the seven faces of God

[ArmsMerchant]

Originally Posted by woodlander

I would have to assume God could manifest himself in any and/or all ways, but you see what you are looking for, if that makes any sense.

Exactly. The old paradigm says that seeing is believing.

The new paradigm says that believing is seeing,which is just another way of saying that we all create our own reality.

[Z He Lives 2001]

What an adorable little story.

[BrokeProphet]

Originally Posted by Z He Lives 2001

What an adorable little story.

LOL...

Originally Posted by Hexadecimal

AM, have you read anything on how long it typically takes a person to be lifted from hell to the seventh heaven?

I've only been in the seventh heaven once while alive, and I held command over the wind (it stopped upon the instant telling it so, and began upon the instant telling it so) until I shrunk back to a lower heaven. That was the moment I quit seeing NDEs as hallucinations and spirituality as nonsense. Nature obeyed...for no understood reason.

Hex...were you asleep? We call those dreams. They can get pretty scary. You should refrain from confusing sleepy time with wakey time.

[Whore of God]

Originally Posted by ArmsMerchant

The "evidence" chimera rears its ugly head once more.

As I have stated many times before in various contexts, my only "evidence" is personal experience.

I have read, and accept as true, that it is the soul's intention to know itself experientially--and thus to know God. The soul understands that We and God are One--that at the Highest Reality, we are All One--even as the mind denies this truth, and the body acts out this denial.

The soul understands what the mind cannot conceive.

Are there any techniques to guide people toward having this personal experience?

[Whore of God]

Originally Posted by Hexadecimal

AM, have you read anything on how long it typically takes a person to be lifted from hell to the seventh heaven?

I've only been in the seventh heaven once while alive, and I held command over the wind (it stopped upon the instant telling it so, and began upon the instant telling it so) until I shrunk back to a lower heaven. That was the moment I quit seeing NDEs as hallucinations and spirituality as nonsense. Nature obeyed...for no understood reason.

I can't help but think you're deluded in regard to wind thing. The wind probably changed the moment you tried to change it, due to sheer coincidence. Your brain then registered it as an unusual event, but you dont think about all the times it DIDN'T happen.

Christians saying Hurricane Katrina was caused by God's wrath comes to mind. There are natural weather patterns, they are predictable.

[Hexadecimal]

Originally Posted by BrokeProphet

LOL...



Hex...were you asleep? We call those dreams. They can get pretty scary. You should refrain from confusing sleepy time with wakey time.

No, it was one of the four times I've been awake.

[Hexadecimal]

Originally Posted by Whore of God

I can't help but think you're deluded in regard to wind thing. The wind probably changed the moment you tried to change it, due to sheer coincidence. Your brain then registered it as an unusual event, but you dont think about all the times it DIDN'T happen.

Christians saying Hurricane Katrina was caused by God's wrath comes to mind. There are natural weather patterns, they are predictable.

Read my latest post in the Bodhisattva thread.

[SilentMind]

God sucks. Dick.

Only idiots, drunks, and ex-convicts turn to religion.

With that said, I still found this to be an extremely insightful thread. Thank you.

[Masero]

I don't understand why people who are without religion congregate around a religious sub forum.

[AngryFemme]

I can't speak for everyone, but I can explain why I've enjoyed this forum for many years, though I'm not religious:

It's the belief in belief that's fascinating, to me. It's learning about how others use the God concept in their life to help them through dark days and bad times, and learning through the trials and tribulations of others how to make my own personal struggles more positive, even though I don't rely on God to see me through.

It's interesting to hear how other people interpret their religion. It's interesting to learn how they came to know God, and it's very valuable to me to have a group of (anonymous) peers offer their opinions on what God is (or isn't).

I've seen the God concept presented in so many different ways on here. It helps reaffirm my own stance, and helps reinforce some core beliefs I hold onto, some that tend to slip away from me from time to time. Beyond all the arguments, name-calling, finger-pointing and ridicule that goes on here, there's something to be said for a group of atheists and a group of theists developing a rapport with one another that might be absent out in The Real. Something about the online disinhibition experience - it brings out a very raw and no-holds-barred discourse that allows each participant a stand behind the proverbial podium and an audience that might otherwise not listen if they were approached any other way.

I always wonder at the end of the day (or at the end of a post) how something I or someone else might have said may have influenced another individual. While most of us claim NOT to be pushing agendas, it's evident in our banter that we're ALL perspective-pushers in our own rite.