A Response To Recent Awakenings

I was originally going to reply to a post, but I decided that I had so much to say it was deserving of a post of it's own. Unfortunately I accidentally skipped over to make the new thread that I forgot to actually copy it, so I am starting to from scratch.

I would like to say a few things about some recent threads I have read involving people waking up and becoming reborn. I wanted to go with something on other person had said as well, and emphasize on it.

Originally posted by unityemissions
Yeah well, people tend to go psychotic when there world seems to be crumbling around them...

Go figure...

Was the quote I wanted to branch off of. I do not think this was the best way to put it and as we will get to further in is all part of my grander point. The poster above makes a valid argument but uses it in a more antagonistic fashion. There is a lot of backing the theory of people doing just that when they are afraid. The human psyche has a natural reaction to every stressful situation. It is called Fight or Flight. Basically when you are faced with something that scares you or makes you uneasy you automatically choose whatever you are prone to choose. Some people run and some people fight. I think the statistics are more in favor of the flight.

There are tons of examples of this throughout history. Such as the Plague, The Cold War, and more recent world changes are good examples. During the plague most people huddled together in groups casting out the plague ridden people to remote locations, burning the bodies etc. Not once realizing that the disease was not being spread by these people but rather from fleas. When things were not getting better on the horizon they began to turn to there faith and pray. People began to believe that it was the end and the apocalypse was upon them. This was god's punishment. The Cold War during this time America wanted to prove is deference to the Russians and therefore they proclaimed us a Christian Nation, pitting us against the godless Russians. More recent events are having a similar effect. In all these instances I am more then sure that church attendance was at an all time high.

There is a great example of this in a major movie by Stephen King. The movie is called The Mist. Basically a bunch of people become trapped in a grocery store, and as always it is a good make up of your typical town society. There was one woman in particular that was painted as the local religious nut (pardon the pun) As things went more and more downhill the more that people didn't understand the more they started to listen to the aforementioned woman. The group began to grow and grow into a huge following who had decided that she was right and the end was nigh. So they began to pray with her and wait out the apocalypse. I am not saying there is anything wrong with this. I just believe it is part of the fight or flight process. Religion's biggest draw is and always has been the belief that there is a after. That when we die we don't just all end up as bones and dust. This is far from exclusive to Christians or Religion in general. Basically to sum it up. Religious people believe in a afterlife and a better place to ascend to; Atheists and Agnostics tend to believe in ghosts. This is two branches of the same tree. It is our mind natural way of canceling out the fear of death, and let's be honest most everyone is a bit afraid of death. It truly is the last unexplored territory of this world we all share.

Now to close this. I am not preaching about the good or bad of believing in god. I am simply trying to explain a recent phenomenon. I believe because things are changing at a seemingly rapid rate and honestly do not appear to be going in a positive manner. I think a lot of this is man made thanks to the media and social networking. I mean the gossip experiment is a great example here. If you ever played that game in school where you told a friend a secret and they told the person next to them etc. By the time it got around the room the story was completely different. Great example of our current world. By the time the media is done with most current events and the rumor mill has run through the gears. We are not only all on the brink of disaster every day seems to be looming closer and closer to the end. You find huge examples of this all over the world.

Great Examples of our Current Affairs

The Mayan Calendar ~ is ending so therefore it must be the end and we must all find a reason for it. Quite honestly no one knows why the Mayan Calendar ended on that date. Frankly I am shocked that people have concluded death and destruction from a society that was huge on cycles. Why can't it just be the end of a cycle and mean change? The irony there is that some people are so scared of change they would rather think the world was going to end; Thus we get end of the world scenarios. Again we have flight, People who are frightened by something they don't understand begin to create myths and stories to find the answers they seek.

I am not being critical of anyone or anyone's belief system. In all honesty I am envious of those that have found such faith in god and religion that they are not afraid of anything. My grandmother is a great example of this. She is not afraid of anything. If the world were coming to an end she would say something to the effect of, "If its gods will then thy will be done." I wish that I could find that complete peace and harmony in my soul to have no fear of anything. However, like the majority of people I am also grasping for the closest thing to hope there is.

It is my belief that a lot of people are turning to god and religion because they do not understand what is happening. I would not at all be surprised if the riots in the middle east equate back to the same thing. In there case they choose to fight and they are finding something to fight against rather then face there fear. It all comes back to dealing with the situation at hand.

In my perspective the world is changing. What it is changing to is beyond my control. There is nothing I can do and it is out of my hands. I know there is a higher power I just don't know who or what he is. I am a agnostic by definition and I wish that I could find a meaning to what is happening. All I know is that I have faith that everything in the end will work out. Whether the world changes for the better or worse life will go on, and we as a people will go on. I just wanted to write something in all this and you all can weigh in all you want. Thanks for reading and hope you found something in here that was helpful or insightful.

So to sum up... you believe mass awakening is a fight or flight response to fear of death? Fear of our societies crumble?

Sounds like a nice denial technique. Good luck with that bird cage.
Perhaps sorrow is a catalyst for spiritual awakening whether you are fighting or fleeing it. It's a funnel push either way. There is really no where else to go... but to awaken to the reality and make the necessary adjustments it takes to incorporate a different perspective. One we are taught to ignore.

reply to post by seagrass


Ironically I was thinking that your response sounded like a nice denial technique to not liking what I had to say. There was absolutely nothing offensive in what I said, nor was I criticizing anyone's spiritual awakening. I was simply analyzing it, and honestly I thought it was a fair analysis.

I have always found it interesting and also one of the reasons I am hesitant in what I believe. A faith that teaches not to judge others for there beliefs, actions, etc; yet the majority of those that are believers are the first to cast a stone.

reply to post by Phantom28804


I felt the first reply to your post was rather unkind. I have PTSD which is flight or flight gone awry. I was interested in your idea - intuitively I feel it has merit. Please don't be discouraged by the first reply. I am interested in watching what develops on this thread and hope it gains hold.

Originally posted by Phantom28804
reply to post by seagrass

 

Ironically I was thinking that your response sounded like a nice denial technique to not liking what I had to say. There was absolutely nothing offensive in what I said, nor was I criticizing anyone's spiritual awakening. I was simply analyzing it, and honestly I thought it was a fair analysis.

I have always found it interesting and also one of the reasons I am hesitant in what I believe. A faith that teaches not to judge others for there beliefs, actions, etc; yet the majority of those that are believers are the first to cast a stone.

I am not judging you. I am judging your statements. You see we are attracted to opposing views. We always have been. We are intrigued by them..because we need them as "shapers" of our own beliefs. Our own bird cages. I wasn't offended. I am completely enthralled with the topic in general and appreciate all views as they help me to continue shaping. We are not so different....you and I. We are BOTH interested in this process. You can call it criticism if you like. But really it much simpler than that. Less judgmental less negative than it has to be.

But I will say. Denial is how we maintain the status quo. And if you want to awaken to new perspectives. Open the bird cages.. Open to new possibility. Even if it is scary. Our beliefs are our bird cages.

As people age and get closer to natural death, they also tend to "wake up".

I feel your argument is perfectly valid and supported.

It would be very strange indeed, though, if the way our brains functioned changed because of some cosmic shift due to our solar system's travels through the Universe.

But I believe your explanation is the more plausible one.

Originally posted by seagrass

Originally posted by Phantom28804
reply to post by seagrass

 

Ironically I was thinking that your response sounded like a nice denial technique to not liking what I had to say. There was absolutely nothing offensive in what I said, nor was I criticizing anyone's spiritual awakening. I was simply analyzing it, and honestly I thought it was a fair analysis.

I have always found it interesting and also one of the reasons I am hesitant in what I believe. A faith that teaches not to judge others for there beliefs, actions, etc; yet the majority of those that are believers are the first to cast a stone.

I am not judging you. I am judging your statements. You see we are attracted to opposing views. We always have been. We are intrigued by them..because we need them as "shapers" of our own beliefs. Our own bird cages. I wasn't offended. I am completely enthralled with the topic in general and appreciate all views as they help me to continue shaping. We are not so different....you and I. We are BOTH interested in this process. You can call it criticism if you like. But really it much simpler than that. Less judgmental less negative than it has to be.

But I will say. Denial is how we maintain the status quo. And if you want to awaken to new perspectives. Open the bird cages.. Open to new possibility. Even if it is scary. Our beliefs are our bird cages.

I am in no way opposed to the belief of god or being open to new ideas. I have in fact read the Koran, The bible, Books on Hinduism and Buddhism. I have also read a lot on Paganism. I am very open to many different beliefs and I like to believe I keep my mind open to anything and everything. As stated before I am a Agnostic which by definition states that I believe in a higher power just not sure what it is. Whether god is truly a omnipotent being, ancient aliens, or a big black block that floats around terraform planets and planting the seeds of life (see Star Trek IV) Regardless of what it is I know its there just not sure if I am ready to follow the status qua. There is something about organized religions that scare the hell out of me. Maybe it's ideals like Manifest Destiny, the Crusades, and other more enlightened adventures of Christianity. It just bugs me.

I still however, stand by my argument that whether there is a god or not. It is a natural instinct for man to fear what they do not know and in turn look for hope.

Greetings OP,

I'm glad someone took the time to post this response as it's own topic. A lot of the scaremongering threads that I've visited I try to be a voice of reason, and state the other opinion: that every little disaster is not a sign of the world's eminent demise. So, it is quite a breath of fresh air to see other people on these boards trying to make such opinions heard. Where you and I diverge is on what exactly it is that is causing and instilling this fear in us. You presume that it is a fear of death, and of change; a fight-or-flight response. And I do agree, except that it is not "change", or "death" which I think drives it. I think it is the Unknown which drives these apocalyptic mentalities.

I'll use myself as an example here. I am, "religiously" a spiritual occultist. I dabble in a lot of different worship practices (Gnosticism, the occult, paganism, polytheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and more), and I build up a lot of knowledge, or wisdom, on topics. Like with death; I have opinions from science, and faith, and spirituality which have shaped my comfort with the process of, the moment during, and the events after. So, I don't fear death. Most devout believers in a faith also don't fear death; their faith prepares them for it. The same goes for change. I know that the world moves in patterns, time passes in cycles, and so on. So change doesn't throw me off my game either. I may not always like the way things change, but it doesn't instill a fight-of-flight response in me. Nor does it darken the doorsteps of those who are equally comfortable in their faith and self.

But, something that does throw me off? The Unknown. Being alone somewhere I've never been. Hearing things I cannot identify. Seeing things I cannot identify. Those trigger a fight-or-flight in me, almost every single time. I think it is the same for people who propose Armageddon and the Apocalypse every time that a weird spiral shows up over Norway. It is not the possibility of change, or death, it is merely that they don't know, and not knowing scares the life out of them. If they don't know what something is, then they can't fit it into their cozy worldview. When something doesn't fit into their worldview it must be the antithesis of what they believe, or else the things they believe in would have accounted for it.

Highly sensitive people who are not stable in their belief sense a change in the vibrational level of the Universe? They don't know what is going on, and no one can tell them satisfactorily, so it must be a sign of impending doom. A New Age Spiritualist has an abduction experience? None of the Old Gods re-imagined through their New Age lens can explain this. Therefore they must be manifestations of evil and darkness because if they were good we'd know about them.

A Fundamentalist Christian is faced with the thought of allowing abortion or same-sex marriage? They have never done or experienced these things before. They look to their Holy Books, and the writers of these books, carrying the same lack of knowledge have demonized these actions. So now the Fundamentalist sees these actions as threatening to himself because they were threatening to his unenlightened ancestor. These events, if accepted, must somehow be related to devious plots to undermine the Fundamentalist's value system.

The examples can go on and on. But I assume you see where I see things from.

Opening ourselves to new experiences, allowing the full spectrum of Universal emotions and experiences to wash over us, and letting our eyes remain locked on to All Things, however foreign or unseemly they may appear: that is the way to truly awaken and advance oneself forward.

Great thread OP, I hope it get's the insight and responses it deserves.

The people who are afraid aren't the one's who are experiencing the dissolution of fear, but those who say the the spiritual experiences of others is nothing but a mental illness or a form of psychosis, they are the only ones who are in deep fear, and they'll need the help of every crazy they can find some day!

Btw, the title "A Response To Recent Awakenings" I don't know why, but when I saw that I just burst out laughing!

Let the humor commence!

It's almost like a weapon of war or something!

Originally posted by Phantom28804

There is a great example of this in a major movie by Stephen King. The movie is called The Mist. Basically a bunch of people become trapped in a grocery store, and as always it is a good make up of your typical town society. There was one woman in particular that was painted as the local religious nut (pardon the pun) As things went more and more downhill the more that people didn't understand the more they started to listen to the aforementioned woman. The group began to grow and grow into a huge following who had decided that she was right and the end was nigh. So they began to pray with her and wait out the apocalypse.

I don't think your example is as good as all that. The local religious nut (pardoning your pun) and her followers had no personal experiences in the Mist. By analogy they were all uninitiated non-mystics. That means they were not awakened, despite the fact that they had a measure of religious belief. Their religious belief was purely exoteric.

Awakened people are people who have some measure of experience in the Mist. (read: mystical experience) They have been there and back again. They have crossed a threshold. They have been initiated by 'the Mist' and so they are on the esoteric level, not the exoteric. They have some personal mystical and/or anomalous experience that wakes them up.

reply to post by Student X


After which birds of wisdom start flying out their hat!

reply to post by Student X


Mrs. Carmody was the woman's name in The Mist. And she was a woman suffering from a messianic complex during the film, believing that the End of Days was upon the inhabitants of the small town. However, you're wrong about her not having had some kind of mystical experience. She had a few.

First: when the bugs break in one lands on her, and is about to sting her, but she prays to God and the bug leaves her be. Mystical experience, she was spared.

Second, she makes the comment that if anyone ventures outside than someone inside will die. And after the first party leaves that night a few people inside die. This could be considered a fulfilled prophecy.

There are other examples. Not that I agree with the characters viewpoint, but, the example does work. She was a prophetess, who did have a mystical experience, and who helped spread fear via her religious belief based on the unknown which was enveloping the mall and its inhabitants.

reply to post by Phantom28804


RIGHT ON!!! a standing ovation from the depths of my mind!

we have created a self fulfilling prophecy - the knowledge of the mayan calendar ending. Thus, some events on this planet seem to be escalating toward the end of something.

A very good "theory" that comes to mind is: We create our reality. With so many minds thinking of impending doom, we are drawing events of such nature into the sketch of our reality. After things heat up to a certain degree however, then will people dream of what the world COULD be (not that many already are).

Thus, a new world will be born.
BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE

fight or flight is the instinctual action that occurs with the Prime Motivator of life. To avoid Death.
When I think of a spiritual awakening.. it is not to avoid fear. To lesson fear in fearful times, nor to fight fear in spite of it.
I think a spiritual awakening teaches one how to live, (authentically) regardless of fear. I don't believe a spiritual awakening iscaused by fear. I do believe fear can be a path towards it. Fear can push us closer to it.
It's not about organized religion. It's about personal epiphany that occurs suddenly, changes everything you knew to be true, and a relentless quest to keep it. It's a new perspective, not an instinct. It's an evaluation of beliefs, not running or staying to fight. It is not acting from old learned behaviors, but expressing new ways of being. An unveiling of wisdom that comes from within.
Sure, fear is always available as a response, even during an awakening. Even by those who are witness to it in another.

i've awakened spiritually and its nothing to do with fight or flight .... all this chaos that's happening and will get worse is a test for us all,its graduation time .

Originally posted by Wandering Scribe
reply to post by Student X

 

Mrs. Carmody was the woman's name in The Mist. And she was a woman suffering from a messianic complex during the film, believing that the End of Days was upon the inhabitants of the small town. However, you're wrong about her not having had some kind of mystical experience. She had a few.

First: when the bugs break in one lands on her, and is about to sting her, but she prays to God and the bug leaves her be. Mystical experience, she was spared.

But she didn't cross a threshold. The bug did.

Second, she makes the comment that if anyone ventures outside than someone inside will die. And after the first party leaves that night a few people inside die. This could be considered a fulfilled prophecy.

It could be, but I wouldn't consider it such. She did not employ any altered states of consciousness to make her prophecy. I mean, take the ancient oracle of Delphi for example. "Plutarch described how a woman would enter a small chamber ("adyton") in the temple of Apollo and inhale sweet-smelling vapors ("pneuma") from a fissure in the mountain before entering a trance." But Mrs. Carmody didn't seem to enter any trances, or employ any systematic methods of divination. All she did was make a guess that payed off. I would call her a false prophet. There are lots of them running around. They are like broken clocks that are right twice per day.

Originally posted by Wandering Scribe
And I do agree, except that it is not "change", or "death" which I think drives it. I think it is the Unknown which drives these apocalyptic mentalities.

I think that you are correct and that is a much better way to put it. Fear of the unknown does work better. I guess I was trying to use death as a key point because I think it is the one thing that probably 90% of the world fears, but then again death is another unknown as you put it. I mean its not like it's something that you can test out and come back from. Though I am interested in near death experiences. My girlfriend is someone who actually had a similar experience, and it definitely created wonder in my mind as to what there was after death. Her story was almost identical to those you hear on shows like Unsolved Mysteries. Basically she said she saw a light and it was the most beautiful light in the world and she kept trying to reach it, but no matter what it was to far away. Then of course she said she was with her dead uncle and he kept telling her that it wasn't time. All this stuff strikes me as extremely interesting. Like I said I am not an Atheist I am open to a god just not sure what I believe yet.

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
The people who are afraid aren't the one's who are experiencing the dissolution of fear, but those who say the the spiritual experiences of others is nothing but a mental illness or a form of psychosis, they are the only ones who are in deep fear, and they'll need the help of every crazy they can find some day!

Btw, the title "A Response To Recent Awakenings" I don't know why, but when I saw that I just burst out laughing!

I found the tone of this response to be interesting considering it comes from someone referring to themselves as a modern shaman. No one said that religion is a response to mental illness or psychosis.

Originally posted by Student X

I don't think your example is as good as all that. The local religious nut (pardoning your pun) and her followers had no personal experiences in the Mist. By analogy they were all uninitiated non-mystics. That means they were not awakened, despite the fact that they had a measure of religious belief. Their religious belief was purely exoteric.

Well I respectfully disagree with you on that as I think it is a perfect example. I will give you another one. There is a church in California that has come up with a second coming in response to how things in the world are going.

We are living at a time when mankind seems to sense that the end of all things is very near. Just about everyone has a theory as to how the world is threatened and when that end might come. The media and the Internet are full of doomsday speculations concerning the New Age "Mayan Calendar" and the year 2012. Some scientists predict that Global Warming could wipe out life on Planet Earth within a certain number of years.

This web site serves as an introduction and portal to four faithful ministries which are teaching that WE CAN KNOW from the Bible alone that the date of the rapture of believers will take place on May 21, 2011 and that God will destroy this world on October 21, 2011.

Source

Originally posted by seagrass
fight or flight is the instinctual action that occurs with the Prime Motivator of life. To avoid Death.
When I think of a spiritual awakening.. it is not to avoid fear. To lesson fear in fearful times, nor to fight fear in spite of it.
I think a spiritual awakening teaches one how to live, (authentically) regardless of fear. I don't believe a spiritual awakening iscaused by fear. I do believe fear can be a path towards it. Fear can push us closer to it.
It's not about organized religion. It's about personal epiphany that occurs suddenly, changes everything you knew to be true, and a relentless quest to keep it

I completley agree with you on this, and I was in no way trying to lessen a spiritual experience or awakening. I am not saying that one cannot have a spiritual awakening. I am more arguing that there is less actual spiritual awakening as there is people grasping to hope. Whenever I see an increase of responses such as, "Better make your amends now before it's to late." or "I have been hearing more and more stories of people who are turning to god or finding god." To me that is more of the fight or flight scenario that I described above, and there is a lot of that going on right now. With the aforementioned church I have often thought to myself how many people are falling into a belief system out of fear of the return of jesus christ and if I don't make things right with him then I am doomed. When someone is posting billboards and news ads about something like this then you are getting tons and tons of people who are starting to wonder what if it's true! Well just in case I better go back to church and make my amends.

It is utterly and simply amazing to me how people let stuff like this change and affect there lives. I mean I play games on a site called MonkeyRoyale and they were having a big get together in May. Well a bunch of the people who were planning on going have cancelled now after paying etc., and honestly I have to wonder how many of them cancelled because they thought well we aren't going to be around after the 21st so I don't want to waste my time going to something like this when I can spend time preparing. I'm not saying this is the case but one has to wonder.

Relgion honestly can be man's best friend and their worst enemy all at the same time.

I believe reports of these "recent awakenings" to be bogus. One thread details what appears to be an episode involving mental health issues with her husband. Another one claims that a lot of hardcore atheists are now having "spiritual experiences". I don't see a mass of recent "awakenings" of any kind.

Originally posted by seagrass
So to sum up... you believe mass awakening is a fight or flight response to fear of death? Fear of our societies crumble?

Sounds like a nice denial technique. Good luck with that bird cage.
Perhaps sorrow is a catalyst for spiritual awakening whether you are fighting or fleeing it. It's a funnel push either way. There is really no where else to go... but to awaken to the reality and make the necessary adjustments it takes to incorporate a different perspective. One we are taught to ignore.

One we are taught to ignore..... that's it right there. You said "Fear" two times. Every thought, every action is based on either Love or Fear. Stop being afraid of what is new and different. There are many places, and places in time and memory where you can go to. I will give you an example. A soldier who was killed in the Civil War, in a great battle and many died in droves, soaking the very Earth with their blood. His dream was to go home, whole, and not wounded, to a wife, children and family. A Spirit that has wandered the Earth for many years, never getting to just Go Home.


A meal cooked on a wood stove, and water pumped from the ground. A look out at a beautiful scene, free of war, and sit back on the porch with a good cigar and a whiskey snifter, the dog at your feet, and you think how good life is.
This is the nature of the Fifth Dimension, I call it the Nexus. Whatever you want it to be, it will be.

Change in upon us. Accept it.

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer
I believe reports of these "recent awakenings" to be bogus. One thread details what appears to be an episode involving mental health issues with her husband. Another one claims that a lot of hardcore atheists are now having "spiritual experiences". I don't see a mass of recent "awakenings" of any kind.

You are correct. YOU 'don't see'.