Religious Experience

I'm curious about what other people experience, physically, and in their minds' eye when communing with their divine, either in ritual, during prayer, etc. I think it might be interesting to see what people of different faiths experience.

If you've ever converted from one religion to another, did the experience change?

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"I finally realize what I was put on this earth to do; be a mother! ... Or was it to open a frozen yogurt shop?" - Daffy Duck

When I was Christian, I experienced what I call the "warm fuzzies" when I worshiped. It was a euphoric feeling, as well as a feeling of being "connected to god".

Now I am an atheist, and I understand thoes feelings as just feelings. The human mind is an amazing thing. Our beliefs shape the way we understand and percieve the world. Feelings are not indicative of anything but our own perspective.

I've come to not trust human perception when one is emotionally charged. Our biases often cloud our judgement.

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If you are convinced that you are the only sane person in the universe, don't be surprised if everyone else thinks you're crazy.

Rasta

Originally Posted by Rasta

When I was Christian, I experienced what I call the "warm fuzzies" when I worshiped. It was a euphoric feeling, as well as a feeling of being "connected to god".

What did being connected to god specifically feel like? Was it just a little shot of endorphins?

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"I finally realize what I was put on this earth to do; be a mother! ... Or was it to open a frozen yogurt shop?" - Daffy Duck

Pretty much yeah. I can't really describe it beyond that. I get a simular feeling if I hear a powerfull piece of music. I'm a musician, btw.

__________________
If you are convinced that you are the only sane person in the universe, don't be surprised if everyone else thinks you're crazy.

Rasta

Well I've had a couple of "religious" experiences. Once I was out camping somewhere. I don't remember where, I was pretty young. I got to the top of a ridge and I saw an open expanse of trees. It was a warm sunny day with the wind blowing a few clouds about. In short, it was beautiful. I stayed there a while and I felt that I had gotten away from humanity and back into nature. The sense that this is what the world was like a long time ago. It felt, I dunno, enlightening? Maybe into the beauty of nature. It definitely felt good.

The other time I was caving and we got to a smallish tunnel. We took a break and killed the lights. And there in the cramped quarters under a few dozen feet of rock I got that enlightenment feeling again. I think I got a sense of what the vast majority of planet earth is. A poor sense, as we weren't that deep and we could, you know, breath, but I felt closer to the earth.

No real communication, and not really a prayer or ritual, just a vague feeling. So probably not what you're looking for.

Now that I'm older, I can induce certain similar feelings with a good song. I have to agree with Rasta, it's all in your head.

I think people who dismiss religious experiences as "only brain chemistry" miss the simple but important fact that our consciousness in general is "only" brain chemistry, too. Everything we think, know, experience or categorize is just what our neurons construct, based on sensory input that is translated into neural impulses.

That said, I also think that traditional explanations of such experiences (that is, attributing them to external, "supernatural" sources) are equally misleading. Looking at different religions, we find that people from vastly different religions (or even no religion at all) share similar "mystic" experiences - and each and every one of them rationalizes/categorizes them according to the patterns provided by their belief systems.
What separated the heretic from the saint in the Middle Ages was mostly just their way of aligning their experiences with official church doctrine - the experiences in themselves didn'T differ that much.

I think our nervous system is capable of entering different modes of consciousness, some of which have inspired human spirituality throughout the ages.

To me, a Pentecostal Christian speaking glossolalia, a shaman entering a trance through drumming or dancing, and a Vodoun "horse" being ridden by the loa have much more in common than any of them would suspect (or admit).

I never said my conclusion was not MY conclusion did I?

I can suggest all I want, just as you do. I can't prove anything, just as you can't.

By this standard, how does this effect your argument?

Yes. The "warm fuzzies". It is a state of mind not unique to Christian worship.

What "knowledge" would that be?

Just as you ignore the possibility NOW. <Staff Edit> You are guilty of everything you accuse me of.

__________________
If you are convinced that you are the only sane person in the universe, don't be surprised if everyone else thinks you're crazy.

Rasta

oi. I'll try to keep my answer short and innocent..

In my mind's eye, I see the beauty of the gods in nature. Simply marveling at what I call gods is the bulk of my religious experience. It's hard to keep them all neatly defined as I gaze across a beautiful field, and I realize that they're working together as a harmonious orchestra. This is all of course not 'fact', just what is said of them, and how they inhabit my life. I think the subjective spiritual realm can be very meaningful, and where I spend most of my time. I'll admit it's strange to me how much bliss I found when I discovered personifications of nature.. why couldn't it be that way before! Outside of all the nature stuff, I have very odd coincidences concerning what I think could be them, and what I generally take to be them.. I never know what to think of these things, except that it completely boggles the mind. I feel completely removed from the scientific reality I thought I knew.. and just have to keep a sense of humor. I guess I feel more frustrated than not outside of nature, though I know that's a bit of a personal problem..

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"We are all different biological information.. but we are all children of it's holiness mother nature. Earth is still giving food for us, sun is shining.. and comets are passing peacefully over our planet. This idea alone can make me feel lucky, and joyful." Sainkho Namtchylak

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dude, tracie, you told me you just modded the wrong thread. Why even remind us when this has been one of the nicest threads on the whole forum.