phidelis07

Has anyone here ever had what they might consider a spiritual experience ? If so what was it ?

Og

"hearing" action potentials from spiking neurons on an audio monitor as I recorded from them and then mechanically stimulating parts of the organism I was recording from and hearing a change in the rate behavior of the spikes.

Changed my life.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

Gettin' In Tune

I like your question, but I have one that parallels it?

What is a spiritual experience? Is it different than a life changing experience or a moment of highten lucidity?

I am not even sure what it means to be spiritual.

phidelis07

To me a spiritual experience is when you become aware of something greater than yourself, such as a diety or some spiritual force. Some people have had instances where they felt that god was speaking with them, or they witnessed or they had an instance in which they felt God was behind it. Another type which i sometimes have is when something awe inspiring gives you sense of something greater than yourself. For some people this can be a sunset, or some other natural beauty. For me it can sometimes happen when I am listening to an amazing song, and feelings and emotions flow with the song. I feel that moment to be spiritual, when i can connect with something " spiritual"

I hope some of this made sense, im really tired at the moment

harleylove

Nature does this to me. I can get so engulfed in the beauty and awe that I forget that I even exist.

__________________
If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs--that is your success. All nature is your congratulation.
Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862

Gettin' In Tune

I do get a sense of awe from nature. For example, standing next to the ocean and looking out into the vastness of the sea is humbling. Being aware of the waves crashing millions of years before I was born and realizing that they will still be crashing for millions of years after I die. Is this a spiritual experience? Or is this just a natural feeling of appreciation for the world we live in? I just think it is the latter.

As for music, I have felt moved from listening anything from classical music to Val Halen and to Queen's 'Fat Bottom Girls' (which I am listening to at the moment). I feel a connection with music, but I am not sure if I would say that this is a spiritual experience.

I am not sure if I have ever felt the force of a diety in my life. There is no way to tell. Throughout my life, I have struggled with the concept of 'god' and a diety, but I never became aware of a diety acting in my life. Even if there is a god, I have never became aware that I was this diety's creation. As a diety is concern, I guess I have not felt a spiritual experience.

debdodd

yep ... but I cannot share it because it could have been a stress induced hallucination ... many times people mistake spiritual events with environmental triggers .... ie ... a loved one dies and a few days latter you have a vivid dream where the person is in it ... not my dream but it happens to a friend every time a close relative dies .... he then thinks he's had a spiritual encounter. I think it's just b/c the funeral is over and he is decompressing his emotional being b/c the dream always centers around the deceased person telling him they are okay, and with other loved ones and they are okay. After the dream he emotionally reconciles that they are in a "better place" it a balm for his soul but nothing more in my opinion ... I would never tell him that just b/c it helped him cope with his parents death .... some people need that emotional safety net. I try never to impose my beliefs on others.

__________________
"Ubi dubium ibi libertas."

"We are all lone souls. It pays to know humility, lest the delusion of control, of mastery, overwhelms. And indeed, we seem a species prone to that delusion, again and ever again ....."

harleylove

Gettin' in tine, having a spiritual experience does not have to involve a deity. Just like what you described about the ocean. I would say that that is a spiritual experience the way you connected with it and beautiful that you can get all that from looking at the ocean. Some people wouldn't even take a second thought and take it for granted.

__________________
If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs--that is your success. All nature is your congratulation.
Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862

Gettin' In Tune

Thanks for your response.

It has only been in the past week that I really begin to question what 'spiritual' means. As I explore agnosticism, I question if I can be spiritual. If I am an agnostic do I have a claim to be spiritual? I do not think I can make such a claim. Perhaps, I am 'nit-picking', but being spiritual involves supernaturalism; entities beyong nature and my senses.

Doesn't a spiritual experience involve an experience beyond the comprehension of the five senses? My mind and intellect may not be able to grasp the meaning of the experience, but that does not necessarily mean it is supernatural and incorpreal.

You and I can have a deep reverence for nature and beauty. A reverence that moves us in a touching way. Its a reverence and beauty that at times cannot be explain properly with words. In essence it leaves us with a feeling of 'awe'. Isn't this a "natural experience" brought about by nature and not a "spritual experience".

Isn't this the way nature works at times; leaving us in a state of awe and appreciation. As an agnostic I should appreciate the natural beauty of nature and not "chalk it up" to something as spiritual.

I hope I am making some sense. I have been struggling with these thoughts only very recently.

harleylove

I don't think spirituality has to involve the supernatural. I believe it is a connection to something greater than us, for me it's the Universe. I feel I am part of it but in no way can comprehend all of it. Just like the ocean you were talking about. It's sirenity, the way the waves crash. I can look out on the ocean and there is no end to it nor can I even comprehend an end to it. I can forget everything around me and be completely sucked into the marvel of it. I am connected with it, in a way I can actually say that I feel like I become it. To me that is spiritual.
The ocean is one of my favorites BTW.

__________________
If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs--that is your success. All nature is your congratulation.
Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862