Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Religion and Spirituality
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-31-2008, 10:26 AM
Status: "just passing through" (set 5 days ago)
 
708 posts, read 1,287,899 times
Reputation: 1777

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Freddy View Post
Gale, Jim, and I had driven down from Oklahoma City to Jim’s home town of Talco, Texas, to hunt deer. Talco was in the northeast part of Texas between Paris and Mountain View. There were lots of pine woods and a huge deer population, and there was the pervasive and overwhelming stench of rotten eggs.

It wasn’t really rotten eggs, it was the smell of Sulphur coming from the oil fields. Or, maybe it had something to do with the Sulphur River that flowed through town on it’s way east through Louisiana to the Gulf. Whatever it was, it was very unpleasant and I thought to myself that’s probably what Hell smells like.

We were looking forward to a good time. Jim’s older brother, U.Jene, was coming up from New Orleans. I always thought his name was Eugene, and that was what it was supposed to be. But, whoever registered his birth, wrote down U.Jene, so that’s who he was.

U.Jene had promised to bring “a real Loosyana treat” for us. We had a hunch what it might be. He was always talking about how he loved Gator Steaks. Grandma Stockton said that no matter what he brought, she would cook it for us. She was already peeling a pile of potatoes to make “Irish Fries” to go with it. Jim’s Uncle Elmer was coming over and bringing a “Couple of Good Friends”. Uncle Elmer was a recluse who lived by himself in the woods. “A Couple of Good Friends” was code that meant he was bringing two jugs of his finest “squeezins”. Gale and I were going to get our bucks, then drive back to the city to spend Thanksgiving with our own families. Jim’s wife and kids were coming down and he would spend Thanksgiving with them at his Grandma’s house.

Jim stopped the truck at the old church grounds. Gale was going to hunt there. I chose the abandoned farm across the street, and Jim had a favorite spot a bit farther down the road. It wasn’t more than forty-five minutes when I heard two shots from Gale’s direction. About ten minutes later, there was one shot from down the road where Jim was. I knew they both had gotten their bucks and would be waiting for me so we could take them down to the oil field supply where Jim’s cousin Robert worked. There was a scaffold in the pipe yard with a winch. We could hang the deer up there, have them skinned and quartered in a matter of minutes and be back at Grandma’s, meeting Uncle Elmer’s “Friends” while we waited for U.Jene and the Loosyana treat. I heard a rustle in the leaves in front and a little to the left of me.

This was going to be too easy.

I hadn’t been deer hunting for two or three years because the last time I went, something strange had happened to me that I didn’t know what to make of, so I gave hunting a rest for a while. I had lost concentration and my mind blanked out when I pulled the trigger. The deer was right in front of me and I had a clear shot. I don’t know if he bounded off or if I hit him. If he bounded off I would have heard him, but If I hit him, I couldn’t find him. The other guys laughed and said I had caught “Buck Fever”. But I knew that was not it. Buck fever afflicted greenhorns. I had hunted most of my life, and besides, the symptoms of Buck fever were freezing before the shot, not going blank after the shot. I thought it was probably because had a lot on my mind. I had just gotten a transfer and I was due to report to my new assignment in Oklahoma City the next month.

But, whatever it was, was all in the past. My mind was clear and focused as I concentrated on the brush waiting for the deer to come into range. There were two of them. A large six point buck and a smaller doe. They were both beautiful animals. I loved watching Whitetails. They are much more graceful than their cousins the Mule deer. And I always thought they were smarter.

They disappeared behind a large clump of brush. I could see them moving. I raised my rifle to be ready when they came out the other side. They still hadn’t noticed my presence. I had a clear shoulder shot when the buck turned towards me and his tail started to twitch. I squeezed the trigger.

This time I kept my eyes wide open. I saw everything. I saw the impact, I saw him fall, and I saw the other one’s flag as she turned and leapt off into the pines. I was elated. All that “Buck Fever” nonsense was far in the past. I was a hunter again and I could take my turn telling my buddies about “the shot”.

Gale and Jim must have been waiting for me at the old farmhouse, because as soon as I shot I heard them blowing the steel whistles that we used for signalling. I blew a little “shave and a haircut”. Somebody answered with “two bits”. I walked over to begin field dressing my trophy. My elation suddenly turned to horror. The horror turned to panic. I sank to my knees.

I had killed the doe.

For a poacher or a pot hunter, the sex of the deer make little difference. It all fried in the same grease. For a sportsman, besides the fact that it was against the law, shooting a doe was taboo. We all understood “hunting accidents” though. The buck and doe went behind the thicket, the buck came out, I shot, the doe jumped in front of the buck and I hit her instead. Even though I knew that was not what happened, it would be my defense.

Gale wasn’t buying it. He was too nice a guy to say anything, but I could tell by the way he would glance at me that I had lost his respect. Jim understood about hunting accidents. When the temperature went below freezing, U.Jene walked with a slight limp because Jim had shot him in the foot with a .22 when they were hunting armadillos as kids.

We field dressed the doe, hid her in an old feed shed, and took the other two deer over to Robert’s shop. Jim would tell Uncle Elmer where it was and he would come that night, take it to his place and butcher it. He could use the meat and at least it wouldn’t go to waste. I felt bad about the whole situation, but my regret was wearing off. I was starting to believe my own story. Accidents happen. I still hadn’t gotten my buck and I didn’t want to go back to the city empty handed.

I planned to go hunting again in the morning.

I drove Jim’s truck back to the old farm. Uncle Elmer had come and gotten the doe. As far as I was concerned, the episode was closed. I set off down the trail, confident that this time I would get my buck. As I approached the thicket, the location of yesterdays events, I heard the leaves rustle. I saw movement through the leaves and I stood stark still. Deer have keen senses. They can catch your scent a mile away. They can hear you breathing across a five acre meadow. If you blink your eyes, they will see it and bolt. But, if you stand completely still, you are invisible to them.

He looked straight me. It was the same buck as yesterday. I didn’t expect to see him there. I wasn’t even planning to hunt there, I was just on my way by. But there he was. He lowered his head and gave a snort, expelling a little puff of steam from his nostrils. Then, he raised his head up as if he was scanning the clouds for some sort of communication. I had a head-on chest shot. I fired.

He went down on his knees, then his back legs folded and he just sat there. His eyes followed my every move as I approached. I tried to take another shot to finish him off, but my rifle jammed. I stood there about five feet in front of him. Our eyes were locked and I felt my face growing hot. His eyes were like glistening pools of black onyx and they were drawing me in. I felt our souls merging. I could feel his labored breathing in my chest and my heartbeat was growing weak.

All of a sudden I felt like Alice with the bottle of “Drink Me”. My head shot skyward and I was looking down at a distorted image of my feet. I lurched sideways. I was dizzy and off balance. I had to sit down. Sweat was running down face. It may have been tears.

I looked over at the buck. He hadn’t moved or tried to get up. He was still staring at me, but his gaze was now soft and resigned. As I sat there trying to regain my breath, I could feel his breathing slowing down. He slowly lowered his head. His nose touched the ground and he died. I loaded him in the truck. The collar of my shirt was soaking wet and I knew now that it was not sweat

I wished I had stayed home. Over the last twenty four hours I had killed two innocent creatures. For what? I didn’t need the meat. Did I do it just for the sport? What sport was there in killing these beautiful animals with whom I now seemed to share some kind of soul-space with?

I didn’t want to see or talk to anybody right then, so I drove down to the river and sat on the bank trying to figure out what had happened. As I sat there, I could see several deer off in the distance on the other side of the river. I didn’t see them as potential targets like I used to. I saw them as brothers and sisters. I wanted to run over there and say “I’m sorry”.

When I got back to the house Jim ran out waving his arms. “Where the Hell have you been? He said. “Something has happened. We have to go back right now.” Gale came out. His usual friendly smile was gone. His lips were tight and his face had a pink tinge. “Our leave is cancelled” he said. “The base is under full alert”.

Grandma Stockton was standing in the doorway twisting her hands in her apron. “They shot the President” she said. Her hands and her voice shook with emotion. “I been praying that we don’t have a war over it”.

I left the deer hanging on the side of the garage. I didn’t want it. Uncle Elmer could have it. We were silent on the way back. There was nothing on the radio except talk of the assassination, and for the time being it had taken over our lives.

A few months later I heard that U.Jene never made it up from New Orleans. He got drunk and drove off the road outside of Baton Rouge. He wasn’t hurt too badly, but he broke his foot - the same foot that Jim shot years ago. Uncle Elmer’s still blew up, burned down his cabin and about 60 acres of woods. He was staying at Grandma Stockton’s and taking care of her after her stroke. Robert had gotten fired from the oil field supply for punching the new foreman, who was black. Several years ago he had been kicked out of the army for punching his Lieutenant, who was black. He was planning to move his family to Idaho.

As I heard all this, I could smell the sulphur and I remembered my first impression of Talco, Texas. I was truly blessed. I had found God in the eyes of a dying deer right in the middle of Hell.

I never hunted again.
Welcome to the world of being conscious. I have a grocery bag that I take to the stores rather than using plastic or paper, it says

"Auschwitz begins whenever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: They're only animals."
Jewish philosopher Theodor Adorno

I get some interesting comments on my bag
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-31-2008, 10:34 AM
 
Location: part of the Matrix--for now!
1,031 posts, read 1,311,073 times
Reputation: 328
It depends upon what is meant by "mystical," if it is in reference to some kind of experience that points to or proves some kind of "otherworldly" phenomenon, then the notions of mysticism are nonsense. Scientist have been able to duplicate "mystical" experiences like out of body experiences, floating sensations, dilution of self consciousness into some universal consciousness, in the laboratory. There's nothing otherworldy about mysticism.

But everybody has had moments of awe or wonder, that have translated into feelings that surpass description. I mean after all, we are only human. We are apart of nature not above it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2008, 11:33 AM
 
Location: New England
8,155 posts, read 20,944,669 times
Reputation: 3338
Quote:
Originally Posted by DimSumRaja View Post
Alright we're talking personal experience here. What mystical experiences have you had? It is entirely up to you however you define what a mystical experience is to you in your life, just share with us please what happened.

Thank you to all!
Seeing my son's heartbeat at less than 8 weeks old (In the womb!).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2008, 11:45 AM
 
Location: Oz
2,238 posts, read 9,737,540 times
Reputation: 1398
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nietzschean Gangsta View Post
We are apart of nature not above it.
Ironically interesting spelling mistake there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2008, 09:22 PM
 
Location: Ocean Shores, WA
5,092 posts, read 14,789,029 times
Reputation: 10865
Quote:
Originally Posted by seethelight View Post

Welcome to the world of being conscious.
Thanks for the welcome, but I've been her for a while now.
In case you didn't get it from the context of the story, that happened in 1963.

I hope my long winded story didn't kill this thread. I was really looking forward to hearing about some interesting experiences.

If nobody else posts anything, I'll be forced to tell about the time I levitated while meditating in the desert with a coyote, her pup, and and a covey of quail.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2008, 10:27 PM
 
638 posts, read 2,276,916 times
Reputation: 294
Moderator cut: orphaned quote

I feel people watch me, have had three premonitions of close people dying about a week before it happened, can feel heat pouring off a person's body in the area where it is healing or in pain, have seen ghosts, can sense people's sun signs, and more.

One day I was walking in a park with my husband and son. It was beautiful, a warm winter day. We watched geese and ducks on a pond, my young son was so thrilled. Suddenly I stared up at the sky, and felt this immense sense of happiness, that we were all safe, that my grandmother KNEW we were happy and safe, that we were being watched. We walked to the car after that, I was really disturbed. It was 1:10 pm. I got a call later that she had died at 1:05. I have no doubt that she came to see us one last time.

Last edited by Alpha8207; 02-01-2008 at 01:13 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2008, 10:34 PM
 
638 posts, read 2,276,916 times
Reputation: 294
Quote:
Originally Posted by jessaka View Post
I was meditating and all the sudden my mind began to expand. I was going into a state of higher consciousness, and there was no fear and no time during this experience. I remember just sitting there feeling the waves coming on and with each wave my mind expanded more, and then all of the sudden I was enveloped in Love. It was a Love that surpassed all Love and was like what people discribe when they have NDE. I had no thoughts, but I knew somehow that it was God, and that this God was Love, and that this God loved everyone no matter what they did. There was no judgmental God in all this because this God was nothing other than Love. And then everything went back to normal, except now I was filled with joy and my life was changed in that I now knew that there was a God and that this God loved me.
Yup. God is Love, not some fear-mongering war-loving creature. It is too simple for people to grasp.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2008, 10:42 PM
 
638 posts, read 2,276,916 times
Reputation: 294
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Freddy View Post
Thanks for the welcome, but I've been her for a while now.
In case you didn't get it from the context of the story, that happened in 1963.

I hope my long winded story didn't kill this thread. I was really looking forward to hearing about some interesting experiences.

If nobody else posts anything, I'll be forced to tell about the time I levitated while meditating in the desert with a coyote, her pup, and and a covey of quail.
I will take the bait, and I am sorry that you found out the hard way about deer. I myself have buddies I hand-feed every day. I can't imagine any monster shooting them.

When I was 14-15 I started leaving my body against my own will. I had read about it (my grandma was an astrologer so I was raised with an open mind). I was fascinated with the abilities of the spirit. So I read how to leave your body and tried it. I was out so fast it was scary. Trouble was I couldn't get back in my body! I would be stuck in my bedroom watching myself sleep! Then suddenly I would wake up and all would be well.
But after that I would leave involuntarily all the time, and wake up to find myself floating in the stars or some thing. One time I really did go to outerspace where the gravity was exactly correct and I could do gymnastics with lessened gravity, so I could still do all the flips I could do when I was 9. It was very intensely special.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2008, 10:48 PM
 
Location: southern california
61,289 posts, read 87,176,206 times
Reputation: 55550
god spoke to me 3 times, 1st time audible. 1st time happened scared me really badly .
simple stuff said, instructions, very direct, i obeyed. a world of good came from it.
precluded by dire circumstances each time.

Last edited by Huckleberry3911948; 01-31-2008 at 11:08 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-01-2008, 02:08 AM
 
140 posts, read 289,998 times
Reputation: 33
Default Before I read too far, snorkelling in the Cook Islands

Quote:
Originally Posted by DimSumRaja View Post
Alright we're talking personal experience here. What mystical experiences have you had? It is entirely up to you however you define what a mystical experience is to you in your life, just share with us please what happened.

Thank you to all!
My parents took me as a young man to the cook Islands. One sunday they went to Church to hear the islanders sing--glorious!!!
I knew but I would not go
I swam not hoping , I guess in an extended moment of perceived loss, one young mans passing angst, my life changed then.
In one perfect moment, I knew???
The fish, the reef, the water?
I raised my head up to see the island and it was numinous! And constant!!! Not a second---seconds!!!!

I cant really say I have ever seen the world the same way since.
But it was powerful
Just for a moment I saw all things suspended within the infinite and all of it was beautiful and good
Half of what I do now is a seeking back to that perfect seeing
That knowing
The/ that one
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Religion and Spirituality
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top