by Knowsnothing 114 Replies latest jw experiences
"Religion as it is practiced in Bali is a composite belief system that embraces not only theology, philosophy, and mythology, but ancestor worship, animism and magic. It pervades nearly every aspect of traditional life. Caste is observed, though less strictly than in India."
Interesting religion, doofdaddy. are you an adherent?
So your curiosity got you to google a one liner....Oh dear.
As I have mentioned before, you have no idea.
Apologies Nickolas. I just returned through intense traffic from the Doktor Gigi (dentist) so am a bit snappy...
Whay I enjoy about Balinese "religion" is that it is all illustrations of the inner fight in ourselves. People see the wild demon masks etc (and yes Balinese do believe in the unknown to an extent) but is purely symbolism. As stated previous, I do not believe in god etc but there is so much to be found by science and the Hindu beliefs here make a nice balance between practical life and a colourful play of life. I attend the temple ceremonies when I can and certainly enjoy the daily rituals of thr local people.
Thanks for the link Joey Jo Jo, very interesting.
I will come back here in ten years time, and stand by everything I said. It happened when I was 10/11...and Im 40 now. Ive not changed my mind regarding what I, my dad, and twin bro and sis saw from then, Im certainly not going to change my mind in another ten years.
As I said in my previous post, we would be ingnorant to assume we are the only entities in this universe. I stand by everything I said. I wasnt alone when I saw these things. I dont know what it was, but it was something.
Hi Jill x
Paula
I will come back here in ten years time, and stand by everything I said. It happened when I was 10/11...and Im 40 now. Ive not changed my mind regarding what I, my dad, and twin bro and sis saw from then, Im certainly not going to change my mind in another ten years.
My mind will be much different in 10 years, as it was 10 years ago, and to a lesser extent 10 years before that. A mind that stays the same is a mind that is not allowed to grow. I might propose that 40 is still very young and there are things you haven't experienced yet which will change your paradigms in ways you will not understand until they happen to you.
I would find it equally mind blowing to be presented with irrefutable evidence that we are not alone in the universe or with irrefutable evidence that we are alone in the universe. But that is a different conversation entirely from the existence of supernatural life forms on planet Earth.
I enjoy the miracle of fresh brewed Coffee every morning
Supernatural things begin to happen
My mind will be much different in 10 years, as it was 10 years ago, and to a lesser extent 10 years before that. A mind that stays the same is a mind that is not allowed to grow.
Great comment, Nick. I once heard it said that "a changeless mind is by definition non-functioning."
I'd hate to think that I would ever be unwilling to reconsider my perception of an experience I had as a child.
I would find it equally mind blowing to be presented with irrefutable evidence that we are not alone in the universe or with irrefutable evidence that we are alone in the universe.
I share the same opinion when it comes to the intelligent creator (not YHWH) vs abiogenesis discussion. Irrefutable evidence for either would leave me mule-lipped to the same degree. But I'm no Einstein. (And by that I mean Doc's dog on Back to the Future.)
I read The Ghost In The Machine paper, which was enlightening and backs up my personal feeling that, like UFOs, many "supernatural" occurances can be explained and attributed to very natural phenomenon.
Thank you, good Rocketman. I felt the same way when I came across it. Excellent experience.
I'd shared it on another "ghost" thread and it only seemed to get remarks from those who were already skeptics. I'd also really like to get the impression of someone who believes in the spirit realm. Anybody?
From old post....
To me, the moral of the story is this: Sometimes unexplained events happen. We may perceive something - audible, visual, even feelings - and a perception it may well be. But how our brain interprets that perception is shaped by our psyche, which means those interpretations can be very wrong.
In the psych paper, the lab employees who quickly attributed these strange experiences to a haunting were, unfortunately, closed-minded in that they drew their conclusions before gathering real evidence or really considering any other plausible explanations. V.T. was also affected by his emotion but suppressed irrational thoughts long enough to uncover the real cause.
I noticed a few things that helped him:
1. Education - V.T. was able to assess the events in light of his engineering knowledge. Had he no familiarity with science (ie, how sound waves travel), he undoubtedly would not have considered the low freq standing wave idea.
2. Open-mindedness - it would've been easy to attach himself the first superstitious idea that presented itself and then refuse to investigate further. We have a ghost, I experienced it, case closed! But V.T. did not stop at the first "gut feeling" that came over him. He pushed ahead in search of empirical data... and found it. That said, even if he lacked an understanding of sound waves, true open-mindedness would have him label the events as unexplained instead of settling on supernatural.
3. Luck - this puzzle might never have been solved if V.T. hadn't come in early, placed his foil in the vice and walked away. Sometimes strange events do occur... and we may never discover the real answers behind them. The question is, do we leave those events categorized as unexplained?
My mind has grown Nickolas, but my memory of those events has not changed. If Id of experienced them alone, I could put it down to my age and the juvenile whimsical fantasies of an over-active mind. However, my father and siblings witnessed the events also.
Im getting bored with trying to justify what I saw however. It doesnt matter if nobody believes me. Ive got to go an do justice to a bottle of chilled chianti now, had a busy day in the garden, it was at least 22degrees here, and for Wales, thats positively sub-tropical. Im plain worn out.
(2 elders were at my door today...I think Im in trouble!....boy they looked hot in the suits and ties............I however, was cool as a cucumber in my bikini top and cut off jeans....hence, couldnt risk answering the door and being labeled a harlot.......too hot for it today!)
