the experiences. If I could alter the experiences (like in lucid dreaming) then they were the product oif my subconscious. The ones I could not alter (or those that simply intruded fleetingly into my experiences) I knew to be real. Develop a discipline in meditation by retaining conscious control while entering deeper altered states. That is your reality tester, conscious control.
Of course your experience was real. It's well known that meditation, drugs, panic attacks, medical conditions, and other things can produce altered states of consciousness. That doesn't tell you anything about objective reality. It doesn't give you some kind of special insights. It doesn't make you special. It doesn't give you some kind of natural authority over the rest of us.
My father had a religious experience. He's now a fundamentalist pastor. You would probably disagree with 99% of what he believes. But he just knows he is right...in the exact same way that you just know you are right.
So who should I believe? Him or you? Who's experience is legit? His or yours? Or perhaps I should follow one of the multitude of other self-appointed religious leaders in the world today?
You wouldn't even be able to ask anyone to "provide verifiable evidence without Christianity. Christianity created science as we know it today.
Johannes Kepler described science as "thinking god's thoughts after him" and I was taught that this is Christianity's gift of science to humanity, as Christianity is also opposed to the fatalistic thinking of Eastern religion which renders attempts to understand or control reality as inherently futile.
This is a superficially appealing argument but it does not get around the anti-intellectualism of Christianity which disparages "mere" human wisdom and exalts "the foolishness of god". Kepler may have rationalized his exploration of the natural world as an attempt to understand the mind of god but what he failed to account for is that when you really observe the natural world you see that it is indifferent to humanity, not benevolent toward it.
The observed axiomatic behaviors we call natural laws reflect a mechanistic and mindless universe of cause and effect ... not a benevolent Mind. Of course some look at nature and see what they want to see ... and I'm not arguing that my opinion is more or less as subjective as anyone else's in that regard. The difference is that I recognize my own subjectivity. Do you recognize yours?
You should try to alter the experiences when you have these because those you cannot alter are real. My epiphany in deep meditation did not occur until I had acquired the ability to drop my heart rate below 40 bpm and slow my breathing considerably.Once I could do that the experiences enabled me to separate those from my subconscious and those that were real by attempts to alter the experiences. If I could alter the experiences (like in lucid dreaming) then they were the product oif my subconscious. The ones I could not alter (or those that simply intruded fleetingly into my experiences) I knew to be real. Develop a discipline in meditation by retaining conscious control while entering deeper altered states. That is your reality tester, conscious control.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freak80
Of course your experience was real. It's well known that meditation, drugs, panic attacks, medical conditions, and other things can produce altered states of consciousness. That doesn't tell you anything about objective reality. It doesn't give you some kind of special insights. It doesn't make you special. It doesn't give you some kind of natural authority over the rest of us.
My father had a religious experience. He's now a fundamentalist pastor. You would probably disagree with 99% of what he believes. But he just knows he is right...in the exact same way that you just know you are right.
So who should I believe? Him or you? Who's experience is legit? His or yours? Or perhaps I should follow one of the multitude of other self-appointed religious leaders in the world today?
I claim no special status or authority, Freak. I have spent considerable time trying to explain my experiences to my intellect. I am content that they are authentic experiences of an objective reality we cannot usually access with our sensory system. You should not believe anyone. As Wood says, you need to find your own answers.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
