WOW, many folks are waking up spiritually ......

I woke up too.

I realized the futility of life.

reply to post by switching yard


Well I've always gone to church and all, but bad habits for me are quite bad. They're deactivated now though. And it's not the first time this has happened. But it is the first time it's happened to this extent.

To correct both, Buddhism is a life style, not really a religion. It's got its paths and everything yea, but for the most part I would not see any different than the 12 step program or a doctor. Buddhism is a culture more or less. It was a response to Hinduism's ways. For example, I follow a very stoic life style and my beliefs are very similar. But I am 100% Christian.

I would recommend stay Christian for my own reasons, and look at what the Buddhists do. Observe and report. True Buddhism has no gods, no "real" afterlife, and just have a life style. Oh sure they've got reincarnation, but more on that later. It's basically not much of a religion. It's a counter to the over-religion seen in Hinduism. It's more like a comparison between modernism and post-modernism.

I'm... Jeez. I'm technically Catholic but I don't like labels. I follow Christ and his word seen in the Bible. That means that all other religions I have to know about in order to strip them down, see what's up with them, and deduce what's going on. And yes, to be Christian means to say that Christ is the only way. That doesn't mean cut yourself off from everyone else. It means that you have to love someone even though you know they are going to be destroyed. The sad contradiction. You cannot hate someone just because they don't believe in what you do. You have to love that person even when you know they're going straight down to the pits. I know I would weep to God and beg him to change his mind, but I am not going to rebel against God. Just state a plea. Being Christian, to what I can think of, means knowing your saved but not everyone else. It perhaps can even mean holding onto hope that God will find some way to save them, even though the likely solution is they are doomed. And through it all, love them. That's some pretty powerful stuff to me.

For Buddhism, I'd point out that it is far too "on Earth", if you will. It's too connected to the world to be true. If spirituality does exist, it does not exist physically in our world. It's nothing more than a shadow image of this world that saves us once we blue screen at death. It cannot physically exist for the universe to be true. And thus, this pretty much throws away every religion except core Christianity, a few Native American beliefs, and a few old ways seen in stoicism and similar things. Rare is the religion that accepts the great pit between this world and the next, and the land-locked nature of both parties. To state that you can reach enlightenment on your own, well, is to state that there is some physicality in this world to grab onto. Some shred of rope across the great pit. But it's like antimatter and matter. For the two to have any contact beyond that in faith, is total annihilation for both. Christ is the only hybrid entity that can cross between the pit. Even God's workers and entities do not work in this world in physicality. One of the few examples I can think of are the nephilim, of whom it is suggested they exist in this world, not the next.

Simply put, any religion that claims there is some kind of road to that "thing" that is beyond death is lieing in my own opinion. And Christianity seems to be the only religion to show that in order for some cross to be made, that which is on that side had to quite literally make a bubble to exist in this one. A shell. A body. Even then it is strongly suggested that Christ wasn't fully grounded to this world. Just a free radical about to be burned out in a world that rejected it. In our world he is like a cancer that must be rejected. But our non physical souls can latch onto him and be saved from annihilation in this one.

Why does God do that? Who knows. That's the way this universe is. There are likely countless others with other rules. But that's just the way it is here.

Originally posted by Gorman91
For Buddhism, I'd point out that it is far too "on Earth", if you will. It's too connected to the world to be true. If spirituality does exist, it does not exist physically in our world. It's nothing more than a shadow image of this world that saves us once we blue screen at death. It cannot physically exist for the universe to be true.

Luke 17:21

"You won't be able to say, 'Here it is!' or 'It's over there!' For the Kingdom of God is already among you."

Many different translations, one was chosen randomly. What does such a statement mean to you?

reply to post by sinohptik


We are the kingdom. It's a simple meaning. The holy spirit in us all in what we do and what moves within us.

In architecture, we have literalism and embodiment. many architects have chosen embodiment because it is far more intelligent than literalism geometry, and symbolism. In doing so, our buildings become the subject matter. We don't make a building that looks like a leaf for showing nature. We make a living breathing building with tropes that make it a biological cell in and of itself. No decorations, no symbols, no words. It behaves like the subject matter.

Now here, lets look at the whole bible verse you took.

Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”[c] 22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day[d] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] [e] 37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

There will be something big. Something physical. The collision between the physical universe and what lies beyond will not be a happy get together. It is quite literally like this universe is laying an egg into something beyond. The birth pains are intense and destructive. And those not compatible will be lost. This time period is described as greatly sad and destructive. Mothers and pregnant women will be grieved. This is because their children will be suddenly gone for their innocence. People will just seemingly no longer exist, and they will leave nothing behind. It's not like we all wake up one day going to church. Sure, things will happen. I've felt it. I do think this is the last century of man. Scientifically, where are the time travelers? We are scheduled to get a time machine by 2070ish. No time travelers. Either we're all dead or nobody remembers us.


This event is quite literally an invasive surgery from something that is beyond into our own universe. It's taking out the cancer that is us, and returning us to a place we are meant to be.

reply to post by Gorman91


Do you believe the constructs of the mind exist beyond the bodies death?

Keeping in mind, this one is asking to explore your perspective on that which is beyond ALL perspectives, nothing more, nothing less.

reply to post by sinohptik


The brain is nothing more than neuron interrelationships. In as much as nothing of our cloud computing lives on after the cloud is shut down, I see no reason why anything of this body lives on after death in a physical manner.

The words God use to describer himself: "I am that I am" speak to the nature of this. IE, It is beyond our perspectives. We just know that we exist after we die. But not of this world nor universe.

If there was any physical evidence of the soul, it would then stand to argue that the soul can be destroyed. A violation of the very nature of what the eternal soul is.

reply to post by Gorman91


So do you feel that the soul is presently "with" one? Meaning, can such a thing be used as the representative core of being, and the mind as a tool of such? One theory i have had is that in picking the fruit from the tree, adam and eve decided to separate from that core of being, and decided to reside within the mind as the core

edit: just wanted to mention, quite sure you will be oooo-k but you likely already "knew" that

Originally posted by Tangled2011
ok..here goes...

First off, Hi to everyone on here. I've signed up to this site after a couple of weeks reading through hundreds of pages of interesting thoughts, theories & discussions. To be honest I've been reluctant to sign up, despite being deeply intrigued by what I've seen. The reason for me holding myself back was I've seen some quite personal attacks on people who come forward with their feelings, and alot of the time it feels like they are insisting the person is mad...BUT...

I would have been EXACTLY the same as the attackers, until about a month ago! Since just before xmas 2010, I've been a hardcore skeptic and always believed science would explain everything, but something changed, and this is the tricky part. No-one can explain fully what the change is, how or why it happens, and the purpose for it happening, which makes it easy for people to debunk (like I said I would have been the debunker too)...however in the past month or so a change seems to be happening to me too. I've not talked about it until recently because the looks you get just make you feel mad but you yourself can feel it, and its not insanity!

My experience started with crying for no real reason. Just an immense overwhelming feeling of being happy! Then I started to worry when I was crying, but felt sad. Classic Psycho behaviour isnt it lol Well thats what i thought, but then all of a sudden I opened up and accepted it, and then the dreams started...just very odd ones, they felt like ordinary dreams at first but then they started feeling more like an out of body experience, in one of them, it felt like I could feel the stars and planets moving, and as insane as it sounds, it felt natual, like I was part of it all.. and that I'm seeing something going on in space (i don't know what/if any purpose to it was but it felt like it had a purpose, just I don't know why just yet, but its like I know the answer is coming) so when I woke up I just thought well that was weird.

It was about this time I started reading some threads on here about planets/stars etc.

Then the biggie came lol...

I had a normal day, not good, not bad, just normal...went to bed and had what I can only describe as a possible life changing event. This didnt feel like a dream, which is why I woke up my wife and said something along the lines of: "What the *$"R, was that about"

The "experience" I had would be what is typically described by those who have NDE.

I felt like an immense light just emerged, like it surrounded me, and that I too was becoming "the light" I expected it to be blinding and to want to shield my eyes as it started but it wasnt like that at all...I totally get it now when people say this light is made of immense warmth and love!! I started to move towards it and merge with it, It was like my soul was the light and all of a sudden my psyhical life was nothing to worry about leaving, this was meant to happen. So I started merging with this light and for a split second, I get scared, I feel mind literally say "^&3% I don't like this, I want to go back" and I turn to see my wife, I stretch out with one arm, and then for another split second I turn back to the warm loving light and say to my wife "No, its ok, I have to go"....

...I wake up! I guess in more ways than one!

For a total skeptic who berated my mam for going to see psychics, and always saying its science and research that answers/debunks these types of things...I am now starting to feel a little red-faced! This "experience"...I really don't know what word to use, but experience is the closest lol, yeah this experience has changed my perspective on everything. I don't know what has changed or why, but I too like a few others it seems, have this feeling of great change coming, I at first felt like I should be scared because their was going to be pain for some, but the longer I have these feelings, the more it replaced with a feeling of, they will live forever somewhere out their, and that psyhical sacrafice is needed to change this world as we know it.

..So to finish this long winded introduction off (sorry) I should tell you that all of the above was still not enough for me to share my experience. The game changer for me was 20minutes ago I rang my mam (yeah the one I berated for years) and we were having an ordinary conversation, she just asked how my son was (hes got tonsolitits - and sorry i cant spell) but then she said something along the lines of her partner feeling a bit diffrent recently, and my reply was "tell me about it"...I start explaining the above, and to my complete amazment the reply I get is "Person 1 (I wont use his name) has had that, it happened just before xmas, he woke up and said wow that was weird" My mam said he explained the same as me, a tunnel of light!! ....what any of this means I have no idea, but I'm honestly feeling their are too many coincidences now for this not to be something more...who knows but hey-ho I guess if their is or isnt, we will all find out soon enough!

..So their it goes, thats my introduction, Im not sure I can add anything more to this site but I just had to share it all after that phone call!

Thank you all for taking the time to read it, and please dont abuse me too much lol

Anyone asking how awakening works, well, just read the story above. The awakening is REALIZING that there is more to life than our everyday existence. It's like some veil was covering our sight and we cannot truly see what is out there. Then a soft wind blew the veil and a glimmer of what is out there was seen with the veil lifted a little bit by the soft wind. We then realize that something is out there but we were not aware of it because there is a veil covering our sight. Once you realize that there is a veil covering your sight, the awakening starts.

reply to post by dominicus

Here's my little:

July 6, 2008:  July 4, 2008 I went to Yakima to my grandmother's death bed.  When I arrived at the nursing home it was the first time in my life I had the overwhelming feeling that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.  I got it in my head that I would see grabs out.  This meant I went three days with maybe an hour of sleep.  July 6, 2008 at 3AM I was at my grandmother's side, my head rocking forward with my eyes open, the place between conscious and unconscious when it happened.  Universal Knowledge, Infinite Awareness, Buddha under the bodhi tree, the Mind of God, touched me for only a moment.  A brush with the Void. All that IS came into perfect clarity.  One moment an agnostic leaning towards atheist, husband, young father, professional, house, car, completely caught up in the game to Light Being.  It was profound and dramatic.  The Tao says, “The Tao that is spoken is not the True Tao.”  So I am unable to describe my experience in words for words are utterly lacking. Everyone that knew me said I was gone. They were right. My ego shed and evaporated with the veil. Everything that IS is ONE.

I sent this out to folks Sept 2008:
We are all changing.  We, our system, everything we know is going to change.  The money we have chosen to enshrine as the center of our civilization's value system is failing and will end. Our culture relies upon a set of unconscious agreements that constitutes meaning.  This too is failing.  Nietzsche professed that there will be a "seeker after knowledge," the "opposite-man," which is in direct opposition to everything known. The instance of Truth, enlightenment, is "a violation, a desire to hurt the basic will of the spirit which unceasingly strives for the apparent and superficial."  Carl Jung wrote that "We are living in what the Greeks called kairos - the right moment - for a "metamorphis of the god," of fundamental principles and symbols.  This peculiarity of our time, which is certainly not of our conscious choosing, is the expression of the unconscious man within us who is changing."  In other words we have no choice but to evolve.  Think of how absurd it would have been for the pre-bird to fight taking flight.  Can you honestly imagine having wings and making the decision not to fly?  We can fight our shift and make it very uncomfortable but the change will happen anyway; with or without our moral or conscious approval.  Do not be afraid.  There is no more reason to fear our evolution than there is to fear the rising sun.  It will be blessed and better.  Evolution from a creative, spiritual place is always better than before. 
Namaste,

reply to post by sinohptik


The most likely situation with Adam and Eve is that when they ate the tree of knowledge, they gained everything in possible reach of being knowable as a human. Let me bring this back to the OP before I go back to the soul. The Bible more or less implies some kind of advanced society that only existed for a thousand years or so. The life span of these people. the few children they had, and some words implies something quite cool. For one, Noah's ark, the wood he used, quite literally translates to plywood, or planned wood. Wood held together by wafers and glue of some sort. Such a process did not exist until the 1960s or so. Noah also had only 3 sons. Which from a biblical perspective, bahwah? Who had less than a whole tribe of sons back then? We also see never a mention of any people whom exist today. That, plus the nephilim, imply some sort of strong trading people whom were a cultural center for quite some time.

Games like Assassin's creed play with this plot device. I'll let you have your laugh at this:


Now as to the soul, mankind was created in perfection. His soul and body one. Yes. The fruit is implied to broken this pure and holy bond. The soul became divided from the flesh. We are creatures stuck in two worlds. If we do not try to fix the flesh, the soul inevitably gets sucked into this one and is destroyed. If we go with Christ, the body is brought into the next one and restored. It's a one way road it seems. But all holdings in this world have to be abandoned first.

It is said that looking into the face of God means certain death, but that looking into it and still loving in that fear, gives life. The prophets whom did so were changed forever. A fire was lit up in them that drove them to some sort of sustainable insanity.

I too had some experience. It's my own "waking up". When I was young and realized I was going to die one day, I needed some proof from God that there was something beyond. That night I woke up without a body. No input what so ever. Fear crept into me at the sheer lack of ability to interact with this new world. No sight, smell, feeling, etc etc. Nothing to say I existed. Then a star appeared, but it was not light in the traditional sense. It was like, light in a dream. You know it's not physically there but it is. Then The light said "I am who I am, you are who you are, we all are who we all are". It then after exploded violently, giving sound that was not sound and heat that was not heat. I woke up so much in shock I was over a foot above my bed when I gained consciousness, seemingly having pulsed myself into the air from the shock. I've never felt so strange again. I am sure it was a dream, but it was the most realistic one I've ever had because it had no input. All I had was thought. That experience made me changed forever. At first religious, then an atheist, then even more devout in my faith.

reply to post by Gorman91


Funny video!

"Look what you done did now! Turn it off! Turn it off!"



I had a similar journey, from atheism to "faith." I still decided to search, find "enlightenment" and then i would "show the world" how to live a.. proper life and how it was possible without God. Funny thing, that.. I was also working with high-level mathematics, and working on various theories. I was meditating (over a decade or so ago) and this be-ing transformed into pure light. The same light, likely, you have seen. Light beyond sight, beyond what the mind can comprehend and what the eyes can see. It was.. my being. In that moment, i was struck by fear, or more properly, wariness. another case of "Look what you done did now! Turn it off! Turn it off!" In contemplation without words, this one found that no thing can be done, or not done, without God. This one sees this physical realm as just as holy and special as anything beyond though. The physical as the surface of an ocean, with infinite depth. The choice of heaven or hell being manifest, not in some procrastinated fashion as humans so love to employ, but as immediate repercussion of the free will perspective. i see the description of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent being as very literal. in that sense "i am that which i observe."

Regardless of our individual conceptualizations, it is what it is. But the discussion over such things shows us how vast and amazing even this physical realm is. It can not be quantified, comprehended, or realized in the mind.

This one was told by God, roughly six months ago, to truly start "singing." Now, that light of which i was wary, was accepted in full. Around three months ago, it became a constant, conscious, and mindful choice. On dec 21st, while watching the lunar eclipse, this one devoted every thought, breath, heartbeat, and movement to God. As it was to be anyway. That was the moment this one started doing God's work in earnest and continuously

Thank you for sharing your story

reply to post by sinohptik


Buddha called it an "unexcelled enlightenment" and "nothing special"..

What the hell does it mean to wake up spiritually?

To believe in supernatural forces?

To achieve higher moral understanding?

To BS oneself through a part of life?

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
reply to post by sinohptik

 

Buddha called it an "unexcelled enlightenment" and "nothing special"..

another buddhist saying (i think?) is "when nothing is special, everything can be"

Simply realizing what was there all along... Certainly, smacking ones perspective into form takes some doin'

Its like a baseline state of being.

originally posted by die_another_day

To BS oneself through a part of life?

Something like that

Whats the saying... "fake it til you make it!"

reply to post by die_another_day


In part it means to become authentic about our own inauthenticity, or to recognize one's self more fully as we truly are, and to see that the activity of the self, which generates who we think we are, is a product of our own creation, it's to get the joke at the end of our own life drama and have the opportunity to freely laugh at ourselves while becoming more authentically self expressed. To go from unreal, to more real, and to gain regain one's own sense of humour in the process. Notice how lacking in humour the atheists and the sceptics are for example by comparison, that's not awakened at all!

"WOW, many folks are waking up spiritually ......,"

Except on ATS so it seems, lol.

Originally posted by die_another_day
What the hell does it mean to wake up spiritually?

To believe in supernatural forces?

To achieve higher moral understanding?

To BS oneself through a part of life?

I would say to commune with God and receive knowledge outside of your regular five senses.

Originally posted by dominicus
This thread inspired by another ATS users thread posted by (stellawayten):

My Husband Woke Up...

which basically describes how her hard-lined Atheistic/Agnostic husband had an awakening/spiritual experience, started talking about it at work, and was prescribed bi-polar drugs.....

I doubt that the professionals at the hospital misdiagnosed him. Of course, there is one way to look at it: he indeed had either a self-induced conversion from agnostic/atheist to born-again Christian and then naturally tried to convert other people at his work place and got in trouble, because there are people who don't like being proselytized. But the way I read it, it is more consistent with a manic episode of a bipolar disorder. So, the treatment and medication for this particular disorder seems warranted to me.

Originally posted by dominicus
I just wanted you guys here at ATS to know that since the new year I have had people calling and coming to me with glimpses and other spiritual experiences .......folks which I would never in a million years expect to contact me.

Well, nothing unusual so far ... it happens. And can't say that I noticed something like that here in Greece. Maybe it's an American (US) thing?

Originally posted by dominicus
I'm talking about a few hard-core atheists with every Hitchens and Harris book that used to debate me till they were blue in the face ....... are now stopping by or calling me up with this child-like fervor and new found gleam in their eyes ....admitting to me that their life long built up system of logic and reason is crumbling in the face of some new experiences .....

Can't say that I understand this, but hey, still nothing out of the ordinary

Originally posted by dominicus
It is extremely exhilarating and I think it really might have something to do with us closing in on 2012, earth changes, etc.....

Nope, can't say that I have noticed such a trend myself here in Greece. Maybe it's an American (US) thing?

Originally posted by dominicus
Was hesitant to post this ....but its just so fascinating and exciting ... I think a real life global awakening is on the verge.....

Front row seats !!!!!!

Why, there is nothing that cannot be discussed civilly here. I doubt a "real life global awakening" is happening, but if you are right, it's about time. We need to change our ways and learn to live in harmony with mother Nature (Earth). Just my 2Eurocents.

For sometime know people around the world has felt this great change all around us. Keeping up with current events like the gorilla walking on two feet, the orangutan swimming, increased ufo sightings, the bird death's, etc... David Wilcocks said that the Milkyway would be sending a signal that could cause this change at a sudden rate. The clock is ticking.

reply to post by sinohptik


Yes that sounds familiar.

It's funny though, if you read between the lines of the bible and try to look into the world before the flood. It was quite a different place. I'm actually interested in generating a speculative animation and or series of 3d model scenes showing the kind of world that may have existed. It was certainly strange. For 2000 years man did not die except from murder and mayhem. Then people started seeing the first generation die of old age. The inevitability of death became a reality for the first time. And people panicked. I am a biblical literalist, but I'm also a believer in science. Yes everything was created in 6 days and yes it's 15 billion years old. A God outside of time is perfectly capable of that. Just as much he was perfectly capable of making humans, in the first generation of their existence, know all there is to know about existence.

It's funny. Jesus called Able the first prophet, not Adam. I think that's because the son did not know as much as the father, and did not receive it all suddenly and out of no where. Able learned it. Adam taught it, but was scared forever for the sudden "download" of information. More signs of the great divide between a place where God exists without time and a place where we exist with it.