How often does the holy spirit talk to you?

[KevinM1]

I wonder how the fuckheads tell the difference?

Two theories:

1. They don't, which is why they're fuckheads.
2. They only care whether or not religious delusions causes harm, which is also why they're fuckheads.

[Smaug]

I wonder how the fuckheads tell the difference?

Have you forgot they're online with Holy Spirit? So all they have to do is to ask personally.

[Jenny A]

Mystical experiences do not have the same content as the the products of mental illness. While each experience is unique, they are generally marked by feelings of unity with the divine and transcendence of ego awareness. The opposite is true of hallucinations and delusions which produced a heightened feeling of alienation between self and others. The objects seen and heard by the mentally ill are described as having an independent existence from the person having the experience.

Even if mystical experiences are purely mental constructs, they still should not be grouped with mental illnesses. Hallucinatory, delusional, and drug experiences are debilitating and interfere with a person's ability to function normally in society. The same cannot be said for mystical experiences that often result in people finding themselves better adjusted afterwards.

I've had three moments of extreme clarity, at least once as the result of an oddly empowering dream that woke me up. One felt universally connected. The other two were more like being abundantly alive in way that raised goose bumps. I agree, they are not signs of mental illness. Whether they are signs of god is another matter.

I do have a question though. You have announced from time to time and place to place on these forums that god is self evident. Was god self evident to you before you had your mystical experience?

[Minimalist]

I wonder how the fuckheads tell the difference?

Have you forgot they're online with Holy Spirit? So all they have to do is to ask personally.

Yeah...reminds me of this quote:

'You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.'

[Simon Moon]

And so says the vast majority of schizophrenics. They are also absolutely certain about their experiences...their descriptions sound identical to yours...As outsiders, how do we go about telling the difference between your above described experience, and those of schizophrenics?

Mystical experiences do not have the same content as the the products of mental illness. While each experience is unique, they are generally marked by feelings of unity with the divine and transcendence of ego awareness. The opposite is true of hallucinations and delusions which produced a heightened feeling of alienation between self and others. The objects seen and heard by the mentally ill are described as having an independent existence from the person having the experience.

Even if mystical experiences are purely mental constructs, they still should not be grouped with mental illnesses. Hallucinatory, delusional, and drug experiences are debilitating and interfere with a person's ability to function normally in society. The same cannot be said for mystical experiences that often result in people finding themselves better adjusted afterwards.

You may be correct concerning mental illness. Although I am not willing to disregard all forms as an explanation for religious experiences.

But that does not explain the symptoms of temporal lobe epilepsy, which can be induced in people without TLE.

Their descriptions of their experiences are no different than what you just described.

‘The most striking aspect of these people is that not only during the seizures, but “interictally”— between the seizures—they have tremendous religious experiences and mystical experiences,’ says VS Ramachandran, a renowned Indian neuroscientist who became obsessed with temporal lobe epilepsy in the 1990s.

‘They say things like, “I experience God—I see the meaning of the universe, the true meaning of the universe, for the first time in my life. I understand my place in the cosmic scheme of things.” That’s what they say. Sometimes they’ll actually say, “I’m talking to God”, or “God is talking to me”.


This is from Wiki:

The relationship between religion and schizophrenia is of particular interest to psychologists because of the similarities between religious experiences and psychotic episodes; religious experiences often involve auditory and/or visual hallucinations, and those with schizophrenia commonly report similar hallucinations, along with a variety of delusions and faulty beliefs. A common report from those with schizophrenia is some type of a religious delusion - that is, they believe they are divine beings, God is talking to them, they are possessed by demons, etc. In a study of patients with schizophrenia that had been previously admitted to a hospital, 24% had religious delusions. This has led some researchers to question whether schizophrenia leads an individual to become more religious, or if intense religiosity leads to schizophrenia

[Angrboda]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIiIsDIkDtg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z4B5BYbjf8

[Simon Moon]

How long will it take Chad's Hooters to claim to know that his experiences were absolutely, in no way, due to some misinterpreted natural mental state?

"Of course, many people do have TLE or mental conditions that could cause experiences that sure do seem to bear a more than just passing resemblance to my religious experience. But I know mine was real...ahh...because of the following circular argument".

[robvalue]

I find it interesting Chad was accusing us all of being closed minded because we won't accept stuff about psi at face value, yet claiming absolute certainty on a subject is being totally closed minded.

[Ravenshire]

Mystical experiences do not have the same content as the the products of mental illness. While each experience is unique, they are generally marked by feelings of unity with the divine and transcendence of ego awareness. The opposite is true of hallucinations and delusions which produced a heightened feeling of alienation between self and others. The objects seen and heard by the mentally ill are described as having an independent existence from the person having the experience.

Even if mystical experiences are purely mental constructs, they still should not be grouped with mental illnesses. Hallucinatory, delusional, and drug experiences are debilitating and interfere with a person's ability to function normally in society. The same cannot be said for mystical experiences that often result in people finding themselves better adjusted afterwards.

Evidence for these assertions?

[Joods]

We seem to be drifting away from the original question.

No wonder, what with Judy Lynn sneaking marijuana in here!

Just kidding, Judi. I'm a fan, too.

LOL I won't sneak it in here. I'll just walk in with my giant bong and bag of weed, grinning because my bong is badass and then sit down and toke up, like a boss