by El blanko 207 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
And so we ever grapple with expressing the subjective.
The mystics nodding, thinking "better felt than telled", and the skeptical shaking their heads, thinking "gullable fools".
Both part, but have they learned something from each other? Or have they retreated to their corners with an arrogant swagger? An introspective thought for us all...
Sometimes the descriptions come across as contradictory, obscure, and our occasionally frustrations are expressed at our inability to express. Finally, along comes the hardened-skeptic, who neatly places such things in the pidgeon-hole of quackery...
And, as Shakespeare once said: "There's the rub"
Ter
Whoah!!! I just had one of those "synchronistic moments" that might be considered "mystical". My birthday is tomorrow. I belong to an online group that I receive emails from and so, when I found an email with my astrological degree as the subject, I immediately popped it open, and among other things, it mentioned the Fixed Star, Regulus, the Lion's Heart, and that St. Raphael the Archangel, also known as Azariah is the "covering angel" of this degree. Well, as I went to a search on St. Raphael, I hear in the background, on the TV "Raphael".........I'm like......okay......I'm certainly NOT hearing this, just imagining it, cuz I wasn't really paying any attention........but, I quickly turned around, and sure enough, the commercial was one of those telephone ones and the actress then repeated the guy's name: Raphael, twice!! Immediately, I just popped in here, to share this with you all............I still have chills.........
Terri
The prosaic answers are usually so simple that believers don't want to hear them. Usually it comes down to probability. Believers tend to think the probability of certain things happening is far smaller than it really is. Studies have shown that non-believers have a better grasp of probability and that is why when we experience the exact same phenomenon we easily understand that it is inevitable - not cosmically special.
There are, of course, other explanations for other phenomenon. Some phenomenon don't have any explanation at all yet. The difference between skeptics and believers is that believers just make up their own radically improbable, non-falsifiable theories instead of just honestly saying "I don't know" like the non-believers can.
rem
LittleToe:
Both part, but have they learned something from each other? Or have they retreated to their corners with an arrogant swagger? An introspective thought for us all...
A fair point, and one which makes me want to emphasize that my last post was strictly about the communicability of such an experience, not the personal meaning of it. Whatever we experience is always completely real (for us), and requires no justification to others or validation by others.
However, rem also makes a fair point:
instead of just honestly saying "I don't know" like the non-believers can.
Therein lies the challenge. We may share with others the nature of our experience, and they may say "Yes, I've also had such an experience!" and the conversation can continue (though, as I assert above, the communication will necessarily be limited to externally comparable factors, and not the essence)...
or, they may say "Hogwash; I've never had an experience such as you describe!" and the conversation can still continue (though, again, it will still be limited to superficialities). It may be that, with sufficient investigation and self-honesty, a person might realize that their "mystical" experience wasn't really so mystical at all. If they make that determination within themselves, then so be it. If not, then so be it.
Not to divert the subject of this thread, but I submit that, if there is anything we can learn from each other, it's that none of us really know anything.
Usually it comes down to probability
LOL....
I'm glad you have so much faith in probability, Rem.
I want to believe but as Craig points out I can only base my belief on the related experiences of others as I have not had any....except a Reiki energy experience..maybe.
I do find it hard to comprehend why a God/Spirit would provide strength for el blanko to deliver a letter to an elder and not provide the strength needed for ones in abusive situations to free themselves.
There are so many daily occcurrances around the world where a nudge or ounce of direction could mean the difference between life and death for individuals. I can't understand why spirits would become involved in our lives by providing in comparison meaningless mystical experiences, other than to toy with us.
Not to belittle any of your experiences because they were yours and no one can take that away from you...maybe it's just a little of sour grapes as well. The only thing that comes anywhere near what you experienced where childhood flashbacks and acid trips in my teens.
Shotgun
There are so many daily occcurrances around the world where a nudge or ounce of direction could mean the difference between life and death for individuals. I can't understand why spirits would become involved in our lives by providing in comparison meaningless mystical experiences, other than to toy with us.
Shotgun, people ignore those "mystical" nudges all the time. How many people have you heard say "I wish I had listened to my gut" or "I knew better"? Many times that inner nudging is God speaking. However, all the nudging in the world isnt going to help some people--they are still going to ignore what they know to be right.
Having said that, I think that most people would do well to think things through and make proper decisions based on knowledge and gut feeling instead of bothering God to give them some sort of a physical sign as to what direction to take.
Shotgun
El blanko's experience may have been from a spirit, or could have been him tapping into his own, or a community subconscious, or something else.
The mental mind frame that allows a person to do stuff like this is really hard to be in when a person is being abused, especially for a little kid. Fear can easily kill it. Also, kids don't usually know how to do it. However, el blanko has had some practice in the field.
S
The difference between skeptics and believers is that believers just make up their own radically improbable, non-falsifiable theories instead of just honestly saying "I don't know" like the non-believers can.
I, and many that I know who have had these experiences, say "I don't know" all the time. However, we like knowledge and do not like not knowing. Therefore we speculate and do our own research. It is not knowing that makes us seek an answer. Many of the "mystical" experiences have no way of being measured, it's true, but why just sit there not doing or thinking anything and shrugging it all of to probability? Nothing ever gets done, no advances ever made, with that kind of lackadaisical attitude.
