Religious/spiritual experiences. Tell me about them.

Heineken Helen

Collin wrote:

Yes, exactly.

I dunno, I don't wanna start analysing that feeling cos I'll probably go completely off track and sound nuts :eek: but it's almost like I can see the world from space and it's just funny then how we all think we're super important... space has never seen or heard of us

Yeh, see I've done it

harmless_little_f***

I've never seen an angel, but I think I have felt and heard them.

I had one experience in which I was in a church meeting as a teenager (seventeen). I was going through a time in my life when I reached rock-bottom with self-esteem. There was an "altar call" where people were invited to be prayed for based on experiences of low self-esteem and self-hatred. I knelt down, bowed my head and closed my eyes. I felt a hand press on my shoulder and a warmth through my entire body. I opened my eyes and looked over my shoulder. There was no-one there. Again, I closed my eyes, and felt the same hand press gently on my shoulder again. This time it was there for five minutes. I opened my eyes. No-one was there. Now, either someone was f***ing with me, or...

Another experience was even stranger. I had just returned from a Christian youth camp, feeling pretty drained and burned out from the whole 'Christian-ness' of the thing, to be honest. I went onto the landing upstairs to pray to God. I told him that I felt all this was a bit religious, and if I was to believe in him whole-heartedly, I just needed something real to cling on to: an experience. As I was praying, I heard quite clearly a person playing worship songs on the guitar in my room; it was like listening to the radio. I sat there listening to it, thinking if my mind was playing tricks on me, it would stop. When it didn't, I opened the door to my room. The second I opened the door, the music stopped and there was no sign of anyone in my room. I snooped around for a little while as well, just to make sure...

When I was a young lad (five-ish), my family were at a Christian conference. My mum was at one of the meetings. She had to take me out of the meeting because I was crying and being disruptive. She decided to take me for a drive in the car so that I would fall asleep. On the journey, I heard very clearly some music (children's music about God); the lyrics were about sleeping soundly and things like 'peace' and what-not. Anyway, I said to my mum, 'Mum can you turn the music up?' 'There's no music on,' she said. Needless to say, she never got me to sleep because I kept saying 'Turn the music up!' 'There is no music!' she kept assuring me. Indeed, when I looked at the radio/tape player, nothing was on. We both remember this pretty clearly.

Man, I must be so annoying even God couldn't get me to sleep

redrock

harmless_little_f*** wrote:

I've never seen an angel, but I think I have felt and heard them.

Angels are spiritual beings - called angels by those who believe in the christian faith - that will look after you when necessary....

I believe in those beings.. I have had 'encounters' with them.. I know a number of people that have as well...

Though strangely enough I do not go for the religious aspect of things, I named my daughter Gabrielle - after the archangel....

harmless_little_f***

redrock wrote:

Angels are spiritual beings - called angels by those who believe in the christian faith - that will look after you when necessary....

I believe in those beings.. I have had 'encounters' with them.. I know a number of people that have as well...

Though strangely enough I do not go for the religious aspect of things, I named my daughter Gabrielle - after the archangel....

Gabrielle is a beautiful name

Heineken Helen

redrock wrote:

Angels are spiritual beings - called angels by those who believe in the christian faith - that will look after you when necessary....

This definitely exists too I definitely know someone's looking out for me and feel it quite often... too many things have worked out when they shouldn't have for it to be just coincidence... it also feels different to what I consider to be God.

redrock

harmless_little_f*** wrote:

Gabrielle is a beautiful name

Thank you She has also had encounters with spirits, but as a child, she never questioned them.. All was natural.. part of the world...

These type of encounters make you realise that there is more to this world then one would like to believe. It is a very comforting feeling. I know of a person who had somewhat more disturbed encounter but nevertheless it was still eye opening and gave her a very different outlook on life.

Ms. Haiku

harmless_little_f*** wrote:

I've never seen an angel, but I think I have felt and heard them.

I had one experience in which I was in a church meeting as a teenager (seventeen). I was going through a time in my life when I reached rock-bottom with self-esteem. There was an "altar call" where people were invited to be prayed for based on experiences of low self-esteem and self-hatred. I knelt down, bowed my head and closed my eyes. I felt a hand press on my shoulder and a warmth through my entire body. I opened my eyes and looked over my shoulder. There was no-one there. Again, I closed my eyes, and felt the same hand press gently on my shoulder again. This time it was there for five minutes. I opened my eyes. No-one was there. Now, either someone was f***ing with me, or...

Another experience was even stranger. I had just returned from a Christian youth camp, feeling pretty drained and burned out from the whole 'Christian-ness' of the thing, to be honest. I went onto the landing upstairs to pray to God. I told him that I felt all this was a bit religious, and if I was to believe in him whole-heartedly, I just needed something real to cling on to: an experience. As I was praying, I heard quite clearly a person playing worship songs on the guitar in my room; it was like listening to the radio. I sat there listening to it, thinking if my mind was playing tricks on me, it would stop. When it didn't, I opened the door to my room. The second I opened the door, the music stopped and there was no sign of anyone in my room. I snooped around for a little while as well, just to make sure...

When I was a young lad (five-ish), my family were at a Christian conference. My mum was at one of the meetings. She had to take me out of the meeting because I was crying and being disruptive. She decided to take me for a drive in the car so that I would fall asleep. On the journey, I heard very clearly some music (children's music about God); the lyrics were about sleeping soundly and things like 'peace' and what-not. Anyway, I said to my mum, 'Mum can you turn the music up?' 'There's no music on,' she said. Needless to say, she never got me to sleep because I kept saying 'Turn the music up!' 'There is music!' she kept assuring me. Indeed, when I looked at the radio/tape player, nothing was on. We both remember this pretty clearly.

Man, I must be so annoying even God couldn't get me to sleep

Those are wonderful! Did I ever write about my PJ in Camden, and my grandpa showing up experience? It's got to be somewhere. Let me see if I can find it.

Ms. Haiku

Ok, so maybe I didn't write it, here goes. It was the best Pearl Jam experience, and it wasn't at a concert. However, it would not have happened if not for a Pearl Jam concert.

Camden Philly 06#1. I decided I couldn't afford to go so I was able to find someone to purchase my tickets. However, I had to take the train from DC to Philly so that I could personally pick them up and sell them. I looked at the schedule and made plans with the purchaser with enough cushion of time in case things are delayed.

I arrived in the morning, and walked to the river between Philly and Camden. PureandEasy gave me directions on how to use the riverboat, so I was prepared, but the times were not as frequent as I would expect. The purchaser was about 1 hour late for our meeting. Again, I had cushion, but I was getting nervous because the times the riverboat went back to Philly may be too late for me to reach my train back to DC on time. I also knew, of course, that rationally I could always get another train if push comes to shove, but I didn't want to end up in DC too late.

As I was waiting I asked a couple concert staff where's the best place to get a taxi?

One said -I don't know I never see taxis here.
One said - Maybe over there near the acquarium.

It was then I realized I didn't see any taxis in Philadelphia, and none here. What's up with that? No taxis? It's probably an indication of the crime.

After I sold the tickets I went to the acquarium, and the acquarium manager, and a police officer were standing outside the acquarium. I asked for the best place to get a taxi. The police officer said that they come about every half hour. He then said, he would call one for me. He came back, and said one would be there in 10 minutes. Then he said that he would get "one of his guys" to take me to the taxi hang out or whatever it's called. Now, you gotta remember this is in the worst crime area of the country, and they are taking their time out to help me find a taxi. The police officer drives over, I get in the back, and the first thing I say is "I thought I would never be in one of these unless I was in trouble " He drove me to the taxi shelter, making small talk, very nice, mirrored sun glasses. Finally, a taxi came along side us, after the police officer waved for him to come over, that was willing to take me to the train station.

Such incredible good will, helpfullness, in the worst crime area of the country, blew my mind away. My grandfather worked in the St. Louis police force for 35 years, and whenever something major big happens with police that's positive, I think he's around looking out for me. Boy did I thank him in the sky that time. Oooowheeee!!!!! I was so full of joy that he was looking out for me it was truly the best PJ experience!

I called my mom the next day and said, "Your dad says hello."

Heineken Helen

Awww Ms H and HLF, they're lovely stories... I think it's only when you really need help that it all becomes clear to you. Once it HAS become clear you may not need this 'evidence' again!

When I was at my very very very lowest a few years ago (I've never really been a depressed kinda person but have since put it down to being on the pill at the time - really fucked me up) I was just crying frequently for no reason and felt not just lonely but completely ALONE! It was terrifying cos my hormones were completely fucked up and what I was going through did not feel natural at all. It finally got to the stage where I turned to 'God' and asked for help.

I was reading a book at the time and just one line was the first reply. The main character standing on a beach pondering (the insignificance that I spoke of earlier) how we're all completely alone in this world. For some reason that really really comforted me and made me realise that 'yeh we are, it's not just me, and I can't wait for someone else to snap me out of this cos it's all in my hands'.

When I put the book down for the night, I lit a candle burner, turned off the light and pressed play on the stereo... 'crucify' by Tori Amos came on and I looked at the wall and the design of the candle burner had reflected a cross onto the wall :eek: . It was pretty spooky.

Then, I think it was pretty soon after, another night I was looking out my window and I saw a shooting star and I'd never seen one before. Since the night before I'd been wondering what kinda DEFINITE 'sign' could I ask for... so I said 'ok, if you're there, show me another one'. I saw 7 or 8 of them in the next half hour :eek: . I read the next day that there was a meteor shower but I wasn't to know.

Ever since then I've never needed to know or ask any further questions... I just feel pretty comforted most of the time and it's a really nice feeling.

pjfanatic4

I've been monitoring this thread since it started because I am interested in the different stories and experiences. I'd like to share a story that does not have a reasonable explanation that we can catalog as spiritual or religious. But I don't have one. I do consider I've had religious experiences because my faith (Catholic) has always been a part of my life. I was raised and am still a practicing Catholic. So what I consider a religious experience may be different than what others consider one. The quote below is an example.

OutOfBreath wrote:

Going to a live show can most definitely be such an experience for me. And I think it pushes the same buttons inside us that mass religious experiences does. It's about a room filled with people focusing on the same thing, creating a kind of energy between crowd and performer. I almost reached that peak at the Nine Inch Nails consert 2 weeks ago, particularly during "The Eraser" (with the song ending on repeated chants of "Kill me" together with the crowd) and "Hurt".

I too am moved at concert performances by my favorite bands. Music has a powerful effect, there is certainly a kind of "high" and uplifting experience, that most definitely is enhanced by the crowd in attendance. However, that feeling to me is totally different from what I feel from what I consider a religious experience.

An personal example of a religious experience is the feeling I had when I received the Sacrament of Confirmation. It was a peacefulness, calmness, and assurance that we are not alone in this world. Very difficult to explain in words. I remember this time in particular because it was when I felt it the strongest, but I get those feelings when I attend Mass, when I pray, when I receive communion. For those of you not familiar with the Catholic faith, our celebrations are usually quiet, low key (there are exceptions) unlike what I've seen on TV from other Christian denominations.

Please don't infer that I'm saying I'm right and you're wrong. It is just how I see this subject. I just consider the feelings at a concert are very different than the what I consider a religious experience.

RockinInCanada

I have a spiriutal experience that I will share...it is personal so telling it is not very easy...and I am not one to go believing in ghosts and all that sort of stuff.

I was bed-side when my mother died just over a year ago from brain cancer and I was obviously upset. I took the task to inform friends and family of what happened and left to a far corner of the hospital with my cell phone. I did not want my dad doing this as he was in no condition at all for it.

Anyway before I made any calls I just sat down in the corner and began crying and thinking of things I would have said and you know stuff like that. So I was getting upset at myself for some regrets (if you know someone with brain cancer people you realize that the individual they become is not entirely the person they were before) that arose in the past years.

Anyway back to the story, while I was thinking of so many things I felt an intense cold rush flow from the bottom of my feel and enter my head....and for a few seconds...you know how we all have our "voice" inside our heads that "talks" to use...essentially your mind....I have another voice speak to me....told me.."don't worry everything is going to be all right"...and then that cold rush seemed to go right through my head....since that moment I have been at 100% complete peace with myself...I no longer feel regret sure I feel sad not being ablt to ever to speak to my mother again I felt better....anyway it could have been my emotions taking over or something more unexplained....but anyway that is my small story to add.....

Jeanie

Rockin'InCanada wrote:

I have a spiriutal experience that I will share...it is personal so telling it is not very easy...and I am not one to go believing in ghosts and all that sort of stuff.

I was bed-side when my mother died just over a year ago from brain cancer and I was obviously upset. I took the task to inform friends and family of what happened and left to a far corner of the hospital with my cell phone. I did not want my dad doing this as he was in no condition at all for it.

Anyway before I made any calls I just sat down in the corner and began crying and thinking of things I would have said and you know stuff like that. So I was getting upset at myself for some regrets (if you know someone with brain cancer people you realize that the individual they become is not entirely the person they were before) that arose in the past years.

Anyway back to the story, while I was thinking of so many things I felt an intense cold rush flow from the bottom of my feel and enter my head....and for a few seconds...you know how we all have our "voice" inside our heads that "talks" to use...essentially your mind....I have another voice speak to me....told me.."don't worry everything is going to be all right"...and then that cold rush seemed to go right through my head....since that moment I have been at 100% complete peace with myself...I no longer feel regret sure I feel sad not being ablt to ever to speak to my mother again I felt better....anyway it could have been my emotions taking over or something more unexplained....but anyway that is my small story to add.....

Oh WOW RiC!!! Feel like a total tool for mentioning it, but almost the same thing happened to me at the start of 2005.
Only I was sleeping. And I woke up startled, with my heart pounding because I could feel someone in the room, right beside me. I could physically feel a presence. And a cool "breeze" for want of a better term. And then very quietly but firmly I heard someone say right into my ear "It's all going to be ok." I sat up in bed and put the light on. But there was no one there. And I sat up for hours. I wasn't scared. I felt really peaceful, but I was convinced that someone had spoken to me, and I asked the people I live with if anyone had been in my room but they all thought I was mad. A few weeks later I had a relapse of an ongoing medical condition. Things where not going well for a while there, but every time I started to get worried, I could hear that voice in my head, "It's all going to be ok" and I felt so calm and safe. And the voice was right, I was ok.

I'm really sorry about your Mum. Must be awful to have gone through that.

RockinInCanada

Jeanie wrote:

Oh WOW RiC!!! Feel like a total tool for mentioning it, but almost the same thing happened to me at the start of 2005.
Only I was sleeping. And I woke up startled, with my heart pounding because I could feel someone in the room, right beside me. I could physically feel a presence. And a cool "breeze" for want of a better term. And then very quietly but firmly I heard someone say right into my ear "It's all going to be ok." I sat up in bed and put the light on. But there was no one there. And I sat up for hours. I wasn't scared. I felt really peaceful, but I was convinced that someone had spoken to me, and I asked the people I live with if anyone had been in my room but they all thought I was mad. A few weeks later I had a relapse of an ongoing medical condition. Things where not going well for a while there, but every time I started to get worried, I could hear that voice in my head, "It's all going to be ok" and I felt so calm and safe. And the voice was right, I was ok.

I'm really sorry about your Mum. Must be awful to have gone through that.

Yeah complete peace is the best way to explain it...all the tears/sadness/regretful feelings just disapated and have not come back for me...it was very enlightening.

I usually keep that story close because I just do not want negative feedback. Yeah it could very well been an explainable phenomenon because of sudden emotional stress...but it never happened to me before (and for that matter since) and usually under stressfil circumstances I turn into a wreck so to have this feeling pass over and have such strong emotions disipate so quick if unheard for me.

And yeah it was a very tough time....just watching something tear away someone you love....so dehabilitating.....she fought to the end (8 year battle that we thought she had won 6 years prior but came back worse than ever) and I was there to the end...it was tough but i feel stronger today because of everything that happened.....

Maybe you had someone watching over you for your tough time? It is weird as I am skeptical about alot things but when stuff like this happens to you one begins to wonder what really is beyond life.

Ms. Haiku

Here's an odd one. I was looking for a job, and I applied for a job as a police department transcriptionist. This was in 2003 I always wanted to work in the police because of the connection with the grandfather mentioned previously who I never met.

From 1989 to 1996 I worked either voluntarily or paid as a crisis counselor. I learned and heard about/from survivors of domestic violence, and all forms of child abuse. The one nagging thought I had when I applied to that transcriptionist position is that I would meet with the perpetrators of this violence. There was no way around it.

One night I was on the verge of having a nightmare while asleep. There was a man talking with his friends in a room. He was a well-groomed man wearing very preppy clothes, and he had his son in the room with him. The son was wearing well-groomed clothes also. The man told his son to go to his room.

Both the son, and I knew, that it was a sign that the man was going to molest his son that night. The son was sitting crossed-legged on the floor, and before the man got into the room, someone starting hitting me on my arm. Like with the pointer finger, but really hard. So I was hit awake from my nightmare that could have happend. However, even awake it kept going which meant that ultimately the fear I was experiencing in the dream was turning into total and complete annoyance that someone was hitting me. It was then I gave a big THANK YOU to my room which besides me was empty.

Now, here's the deal. I don't know if my police officer grandpa could do that, and at first I thought it was him. However, upon further reflection, if anyone would hit me out of a nightmare that would be my Italian grandfather. He wasn't known for being the nicest man, but if anyone would get the strength to make sure to hit me out of a nightmare there's no doubt it would be someone as full of pride as him. So, grandpas, gotta love them. Too bad I didn't know them, eh?

Alex_Coe

The first time I had a Carl's Jr. it was a religious experience. It was like god was talking to me through the tasty burger.

present_tense

hey... Just wanted to share my experience... Actually havent told a single person about this, and now, well, im sharing it with thousands.

So, in the last two years ive started to meditate regularly. A few times Ive experienced feelings of me beginning to leap out of my skin, which freaked the hell out of me, and I ended up breaking my concentration. Anyway, as for the experience I wanted to share....
I was in a deep meditation state for about 30 minutes. I started seeing wierd colors and shapes which is normal, and is due to neurons firing, but anyway.... Everything went black, and then all of the sudden I was seeing a person standing right infront of me. He was just standing there. Looking at me. He had a real distinct face, middle eastern looking. It was the oddest thing. Everything was silent, he didnt move or blink. I didnt understand what was going on, so i opened my eyes and broke the session. Anyway, the next morning I woke up, and on the front page of our paper was a picture of this prominant canadian business man who was being held hostage in Iraq, and evidentally was executed. It was the exact same person that I saw the night before. As for why I saw him, I have no clue, and I also didnt save the newspaper clipping which I really regret.

Not sure what you would classify that experience as, but im definately a spiritual person, and ive had those feelings of connectedness and being one with the universe. Ive also had a few weird ghost type experiences, but I think ive taken up enough space!!

RockinInCanada

present_tense wrote:

hey... Just wanted to share my experience... Actually havent told a single person about this, and now, well, im sharing it with thousands.

So, in the last two years ive started to meditate regularly. A few times Ive experienced feelings of me beginning to leap out of my skin, which freaked the hell out of me, and I ended up breaking my concentration. Anyway, as for the experience I wanted to share....
I was in a deep meditation state for about 30 minutes. I started seeing wierd colors and shapes which is normal, and is due to neurons firing, but anyway.... Everything went black, and then all of the sudden I was seeing a person standing right infront of me. He was just standing there. Looking at me. He had a real distinct face, middle eastern looking. It was the oddest thing. Everything was silent, he didnt move or blink. I didnt understand what was going on, so i opened my eyes and broke the session. Anyway, the next morning I woke up, and on the front page of our paper was a picture of this prominant canadian business man who was being held hostage in Iraq, and evidentally was executed. It was the exact same person that I saw the night before. As for why I saw him, I have no clue, and I also didnt save the newspaper clipping which I really regret.

Not sure what you would classify that experience as, but im definately a spiritual person, and ive had those feelings of connectedness and being one with the universe. Ive also had a few weird ghost type experiences, but I think ive taken up enough space!!

That is one of the coolest stories I have heard....pretty wild....

OutOfBreath

pjfanatic4 wrote:

Please don't infer that I'm saying I'm right and you're wrong. It is just how I see this subject. I just consider the feelings at a concert are very different than the what I consider a religious experience.

I hear you. That's why I put a divide between "mass events" like concerts and such, and the more personal part of the whole thing.

And all of you in here, I do love you. I can't remember last time an AMT thread went this peacefully and civil for so long. I wont respond to every post in here, but I will generally thank all of you who shared a little piece of yourselves. I am almost shamed I do not have more interesting stories for myself.

Do go on, the lot of you.

Peace
Dan

surferdude

I like the open mindedness and respect happening in this thread. It's a breathe of fresh are on this moving train.

I'm not sure if mine is a spiritual or synchronistic experience but I'll share and you can decide.

I was going through a child custody battle at the time. Well more like war than battle. I was doing my best to play fair and look out for my son's best interest and my step-son's best interest against someone who was being vindictive. I had false child abuse charges laid against me even.

So after one court appearance I was about as low as I could be. I knew I wasn't going to get any visitation rights to my step-son and it looked like I'd get very limited visitation rights and no parental rights for my son. I was on the verge of just giving up the battle.

I remember I was driving back to work after this day in court and I was just crying while driving. I couldn't figure out why this was happening to me or why someone I used to love was trying to do this to me and the kids. Liek I said I was just ready to quit the whole process. Every court date or fake child abuse charge shit was like getting emotionally raped and there's only so much I can take. So I'm driving down the road, tears in my eyes, listening to a station I almost never listen to and "For Those About To Rock" by AC/DC came on. Just the build up in the song and the chorus "For those about to rock we salute you" was just the song I needed to hear at that time. I can't say it exactly lifted my spirits but it did let me know I couldn't quit, not so much for me but my son. The moment may have been synchronistic, the right song at the right time, but the effect it had on me was purely spiritual. Something changed inside of me during that song and it was a change for the better.

I always like to think that I wouldn't have quit the fight without hearing that song but I'm glad I'll never know. In the end things turned out as good as the could given reality. I still never get to see my step-son but I have my son pretty much full-time with parental rights. And he's a great kid, possessing the best attributes of both his mom and dad and a bunch of his own.

redrock

Surferdude, if something changed within you during that song, I believe it a spiritual experience. Happy to know all is well with your son...

From my experience and those of others I know, it seems that most of the events seem to occur when we are searching for something, when we are going through a trauma, approaching death or when we are in need (or someone else is in need) - except for children.. they seem to always be open.

Could this perhaps seem to others that our subconcious mind may be digesting info/signal, 'fixing' things for us and 'showing' a solution the only way we would be receptive to it because our concious mind can't deal with things? Could the apparition of the canadian hostage be that the poster had heard/read something about it and it was subconciously bugging him?
Or do we often experience these events during difficult times because the rest of the time, we tend to shut our minds to those kind of things?

Difficult to say, but these are powerful phenomena (not alway positive, I might add!) and I cannot believe it is just our mind 'sorting us out'.